Art & Life with Matt Letrs

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Letrs.

Matt, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I was born in Ft. Lauderdale FL in 1982; and after spending my first 9 years there, my parents decided to move to Montreal, Canada, I loved both places and the two played a pivotal role in my development. From there I must have moved at least half a dozen times around the states.

I started painting graffiti in 1995, when I was 12. The first couple years I didn’t do much and what I did do I largely kept to myself…definitely no photos and no bragging! I was hooked from the beginning though.

Throughout my teenage years and early 20’s I painted graffiti on and off, but really lacked focus on the bigger picture. These years really served to teach me some tough lessons. In the end I realized that art was something that was going to keep me happy and allow me to mature and evolve as a human. Not to mention I wasn’t about to work for someone else. Around 2010 I moved (back.) to Atlanta with renewed focus, and haven’t looked back since.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I’m a muralist, painter, sculptor, graffiti artist and designer.

My murals and fine art are more narrative, seeking to explain or at least come to terms with the backwards insanity that is our present reality. The pressure, influences, glitches in the matrix, etc…

Through this I’d like viewers to understand the truth – which is we are the masters of our own reality.

My graffiti is the opposite (laughs). For me it’s a time spent with friends or just myself. Its therapy….and crack. It doesn’t have much meaning and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It’s simply a matter of style.

The art world sometimes gets a bit pretentious about this and the view of graffiti as not being art is absurd. I think seeing good graffiti in person offers the viewer an experience ten times greater than viewing art in a gallery…and it’s free. It’s the ‘fools’ who have breakthroughs, not the ‘smart’ people.

Any advice for aspiring or new artists?
I think life has become easier for artists, as for street/graffiti/public artists life is definitely becoming easier – for those who have put in serious work, Things are starting to get pretty nice but we’ll see if that remains the case. The recent loss of tax incentives for freelancers is definitely going to hurt some good people and we’re not even half way through an administration that seems bent on cutting needed programming all across the board. From science to art.
I think this can be countered on the local and state level by offering more incentives and programs for artists, like affordable housing/studios and more public projects – in addition to better arts education in the classroom. As for the average person out there. The best thing you can do is contribute to your favorite artists – buy their stuff.

My advice for artists: Avoid art school for at least ten years (or forever, whatever) and work on your craft every possible second.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
The best way to view my work is in person. Outside. Atlanta is a great place to do that if you know your way around. If you’re not the outdoors type, I plan on having my first solo show this summer; and of course you can contact and follow me on social media. Aside from that I don’t really ‘market’ myself. If you see a “street artist” with a marketing campaign its worth asking: is this really real?

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @letsgopaint
• Facebook: facebook.com/letsgopaint

Image Credit:
Matt Letrs

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