Matt “Magick” Szal is an oil/watercolor painter and animation artist from Fort Worth, Texas. He studied at Pratt in New York City (on a talent scholarship out of high school) and his artwork has been shown in galleries in New York, Dallas and Los Angeles. Since 2020, he has been making the animated series “The Flying Dutchess” and teaching art/history classes for Varsity Tutors.
Magick’s work often deals with the sublime, the tension between the insignificance of man in comparison to nature. French philosophy, especially the work of Camus, Satre and Foucault is central to his work’s conceptual investigation. Art history and its relevance in today’s art world is another theme that finds itself in his essays and paintings.
It is my love of the Masters that came before me, that inspires my studio practice everyday. I picked up the brush for Goya, for Turner, for Vermeer, for Raphael, for Titian and for Caravaggio. In my darkest hour, their example sustains me and provides hope through constant struggles and financial depravity that developed into my hard-earned success. I only pray I can do them justice by my work, we honor their spirit in discussing them in my classes and private instruction…
– Matthew “Magiczyn” Szal – Artist Statement
The last fifteen years have been spent perfecting his dexterity with both the brush and the pen, in both digital and traditional mediums. His father took him to the Metropolitan Museum of Art when he was 12 years old. He loved it so much that he asked to return the next day, and since that date, he has been completely obsessed with Art and Art History. It was in early 2025 that he began signing his paintings as Magiczyn after 18 years of signing Szal. Using Magiczyn is a step in cultivating his unique mystique and vibe as a creative personality of significant caliber. As a professional painter/animation artist and a professional petrol/EV/HEV mechanic, he blends art and science in a way reminiscent of the great Renaissance men and women. To this end, he spends a great deal of time playing guitar, making astronomical observations, inventing/prototyping new electronic devices, writing art criticism along with transcendental meditation, Tai-Chi and Reiki for this balance of skill trees.
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