After The Flood : An Interview

On The Road

My good friend, the writer and filmmaker Jody Jenkins recently took an artwork of mine painted on a metal garbage can cover and mounted it on a palm tree along the Atlantic coast of Georgia.

He writes: "We managed to get your piece up on a palm tree leading out to Tybee Island, just outside Savannah. It's one of my favorite stretches of road and thought it would be a good place to put it. And it blends in nicely with the green and all."

Above is the work from 1985 or so and Jody's daughter Eliza in the car wondering what the heck is going on.   It's not exactly street art. But if anyone has found this piece and brought it home, do please get in touch.

I have a certain number of these 1980s works produced from a silhouette of my niece when she was about a year old.  A photograph was cut and the resulting shape was turned into a stencil.  I made hundreds of these works.  The first one was called "the fall" – the only one that is oil on canvas.  The others are on a variety of materials from seat cushions to wood planks to glass to mosaic.  They are all currently stored in the US.

A Note About A Book About Death: A Book From Seattle

A Book About Death Seattle, curated by Kathleen McHugh and Almendra Sandoval, is now a book, which you can view and download as a PDF.  You can also print it out.  I produced an essay about the project, focusing in on the September 2009 New York exhibition at The Emily Harvey Foundation Gallery.  The book was conceived of and designed by artist and art dealer Almendra Sandoval.

You can read that essay online here: A Note About A Book About Death. 

The image above includes a photo of my work for the Seattle show, Talk To God, 2011.  Photo of MR by Ari Rossner.

Uncouth Vermouth : Bianca Miraglia at Underground

 
Uncouth Vermouth, Bianca Miraglia's natural vermouth debuts with my art labels at the Underground exhibition in Bushwick, Brooklyn on Friday August 10, 2012. 

The art labels are borrowed from the A Perfect Friend works and the Immaculate Perception collage – prints of which are featured at Keep Calm Gallery. The prints from A Perfect Friend are on view at Converge Gallery in Williamsport, PA through August 25.

Bianca Miraglia is a craft maker of vermouth and an expert on most things that are both drinkable and involve alcohol.  She has often lectured on wine and spirits and naturally-made microbrew beers. She produced a special batch of her Uncouth Vermouth for Underground.

The collage works above include: Top – Television (2005), Lincoln (2007), The Hunt (2007), The Leaving (2007).  All pieces are available from Converge Gallery.  Sorry, there is no vermouth left from the evening but you might be able to get the bottles if you contact Bianca.  More info about Underground and the gallery : Converge Gallery on FB.

Underground : Brooklyn August 10, 2012

Brooklyn, NY (August 10, 2012) - Converge Gallery and OfficeOps are pleased to announce their latest show Underground, a series of works by Matthew Rose, New York artists Rick Prol, Mike Cockrill and Jeffrey Allen Price, Kansas City, MO artist Tyler Coey, Vancouver, Canada artist Chris Brett, Chicago, IL artist Matthew Ryan Sharp, Oakland, CA artist Yosiell Lorenzo, Williamsport, PA artists Seth Goodman, Liz Parrish, Jeremiah Johnson, and Tim Miller, Northampton, MA artist Rick Beaupre and Dean Landry.

“As artists, we’re all constantly struggling to remain relevant, grow and evolve aesthetically. This is a process that is ongoing… the ‘cup’ will never be full. We will continue to do this and strive for growth until the day we are no more. There is always a ‘NEXT BIG THING’ and many of us do not fit this mold.   – Matthew Ryan Sharp

The show, ‘Underground,’ is located in the Office Ops building, 57 Thames Street, Second Floor, Brooklyn, NY on August 10, 2012 from 5-9pm.

About the Artists
Matthew Rose is an American artist living and working in Paris, France.  Known for his collage work and large scale installations of his work, as well as the global art project A Book About Death, he graduated Brown University with a degree in semiotics and linguistics (1981).  His works are widely collected Europe and the US and are in both public and private collections.

