Matt Magee is an American contemporary artist who is best known for his minimal abstract

geometric Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ca ...

paintings, sculptures,

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, assemblages, murals and

photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...

s. He was born in Paris, France in 1961 and moved from there to Tripoli, Libya and then to London. He moved to Brooklyn in 1984 to attend

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

for an MFA after completing a BA in Art History at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX. He maintained a studio on New York City until 2012 and currently lives in Phoenix, AZ. Over a career spanning more than four decades, Magee has experimented widely with abstract and conceptual art practices. Magee’s compositions are organizations of shapes that have been informed by personal history,

numerology Numerology (also known as arithmancy) is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, of the letters in ...

, and language. Re-purposing a variety of found and collected media characterizes his sculpture and

collage Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...

while his paintings explore language

symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

ically with an emphasis on repetition and reiteration and nods to art historical precedents. Magee's father, a geologist and

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

, took him on trips through the Southwest where he collected small objects along the way that later informed his art practices. As a young adult he worked on a seismic truck in Laredo, TX and recorded vibrations sent into the earth to determine underlying geologic formations. Later, Magee was the chief photo archivist for the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. Throughout his life, he has established ways of collecting that now inform his compositions. Magee’s painting style is minimal in concept, but his brushstrokes are expressive. Within these conceptual spreadsheets, abacuses, and

hieroglyphics Egyptian hieroglyphs (, ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt, used for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with some 1,000 distinct characters.There were about 1,00 ...

are reminders of the artist’s hand. His visual language relates to early hard-edge abstraction and finds inspiration in contemporary scientific, ecological, and technological ideas. He is represented by

Richard Levy Gallery Richard Levy Gallery, established in 1991 in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico, specializes in contemporary art. The gallery program includes work by John Baldessari, Thomas Barrow, Wilson Bentley, William Betts, Debra Bloomfield, Xuan Chen, J ...

in Albuquerque, NM; Hiram Butler Gallery in Houston, TX; Eagle Gallery in London; Inde/Jacobs Gallery in Marfa, TX; David Hall Fine Art in

Wellesley, MA Wellesley () is a New England town, town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Wellesley is part of Greater Boston. The population was 29,550 at the time of the 2020 census. Wellesley College, Babson Col ...

; and Mission Projects in Chicago. Magee was the 2017 Arlene and Mort Scult Award winner, the 2007 Josef and Anni Albers Foundation resident fellow, and winner of the Board of Trustees Award from the Silvermine Arts Center. He was also a 1991 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant recipient. His work has been exhibited worldwide.

Selected solo exhibitions

* 2018 ''Matt Magee'', Scult Award Exhibition, Phoenix Art Museum * 2017 ''Matt Magee: formUlate,'' David Hall Fine Art, Wellesley, MA * ''Wall of Text'', Everybody Gallery, Tucson, AZ * ''Matt Magee Photographs 1981-2016'', Shortcut Gallery, Phoenix, AZ * ''Glen Hanson and Matt Magee Recent Work'', Indie/Jacobs, Marfa, TX * ''Signs: The Photographs of Matt Magee'', Darren Winston Bookseller,

Sharon, CT Sharon is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States, in the northwest corner of the state. At the time of the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 2,680. The ZIP code for Sharon is 06069. The urban center of the town is ...

* 2016 ''Matt Magee: On Language and Marking Time'', Eagle Gallery, London, UK * ''Seven: A Survey of Paintings by Matt Magee'', Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque, NM * ''Materiality'', The Mission, Chicago, IL * ''How the West Was Won'', Darren Winston Bookseller, Sharon, CT * ''Prima Materia'', Hiram Butler Gallery, Houston, TX * ''Memory and Reflection'', site specific mural, Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ * ''Wall Grapheme 1'', site specific mural, Tamarind Institute, Albuquerque, NM * ''Grapheme 3'', site specific mural, ArtEXPO, Chicago, IL * 2015 ''Matt Magee Marfa'', Inde/Jacobs, Marfa, TX * ''Paintings & Textcavations: new work by Matt Magee'', John Molloy Gallery, New York, NY * 2014 ''Matt Magee: Recent Paintings and Sculptures,'' James Kelly Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM * 2013 ''Circa'' 1994, Hiram Butler Gallery, Houston, TX * 2011 ''Paintings'', Hiram Butler Gallery, Houston, TX * 2010 Knoedler Project Space, New York, NY * 2009 ''Ideograms'', Devin Borden Hiram Butler Gallery, Houston, TX * 2008 ''Thought'' Forms, Eight Modern, Santa Fe, NM * Heskin Contemporary, New York, NY * 2007 River Gallery, Narrowsburg, New York, NY * 2000 Bill Maynes Gallery, New York, NY * 1997 Bill Maynes Gallery, New York, NY * 1995 Gerald Peters Gallery, Dallas, TX * 1990 Berland Hall Gallery, New York, NY

Awards

Awards * 2017 Arlene and Mort Scult Award, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ * 2016 Tamarind Institute Residency, Albuquerque, NM * 2015 Josef and Anni Albers Foundation Residency, Bethany, CT * 2013 Tamarind Institute Residency, Albuquerque, NM * 2007 The Photo Review Competition issue, juried by Toby Jurovics * 2007 Josef and Anni Albers Foundation Residency, Bethany, CT * 2006 Board of Trustees Award, Silvermine Arts Center, New Canaan, CT * 2002

New York Foundation for the Arts The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is an independent 501(c)(3) charity, funded through government, foundation, corporate, and individual support, established in 1971. It is part of a network of national not-for-profit arts organizations ...

painting grant * 1991 Pollock-Krasner Foundation painting grant * 1985 Atlantic Center for the Arts residency with artist

James Surls James Arthur Surls (born 1943) is an American modernist artist and educator, known for his large sculptures. He founded the Lawndale Alternative Arts Space at the University of Houston in the 1970s. Biography James Arthur Surls was born April ...

, Florida

Selected public collections

* Andaz Scottsdale Resort and Spa, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Scottsdale, AZ * Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, Bethany, CT * Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, Albuquerque, NM * Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Houston, TX * Capital One Financial Services, VA * Cleveland Clinic Art Program, Cleveland, OH * Christophe de Menil, New York, NY * Columbus Museum of Art,

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, San Francisco, CA *

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, New York, NY * John Kidd and Associates, Houston, TX * Linklaters LLC,

Brussels, Belgium Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

* Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX *

Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combines (1954–1964), a group of artwor ...

Foundation, New York, NY * Steptoe & Johnson LLP,

Menlo Park, CA Menlo Park is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County within the San Francisco Bay Area of California in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south ...

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, San Francisco, CA *

University of New Mexico Art Museum The University of New Mexico Art Museum (sometimes referred to as the University Art Museum or UNM Art Museum) is an art museum at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. The museum's permanent collection includes nearly 30,000 objects, making ...

, Albuquerque, NM

References

External links

* http://www.mattmagee.info {{DEFAULTSORT:Magee, Matt American contemporary artists 1961 births Living people