Tell Me Your Muddy Little Secrets

In May 2010 I was paddling a canoe upstream in a marsh near Lyndhurst, NJ. I was accompanied by my brother who, like me, was physically exhausted from fighting an extremely brutal outgoing tide in the New Jersey Meadowlands. I suddenly realized two important things. One, it is one step below impossible to paddle against outgoing tides in the Meadowlands. Those tides mean business. The other is marshes that are filled in with garbage to make new land will be disgusting forever.

I've been accused of being negative and a pessimist. My art focuses on things that are not exactly pleasant. They are things regular folks would rather not be reminded of, but I can't help it. I am not denying this. But I also can't deny that things like this are my passion, and passion is what one needs to make art, whether that passion is for unicorns and rainbows, or degradation and filth.

The Muddy Little Secrets series I did in 2011 was conceived in that moment on that canoe trip in 2010. I saw first hand what becomes of garbage in a landfill, and what becomes of garbage in a landfill when the people who put it there try and pretend that it isn't there. The people who created the garbage also pretend it isn't there, or at the very least, don't know its there or where it goes once it leaves their home, other than that it goes into trash cans and gets placed curbside, is picked up by sanitation workers, and disappears forever into a truck.

Updates

There's been some recent good news and positive activity in my art world recently. It seems like so much has happened so quickly and I'm about to get considerably busier in the upcoming months.

I've sold a nice chunk of work thanks to a fire sale I've been having in my store on Zatista.com and from other sources. Lots of canvases old and new have moved, which will make room for new work. Unfortunately, the walls in my home are becoming harder to cover!

I was recently contacted by the kind folks at Off The Wall Gallery at Dirty Franks asking if I would be interested in participating in a show this spring called the Mary Liz Memorial Masters Exhibition, which will run from March 3 until April 19, 2013. It's a show that will feature 3 selected artists, so I suppose that means they consider me to be among the masters who have previously shown there. A date for the opening reception has not been scheduled yet, but it will most likely be the first or second Thursday in March.

They have also asked me to be named a Mary Liz Fellow. I am honored to be a part of this fellowship and will post details of that in the upcoming weeks. The only down side of all of this is that they are coming to my studio sometime in February to choose work for the show. Since so much of my work has been selling, I'm finding myself for the first time to be short on available pieces. It looks like I'll have to kick it into high gear to get something ready from March.

Lastly, I just submitted an application to participate in an open studio tour organized by a local arts organization called 4 Towns 4 Art. The towns included are Collingswood, Oaklyn, Haddon Township and Haddonfield in southern New Jersey. I think I can say with confidence that I will be accepted for participation in this event.

The tour will take place on Saturday, April 6, 2013 from 11am until 6pm. It is open to the public, and anyone reading this is welcome to take the ride out and see the creative process in action. The only downside to this for me, again, is my current shortage of paintings for sale and display. Works will be available for purchase by the public, and there will be work in progress in the studio. Don't expect me to be wearing my Sunday Best as I plan on painting while people are visiting!

As a final note, I think it's worth mentioning that I have updated my website, mgreenartist.com to reflect all of the events of the past few months. Feel free to check it out.

Look for more updates as the dates approach for these events.

My 2012 Painting Portfolio Is... ALIVE!!!

It was supposed to be finished and en route to galleries by October 31. For that reason I dubbed the project "Halloween Massacre." I pushed to get the Xanadu painting finished in order for me to meet that deadline. I generally don't miss deadlines, but its been a crazy mixed up fall of 2011 for me.

I finally finished it tonight, although I don't anticipate having any completed packages ready to mail out until sometime next week. You can get your hot little hands on a PDF version right here.

The Following Post Has Absolutely Nothing To Do With This Project

I thought I would do some shameless self-promotion that has nothing to do with The NJ Meadowlands or anything I'm doing regarding polluted swampland. This thursday August 11 there will be an opening reception for the Mid Summer Invitation show at Off The Wall Gallery at Dirty Frank's Bar in Philadelphia. If you don't live in Philadelphia, get on a plane and come have drinks in the happiest place on Earth while looking at some fine artworks, two of which were done by Your's Truly. If you do live in or near Philadelphia, you have no excuse, and you should be ashamed of yourself for passing up this opportunity to have a great night out on a weeknight. You owe it to yourself.

I can pass along an anecdote for those of you who may not know the great seductive powers that a place like Dirty Frank's can have. I was there yesterday to drop off my work and I brought along my 3-yr old son. It was a little mind-blowing sitting at that bar with my child on my lap, and then he needed to go to the bathroom.