Rick Prol is an ‘80s East Village icon whose work features cartoonish mayhem, death and suicide in dilapidated and decaying settings. He dabbles in a variety of media including – installations, paintings, sculpture and drawings.  Much of the inspiration for Prol’s work stems from general childhood trauma. Cartoon expressionism was the language he wanted to use to convey his organic, personal experiences about life. He pulls from the urban realities of city life; brutality, authoritarian relationships, decay and destruction of the world around him, and more recently the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Mike Cockrill is a figurative painter who recently announced that he was having a “Modern Breakdown” and began posted a series of photos of himself in his studio working in a radically new direction. Girls and women with fragmented faces and 1950’s hairdos, and other almost tribal works in which the female is merged with the clown and stacked like totems. Story telling was gone. So were the shades of Norman Rockwell.

Jeffrey Allen Price is a multi-media and interdisciplinary installation artist. His work often alludes to natural processes such as growth and decay and ultimately comments on consumerism and materialistic culture. His work is often process-based and accumulative, humorous and playful. His works have been shown internationally and have been features in The New York Times and on the Food Network.

Tyler Coey is a Kansas City artist whose pieces combine the brush work and technique of traditional painting with contemporary subjects and icons. Attention was quickly directed to the local gallery scene, which in turn lead to national and international exhibitions.

Chris Brett is an artist from Vancouver, Canada who utilizes mixed media to create his works. His work is influenced by graffiti, children’s books, and cartoons. He uses rich colors and dark tones to express themes of love, lust, nature and heartbreak.

Matthew Ryan Sharp is a Chicago-based artist whose work is loaded with people we all know to some degree, sharing a colorful and lighthearted view into the American soul. His images can exist in opposition between the subject and statement, the irony painted on found object canvases. He offers truth in these images, a reflection of our own humanity laced with sarcasm and humor. He does it in brutal cartoonish fervor.

Yosiell Lorenzo is a California-based artist whose work appears to be whimsical and free-spirited but when you look deeper at his work you see sadness and longing. He utilizes many different mediums in his works including: sculpture, ink, graphite, digital vector art, and paints.  Recently he was a featured artist in Pixar Times and has shown his work in Gallery1988.

Rick Beaupre is a Massachusetts surrealist artist whose pieces utilize acrylic and oil paints as well as pencil sketches, charcoals, casein (which is a quick drying, aqueous medium which uses a milk-based binding agent), and watercolors. 

Seth Goodman began thinking about class and wealth disparities at an early age growing up in Ballston Spa, New York, the blue-collar ugly stepchild to the next town over, high-rolling Saratoga Springs. His works are reflective of what he witness while growing up and as shocking as they may seem to some, to others they are the people living in the trailer next door.

Liz Parrish is a Pennsylvania native who draws inspiration from her surroundings, the people she cares about, ill-tempered animals, and abandoned places. She utilizes acrylics, pen and ink on wood. Her works are whimsically grotesque and feature distorted yet almost adorable creatures of her own creation.

Jeremiah Johnson is a Pennsylvania native whose pieces include works on paper inspired by dreams, visions, experimentations, and life, handmade, original decorative prints and paintings, drawings, and works inspired by the current state of healthcare in America.  His work is part of several public and private collections including The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Lock Haven University, Susquehanna Health, University of Chicago, Syracuse University, and Temple University.

Tim Miller is a Pennsylvania native whose pieces include 3-D works, which include ideas of love, life, loss, and luck permeate the work and in its finished state will form a seamless timeline where each piece holds its individual space in time while still being a part of an integrated whole. The 88 is an ongoing project that will consist of 88 different works with a common background and each piece measuring 8"x 8".

About OfficeOps
OfficeOps is an arts performance and production center. The second floor is the primary space for events, rehearsals, classes, and management of OfficeOps. It is laid out over a 15,000 square foot converted factory floor with space for any number of arts and culture related activities. Based on Brooklyn, NY, Office Ops is located at 57 Thames Street, Second Floor, Brooklyn, NY. For more information, please call: 718-418-2509, or visit: http://www.officeops.org/.

