Joanne Mattera - Artist Statement

I practice an esthetic you might describe as lush minimalism: succulent materiality worked into a reductive geometric esthetic. My Uttar series is inspired by the brilliant palette of classic Indian miniatures and the refulgent paintings of Renaissance Siena. While illumination—as a visual narrative, or as a representation of the divine—was at the heart of these extraordinary paintings, I intend no such narrative in my own work. Certainly there is conversation as colors assert and demur, but I am interested in the relative experience of color as expressed within a repetitive but improvisational geometry.

In an essay early in the Uttar series, the Manhattan-based art historian Flavia Rando identified my approach: “For Mattera, the process of making art is a process of intuition working within a disciplined framework.” Addressing the Uttar series specifically, she called it “the artist’s response to the material world…a poetics of materiality and process.” Recently, in her article “Geometry Reloaded,” the New York Art critic Lilly Wei responded to the material color in one painting in the Uttar series with this comment: “This is a voluptuous painting, its grid about to melt down, it seems, into pure irresistible paint.” More recently still, the Philadelphia critic Roberta Fallon offered this observation about my work: “Mattera…is an artist who delights in the process. With a palette influenced by Indian miniature painting and with a love of non-narrative, non-objective expression, Mattera delivers a world of beauty and order in which individual [elements]—with their spontaneous expressions of color, texture, drip, drop and slather—are valued.”

Resume

Education

MA, Visual Arts, Goddard College, Plainfield, VT

Exhibitions

Solo:

• 2008 Contemplating the Horizontal, Arden Gallery, Boston, MA
• 2008 Hue Again, Schlosberg Gallery, Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA
• 2007 Silk Road, OK Harris Gallery, New York City
• 2007 It’s All About Hue, Isn’t It?, Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale
• 2006 Heat of the Moment: New Paintings in Encaustic, Arden Gallery, Boston
• 2006 Pure Color, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta
• 2006 10 Years of Encaustic Painting, Winfisky Gallery, Salem State College, Salem, MA
• 2004 New Paintings in Encaustic, Arden Gallery, Boston
• 2004 New Paintings, Simon Gallery, Morristown, NJ
• 2004 New Paintings, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta
• 2003 New Paintings in Encaustic, Arden Gallery, Boston
• 2003 Mudra: New Paintings in Encaustic, Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale
• 2002 Uttar: New Paintings in Encaustic, Simon Gallery, Morristown
• 2001 New Encaustic Paintings, Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale
• 2000 New Encaustic Paintings, Arden Gallery, Boston
• 2000 Verso: Thought, Breath, Memory, Espace Gallery, Manila, Philippines
• 1999 New Paintings, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta
• 1996 Linear Perspectives, OK Harris Gallery, New York City
• 1995 New Paintings in Encaustic, Stephen Haller Gallery, New York City

Group:

