Conversations with Ben Jacobs and Matt Cronin

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Jacobs and Matt Cronin.

Hi Ben and Matt, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
The whole thing is hard to explain. Matt wrote out some blurb and then I- Ben- said forget it. It wasn’t as if his response wasn’t “good” per se, yet it just was not what it actually was. Finding something just as it actually was or is or might be is kind of the whole point. The thing is, is that none of it makes sense. My journey into art started late and once is started it never stopped. I had a vision for a piece and I saw a value in Matt- that being someone who could paint realistically which was a skill I lacked. I saw a piece in which a Disney character sat within a flood of abstract. I needed the Disney character, so I called Matt, not expecting much, but he came over and from there an obsession bloomed.

Writing about a craft that deals in a visual and an inherently ambiguous medium is tough and doesn’t make sense. I believe that horsbac’s art is largely focused on avoiding small talk. Even explanations are not the goal. There needs to be a brave exploration into some unknown. I think that where we are today is due to the amount of time we dedicate to painting and the obsession we both share.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Everything has been struggle and yet nothing has at all. Struggle is necessary in art. As a partnership, we fight all the time while working. Sometimes we disagree on things. Individually, the two of us suffer greatly as the lives we have cultivated are brutal and nonstop.

If the road is smooth than something is probably missing or lacking. There is no struggle though. The whole thing is a dream, no matter the pain.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
We specialize in confusing and shocking our audience, but also intriguing them. We like to bring the viewers down a path in their mind and trying to figure out what the story on the canvas is.
We don’t go into a painting too often where we know what we are creating. We just get into a creative flow, stand in front of something, whether it’s a canvas, an old dirty table top, or a door that was sitting in an old field for years collecting dust and dirt. Those types of “canvases” are what gets us excited.

What’s next?
This week we hope to finish a commission piece and after that there is nothing except everything and painting will occur. We will continue to try and make work that helps us understand something we never knew.

Ride into a sunset and keep on ripping and ripping and only stop to think when the horse needs water.

Less Thinky Thinky, More Do’ey Do’ey.

HB

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.horsbac.us
• Instagram: @horsbac