van maltese

Threshold painting no. 2, 2025, oil on panel, painted poplar, 84.5” x 39.5” x 2” (214.63 cm x 100.33 cm x 5.08 cm) 📸 @lfdocumentation

“Threshold painting” (2025) is currently on view in “Better Living,” a group exhibition at COOPER COLE (Toronto) that runs between July 17 - August 30, 2025. “Better Living” features works by Ed Baynard, Holly Coulis, Van Maltese, Geoff McFetridge, Nathalie Du Pasquier, Matt Paweski, Clare Rojas and B.Wurtz. Threshold painting, 2025, oil on panel, painted poplar, 84.5” x 39.5” x 2” (214.63 cm X 100.33 cm X 5.08 cm) 📸 @lfdocumentation

My solo exhibition, “I saw her duck” continues at COOPER COLE through January 20th, 2024. @coopercole Excerpt from Jenine Marsh’s brilliant text in response to the work: “Scattered around the eight paintings are several strewn pairs of shoes. The cast-off Doc Martens and sneakers may be evidence of a home gathering, where friends in bare feet drink wine and eat comedic amounts of chips, somewhere in the home’s deeper, intimate interior. Closer looking – the kind of looking that does not seek gratification in illusion alone – will perceive that although the shoes are evenly coloured and un-scuffed as if brand-new, their creased skins carry signs of heavy wear and age. Revealed to be carefully painted bronze casts of discarded shoes, the shoes carry the weight of their material value and historic lineage. Not so long ago, we begrudgingly learned that Classical Greek statues were originally painted to be life-like, with natural skin-tones, richly coloured garments, gold-leafed jewelry and armor. However, most of us have collectively elected to forget this vulgar history, in favor of our “more classic” ideal of stark and unpainted bronze and marble sculpture. How could art history possibly approve of the two traditional disciplines of visual art perversely co-mingling in the painted sculpture? Our normative perception of painting and sculpture mirrors that of our lived, embodied reality, which is forcibly compartmental, disciplinary and binary.” - Jenine Marsh @jeninemarsh 💚 Pictured above: installation views of “company”, 2016 - ongoing, oil on cast bronze + aluminum, socks.

‘Studio Flies’ is a yearly varied multiple project I began in 2022, featuring patinated silver casts of 💀 flies collected from my studio floor. Each fly is unique and cast directly from organic fly remains, with the edition size determined by the number of flies I find. For 2025, I made pendants, and set two synthetic corundums on each fly head where their eyes once were. There are 5 ‘Studio Flies’ in 2025’s edition, and each comes on a 30 inch black cord, accompanied by a numbered and signed edition card. 20% of proceeds will be donated to the Toronto Wildlife Centre. 2025 ‘Studio Flies’ are priced at $200 CAD (plus shipping or free local pickup/delivery within Toronto). How to purchase: Choose your fly number from the carousel of images (number in bottom right corner). When spoken for, I will remove the numbers below: 1. 3. 4. 5. DM, or email me to purchase - [email protected] p.s. Two ‘Studio Flies’ pendants are still available from 2022 ($150 each, no gem eyes in these ones) + and three fly/matchbook combos are still available for 2024 ($250 each). All prices are inclusive of the 20% donation. Thanks to Rana and Saydee for technical help and guidance.

2023 - 2024 Chart selection 📈📊📉 “Chart no. 70” - 2023, wood, paper, painted twine, googly eyes, hardware, chalkboard paint, 10 x 3 1/2 x 3/4 inches “Chart no. 69” - 2023, wood, paper, paint, plastic coated wire, hardware, chalkboard paint, 10 x 3 1/2 x 3/4 inches “Chart no. 74” - 2023, wood, paper, plexiglass, hardware, chalkboard paint, 10 x 3 1/2 x 3/4 inches “Chart no. 77” - 2024, wood, mdf, paper, plastic, hardware, chalkboard paint, 10 x 3 1/2 x 3/4 inches 📸 @lfdocumentation

Liar, 2020, cast bronze, hardware, 2.25” x 1.5” x 2.5” (5.72 cm x 3.81 cm x 8.35 cm) each 📸 @lfdocumentation

Earlier this year, “Floored no. 3” was featured in the group exhibition “Queer Multiples” held at Art Metropole @artmetropole . The exhibition ran from March 13 - May 11, 2025. Excerpt from press release: Queer Multiples presents works by queer artists drawn from Art Metropole’s inventory and spanning from 1978–2025. The featured works trace a queer tradition of artists’ multiples permeated with absurdity, sexuality, and magic, gesturing towards the slipperiness of everyday objects. The exhibition considers the form of the multiple and its potential to subvert (or queer) normative and capitalistic expectations.⁠ ⁠ Queer Multiples features works from Derya Akay, Barbara Balfour, Adrien Crossman, Jess Dobkin, Brendan Fernandes, General Idea, Terence Koh, Phillip Lý, Van Maltese, Julius Poncelet Manapul, Philip Leonard Ocampo, Robert Anthony O’Halloran, Peaches, Cleopatria Peterson, P.G. THING CO. (Paige Gratland), Finn Simard, Maximilian Suillerot Wilke, Derek Sullivan, Chelsea Thompto, Mary Tremonte, and Tobaron Waxman.⁠ “Floored no. 3”, 2021, patinated bronze, laquer, wax, 3.14” x 3.14” x 0.79” (8cm x 8cm x 2cm). Documentation by Ananna Rafa and Nathaniel Fischer.

