It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that many people across the globe made career changes during the pandemic. And one of them was Toronto-born, Montreal-raised, Matt Chessco. As a former industrial designer and mechanical engineer, Chessco left his job behind to become a full-time artist instead. He now specializes in creating portraits of various cultural icons, including celebrities like Drake.
Check out Matt Chessco’s portrait of Drake at his ArtOfficial exhibition
Chessco started his journey by painting with acrylic on canvas, distinguished by Van Gogh-like strokes, and a Warhol-esque pop art style. Cut to now, where he has his first solo exhibition, ArtOfficial, presented by the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE).
It is currently open at Withrow Common Gallery, featuring 50 paintings including portraits of Harry Styles, Taylor Swift and Cardi B, SpongeBob SquarePants, Chewbacca, and others.
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The collection also has some of his newer works and includes the unveiling of an original portrait of global music icon and Toronto’s very own, Drake.
The painter’s works have been known to be found in many celebrities’ homes like those of Post Malone, Bella Poarch, Corn Kid and Gary Vee. But the way he shares his videos on YouTube and TikTok is what can be attributed to his popularity. Thanks to this, he has over 2.4M subscribers on YouTube and 2.8M followers on TikTok.
He has also blended art and AI in pieces like his Lion painting. And the exhibition has Chessco’s pieces, alongside those created by a computerized robotic arm. This piece of technology has been engineered by Montreal-based art-tech start-up Acrylic Robotics.
The ArtOfficial exhibition, where you can find the Drake portrait in Toronto, is open from January 3-5. It’s free to attend from 12 pm-6 pm.
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