About Converge Gallery
Converge Gallery exhibits a variety of fine contemporary art (photography, paintings, mixed media, sculpture, installations and drawings). The gallery represents the talents of many artists local and non-native, emerging and established.  Based in historic downtown Williamsport, PA, Converge Gallery is located at 140 West Fourth Street. Gallery hours are Wednesday-Friday 11am-7pm and Saturday 11am-5pm.   For more information, please call: 570-435-7080, or visit: www.convergegallery.com or email: john@convergegallery.com.


More information here:  http://convergegallery.com/popup/

AFTER THE FLOOD INSTALLATION

After The Flood, installation shots at Converge Gallery, Williamsport, PA.  Exhibition from 29 June - 25 August, 2012.  For more information: Matthew Rose – After The Flood.

After The Flood : June 29 - August 25, 2012

Collage works and terribly unusual objects: After The Flood at Converge Gallery, in Williamsport, Pennsylvania (also home of The Little League World Series).

The exhibition will bring together some 40 works on canvas and wood as well as altered objects in ceramic and plastic recovered after the great flood from way back when.  In addition more than 30 large prints from the surrealist collage series A Perfect Friend will be on view.

AFTER THE FLOOD: MATTHEW ROSE  
OPENING RECEPTION: JUNE 29, 6 PM
EXHIBITION: JUNE 29 - AUGUST 25, 2012

140 West Fourth Street
Williamsport, PA 17701
TEL: 570.435.7080
CONVERGEGALLERY.COM

For more information and images, please contact John Yogodzinksy at the gallery.

To see more works from this and other collage and object series please visit the web site:

MATTHEW ROSE STUDIO

Qao Series, NYC, Circa 1989

The Qao Series.  Lafayette Street, New York City.  Chez Russell Steinert. Circa 1989.

Double Buckets at Chemin des Arts Librarie in Paris

My double bucket sculpture now on view at The Chemin des Arts Librarie in Paris.

Address: 46 Rue Hermel, 75018 Paris, France.  Tel: 01 42 58 67 60

THE EARLY YEARS

Second Nature (In Paris) At: Projective City

 MATTHEW ROSE, SECOND NATURE, 59 x 59 CM, COLLAGE ON MASONITE BOARD, 2009.
 
SECOND NATURE
14 juin – 1er juillet 2012  Vernissage – jeudi 14 juin – 19h
Ouverture: Mercredi – Dimanche / 12h – 18h
34 Rue Hélène Brion, Paris 75013
Métro: Ligne 14 – Bibliothèque (Click here for directions)
PROJECTIVE CITY WEB SITE


SECOND NATURE FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE 

“Second Nature” suggests those things that have become so habitual to us that they seem innate. Habits of thought, action, or sensibility become so ingrained that we no longer notice that they are not in fact natural but instead conditioned and developed. Theodore Adorno famously developed the concept in his writing about the culture industry, describing it as the pre-constructed social and material space into which the individual must fit and conform. Contemporary residents of the West grow up in a world of IKEA furniture, concrete, television, cars and the 40-hour work week, and inevitably take such things as totally natural. Perhaps more importantly, built into this cultural environment are ideological constructions like race, gender, class and sexual identity – this is the reason why the seemingly innocuous culture industry is so crucial to investigate. Adorno’s key point was not simply that we have become alienated from the natural world of rocks, trees, animals and lightning storms inhabited by our ancient ancestors, but that this world has largely been replaced by a second, constructed world that we cannot help but accept as “natural.”

One consequence of this replacement is that our perception of the original natural world is forever to be viewed through the lens of second nature. Boundaries between the natural and cultural are no longer coherent. Yet the artists in this exhibition take this convoluted borderland as a generative space. The show brings together work in photography, drawing, collage, sculpture and mixed media, and presents a variety of aesthetic approaches. From quiet images of natural spaces interacting with human artifacts, to careful compositions that express deeply human issues by using imagery from the natural world, to complex, fragmentary collages portraying the ubiquity of second nature itself, these artists collectively explore the complexity of issues that exists at the intersection of these two worlds.