• 2008 Material Color, Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, NJ
• 2008 No Chromophobia, OK Harris, New York City, NY
• 2008 Small Wonder Garson, Baker Fine Art, New York City, NY
• 2008 Gifts From the Studio, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, NY
• 2008 This Just In Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
• 2008 A Breath of Fresh Air, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont Group Show, Adler & Co., San Francisco, CA
• 2008 Fourth Anniversary Exhibition, DM Contemporary, Mill Neck, New York, NY
• 2008 Art Now Fair, DM Contemporary, Mill Neck New York, NY
• 2008 LA Art Fair, Invited by Adler & Co. Gallery, San Francisco, CA
• 2007 Punchbowl, Metaphor Contemporary Art, Brooklyn, New York, NY
• 2007 The Blogger Show, Agni Gallery, New York City
• 2007 Gigantic Small Works Show, Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
• 2007 The Fusion Project, June Fitzpatrick Gallery, Portland, ME
• 2007 Encaustic Invitational, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson, AZ
• 2007 Red Dot Fair, New York Invited by Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, NY
• 2007 Red Dot Fair, Miami Beach, Invited by Arden Gallery, Boston, MA
• 2007 Art Now Fair, Miami Beach, Invited by DM Contemporary, Mill Neck, NY
• 2006 Flow Art Fair, Miami, Invited by Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmon
• 2006 Gigantic Small Works Show, Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia
• 2006 Neo Plastic Redux, Elizabeth Harris Gallery, New York City (Organized by Miles Manning)
• 2006 Nancy Manter, Joanne Mattera, Babe Shapiro, DM Contemporary, Mill Neck, New York
• 2006 Minimal Works, Minimal Works Gallery, Philadelphia
• 2006 Luminous Depths, Ben Shahn Galleries, Wm. Paterson Univ., Wayne, NJ (Curator: Nancy Einreinhofer)
• 2006 Order(ed), Siano Gallery, Philadelphia (Curator: Julie Karabenick with essay by Roberta Fallon)
• 2006 Art (212) Contemporary Art Fair, New York Invited by Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta
• 2006 Los Angeles Art Show, Invited by Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale
• 2006 A.R.T, Trustman Gallery, Simmons College, Boston
• 2005 What Did Puck Say? Heidi Cho Gallery, New York City
• 2005 Engaging the Structural: Geometric Form in Contemporary Abstract Art Broadway Gallery, New York City (Curator: Julie Karbenick with essay by Lilly Wei)
• 2005 AAF Contemporary Art Fair, New York, Invited by Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta
• 2005 Wish You Were Here IV, A.I.R. Gallery, New York City
• 2005 Cooled and Collected: Modern Masters of Encaustic, Boon Gallery, Salem, MA
• 2005 Wax: Encaustic Painting in Contemporary Art, Brush Gallery,
  Lowell, MA (Curator: E. Linda Poras)
• 2005 Postcards from the Edge, Robert Miller Gallery, New York City
• 2005 Color Theory, Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, New York (Curator: Kenise Barnes)
• 2005 Works On Paper Invitational, Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale
• 2005 Wax Works, McGowan Fine Arts, Concord, NH
• 2004 Color Theory, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, New York
• 2004 AAF Contemporary Art Fair, New York; Invited by Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta
• 2004 Unbound: Selected Artists from Joanne Mattera’s ‘The Art of Encaustic Painting’ R&F Gallery, Kingston, New York (Curator: Laura Moriarty)
• 2004 Four New York Artists, Patrick Olson Gallery, Plymouth, Michigan
• 2003 Encaustic Now II, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta
• 2003 AAF Contemporary Art Fair, New York; Invited by Thatcher Projects, New York City
• 2003 Art Santa Fe, Invited by Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale
• 2003 Tickled Pink, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta
• 2003 Serenity, Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale
• 2003 Wish You Were Here Too, A.I.R. Gallery, New York City
• 2003 The Way of Wax, Winfisky Gallery at Salem State College, Salem, MA
• 2003 Art Miami, Invited by Arden Gallery, Boston
• 2002 Work on Paper, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta
• 2002 Lush Abstraction, Melanee Cooper Gallery, Chicago
• 2002 AAF Contemporary Art Fair, New York Invited by Thatcher Projects, NYC
• 2002 Hot Wax, Cummings Art Center at Connecticut College, New London
• 2002 Artcetera, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston
• 2002 Works on Paper, Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale
• 2002 The Postcard Show, A.I.R. Gallery, New York City
• 2002 Water, Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale
• 2002 Enkaustikos: Wax As a Contemporary Medium, Pentimenti Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
• 2002 Centering, Sonoma Museum of Visual Art, Santa Rosa, CA
• 2002 Generations III, A.I.R. Gallery, New York City
• 2002 Art San Francisco, Invited by Newzones Gallery, Calgary, Canada
• 2001 Encaustic Now, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta
• 2001 Encaustic Works, Arden Gallery, Boston
• 2001 The Art of Encaustic Painting, Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale
• 2001 Encaustic, Encaustic: Joanne Mattera and Friends, Melanee Cooper Gallery, Chicago
• 2001 Large-Scale Painting, Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale
• 2001 Deck the Walls, Newzones Gallery, Calgary, Canada
• 2000 Constant Aesthetic, Stephen Haller Gallery, New York City
• 2000 Generations II: A Survey of Women Artists at the Millennium, A.I.R Gallery, New York City
• 2000 The Other Side and This Side: The Art of Italian and Italian-American Women Casa Italiana, New York
• 2000 Pieces IV, Gallery 128, New York City, (Curator: Sylvia Netzer)
• 2000 Aesthetic Boundaries, Stephen Haller Gallery, New York City
• 1999 Waxing Poetic: Encaustic Art in America, Montclair (N.J.) Art Museum (Curator: Gail Stavitsky) and Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN
• 1999 Signs, Codes and Surfaces I and II, Stephen Haller Gallery, New York
• 1999 Pieces III, Gallery 128, New York City, (Curator: Sylvia Netzer)
• 1999 Los Angeles National, Patricia Correia Gallery, Santa Monica
• 1998 Contemporary Wax, Stephen Haller Gallery, New York City
• 1998 Small Works, Washington Square East Gallery, New York City
• 1998 Generations, A.I.R. Gallery, New York City
• 1998 Night of 1,000 Drawings, Artists Space, New York City
• 1998 Ron Ehrlich, Gregory Johnston, Joanne Mattera, Hiro Yokose, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta
• 1997 Cultural Markers, Stephen Haller Gallery, New York City
• 1997 1+1=3: Independent Artists, Collaborative Art, Alicia Torres Gallery, New York City
• 1997 Material Girls: Gender, Process and Abstract Art Since 1970, Gallery 128, New York City (Curator: Harmony Hammond)
• 1997 Paper Project, Sally Sprout Gallery, Houston
• 1997 Inaugural Show, Christine Adapon Gallery, Manila
• 1996 Cultural Markers, Stephen Haller Gallery, New York City
• 1996 Small Works International, Amos Eno Gallery, New York City
• 1995 Small Works, Stephen Haller Gallery, New York City
• 1995 Virtuosity Art Fair, The Armory, New York, Invited by Stephen Haller Gallery, New York City
• 1995 A Grand Affair, Art Initiatives at 420 Broadway, New York City
• 1994 Waxing Minimal: Joanne Mattera, Inger Sand Lee, Tom Sime Denise Bibro, New York City
• 1994 Signs, Codes & Alphabets, Tribeca 148, New York City
• 1994 Small Works, Washington Square East Gallery, New York City
• 1994 The Midwinter Salon, Puchong Gallery, New York City
• 1994 The Mundane Becomes Beautiful, Cortland Jessup Gallery, Provincetown, MA
• 1993 93 Wishes for '94, Steinbaum Krauss Gallery, New York City
• 1993 Small Works, East West Cultural Center, New York City
• 1993 Small Works, Denise Bibro, New York City
• 1993 Works on Paper, Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, Massachusetts (Curator: Andre Emmerich)
• 1982 Works on Paper, Eve Mannes Gallery, Atlanta
• 1982 Artists on the Grid, Svetlana Rockwell Gallery, Cambridge, MA
• 1982 Collage: Eleven Contemporary Artists, Wheaton College, Norton, MA (Curator: Pallas Lombardi)
• 1981 Third Biennial Savaria Museum, Szombatheley, Hungary
• 1980 Five Artists: Process and Product, Art Colloquium Gallery, Salem, MA
• 1980 Artist/Artisan, Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach
• 1980 Paper, Hera Gallery, Providence
• 1979 Paper: Metamorphoses, Florence Duhl Gallery, New York City
• 1979 Ninth International Biennale de la Tapisserie, Musee des Beaux Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland
• 1978 New Works, Hadler/Rodriguez Gallery, New York City
• 1978 Small Works: An Invitational, Touchstone Gallery, New York City

