Blunt Graffix founder Matt Dey creates and sells compelling pop culture mashups from his screen-printing shop in West Eugene, executed in his distinctive style with bold colors, classic newsprint texture, and a hip aesthetic eye.
If Dey’s stuff looks familiar, it hangs at Epic Seconds, a new and used record, CD, video game, and DVD shop in downtown Eugene, and at Broadway Metro, an independent movie theater a few blocks away. You may have also seen some of his work — influenced by classic Hollywood, vintage rock and roll, and hip hop culture — hanging at Blairally Vintage Arcade in the Whiteaker.
“I’ve always been interested in pop culture,” Dey says. “I like to find connections that are there but that people haven’t touched upon, or maybe they haven’t thought about. If I can find a connection — even if it’s far out — it’s there. I like that.”
Like a pop culture matchmaker, Dey introduces unlikely pairs that somehow just work, and also make you think about images and their meaning in a new way. For instance, past works include Jim Morrison’s face on Han Solo’s body. A variation has Bill Murray’s head on Han Solo. Similar visual punchlines unify many of Dey’s creations. On a commission, Dey recently created a custom poster for a Metallica East Coast tour date. “I have a dedicated fan base that I sell to,” he says.
Dey sells many of his pieces online. His art has shown in galleries as far away as Seattle, New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. Dey says he most often works alone, from 9 to 5, seven days a week, but occasionally hires help for large commissions. There’s a sense of satisfaction despite the labor and the long hours. “I don’t watch the clock,” he says. “When you do what you love, it doesn’t feel like work.”
Dey’s output varies, but he typically produces at least one print each week. He often blends copyrighted, licensed, and trademarked images. When someone notices, which rarely happens, Dey says they typically reach an agreement. Sometimes, they like the work so much that they commission him.
Raised in Eugene, Dey says he grew up watching TV and movies with his father, and through that became interested in music. His early interest was concert poster design, which he used to do the old-fashioned way: cut-and-paste layout and Xerox copiers. Around the year 2000, Dey was introduced to screen printing in the Navy while stationed in Hawaii, and soon after he began creating digital designs with programs such as Photoshop, realizing his vision in the screen-printing process.
Dey says he planned to do 20 years in the service, but after discovering a passion for screen printing and design, he decided to aim for life as a full-time artist. After leaving the Navy, Dey lived on the East Coast for a while, producing concert posters for work, and around 2006, he moved back to Eugene, where he pursued personal projects.
After selling four paintings at an art show in town, Dey says, he thought: “I’ve been barking up the wrong tree this whole time. Maybe I’ll just do my own thing.”
At that point, Dey knew he wanted to screen-print, so in 2007, he built or purchased the equipment needed and found space to work, “and it took off from there,” he says.
Benjamin Terrell, the owner of Epic Seconds who is also an artist himself, says he doesn’t remember the first time he saw a Dey piece.
“They started appearing like Banksys,” Terrell recalls — referring to the mysterious anonymous British artist known to produce guerrilla works of public art — “on the back of doors, signs posts, in pinball halls, and art-house movie theaters.”
Dey is a master of the mashup without “any irony or insincerity,” Terrell says. “His art is instantly recognizable, sometimes copied,” but Dey himself “always stays invisible.”
“I love the way he abstracts everything iconic with multiple layers,” from Bruce Lee profiles to Star Trek’s Uhuru behind DJ turntables, Terrell says. “It’s like he’s making pop culture itself into a Transformers toy.”
Blunt Graffix
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