XYZ Axis Mural by Matt W. Moore

I don’t know how I initially came across Matt W. Moore, a.k.a. MWM Graphics, but I’ve been following his work for a while. Recently, Matt visited Cincinnati from his home in Portland, ME — he created a new series of paintings which are on display at YES Gallery in Over-the-Rhine, and he also painted this mural on the façade of a small building on Clay St. at Melindy.

This photo of the mural-in-progress is from Matt’s blog; the other photos are mine. I wonder how much tape he ended up using to create the intricate facets:

He also painted the fire hydrant red to match the “hot” side of the mural. Nice!

Matt’s work, and this mural in particular, reminds me of razzle dazzle, or dazzle camouflage. Whereas most camouflage is designed to conceal its wearer in a land-based environment, razzle dazzle was developed during World War I to confuse a ship’s type and orientation on the high seas, making it harder for the enemy to aim well. Here’s a photograph of the USS Charles S. Sperry in 1944, taken from Wikipedia:

Moore doesn’t directly reference razzle dazzle, but he says the following about the works in the XYZ Axis exhibit, “The goal with each work is to have the viewer’s eye fall into the piece and get lost in the optical illusions, trying to figure out what is up, down, left, and right.” In the case of this mural, which accompanies the canvas pieces, he has taken a little box of a building and suggested a diagonal axis and faceted planes that the surface doesn’t actually have:

For more examples of Moore’s self-described “vectorfunk” work, check out MWM Graphics, or see the canvas awesomeness in person at the YES Gallery at 1417 Main St. in Cincinnati, up through 25 May.