Matt Blackwell
Matt Blackwell
Matt Blackwell’s vision of America is inspired. He works within a variety methods, at times raw and spontaneous, and at others analytical, but always delivered with driving authority and a touch of absurdity. Rather than reflecting a forlorn and nostalgic condition, his participants are depicted as free spirits who not only persevere but often prevail. His highly expressive and lavishly imaginative paintings are infused with irreverent humor, their cheerfulness often offset by dark elements lurking in the background, such as a skull or a devilish figure. Some of the works have an uncanny, fairy-tale quality.
Matt Blackwell earned a BFA from the Portland School of Art in 1977. In 1980, he studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and, in 1988, he received his MFA from the University of North Carolina. In 2006, Blackwell was the recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Purchase Award. In 2013, he was selected to participate in Piece Work, Maine, the Biennial Exhibition at the Portland Museum of Art, after which, his sculpture was purchased for the museum's permanent collection. In 2015, Blackwell was awarded the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship.
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