News Release: April 18, 2013
Hardcover Coffee table of Love, Sex & Drunk-Text is here.
12x 12 inches, 112 pages, full color, premium 100 lb pages, bookstore quality with matte lustre finish.
Contact info@matthewthomasart.com for yours today!
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Love, Sex & Drunk-texts download:
View through itunes click here
View through Amazon click here
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News Release: Feburary 27, 2013
Huffington Post's Arts & Culture lists Matthew Thomas in Black Artists: 30 Contemporary Art Makers Under 40 You Should Know
As Black History Month comes to a close, we've picked 30 young black artists who are contributing to the ongoing conversation of race and representation in contemporary art. Whether through sculpture, photography, video or performance, each artist illuminates the complexity of the self with a unique and bold vision.
From Kalup Linzy's soap opera shorts to Kehinde Wiley's traditional portraits updated with black models, the following young artists show there is no single way to address race in contemporary culture. Playful or meditative, sarcastic or somber, the following artists tackle the subject with a ferocious curiosity, passion and vulnerability.
........................................................................................................News Release: January 16, 2013
Singular Masses: An Examination of Racial Identity
January 23, 2013 @ 12:00 pm – March 9, 2013 @ 5:00 pm,
Receptions: Fri., Jan. 25, 6–9 p.m. and Fri., Feb. 22, 6–9 p.m.
Hyde Gallery, Nesin Graduate School, 477 S Main St Memphis,TN 38103
MEMPHIS, Tenn.—In celebration of Black History Month, Memphis College of Art announces an upcoming exhibition, Singular Masses: An Examination of Racial Identity. The exhibition is on view Jan. 23 – March 9 at the Hyde Gallery, Nesin Graduate School, 477 S. Main, with receptions on trolley nights Jan. 25 and Feb. 22, 6–9 p.m. The exhibition is being sponsored by an AutoZone ArtsZone grant administered by ArtsMemphis. Admission is free, and the exhibition and receptions are open to the public.
Singular Masses, which is curated by MCA’s Coordinator of Exhibitions and Lectures Cat Peña, presents the work of seven artists: Yashua Klos, Anthony Lee, Lester Merriweather, Carl E. Moore, Toyin Odutola, Io Palmer and Matthew Thomas. Each artist offers his or her unique perspective on personal identity and how it is shaped or influenced by factors such as race or racial stereotype.
“To understand one’s identity is possibly the most personal and mysterious exploration one can take. While we all would like to think each of us innately has attributes that are unique unto ourselves, we often look to the world around us for additional cues,” said Peña. “Unfortunately, many of these cues are stereotypes that society places on us to neatly categorize (or delineate) topics that are complicated and multifaceted such as race, religion and sex. Sadly, through repetition, a lack of understanding and the absence of personal perseverance to pull back the layers of these topics, these stereotypes often become traits we intentionally or unintentionally assign to ourselves. This exhibition is inspired by artists who have embarked on peeling back these layers to further investigate stereotypes.”
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A Sense of Self:
“Singular Masses” at MCA’s downtown Hyde Gallery.
by DWAYNE BUTCHERThe current exhibition in the Hyde Gallery at the Memphis College of Art Nesin Graduate School is "Singular Masses: An Examination of Racial Identity." After last year's "Facts, Fictions, Figures," this is the second year in a row that the Hyde Gallery has hosted an exhibition in February that examines racial stereotypes and blackness to coincide with Black History Month. READ ARTICLE HERE
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News Release: August 5, 2012
News Release: July 13, 2012
TO BE YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK IN THE AGE OF OBAMA
Kentler International Drawing Center, 353 Van Brunt St., Brooklyn
Left to right:(Alexandria Smith, Yashua Klos, Camille Ann Brewer, Jasmine Murrell, Jamea Richmond-Edwards, Duron Jackson, Matthew Thomas, Florence Neal)
Curator: Camille Ann Brewer
Artists: Matthew F.Thomas, Alonzo Edwards, Yashua Klos, Jasmine Murrell, Senghor Reid, Alexandria Smith
Exhibition Dates: September 7 – October 21
Opening: Friday, September 7, 6 - 8pm
Curator’s Talk: Sunday, September 23, 4pm
The Arts - music, theater, dance, literature, and visual arts – through human history have recorded cultural events and memory. The Black Arts Movement (BAM), founded in Harlem during the mid-1960s, is the artistic branch of the Black Power movement, a facet of the American Civil Rights Movement.
Given the rich history of a BAM that defined cultural aesthetics in many art forms during a specific time period in American history, what does it mean for African American artists, who were not conceived or born at the time of the BAM, to be young, gifted and Black in the age of an Obama presidency? What is the response of young, educated African American artists today working in an “art world” that continues to be dominated by a white male aesthetic and sensibility, and a market place that, in most cases, has shunned their voices?
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June 27, 2012
Matthew Thomas Selected for Magic Johnson's Aspire Television Interstitials and Launch Party, New York City
Initially selected for the first-day run of Aspire Television's interstitials of inspiring individuals, the producers saw my work and wanted something special for the launch party in New York. Of course I said yes. Special thanks to Running Pony Productions in Memphis, Tn. My video can be seen on ASPiRE- Time Warner Cable New York Channel 171
ASPiRE delivers enlightening, entertaining and positive programming to African-American families with a diverse slate including movies, documentaries, short films, music, comedy, visual and performing arts and faith and inspirational programs.
The network launched June 27, 2012 to millions of customers on Comcast’s digital basic tier with additional distribution to be announced. ASPiRE’s principal owner is Magic Johnson Enterprises. The network’s Chairman and CEO is Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
ASPiRE celebrates African-American heritage and groundbreaking cultural achievements and creates new opportunities for the next generation of ground-breakers and game-changers. Grounded in faith, family and community, ASPiRE reflects positive images of the African-American culture.
Video link here:
http://www.aspire.tv/people/matthew-thomas
Artwork for the Network here:
http://www.matthewthomasart.com/paintings/figurative
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"Time, Talent and Tempera: ArtsMemphis Volunteer Art Show"
At ArtsMemphis, 575 S. Mendenhall, through March 31, 2012
"Thomas might be the discovery in this show, for two mixed media-digital prints -- "So Much Bigger" and "Is You Gay?" -- that bring a great deal of verve, humor and gee-whiz slyness and exuberance..."
http://www.gomemphis.com/news/2012/jan/25/exhibit-turns-spotlight-on-volunteers/?partner=yahoo_feeds
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