Awards

• 2007 Ella Jackson Chair, Castle Hill Center for the Arts, Truro, MA
• 2005 Grant: Artist’s Resource Trust, a fund of the Berkshire Taconic Foundation
• 1997 Juror’s Award: Painting and Sculpture National, San Jacinto College, Houston; Howard Fox, juror
• 1995 Juror’s Award: Small Works, Washington Square East Gallery, New York City; Jacquie Littlejohn, juror

Selected Collections

• The Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ
• University Libraries Collection, State University of New York at Albany, NY
• Wheaton College Gallery, Norton, MA
• Alston & Bird, Atlanta, GA and Washington, D.C.
• Beacon Properties, Boston, MA
• Delta Airlines, Boston, MA
• McKee Nelson, New York City, NY
• Pacific Peninsula Group, Menlo Park, CA
• PricewaterhouseCoopers, Florham Park, NJ
• R&F Paints, Kingston, NY
• Red Wheel/Weiser Books, Boston, MA
• U.S. Embassies, Slovenia and Poland
  Consulate of Brunei
• Eduardo Calma Architecture, Makati City, Philippines

Professional Experience

• 2009 Curator, Blog Pix, Denise Bibro Fine Art, New York City, NY
• 2007-09 Visiting Lecturer, Senior Seminar 2D Fine Arts Department Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA
• 2006-09 Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, Massachusetts, Founding Organizer and Director, Annual Conference of Encaustic Painting
• 2006-09 Maine College of Art, Portland; Continuing Studies, Visiting Instructor, topics on Professional Development
• 2008 Moderator, Art Bloggers, Red Dot, New York City, NY
• 2008 Presenter, Finding a Place for Yourself in the Art World, College Art Association, Dallas, TX
• 2008 Co-organizer, Art Blogger Miami, Miami/Basel, FL
• 2008 Guest Speaker, 35 Years of More or Less The Same Thing Montana State University, MO
  