Matthew Rose:  Rose’s collage work collides imagery of all kinds to form richly textured tapestries of possibility. Frequently borrowing from classic 50’s and 60’s popular culture, the work reflects our contemporary obsession with nostalgia while creating complex symbols of culture itself. The natural world appears through fragmented magazine illustrations, as one more element of cultural production, and the viewer quickly develops a sense of the inescapability of the social. Yet when given more time, the result is not a cacophony of symbolic forms, but rather a series of overlapping melodies, suggesting that while escape might not be possible, it might also not be necessary.
Originally from New York, Rose has lived and worked in Paris for over 20 years and has participated in over fifty exhibitions all over Europe and the US. He is perhaps best known as the curator and developer of the immense “A Book About Death,” a postcard-art show started in 2009 in New York which has since traveled to various international venues.

FRANÇAIS 

La notion de “Seconde Nature” suggère que les choses qui nous sont -devenues- si familières nous semblent innées. Nos habitudes -de penser, d’agir, de ressentir- sont désormais si ancrées que nous ne remarquons même plus qu’elles ne sont pas aussi naturelles qu’elles pourraient le sembler. Elles sont, bien au contraire, tout à fait conditionnées et formatées par un environnement “culturel”. Théodore Adorno, à l’origine de ce concept -qui fait son apparition dans ses écrits sur “l’industrie de la culture”-, le décrit comme “l’espace social et matériel pré-construit dans lequel l’individu doit s’intégrer et se conformer”.

Le monde occidental est aujourd’hui régi par du mobilier suédois, des murs de béton préfabriqué, des centaines de chaînes de télévision et des semaines de 35 heures, toutes ces données qui sont aujourd’hui considérées comme tout à fait “naturelles”… Et, qui, plus important encore, s’imposent dans cet environnement déjà biaisé de conceptions idéologiques telles que race, genre, classe,  identité sexuelle, etc – faisant de l’industrie culturelle un élément fondamental à explorer. Selon Adorno, l’être humain est aliéné par cet environnement fait de pierres, d’arbres, d’animaux, de tonnerre… d’éléments habités par les fantômes de ses ancêtres. Mais surtout, que cet environnement premier, primal, a largement été remplacé par un second : un monde construit qui est depuis, à son tour, assimilé comme étant de l’ordre du “naturel”.

Conséquence directe de ce remplacement, de cet amalgame : notre perception du monde naturel et originel est à jamais accessible depuis le filtre de l’objectif de cette “seconde nature”. Les frontières entre naturel et culturel ne sont désormais plus définies. Les artistes présentés abordent cette délimitation instable et nébuleuse comme un espace générateur de créativité. L’exposition rassemble une variété d’approches esthétiques de cette notion de “Seconde nature” : photographies, dessins, collages, sculptures et techniques mixtes. Des images paisibles d’espaces naturels en interaction avec des artefacts de l’homme, aux compositions soignées en opposition/en réponse à des problématiques profondément humaines en passant par une illustration du monde naturel, ou encore par, de complexes collages dépeignant l’omniprésence de la seconde nature elle-même… L’ensemble des artistes explore la complexité des questions qui résultent de la confrontation de ces deux mondes : nature et culture.

Artistes: Géraud Soulhiol, Benoît Pype, Marc Gourmelon, Nesta Mayo, Nesta Mayo, Matthew Rose

