| 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 |
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 MAY 2010 |
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. The fact that my wife and I created another human being is so inspiring!
The most recurring and dominant theme in my work is the entanglement of romantic love and self love. 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.
Often a phrase playing in my mind or one that comes to me just before or in my sleep initiates a piece. My figurative work is almost always narrative though the stories becomes abstract as information is layered. A figure will lead to another figure, which leads to another mark, which leads to the covering up of something to introduce something else. My paintings are built from layers of elements coming and going not highly premeditated. I often stumble through my work hoping to find greatness. |
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