| MATTHEW HELLER |
| 1974 |
Born in Boston, MA |
| 1984 |
Moves with family to Santa Monica, CA
Currently lives and works in Los Angeles, CA |
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| EDUCATION |
| 1996 |
BFA, University of California Santa Barbara |
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| SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS |
| 2009 |
The Great / Galerie Anais / Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA |
| 2008 |
Everything is a Love Story / DCA / Los Angeles, CA |
| 2007 |
One Million Colors / DCA / Los Angeles, CA |
| 2006 |
You Are Everything / Glu Gallery / Los Angeles, CA |
| 2005 |
Coming And Going / The Jaxon House / Venice, CA |
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| SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS |
| 2010 |
Marine Salon #7 / Marine Art Salon / Santa Monica, CA |
| 2010 |
On Paper / George Billis Gallery / Los Angeles, CA |
| 2009 |
Incognito / Santa Monica Museum of Art / Santa Monica, CA |
| 2008 |
Incognito / Santa Monica Museum of Art / Santa Monica, CA |
| 2006 |
16th Biennial Auction / San Francisco Museum of Modern Art / San Francisco, CA |
| 2005 |
Tiger Tiger Rain Rain / Curated by Heller at The Jaxon House / Venice, CA |
| 1997 |
Recent Work: Tom Fruin and Matthew Heller / Gallery 1434 / Santa Barbara, CA |
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| ARTIST STATEMENT |
I am inspired by greatness and by greatness I mean things of immense power…often beautiful- often painful. The vastness of the ocean inspires me. Images and information of terrible ruin inspire me. An elegant rock song can inspire me. Physics and the spiritual unknown inspire me. My work takes personal experiences and feelings sharing them in a universal way, accessible to people on an emotional level releasing the need for literal comprehension. This release for the need of literal comprehension has brought about an exploration of "other worldliness" in my work.
Specific personal narratives along with my own current emotional energy is my creative instigation though the personal narrative rarely remains the main focus. The emotional energy I put into a piece is constant throughout my process of "finding" a painting. The placement of one figure/object will lead to another figure/object, which leads to another mark, which leads to the covering up of something only to introduce something else. My paintings are built from layers of elements coming and going and are not highly premeditated (usually). I approach writing (poetry) similarly. Though not blindly, I often stumble through my work searching, exploring the human condition.
MATTHEW HELLER
October 2010 |
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