Todd Monaghan, an American Artist based in New York City, sometimes referred to as tm, explores spontaneous intuition and the subconscious mind by flicking, spilling, dripping and scrapping paint into layered, textural, immersive, multi-level paintings and collages. Monaghan’s paintings engage formally with line and density on a large scale and thematically stare into the widest scope of all – our boundless universe. Stretching as large as 118 inches, these paintings relate to the individual and whole of the cosmos in their gripping, expressionistic approach. He has exhibits in many international galleries and art fairs including Paris, NY, Atlanta, Miami, LA and abroad. His works are in the collections of important private, corporate, and academic collections.  

​Todd Monaghan has no easel, he paints in an unconventional way, pinning his canvases to his studio walls then bringing them to the floor then back to the walls again and then the floor searching to see something new each time. He is spontaneous in his movement welcoming chance and experimentation. The work is colorful and textural and has a sense of discovery. Monaghan creates multi-level immersive works that encourages the viewer to explore the parts as well as the overall whole and their interplay.

By constantly reinventing the game/practice of painting (i.e., flipping in various direction, using various conventional and unconventional materials), Monaghan seeks to uncover the story that exists within the paint. He approaches his work from a mystical/spiritual perspective with an emphasis on intuition. Through his studies of breath awareness in the martial arts and yoga, Monaghan realizes that there is an energy that springs forth from Mother Nature herself. He sees that this energy, which exists outside the five senses, guides and informs the five senses. In his work, Monaghan strives to channel this life force by becoming an instrument for it. He draws from intuition and serendipity looking for the images within the images accessible only through the subconscious.  

Just as a story has a surface text and subtext, so do each and every one of Monaghan’s artworks. The basic images evolve so that, with each new viewing, underlying images “pop". Each form takes on various images as one looks deeper and deeper, imbuing the picture with new meaning, just as the face in a rock or tree imbues in it the spirit of life itself.  Through this process with both his paintings and collages, Monaghan strives to create an exciting distillation of our political, spiritual and out-of-control pop culture in the 21st Century.  This is forever an evolving process.

Education:

​BA from Emory University
Certificate In Film, New York University
Collaborative Study with artist Gregory Ilich,   RISD Brown University
Eagle Scout, BSA