ArtBasel 2013

ArtBasel

It’s always a big –to-do. Not only is there a lot of art to see, but also lots of interesting characters. There’s an art to dressing: to making a statement about whom or what you are, and some at ArtBasel did this extremely well. It’s walking art.  I saw a lot of walking art. I admire that. I admire the complete lack of worry or care of what others think. Right on!

This year for some reason there were many parents with babies/kids in strollers strolling through crowded aisles of the great halls. I going to take a wild guess here and say that these little ones are thinking ‘what the hell am I doing here?’ I couldn’t agree with them more. So, mom and dads: You hinder that movement of big people with your strollers blocking the way. Think about maybe getting a baby sitter the next time. I am pretty sure that you are there not because you want your 1 year old to become more cultured. 

Kitsch is Kitsch. But, when Kitsch is at ArtBasel, it is given the rank of Art with a capital A. When it is in a gallery space at ArtBasel it is validated as art. Bullshit. Come on, enough is enough. This quasi pseudo-intellectual BS masquerade is just a bunch of non-aesthetic crap. 

But I have to say that there were some beautiful works of Art. That is inspiring. I walk away with many ideas. I walk away with enthusiasm. And this year I walked away with a cold. Nevertheless, cold or no cold, I am glad I attended

Ellsworth Kelly Interview

Ellsworth Kelly turned 90 yesterday -- May 31, 2013.

 This interview by Anna Somers Cocks was done back in 2008 at Art Basel in Basel, Switzerland.

Paint in the Hand is Worth a Picture

See my Brown & Gray series on my website and at A&H Galleries in Austin, Texas.

Do you like to peek inside artists' studios ...

I really like to take a peek inside other artists' studios. So, here's another glimpse into mine.

Part of the studio

Storage - I own the largest collection of Matthew G. Beall in the world!

Circles and Rolling Stones

Circles and more circles: Another journey in the studio on a day in April while listening to the Stones.

Matthew G. Beall Art    Circle 6     2013

Spending Time in the Art Studio in April

Spending time in the studio: 
Relaxing. Enjoying. Thinking. Working.

Spending time in the studio:
Doing. Looking. Seeing. Learning.

Coming Full Circle?

Round and round I go :: cirlces from Easter weekend has brought me making another piece in this series. Have I come full circle? I thought I had. I am having fun with these pieces using acrylic and pencil on paper. 

matthew g beall   circle 5  2013

 

A busy Easter weekend

I spent a lot of time in my studio this long Easter weekend - a 4 day weekend here in Germany. Finished the Circle Series (take a look!), took photographs of finished pieces, and made a nice (if I do say so myself) Reductive Gray Landscape painting on canvas. It's been awhile since I've worked on one of these Reductive Gray Landscapes, too. 

 The small one is on 40 x 30cm paper and the bigger one on 70 x 50cm canvas. 

And there you have it - a long productive weekend in my studio!

Round and Round I Go :: Circles

I was digging through my piles of work on paper and found a series I began several years ago - they remained unfinished sitting patiently in the pile until I pulled them out, took a look, and decided to work on them again. A fresh look brought fresh ideas. And now I finished what I had to say so to speak. 

matthew g beall   circle 1  2013

matthew g beall   circle 2  2013

matthew g beall   circle 3  2013

matthew g beall   circle 4  2013

San Franciso Museum of Modern Art -- Stand Outs

A few stand outs at SFMoMA

Every Trade Has its Tools

    Brushes, Scrapers, Knifes, Paint, and Flip Flops 

are only a few of the many

See more here

Matthew G. Beall joins A & H Galleries of Austin, Texas

I am very pleased to announce that I am now represented by A & H Galleries in Austin, Texas. I am looking forward to working with them, and I am happy to be in a group of such fine artists.

Rebirth: My work will be in this show in Feb in Williamsburg.

Man, it has been way too long of posting nothing! Believe me, my creativity has not disappeared.

 

Two pieces from my  Brown & Gray Series  will be in this group exhibition Feb. 1 & 2, 2013 in Williamsburg.

 

“Rebirth” is a group exhibition about the passing of seasons and resurrection of a new year. All beings and all ideas are subject to decay and death. But sometimes, following a winter of rest, a chrysalis emerges, and with a spark of life comes the optimism of a new beginning.

Our aim is to take the audience on a visceral journey through all stages of this cycle. We begin in a dark space of conflict, chaos, and demise. We then introduce a period of stasis, a winter of peaceful slumber. Then a spark of life emerges, bringing the viewer through the transition from rest to opportunity, as rest blooms in to a new beginning.  

Updating a website - Take a look!

I love the Internet. Really! Imagine not having it ... I don't want to. OK, it no easy task to NOT kept pulled in and lost in links, but it's a package deal. Just like spending hours and hours updating your website.

I spent most of Saturday updating my website: Matthew G Beall Art. Have a look. Let me know your thoughts. There's more to do. A few more galleries for example and some SEO work. A website is never really finished since it's not a static thing. It's akin to painting - when is it finished and is it really every finished?