• 2007 Keynote Speaker, National Encaustic Painting Conference, Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA
• 2007 Panelist, Contemporary Encaustic Painting, June Fitzpatrick Gallery, Portland, ME
• 2007 Visiting Artist, Almost Mainstream After 2000 Years
  Evans Encaustics, Sonoma, CA
• 2007 Curator, Luxe, Calme et Volupte’, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
• 2007 Juror, Thinking in Wax, Castle Hill Center for the Arts, Truro, MA
• 2007 Visiting Artists, Castle Hill Center for the Arts, Truro, MA
• 2007 Visiting Artist, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
• 2007 “Luxe, Calme et Volupte: A Meditation on Visual Pleasure,” Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA http://www.marciawoodgallery.com/luxe_calme/essay.html
• 2007 “Exquisite Dualities: The Recent Paintings of Alexandre Masino,”, Montreal Painter
• 2007 “Material Witness: Silken Surfaces in Wax,” Surface Design Journal
• 2006 Visiting Artist, Evans Encaustics, Sonoma, CA
• 2006 “Encaustic: The ‘New’ Art Medium, Just 2000 Years Old,” Luminous Depths Catalog, Eponymous exhibition, Wm. Paterson University, Wayne, N.J.
• 2006 “Dancing Shards: Between Order and Intuition,” essay for New York painter Gloria Klein
• 2006 “Kevin Frank: The World in a Still Life,” essay for the New York painter
• 2005 Keynote Speaker, Art League of Northern California, Novato Building and Sustaining a Career in Art
• 2005 Guest Speaker, The Art of Encaustic Painting, The Brush Gallery, Lowell, MA
• 2005 Guest Speaker, River Tree Center for the Arts, Kennebunk, ME
• 2005 “Give and Take,” Betsy Eby Essay
  
• 2005 “The Medium is the Message: Tracing the Arc Between Fiber and Wax,” essay for Santa Cruz-based mixed-media artist Daniella Woolf
• 2004 Visiting Artist, Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA
• 2004 Guest Lecturer, Encaustic Painting, City College of New York, NY
• 2004 Guest Lecturer, Encaustic Forum, R&F Gallery, Kingston, NY
• 2003 Juror, The Whole Ball of Wax, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
• 2003 Gallery Talk, Contemporary Encaustic Painting, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
• 2002 Visiting Artist, Weissman Visiting Artist, Connecticut College, New London, CT
• 2001 Panelist, Italian American Women Artists, Ellis Island, New York City, NY
• 2001 The Art of Encaustic Painting: Contemporary Expression in the Ancient Medium of Pigmented Wax, Watson-Guptill, NY
• 2000 Speaker, Material Influences, Casa Italiana, New York University, New York City, NY
• 2000 Panelist, Encaustic Painting, Artists Talk on Art, New York City, NY
• 1999 Visiting Artist, State University of New York at Albany, NY
• 1999 Speaker, Encaustic Painting, Painter’s Forum, New York City, NY
• 1993 Objects of Their Affection, curator, InterArt Center, New York City, NY
• 1982 Artists on the Grid, curator, Svetlana Rockwell Gallery, Cambridge, MA
• 1981-83 Fiberarts, Editor in Chief

Books

• 2007 Artists’ Guide: How To Make Living Doing What You Love, DaCapo Press; Jackie Battenfield
• 2005 Abstract Painting, Watson Guptill; Vicky Perry
• 2003 In Our Own Voices: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Italian and Italian American Women, Bordighera Press; Elizabeth G. Messina, ed.
• 2000 Lesbian Art in America, Rizzoli; Harmony Hammond
• 1999 Waxing Poetic: Encaustic Art in America, The Montclair Art Museum/Rutgers University Press; Gail Stavitsky, editor

Periodicals

• 2008 More Magazine, “Art Beat,” Alesha Hardwick-Whyte
• 2008 The Boston Phoenix, “Waxing Poetic,” Randi Hopkins
• 2008 Barnstable Patriot, “Geometric Rainbows,” Samantha Levitan, Boston, MA
• 2007 Provincetown Banner, “When Art Runs Hot and Cold,” Melora B. North; August 23
  
