WHO
Matt Vescovo, the self-proclaimed Master Of The Obvious, is driven to make things easier to understand. A successful freelance advertising art director based in Brooklyn, he began creating paintings in a flat diagrammatic style as an outlet for creative energy away from the commercial demands of his day job. “I began exploring those simple things we all do,” says Vescovo, “I’ve always been interested in the details of everyday life. How do things really work? Why do people do what they do? What are the rituals we all do, even if we don’t admit them?” Answering these questions and more is what drives the series of observational drawings Vescovo calls Instructoart.

WHAT
All Instructoart pieces are based on photographs of friends and family that Vescovo stages, then meticulously renders in detail—but not too much detail—to create instructional graphics that inform and amuse. How do you put money in a stripper’s g-string? What is the best way to remove pubic hair from the soap after a shower? What’s the correct way to signal your waiter that you’d like the check? How do you actually “air kiss” anyway? He puts an irreverent twist on the answers, explaining it all in a wordless way that seems to be inspired by those little cards you find in airplane seat pockets that tell you what to do in an emergency.

WHERE
Beyond apparently innocuous subjects, Vescovo has also taken on topics that make viewers uncomfortable. “Mighty Scared Whitie” documents the trajectory of white fiight when two men, one black and one white, approach each other on a city street, while “Gay. Straight.” illustrates a typical gesture of familiarity among men but shows its relative contextual meaning. Vescovo’s simple drawings make us think.

Nearly all the Instructoart info graphics started out as limitededition large format fine artworks. The original drawings were shown first at the Galleria Ramis Barquet in Manhattan, and subsequently at the Mendenhall Sobieski Gallery in Los Angeles, Espacio Arte Joven in Mexico City, and the Stediljk Museum in The Netherlands. The sharp humor and wry commentary in these drawings led MTV executives to commission Vescovo, working with animators at Hornet NY and Fad NY, to create a series of short animated films that became network IDs and interstitials at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2004. Since then Vescovo has parlayed Instructoart into a successful series of products, never selling out, staying true to his original vision. “I’ve been lucky that I haven’t had to compromise,” says Vescovo.

WHEN
He’s done several book editions of the self-titled Instructoart and the Instructoart Travel Edition (with handy plastic cover), and a book called The Life And Death of “Bling Bling,” a cautionary tale of the misappropriation of urban slang. Vescovo hopes to keep telling us how to do things, spinning Instructoart into more books, a series of animated shorts for distribution on cell phones and PDAs, and more gallery shows.

WHY
Instructoart has been likened to the hit TV show Seinfeld, in that nothing much really happens, but it tickles the funny bone in an ironic kind of recognition that somehow intimates that you’ve been there too. Vescovo seems to latch on to the uncool moments in life and find the humor in them. According to Vescovo’s publisher, Jorge Pinto Books, “Instructoart’s appeal comes from Matt’s ability to tap into the truth about people.” In his charming flat drawings, Vescovo gives us vital advice for everyday living. When it comes to figuring out how to do the Hokey Pokey or making fart noises with our armpits, who are we going to ask? It’s got to be the Master Of The Obvious. Who else?

MATT VESCOVO | www.instructoart.com

TOP: That's what it's all about. Frustrated with random interpretations he witnessed at parties, Matt Vescovo broke down the official way to do the Hokey Pokey.