April 13, 2008
i updated my website today with images from Surveillance Camera birdhouse (under projects) and Visiting Days (installation). i also added another print and some new drawing and painting work.
November 4, 2007
here are a few more images from the show at Brooks Barrow Gallery. the website is being reworked and i should have a new site within the next 6 months.
October 11, 2007
to the right are a few more images from the show at brooks barrow gallery. the reception is saturday, october 13th, 6-9:30pm, in the third ward, milwaukee, wi, usa. there are more details about the show below.
the foot soldier image is by brandon bauer and i made the other images. the poster image is from a collaborative drawing brandon and i worked on.
October 1 - October 27, 2007
Over There
brandon bauer and colin matthes
This exhibition brings together the work of Colin Matthes and Brandon Bauer, two artists engaged in work dealing with topical subjects for over a decade. The work on display comes from Matthes ongoing series Everyday Transactions, and Bauers Soldier series. The exhibition also features a series of collaborative paintings and drawings.
In the work of both artists, one can see an honest search for understanding of the mechanisms that drive war and conflict, a voice challenging American aggression, and sympathy for all those affected by conflict. The work often presents more questions than conclusions and in contemplating the work a rich and layered interpretation unfolds. These artists seek to see the whole situation and ultimately to find a new way forward. A common motif in both artists work is the soldier, depicted at once as a fortified mass, as protector, as a vulnerable human being, and as a disposable resource.
In Matthes work, one sees an artist striving to understand the mechanisms of American hegemony often creating paradoxical scenarios that include business transactions, leisure activities, and elements of warfare. The work asks questions about humanity and our relationships in this globalized world. In Bauers Soldier series the work show an immense sympathy for the soldiers fighting and dying from an unseen enemy. The works on display by both artists are two sides of the same coin. These works question the cost of war, as well as its effect.
We are fortunate in this exhibition to not only see the remarkable work of two very talented artists, but we are also given the opportunity to see where their distinct bodys of work intersect in the collaborative pieces on display. In a time of divisive politics it is easy for those on any side of an issue to offer sound byte solutions to the complex situations that face our world. It is refreshing to find two artists engaged in these issues and unafraid to tackle them in all of their complexity, and yet both artists speak directly and honestly in their distinctive works.
For more information, please contact the gallery at 414.331.8635.
brooks barrow gallery titled "over there." the reception is saturday, october 13th, 6-9:30pm.
September 22, 2007
hi there, it has been a while since the last update. i have been busy the last few months. there are some exciting milwaukee events right now. if local you must check out the paper politics exhibiton at walkers point center for the arts. also, brandon bauer and i are having a two-person exhibition at brooks barrow gallery titled "over there." the reception is saturday, october 13th, 6-9:30pm.
also, check out the newly formed just seeds visual resistance artists' cooperative. the justseeds/visual resistance artists' cooperative is a decentralized community of artists who have banded together to both sell their work online in a central location and to collaborate with and support each other and social movements.
May 4, 2007
hello, there are new photos up in the everyday transactions installation section from a mural called Everyday Transactions: the Familiar Inconceivable, which was recently completed at 37th and North in Milwaukee, WI.
the mural was completed as part of the milwaukee based temporary public art program IN:SITE. to the right is a photo of the completed mural and a detail below that.
Also, I am in a group show in Madrid, Spain called Ni Musculos Ni secreciones this month.
keep an eye out for an upcoming show in copenhagen, denmark as well.
April 2, 2007
hello, there are new photos up in the everyday transactions installation section from a recent show at Neighbors. I am in a group show in Madrid, Spain called Ni Musculos Ni secreciones this May.
i am also working to complete a mural for IN:SITE, a temporary public art program in Milwaukee. it will go public in May as well.
January 31, 2007
hello, i have an show coming up at Neighbors. an exhibtion space here in milwaukee. there are details from the press release below.
Colin Matthes: "Everyday Transactions"
This February, NEIGHBORS presents "Everyday Transactions" a solo
exhibit of new drawings, installations, and paintings by local artist,
Colin Matthes. The show opens Saturday, February 24 from 6 to 10pm, and
will run through March 23, 2007. The exhibition includes a storefront
window installation, which can be seen from the street anytime during
the course of the show. The new work on view is part of the "Everyday
Transactions Project", which considers the connections between
business, warfare, and leisure in contemporary American life. The
opening will also be a release party for the latest issue of "Ideas in
Pictures" #5 (Colin's self-published art zine).
"Everyday Transactions Project" began as a way to address the
continuous warfare that has marked the 20th and 21st centuries. This
exploration does not only focus on what occurs on "the battlefield,"
but follows the effects of war as it progresses through everyday
'civilian' activities. The work considers how violence impacts our
"daily grind" and seeks to understand the logic and culture of
"wartime" itself. Through the use of repetition and striking imagery,
we enter a visual onomatopoeia that asks us to reexamine our daily
actions.
december 5, 2006
hello.
i just added some small works to the site. they are under the drawing/painting section labeled everyday transactions small work. these images were all sent to an exhibiton at Anno Domini in San Jose, CA called Fresh Produce
. i added a new screen print to the site which was also shown at Anno Domini.
october19, 2006
hello. a quick update.
ideas in pictures #5 has been released! come to the madison zine fest this saturday (oct 21) to pick up a copy ($3) or order it from me directly by sending 4 dollars (post paid) to the address on this site. for more about the zine check out the zine section.
for more news i recently curated, No Need For Sleep: an exhibition of visual art by zine makers and the zines they produce which is opening right after the Madison Zine Fest. it will also be in milwaukee soon. for more information check out the project section of this site.
images of the new zine and the flyer for No Need for Sleep can be found to the right.
august 7, 2006
hello. i recently returned back to the usa after spending the summer in europe. i spent a month teaching at the Burren College of Art in Ireland and a month creating drawings and prints at Hotel Pupik., an artist residency in Austria. Some images from the residency are located in the painting/drawing section under everyday transactions and in the print section.
images of my drawings installed at hotel pupik are to the right. the second image show a musical performance by helmut bohatsch, daniel klemmer, paul skrepek, and martin zrost.
I was excited to donate work to a benefit exhibition (July 27-28) for Daniel McGowan organized by visual resistance at ABC No Rio. check out visualresistance.org. to learn more about the cause and to purchase artwork online.
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