“Trompe l’oeil devices” (2025), a collection of thirty fly sculptures, is currently on view in “Hello Hello Hello,” a group show curated by Michelle Grabner that runs concurrently with her solo exhibition “Underdone Potato” and at Schneider Museum of Art (Ashland, Oregon). “Hello Hello Hello” features works by Peggy Ahwesh, Alan Belcher, Robert Burnier, Anoka Faruqee & David Driscoll, Jeff Gibson, Michelle Grabner, Sara Greenberger Rafferty, Alex Jovanovich, Van Maltese, Allan McCollum, Carter Potter, Tony Tasset, Julia Wachtel and John Zinsser. The exhibition runs between April 17 and August 9, 2025. Thanks to @michelleagrabner and @schneidermoa for including my work in the exhibition! And thanks to @vallamiel for help with fabrication. “Trompe l’oeil devices,” 2025, oxidized silver, enamel 🪰

I recently worked with @sloweditions to publish a pencil multiple called PENCIL FOR YOUR NON-DOMINANT HAND. We made 500 pencils! We would like for you to join in by emailing us a drawing made with your non-dominant hand using this pencil multiple. These drawings will be shared on a blog created as part of the project. A link to the blog with instructions on how to participate is in my bio. The pencils are free, so if you see me around the city, don’t hesitate to ask for one. I’ll try to remember to carry around a handful of them in my pocket. More info on where you can pick one up coming soon! Some context for the project ✏️: For some time now, I have been experimenting with drawing using my left, non-dominant hand. This interest began as an exercise to develop muscle memory and potentially enhance cognitive functioning. However, I have since learned that the idea of practicing ambidexterity to improve brain function is widely debated—some argue that the brain’s efficiency benefits from having distinct hemispheric tasks. The idea of using ambidexterity to strengthen cognitive functioning is perhaps just another fact I thought I knew. Alongside trying to get better at what I do, I am also very curious about getting worse at it. This non-dominant hand drawing practice has evolved into something more profound: a way of exploring failure, and relinquishing some form of control. It’s a counterpoint to the idea that an artist’s legitimacy lies in some kind of consistency. Instead, I’m curious about how it feels to unlearn, or re-learn. As I prepare for an upcoming residency at Anderson Ranch @andersonranchartscenter , where I will spend five weeks drawing still lifes exclusively with my non-dominant hand, I am reflecting on this approach. Setting up a space to work that is void of expectations feels foundational, but I find myself contending with the paradox of over training my non-dominant hand: what will happen when the unskilled becomes skilled?

‘Studio Flies’ is a yearly varied multiple project I began in 2022, featuring patinated silver casts of 💀 flies collected from my studio floor. Each fly is unique and cast directly from organic remains, with the edition size determined by the number of flies I find. This year, instead of pendants, I have made matchboxes by hand and each contains two flies. The matchboxes reference the various tiny boxes I use to keep the flies safe until I am ready to prepare them for the casting process. The casts are intended to mimic the real thing, and I think they would look quite convincing if scattered along a windowsill. There are 7 ‘Studio Flies’ in this year’s edition, each accompanied by a numbered and signed edition card. 20% of proceeds will be donated to The Stop at Wychwood Barns. ‘Studio Flies’ are priced at $250 CAD (plus shipping or free local pickup/delivery within Toronto). How to purchase: Choose your fly number from the carousel of images (bottom right corner). When spoken for, I will remove the numbers below: 3. 4. 6. DM, or email me to purchase - [email protected] p.s. Three ‘Studio Flies’ pendants are still available from 2022 + 2023. These are priced at $150 each, inclusive of the 20% donation. 🪰🪰

In late 2021, @ltreed and I began working through Enzo Mari’s instructions for the Sedia 1 chair, initially published in ‘Proposta per un’autoprogettazione’, his 1974 catalogue of open-source furniture. Two VERY slow years later, we had finally completed three unique interpretations, titling them Sedia 1, Sedia 2, and Sedia 3. Pictured above: ‘Sedia 3’, 2021-2024, beech, wood wax finish, enamel on bronze, 32 x 19.5 x 20.5 inches Documentation 📸 @good_work

In late 2021, @ltreed and I began working through Enzo Mari’s instructions for the Sedia 1 chair, initially published in ‘Proposta per un’autoprogettazione’, his 1974 catalogue of open-source furniture. Two VERY slow years later, we had completed three unique interpretations, titling them Sedia 1, Sedia 2, and Sedia 3. This project was an exercise in doubt, frustration and curiosity—neither of us had ever built chairs before. Throughout the process, we found ourselves reflecting on our reasons for choosing to work through this particular chair design at this particular time. ‘I Have Never Built A Chair Before’ is a risograph zine responding to this. It documents our collaborative process and contains 6 written responses to Mari’s ‘Autoprogettazione?’ project by the following contributors: Peter Fleming ( @fleming_making ), Jenine Marsh ( @jeninemarsh ), Jonathan Sabine ( @msds_ ), Manden Murphy ( @robertapelan ), Liam Crockard ( @liamcrockard ), and Hannah Pax - Enkel ( @hannahilaryenkel ). ‘I Have Never Built A Chair Before’, 2024, 3 colour risograph cover with b&w interiors, 5 x 8 inches - edition of 100. Each edition comes with a folded set of instructions that includes the measurements and material specifications used for building our versions of Mari’s chair. Printed in Toronto by @colourcodeprint Published in Toronto by @paul_and_wendy_projects Documentation of completed chairs @good_work The zines will first be available through @paul_and_wendy_projects at the Multiples, Multiples, Multiples pop up on Sunday, Dec 15 (noon-5) @artmetropole - 896 College Street, and later through the Paul + Wendy Projects website -