Falling back: Venice (fall) Painting on Paper

Sometimes it's good to look at older pieces for new ideas or simply to look at them

 

 

Matthew G. Beall   Venice (fall)  2010  Acrylic, Charcoal and Pencil on Paper  42 x 56cm

Modern Art - A Complete Guide

Modern Art - A Complete Guide (also known as The Challenge - A Tribute to Modern Art) is a 1974 American documentary film directed by Herbert Kline detailing the revolution in art instigated by Cezanne that became MODERN ART. The film features rare and unique footage of great modern artists in their studios creating and explaining their work with narration and illuminating commentary by Orson Welles. Visiting the great collection at The Louvre, the Guggenheim and The Museum of Modern Art, it illustrates the growth and dynamism of Modern Art and each stylistic development: Impressionism, Expressionism, Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism, Dada, Surrealism, and Pop Art.
http://documentaries-plus.blogspot.de

BAUHAUS --- Dessau: Matt was here!

The iconic BAUHAUS building in Dessau designed by Walter Gropius. 

Awesome. A visit long in waiting.

Matthew G. Beall    Bauhaus   2012

Books on a shelf - deKooning - MoMA, Ansel Adams, Richter ..

A few AWESOME books on the shelf.

Matthew G. Beall  Books on a Shelf   2012

Summer in the Studio - Why Paint?

Thoughts

Why paint?

I love painting on paper. I love the surface. I love the way the paint soaks into it.

Sometimes a title comes easily. Sometimes one never comes. Is a title important? 

What does a painting mean? Is it subjective? Does there need to be a meaning? 

Matthew G. Beall  Untitled June 2012  70 x 50cm   2012

California: My DNA Connection

Memories are powerful. The older I become and the longer I am away from my home state of California, the more I think about it. The more I think about it, the more I remember things that I have had in memory storage.

California shaped my aesthetics, which is why I keep coming back to it.

The ongoing California Series is a reflection of my memories and my DNA connection (if you well).

I have been working and reworking this piece for several months. It sits on the easel waiting, wondering, wondering if it is done ...

When is a picture ever done?

Matthew G. Beall  California  Work in Progress   2012

Commission mission done!

Commission complete and hung.

Hammer, level, nails ... check

MATTHEW G. BEALL: Dynamic and Pure: Reductive Art article

I was recently interviewed by Nicolas Sarazin of Artmajeur. He wrote a nice, shore and succinct article about my work, and it is featured in Artmajeur Magazine. So, please have a look and a read.

MATTHEW G. BEALL: Dynamic and Pure: Reductive Art

Thank you Nicolas and Artmajeur!

The Sun, The Sea: Present Thought and Memories

I have never been to the Baltic Sea, yet the Baltic Sea (the German area) has been on my mind a lot. We are planning a little summer trip to Rügen. This has made me think of the ocean, the coast ... (and California). With that in my mind and brush in hand, these two pieces came to be.

Matthew G. Beall   Thinking of the Coast   2012

Fun in the Studio and Pieces on a Wall

My paint spattered and comfortable studio sandals as 'art' on paper for a moment in time.

On a wall inside the studio - bottom from left to right: Frankfurt 2012 and Stuttgart 2012
Top: Blue Square  20 x 20cm

Being on the Open Sea ... in my mind.

A friend of mine, Axel Busch and his fiancé, Liz Whitworth (Liz is my friend, too ;-), are on a wonderful, thrilling, sailing adventure. You can keep up with them on S/V Gudrunv V.

While they crossed the Pacific from the Galapagos to the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, Axel posted a daily update. I read them, all of them. It felt as if I were a passenger ... and this is what I pictured being on the open sea.

Matthew G. Beall  Being on the Open Sea (Axel & Liz)  2012

Hanging in my studio...

and going back in time. 

 

 

Three 20 x 20cm, acrylic on canvas, Grays 2009

Matthew G. Beall   Grays    2009

Check out this short art documentary by Jeffrey Collins

Jeffrey Collins is a painter who is making a set of films (DuoChrome Films) about modern painting and it's critics, curators, writers and gallerists.

"I felt it was time to let the film out to everyone. Please share with your friends. Enjoy. The world needs more historical art documentaries like this....and what I have in store for everyone."

I have a NEW website!

 

 Check out my new website

It's live

and

will grow

TAKE A LOOK!

Matthew G. Beall Art

Gray Painting - Present Memories

Another Gray painting to add to the series

Gray tones
Present memories
Places past

Matthew G. Beall    Reductive Gray Landscape 8    70 x 50 cm   Acrylic on paper

Black and White Forms - Geometry

 Opposites Attract

Black or White

 2010

                              

2 x 40 x 30 cm

 Acrylic on canvas

Blacks and White with a bit of Blue

                                           3 - 40 x 20 cm panels  Acrylic on canvas

Matthew G. Beall                     2011