• 2007 Atlanta Journal Constitution, “Spirit of Baudelaire, Matisse Flows,” Debra Wolf; July 8
• 2007 The New York Sun, “Joanne Mattera: Silk Road at OK Harris,” Maureen Mullarkey
• 2007 Phoenix Home and Garden, “Color Blocks”
• 2007 Maine Sunday Telegram, “Fusion: A Portland Encaustic Event,” Philip Isaacson, February 18
• 2007 Maine Sunday Telegram, “Stacks of Wax,” feature, Bob Keyes
• 2006 Art New England, “Art Criticism on the Internet,” Raymond A. Liddell
• 2006 Boston Globe, “A Clever Pairing,” Cate McQuaid
• 2005 Lowell Sun, “Whole Ball of Wax,” Barbara Rizza Mellin
• 2005 Art News, “How to Talk to An Artist,” feature, Gail Gregg
• 2005 Syracuse Post-Standard, “Color This Exhibit…,” Katherine Rushworth
• 2005 NYArts, “On and Off the Grid: In Conversation with Joanne Mattera,” Julie Karabenick
• 2005 New York Times, “Unbound: Selected Artists,” D. Dominick Lombardi
• 2004 Boston Globe, “An Eyeful of Color,” Cate McQuaid
• 2004 Traditional Home, “A Fresh Shade of Bungalow,” Eliot Nusbaum
• 2004 Arts Media, “Artists Wax Enthusiastic,” Rachel Strutt
• 2003 Boston Sunday Globe, “Critics’ Picks,” Christine Temin
• 2003 Boston Globe, “Critics’ Picks,” Cate McQuaid
• 2003 Arts Media, “Joanne Mattera: Paintings in Encaustic,” Shawn Hill
• 2003 The Week, “Joanne Mattera at Arden Gallery, Boston”
• 2003 Scottsdale Republic, “Eclectic Mix at Cervini Haas,” Roberta Burnett
• 2003 IONS Review, Barbara McNeill, ed., portfolio; Issue 63
• 2002 IONS Review, Barbara McNeill, ed., portfolio; Issue 62
• 20002 Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Expanding the Possibilities of Paper,” Jerry Cullum
• 2002 New York Times, “Hot Wax,” William Zimmer
• 2002 Philadelphia Inquirer, “Novel Process, Classical Elegance,” Edward J. Sozanski
  
• 2002 Philadelphia Weekly, “Play On,” Roberta Fallon
• 2002 Philadelphia Daily Local News, “Ancient Medium Explored Again,” R.B. Strauss
• 2002 Boston Sunday Globe, “The Process,” profile, Catherine Foster
• 2002 Art New England, “The Art of Encaustic Painting,” book review, Susan Schwalb
• 2001 Arizona Republic, “Beauty of Encaustic Has its Price,” feature, John Carlos Villani
• 2001 Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Waxing Eloquent,” Catherine Fox
• 2000 Manila Today, “Art Guide”
• 2000 The Philippine Star, “Gallery News,”
• 2000 Art in America, “Joanne Mattera at Marcia Wood,” Jerry Cullum
• 2000 Design and Architecture, “An Italian Spell in Tagaytay,” feature, Alane Ty
• 1999 Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Mattera Infuses Modernist Grid with New Depth,” Jerry Cullum
• 1997 New York Arts, “Picks,” Christopher Chambers
• 1997 Atlanta Journal Constitution, “Four Artists Aimed at the Stars,” Jerry Cullum
• 1997 William and Mary Review, Erica Weitzman ed., Vol. 35
• 1994 Artforum, “Objects of Their Affection at Interart Center,” Keith Seward
• 1981 Earlier Art Voices, “Joanne Mattera,” Jessica Scarborough
• 1981 Driadi, “Du Blanc a la Couleur,” Michel Thomas
• 1981 Maenad, “Joanne Mattera,” portfolio
• 1981 Sojourner, “Risks Pay Off,” Jessica Scarborough
• 1981 American Craft, “Joanne Mattera,”

Catalogs and Essays

• 2006 Joanne Mattera: Ten Years of Encaustic Painting, State College, Flavia Rando, Joanne Mattera, Salem, MA
• 2006 “Beauty, Order and Individuality,” Order(ed), Roberta Fallon, Gallery Siano, Philadelphia, PA
  
• 2005 “Engaging the Structural,” Geometry Reloaded, Lilly Wei, Broadway Gallery, NY
• 2002 “New Paintings in Encaustic,” Uttar: Poetics of Materiality and Process, Flavia Rando, Simon Gallery, Morristown, NJ