A Conversation Between Mathew Cerletty and Mamie Tinkler

Karma presents a conversation between Mathew Cerletty and Mamie Tinkler on the occasion of Cerletty’s exhibition End of the Line at 22 East 2nd Street, New York.

Mathew Cerletty paints hyperreal depictions of signage, commercial tableaux, and everyday items with a precision that veers into the uncanny. At first glance, his paintings appear seamless, almost digital, but closer inspection reveals traces of the artist’s hand that attest to his dedication to traditional craft. Working in oil, the artist challenges the medium’s historical associations with “high” culture by elevating the supposedly banal objects that surround us, such as boxes and outlets, to subjects worthy of portraiture. Although consistent in his exacting technique, choice of medium, and approach to developing images and groupings, Cerletty composes singular works into installations that highlight the formal and conceptual connections between seemingly disparate canvases. While the subject matter draws clear inspiration from sources in popular and commercial culture, the artist eschews the mass-legibility associated with Pop, favoring an irreverence and delight in contradictions that confounds clear signification. Cerletty lives in Brooklyn.

Mamie Tinkler is an artist who lives in New York City. She received a BA from Columbia University and an MFA from Hunter College, both in New York. Her work was recently included in Ordinary People: Photorealism and the Work of Art since 1968 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2024). Recent solo exhibitions include A Troubling (2023) at Ulterior Gallery, New York (reviewed in The New York Times); and Yorick in Space (2023) at Tops Gallery, Memphis. She is represented by Ulterior Gallery.

These programs are free, but space is limited. RSVP is essential.

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Mathew Cerletty

End of the Line

November 7–December 20, 2025.

Karma

22 East 2nd Street

New York