Matthew Brannon (b. 1971, Anchorage, Alaska) has long been recognized not only for his wit and literary sensibility, but also for the precision with which he approaches his chosen mediums. He is perhaps best known for his radical approach to printmaking, which, contrary to traditional usage, frequently involves the elaborate production of unique artworks. The vocabulary and voice developed in the prints—arch and erudite, with a sharply psychoanalytic bent—has provided the center for an expanding world of objects and narratives that also includes painting, sculpture, video, and installation. Since 2015, Brannon has almost exclusively turned his attention to the Vietnam War, conducting exhaustive research for a profound engagement with this generation-defining trauma. In the multi-faceted works that emerge from this project, Brannon confronts the messy business of narrating history, creating his own versions of “primal scenes” in the American psyche.

In 2021, David Kordansky Gallery presented The Galaxy Song, an exhibition that explored the motifs, cosmic mindfulness, and countercultural narratives associated with the Grateful Dead and which featured unique silkscreen prints and paintings by Matthew Brannon alongside paintings and sculpture by artists and fashion designers Elijah Funk & Alix Ross (Online Ceramics). Gregory R. Miller & Co. published Concerning Vietnam, a book dedicated to Brannon’s multi-year project investigating the Vietnam War, in 2019. Brannon has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Marino Marini Museum, Florence (2013); Portikus, Frankfurt (2012); Museum M, Leuven, Belgium (2010); Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria, New York (2007); and Art Gallery of York University, Toronto (2007). His work is in the permanent collections of numerous museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Denver Art Museum; DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art, Athens; and Museo MADRE, Naples, Italy. Brannon lives and works in New York.