About the Artists
Born in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Matt and Mark Enger, identical twins, were raised on U.S. Army posts throughout the United States and the world. They grew up surrounded by military officers, archaeologists and Native Americans, whose ledger drawings Matt and Mark liked to draw inspiration from. This upbringing nurtured a strong love of history.
In 1989 Matt moved to New York where he established himself as a downtown artist. Matt co-founded Exploding Sky Studio in 1990 with his twin brother Mark on New York’s Lower East Side. The Enger Brothers began creating fine art paintings and installations as well as limited edition shirts, jackets and art objects. Exploding Sky quickly became known throughout New York, Hollywood, Japan and Europe for their iconic imagery and their energetic rock and roll style. Artists, collectors, actors and musicians spread the Enger Brothers imagery from their lower east side headquarters to the homes, galleries and stages of the world. Exploding Sky began collaborating through silk screen printing with major artists like Robert Rauschenberg, Kiki Smith, Donald Baechler, Keith Haring and more, plus fashion designers such as Catherine Malandrino, Rebecca Dannenberg, and Spooky.
For the past twenty years the Enger Brothers have been based in New York, showing work at galleries such as Jack Tilton, U.L.A.E., White Box, HERE project space, Max Fish and many others. Matt and Mark’s art has appeared in books, magazines and on assorted products. Matt continues their legacy of pop art imagery and pure painting. Matt and Mark spent about 15 years perfecting the cast acrylic process utilized in the latest works.
After a 2 year-long battle with throat cancer, Mark Enger passed away in January, 2011. Mark designed his own day-glo plexiglass urn complete with his face screen printed on the front and signature on the sides. Matt completed the urn and effectively turned his twin brother into a piece of his own(Mark’s) art. The urn stands life size height upon a custom lighted podium in the gallery. Matt is currently working on a book of Mark’s paintings with a forward by Kiki Smith.
Website
www.explodingsky.com
Current Exhibition
Matt and Mark Enger ‘Streets of Glory’ Jun 2 – Jul 17, 2011 at Christopher Henry Gallery, NYC
That is lovely show. well done:)