I was beginning to wonder about what kind of parent I was bringing a young child to a bar while his daddy sat and had a beer, but anyone who knows the bathrooms at Dirty Frank's will understand what was going through my mind as we were heading back there. He was very amused by the flies and the graffiti on the walls, remarking that it wasn't a very nice thing to do (write on the walls), but on the way back he noticed the pinball machine and wanted to play.

After 6 games we had to go, and he was by that time completely hooked and didn't want to leave, and proceeded to throw a fit complete with kicking and screaming as I carried him out. I have to sympathize, as I feel like kicking and screaming anytime I have to leave that place. It has a tractor beam which draws you in and once you're there you're powerless to resist sitting there for 6-7 hours drinking cheap beer, watching bad TV and having great conversation. Now, doesn't that sound like a great time? I thought so. So come on down Thursday night.

The first two images below are the paintings I'll be showing. They're old, but that's what they wanted to show.

They are:
The Factory, 30" x 48", oil on canvas, 2003
Hamilton St, 30" x 48", oil on canvas, 2004

The third image is the show flyer, with the time and dates of the reception, as well as the dates the show is hanging.

So there, you have no excuse.

Xanadu pt 22

So in case you missed it, here's some upcoming show dates:

Off The Wall Gallery Mid Summer Invitational
Aug 8 – Sept 30, 2011
Opening reception Aug 11 from 8 – 10 PM
Dirty Frank's Bar
13th St and Pine St
Philadelphia, PA

10th Street Laundromat
Oct 1 – 30, 2011
Opening reception Oct 8 from 8 – 11 PM
1141 – 43 South 10th Street
Philadelphia, PA

Bring your drinkin' hat for August and your soiled drawers for October. If they get that DJ from last time, the Laundromat will be a night to remember.

Below is the next in the series. I'm starting to migrate left.

Wanna have a drink or wash your undies while looking at art? Me too.

I guess its a good time to start promoting upcoming exhibitions where you can see my work IN PERSON and completed, unlike the 20 or so snapshots of the still unfinished Xanadu painting. So far my plan is to have that completed by the end of September to show it in October.

If you're reading this blog in France, or China, or even somewhere not on the east coast, mid-Atlantic region of the United States, get your travel plans in order now. Philadelphia sounds good this time of year, and any other time of year,* and you'll be able to come face-to-face with famous works of mine, new and old. You can also have drinks at the legendary Dirty Frank's Bar or have your soiled knickers washed at the hippest laundromat in the Western Hemisphere while you enjoy the fruits of my labor and pontificate over what it means within the context of the Nature vs. Man argument.

Oh, you want the show dates? Here they are:

Off The Wall Gallery Mid Summer Invitational
Aug 8 – Sept 30, 2011
Opening reception Aug 11 from 8 – 10 PM
Dirty Frank's Bar
13th St and Pine St
Philadelphia, PA

10th Street Laundromat
Oct 1 – 30, 2011
Opening reception Oct 8 from 8 – 11 PM
1141 – 43 South 10th Street
Philadelphia, PA

What is noteworthy is that the laundromat show will be the first public unveiling of new work from the Five Miles From Times Square project. Five of the proposed 12 paintings will be displayed in public for the very first time, so its a real test for something that I've been working on for over 2 years.

Here's the flyer for the Mid Summer Invitational. I'll have the Laundromat flyer in about a month or so. Hope to see you there.



*The City of Philadelphia owes me for the free tourism promotion. Lord knows I've spent a hefty chunk of my personal income on fines for parking violations. Fair is fair.

Xanadu: Our Polls Are Rising

I knew this thing couldn't stay out of the news too much longer. Quinnipiac University recently polled 1,532 registered voters and the overwhelming majority polled believe that a giant over-inflated super duper consumer orgyplex painted to resemble stacks of freight containers is ugly. Wow. Maybe they should have taken that poll before they built it? At any rate, Kudos to Quinnipiac for affirming what we already know.

The next poll on the Funplex Formerly Known As Xanadu should be:

"Would it be a good idea for not-quite-accomplished urban landscape painter Matthew Green to use Xanadu as the subject of his latest painting for his project Five Miles From Times Square?"

Just be forewarned that I most often do the exact opposite of whatever advice I'm given, regardless of what the overwhelming majority of interested parties thinks I should do. It's interesting to note that for the first time I am in complete agreement with Kubla Christie on something.

Do you think they'll refer to any poll data before they commit to adding to New Jersey's defect by contributing state financing to finish this nightmare? My money says no.

