Matthew McHugh

Matthew McHugh is from Fort Collins, Colorado. He earned a BFA in drawing from Colorado State University in 2016 and an MFA in drawing, painting, and printmaking from Purdue University in 2021. Matthew currently resides in Colorado and is living out his passion for teaching and art as an instructor at the University of Northern Colorado. He regularly shows in nationally and internationally juried exhibitions and is an active member of the Society of American Graphic Artists.

Artist statement: Matthew McHugh explores themes of time and the transience of individual life using mystical imagery. His work often references ancient symbols of time and our relationship with nature, including paleolithic art and cosmic bodies. McHugh recontextualizes this imagery into his own surreal narratives within drawings, paintings, and printmaking works, which become a way of processing his relationship with time.

• MFA: Drawing, Painting, and Printmaking, 2021
  Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
• BFA: Drawing, Minor in Arts Leadership and Administration, 2016
  Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO

• 2022-present: Adjunct faculty, University of Northern Colorado
• 2021-present: Adjunct faculty, Aims Community College
• 2018-2021: Graduate teaching assistant and drawing instructor of record, Purdue University

In his art, Matt explores the act of self-contextualization through the lenses of time, identity narratives, and mortality. He often references paleolithic art, the sublime, and the uncanny to echo how vast time and the world’s complexity are in relation to the smaller scale of an individual.

Select recent juried shows:
2025: Aquachrome, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, internationally juried
2025: Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair 10th Curated Hang, London, UK, internationally juried
2025: Drawing Discourse 16th Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Drawing, Asheville, NC, internationally juried.
2025: 7th Atlanta Print Biennial, Kai Lin Art, Atlanta, GA, internationally juried
2025: 127th Annual Midwest Art Exhibition, Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery, Lindsborg, KS, nationally juried
2024: Society of American Graphic Artists 89th Annual Members Exhibition, The Arts Center at Governors Island, New York, NY, nationally juried
2024: The Director’s Cut, Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, London, UK, internationally juried
2024: 37th Annual McNeese National Works on Paper Exhibition, McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA, nationally juried
2024: GALEX 57 National Competition & Exhibition, Galesburg Community Arts Center, Galesburg, IL, nationally juried
2024: Under Pressure: 2024 National Printmaking Exhibition, Lincoln Center, Fort Collins, CO, nationally juried
2023: 48th International Art Show, Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, Brownsville, TX
2023: Existence, DANOK Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2023: National Juried Painting Exhibition, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS
2023: 28th Parkside National Print Exhibition, University of Wisconsin Parkside, Kenosha, WI
2022: Brand 50th Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper, Brand Library & Art Center, Glendale, CA
2022: Masterpieces 16th Annual International Juried Exhibition, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
2022: Boulder Art Association National Juried Art Exhibition, ‘R’ Gallery, Boulder, CO
2022: Variations, Marblehead Arts Association, Marblehead, MA (Juror: Miriam Stewart, Harvard University Museum Curator of the Collection, Division of European and American Art)
2020: Grown, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
2019-2020: Drawing Show, Site:Brooklyn Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (Juror: Olga Valle Tetkowski, Exhibition Manager of The Drawing Center, New York City, NY)

2025: Invited for guest lecture for 16th International Drawing Discourse exhibition, Asheville, NC
2024: Best of Show Award, The International Exhibition on Animals in Art, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
2023: 1st place drawing award and 1st place printmaking award, Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, Brownsville, TX
2022: Artistic Merit Award, Boulder Art Association National Juried Art Exhibition, ‘R’ Gallery, Boulder, CO
2021: 3rd place in show, Viral Hope Exhibition, Bitfactory Gallery, Denver, CO
2021: Best student film, Blastoff Film Festival, Los Angeles, CA

Visit Matt McHugh’s Website