Plus d'infos: SECOND NATURE

Matthew Rose: Les collages de Matthew Rose rassemblent des images de toutes sortes pour former des tapisseries richement texturées et ouvertes aux possibles. Festival d’une imagerie empruntant aux classiques des années 50 et à la culture populaire des années 60, son travail reflète une obsession contemporaine et nostalgique, créant ainsi de complexes symboles issus de la culture elle-même. Le monde naturel est largement représenté à travers des extraits d’illustrations de magazines. Le spectateur est rapidement convié à se rendre compte de l’inéluctabilité et de l’ascendant pris par la culture sur la nature. Si le résultat semble être une cacophonie de formes symboliques, il est, au contraire, une série de mélodies entrelacées qui invitent à penser que toute évasion est impossible, et finalement peut-être fort peu judicieuse ou nécessaire. Originaire de New York, Matthew Rose vit et travaille à Paris depuis plus de 20 ans. Il a participé à plus de cinquante expositions en Europe et aux États-Unis. Matthew Rose est également connu pour ses activités en tant que conservateur et promoteur du projet «A Book about Death » -une exposition de cartes postales d’art, initiée en 2009 à New York et qui a depuis voyagé dans le monde entier.  – Benjamin Evans, curator, Projective City.

In London - More Than Words: Installation View

More Than Words, exhibition at jaggedart, 28A Devonshire Street, London.  From May 16 - June 16, 2012.   Top: Paintings (1999), silkscreen edition of 10. (7 works in all plus post card). Middle: America, collage series, 2010. 12 works in all.  Bottom: LAIT, 1993. Unique piece.

Contact the gallery.

LAIT in LONDON

LAIT, a collage on bottle assemblage work from 1993, will be part of MORE THAN WORDS at JAGGEDART in London.  In addition, a series of collage works on paper from the series America as well as the silkscreened edition text works PAINTINGS will be on view.

The exhibition brings together eight artists (Sara J. Beazley, Jeremy May, Maria Noel, Francisco Prieto, Priscilla Purcell, Patricia Swannell, Thurle Wright, Matthew Rose) working with text, script, fonts, writing, printing and language opening on 16 May 2012, with a private view on 23 May.  The exhibition runs through 16 June 2012.

Right: Installation shot of the PAINTINGS silkscreen works.  From left to right are the word as image works for Vermeer, Rembrandt and Morandi.  The entire edition (unframed) is also available at the gallery. Edition is 10; 7 works in the series. Gallery details below. 

Jaggedart  28A Devonshire Street
London W1G 6PS  England UK
Website: http://jaggedart.com/   
Telephone : + 44 (0)20 7486 7374

Her Royal Majesty Magazine

Several of my collage works on paper, including The Lovers (web page cover, pictured), are featured in the Paris Literary Arts magazine, Her Royal Majesty.  You can order the publication on the site, here.

RAY JOHNSON HOMMAGE : 50 YEARS OF MAIL ART

Small collage made for the Hommage to Ray Johnson / 50 Years of Mail Art Exhibition in Italy.

Click the image to enlarge.

More here: RAY JOHNSON / 50 YEARS OF MAIL ART 1962 - 2012

PAINTINGS, 1999

Matthew Rose: "Paintings," 1999, seven serigraphs, ink on paper, ap edition 3/3, 30 x 24 inches each.  Boca Raton Museum of Art Permanent Collection, installation in collection galleries. Boca Raton, Florida. For more information on the edition, e mail: PAINTINGS.

AFTER THE FLOOD : ABSTRACTS

After The Flood: Abstractions. 2012. Gouache, glue, paper on canvas; 17 1/2 x 23 1/2 cm. 

Click each image to enlarge.

On view at STORIE PARIS.

MAN OF THE HOUR : THE CULTURE INTERVIEW

I was recently interviewed by Randolf Castro of Man of the Hour Magazine.  I discussed methods, influences, art works, and money and creation, not in that order. I also discussed the global project A Book About Death.

Read the Culture Interview here.

Left: Figure 3, 2008. Drawing on vintage paper.

SAATCHI - THE END OF THE WORLD

I entered the Saatchi Online Showdown with my piece The End of The World, a 50-centimeter square collage on canvas from 2008. The piece made it through the first round of 1900 to the final 300. To see it up close, "like" the work. or pass it along: Saatchi Matthew Rose Collage Showdown Competition.

UN<>CUT : WINTER 2011

UN<>CUT MAGAZINE just published its Winter 2011 issue and in its many beautiful pages, you'll find a short text and portfolio of my GOD & COUNTRY works on paper.

