Artist
Statement
The
Dharma Clones
The
work in this show is made up of abstract oil paintings
which are very similar to one another, differing only
in small details, and covered with thick layers
of color. In addition the exhibit features
map like drawings that all contain a locational
“cross”, as well as and one hybrid monotype/drawing,
“In the Continuum #2”, which combines the patterns
and colors of the paintings with the pen and ink work
of the drawings. Modernist, almost Contructivist
in aspect, these paintings owe a debt to Jess, the
late San Francisco based painter. The drawings
began as monotypes taken from the surfaces of
paintings in process; they resemble giant Rohrschach
Tests and beg the question, “Where are we?”
These paintings and drawings were begun during a residence
in January of 2008 at the Djerassi Resident Artist
Program in Woodside California. I am forever indebted
to DRAP director Dennis O'Leary for stopping me before
I went too far.
John Matlack
Mr.
Matlack received a Master's Degree in Art Practice
from the University of California at Berkeley. He
has exhibited widely throughout Colorado and the western
states including the Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver,
the Denver Art Museum, The Colorado Springs Fine Art
Center, the Aspen Center for the Arts and Humanities,
the Yellowstone Art Center, the University of California
at Davis, the Berkeley Art Center, and the Boulder
Museum of Contemporary Art. He has received
several awards and grants including the 2000 Dale
Djerassi Fellowship, the Neodata Endowment for the
Arts and Humanities, and the Boulder Arts Commission
Individual Artist Grant. He has completed several
arts residencies, including the Djerassi Resident
Artist Program in Woodside , California, and Shark's
Ink, in Lyons, Colorado. He has curated several exhibitions
including ”Pure Painting” at the Boulder Museum of
Contemporary Art which won Westword's Best
of Denver Award. He has worked as artist assistant
to Christo and Jeanne-Claude on many of their
temporary art projects, including “The Running Fence
Project”. He served on the Board of Directors of the
Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art from 1991-98. Mr.
Matlack shows his work at Spark Gallery in Denver.
He was awarded a second residency at
the Djerassi Program which he completed in
January, 2004, as well as a third residency
in January, 2008. A solo exhibit of Mr.
Matlack's work entitled “Maps” was exhibited at BMOCA
early in 2006.
Mr.
Matlack's work appears in many public and private
collections, including the Legislative Services Building,
Art in Public Places Program, Denver, Co, City of
Boulder, Boulder Public Library, The Tweed Museum
of Art, University of Minnesota, Boulder Community
Hospital, Foothills Branch, and the Denver Hyatt Convention
Center Hotel.
For
further information contact John Matlack at (303)
601-5370, email jwmatlack@yahoo.com.
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