“Art in the Time of the iPhone” is one-man show by artist Matthew Watkins, on now at Apple reseller C &C in Bari, Italy until September 25.
Watkins, who hails from England and lived in Canada before moving to Italy, shows just how versatile an artist can get by letting his fingers do the talking on the touchscreen.
His mainstay is the Brushes app, out of which he transferred the works to forex, paper — and even had two rugs made in Katmandu (see above) from designs made with his iPhone.
Hit the jump for a Q&A on how Watkins got the iPhone art from his phone to a gallery and for a gander at more of his work.
We first caught Watkins’ iPhone work on site fingerpainted.it, chock full of tutorials and tips for aspiring iArtists. While a lot of artists, from David Hockney to Jorge Colombo, are doodling on the iPhone it seems that few, if any, are showing them in brick and mortar public spaces.
CoM: How are the works presented in the show?
Matthew Watkins: Two iPhone works are carpets, 20 are high quality fine art prints on museum quality paper and there are over 50 other works printed photographically to forex. All of the store monitors also have slide shows of my work and there is one video projector.
All in all there are over 130 works across all formats.
CoM: How do you get the work from iPhone to canvas?
MW: The brushes app allows you to export in very good resolution. You can print this to anything really.
A carpet is a little more complex in that the color depth may need to be simplified. You need to find or make wool that matches the colours. the carpet is hand knotted in Katmandu. I met with Franco Di Nepi, an Italian carpet seller, and he had the carpets made over the summer in Nepal. It was a happy coincidence that they were ready for my show.
CoM: What has the response been so far?
MW: The response to my work was overwhelmingly positive. They carpets were also very popular, the colors are superb by all accounts.
CoM: Are the works for sale, and if so, have there been any takers?
MW: The works are for sale, although this was not a primary objective of my show. People purchased photographs on forex for €30 – €50.
Certified numbered limited edition prints sold for €300 (A2 format).
CoM: How did the exhibit come about?
MW: I had been planning for a show since before the summer. I went into the apple reseller in Bari and told him about the idea. He immediately offered his location for the show. I thought about it on the way home and called him back. It was perfect.
CoM: What’s next for you in terms of projects, iPhone or otherwise?
MW: This is my first one man show. I have been overwhelmed by the response to my work, my stories. I would like to do another, more articulated show some time soon. I will also continue to experiment with different types of output (for the) iPhone for a while. I am having a lot of fun, but I do look forward to painting again. I am also very curious about the proposed Mac Tablet.
