Matt McCormick Charts the Evolution of His Charcoal Cowboys in New Book

Summary

• Matt McCormick is releasing a new monograph, What I Feel I Can’t Say, spotlighting his charcoal drawings under his publishing imprint, Highway Liaison
• Releasing November 28, the forthcoming book features nearly 200 drawings created over the last decade

Los Angeles-based artist Matt McCormick is releasing a new book tracing the quiet evolution of his charcoal practice. Released under his publishing atelier, Highway Liaison, What I Feel I Can’t Say assembles nearly 200 drawings created over the last decade in a personal record animated by the artist’s cool, cinematic restraint.

The collection began in 2013, when McCormick got serious about his art practice. “I’d always squeezed it in around everything else, but the noise was starting to quiet,” he reflected in a recent post. “Felt like I was making up for lost time and years of talking about it but not actually doing it.”

Over time, the stark, pared-back illustrations fused with textual elements, often lyrics of songs that played in his studio, tether the drawings to personal narrative. His now-iconic cowboys cutting across American landscapes arrived a year later as “a callback to my childhood dressing up like the Lone Ranger and idolizing the Marlboro man,” he mused. “A suit of armor that allowed me to break through insecurity and self doubt.”

With hundreds now under his belt, McCormick’s charcoal works have taken on a life of their own. Appearing on torn journal pages and small sheets of paper, the upcoming monograph offers a candid glimpse into an artist in the midst of becoming. “What I’ve always liked is the looseness, how much space they leave open for other’s interpretations,” McCormick expressed. “I’m sure I’ll keep making more, but for now, it felt like the right time to get most of them in one place.”

What I Feel I Can’t Say, published by Highway Liaison, will be available November 28 through McCormick’s website and select retailers.