Muddy Little Secrets #2 "official" photo

One more and this "Series Within The Series" will be done and I can move on to the next image which is already completed in my mind.

Five Miles From Times Square Project Update

January 2011

It's been about a year-and-a-half since I began this project, from its inception, to development of a thesis and grant proposal, photo studies, grant applications and finally to the creation of paintings. On some levels, it may seem like its dead in the water. I have yet to receive a single dime in grant money, mainly due to two important factors: 1) there is little interest in the development in a project like this from the institutions who hand out free money, and 2) I am now gainfully employed as a graphic designer (albeit as a freelancer with no firm commitment towards a future) which seriously hurts my credibility as a struggling artist who needs financial assistance.

I could add a third factor to that list, saying that one reason the grant money avenue is a dead end is because I have simply stopped asking. This would mainly have been precipitated by the first two. I don't, however, wish for anyone that's interested to get the impression that because I was never able to raise funds for the project that it's an abject failure.

The execution may not have followed exactly the path that I originally wanted, but things are plodding along. The main motivation for looking for handouts was to avoid the need for employment while developing the project, thus enabling me to finish a strong body of work of a respectable size in a timely fashion (1 year as opposed to 5 or 10). It was obviously not considered important enough by the grant-giving institutions that this project be funded as something to benefit the public. I still maintain that it would be, but the lack of interest from the foundations is not going to stop me from proceeding.

I suppose it would be nice if I can get a couple of thousands of dollars to supply materials for photo shoots and paintings, but I am capable of supporting myself and my family, while still not breaking the bank by purchasing paint and canvas. I have saved all of my receipts in the event that I do get a small grant and I will attempt to apply it retroactively. I should have some fun trying to explain that someday if it ever happens.

Another element of FMFTS which has seemingly dried up is my research, which was pretty intense in the Fall of 2009. The reason that I haven't done any recently is because I have done all I need to do at this point. I have another photo shoot in mind for the warmer months, but as of now I have plenty of imagery from my last two shoots to get me going and keep me going for some time.

The videos for the project, as well as articles for Broad Street Review, have also stopped, but as they were intended to accompany photo shoots to the area, it seems kind of obvious why I haven't done either of those for a while. My last photo shoot was May 2010, and the next in each of those series will not exist until I go back again.

This brings me to the heart of the matter: the paintings. It must not be forgotten that the primary focus of this endeavor is, was, and always will be the creation of a body of work. I can say with confidence that this phase of FMFTS is moving along very nicely. I only wish it could be moving along much more swiftly.

I can also say that the project has prompted a slightly new direction in my work. One look at the three newest paintings demonstrates that I am no longer satisfied with the tight, academic discipline of my past work (I'm not including links here, you'll just have to go and explore older posts to see photos of new paintings). I apologize if this comes as a bit of a disappointment to any fans of my older work. But things change. Artistic styles evolve. There are always new things to explore and express. I'm very satisfied with the feedback I've gotten and I am myself satisfied with what I've accomplished.

Muddy Little Secrets #2

The second in the Muddy Little Secrets series is done. My apologies for the shitty photo but I just finished it a few minutes ago and snapped it quickly with my phone. I usually photograph my work with my good digital camera out in the backyard against the house where there's no direct sunlight. But it's 11:06 at night and snowing to beat the band so the good quality image will have to wait.

Big Meadow

I finally got the paintings down from the A-Space and was able to photograph Big Meadow. About 75% of the creation process for this piece is chronicled on Lester Martin's YouTube channel in the series, How To Paint A Masterpiece.

Matthew Green, Big Meadow, oil on canvas, 48" x 72", 2010

Big Meadow at The A-Space

The A-Space anarchist community space has generously offered to exhibit my work for the month of September. If anyone actually reads this blog and happens to live in the area, visit the A-Space website and find out when someone is there (they don't hold regular hours, generally speaking although someone is usually there during the day). We're having a reception on Sunday, September 26, from 5 – 7 PM, so come on down for some free wine and cheese and heavy conversations about art, the environment, politics, social change, or baseball.

I'm calling the show "Something Old, Something New", since I'm showing new work dates from 2003 to present. It's also the first public unveiling of Big Meadow, the very first painting for the Five Miles From Times Square project, which I've shown in progress on Les Martin's youtube channel. The final video will be posted soon, although the finished painting looks dramatically different than what it looked like while we were filming.

Here's the skinny:

A-Space
4722 Baltimore Ave
Philadelphia, PA
215-821-6877

or visit the-aspace.org or mgreenartist.com for more info

And finally, perhaps someday soon I'll have photos of the finished painting to post.