See the digital preview here. Copies are available (print and digitital) here: UN<>CUT.

BLINDS, 2011

Works from the top: EDISON, SANTA FE, LUG, each 29 x 29 cm, on wood. 2011.

Her Royal Majesty At Le Carmen Paris

The launch party for the 11th issue of Her Royal Majesty is tomorrow, November the 1st at Le Carmen (75009, metro Pigalle).

The magazine will be available for sale at a discounted price at the party, and original artwork by Matthew Rose and Cara Tobe will be exhibited, along with special edition artists' prints of work featured in Her Royal Majesty by Mia Funk, Rosy Lamb, Grant Creegan and Lendl Barcelos.

There will be three performances, all female duets, beginning at 9:30pm.

Occupy This

Letterpress print, Fuck You & Your Politics, produced by Swiss artist and letterpress printer, Fritz Sauter, was printed in an edition of 75. Each piece measures 32 x 25.75 cm on acid-free paper. There are 10 unnumbered, signed and dated artist proofs.

The stripped down work, all in black, is meant to mimic the politic posturing of early 20th century handbills.

Feel to reproduce this print/image on your websites, Right Wing, Left Wing, Republican, Democrat, Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street or just because you like the typeface.  We just ask that you include the URL of this post. Please leave comments.

BIRD WATCHING WALL PAPER

Invite Audubon and friends into your home. Have a cup while you check out rare Nepalese species from your kitchen table.  Run a two-inch band of birds in a forest around your bedroom. Dream outloud.

BIRDPAPER, my new wall paper print made for the GOD & COUNTRY exhibition at STORIE PARIS is now available in linear square meters (110 x 90 cm).  The wall paper print will be produced at Burning Boy Press Paris.

DESIGN SPONGE recently wrote about it on their site: DESIGN SPONGE.

Wall to wall to wall installations are available, as well as rolls for do-it-yourself installations in bands or rectangles or squares.  The bird watching wall paper is made to order.

For more information on BIRDPAPER installations, please click:  CONTACT.

Fine art, 30 x 40 cm, signed and dated prints of Birdpaper, are available from : KEEP CALM GALLERY in LONDON.

THE SWISS ARE PERFECT

One of 24 prints, works on paper and objects in the collaborative project, Adventures In A Box, with Swiss artist and letterpress printer Fritz Sauter.

CHELSEA MUSEUM NYC: NURTUREART BENEFIT

BE DE STILJ NATURE MORTE (BIRDPAPER), 2011, a work on paper from the GOD & COUNTRY series, will be part of the Nurture Art benefit exhibition at The Chelsea Art Museum.

The benefit opens on October 11 at the Chelsea Art Museum, 556 West 22nd Street, New York NY.

More information: http://nurtureart.artcat.com/work.php?id=932

Yaya Dials Up God

My god daughter, Yaya, 10, dials in to Talk To God, at the God & Country exhibition, September 2011, at Storie, 20 Rue Delambre, 75014 Paris. The exhibition continues through the end of September. The calls are free.

FRANCE 24 INTERVIEW

Arts News: September 4, 2011 par tvnportal

EXHIBITION INFO: STORIE PARIS

SANGRIA, 2011 : EDITION (33)

Sangria, an edition of 33 painted bottles. 20011. The works symbolize the symbol of the blood of Christ, which is wine.  This view is an installation of the works, along with Red Star, Yellow Ground, a gouache on canvas, 2009.  These and other works will be viewable at GOD & COUNTRY at STORIE, from 30 August to 30 September, with a vernissage on Thursday, 1 September.  20 Rue Delambre 75014, Paris.  See: http://www.storieblog.com/

FRANCE 24 INTERVIEW: GOD & COUNTRY

CLICK THIS TEXT TO VIEW VIDEO: Interview with Eve Jackson, culture editor, France 24, about the exhibition, GOD & COUNTRY,  how I work, the possible meanings of these works, as well as a quick tour of the project A BOOK ABOUT DEATH.