Matt Haffner Updates

What's Been Going On

2010-11-02T08:25:00.000-07:00

I have been overwhelmed with exhibitions, installations, workshops and panel discussions and have spent very little time updating my web site lately. I've just completed a large overhaul of the site with lots of new works from all of my recent activities. Be sure to check out new works on paper that were recently shown at University of West Georgia's Bobick Gallery, wheat pastes from the i45 sponsored collaborative event "Convergent Frequencies", Flux's one night art event / extravaganza, and my installation at Agnes Scott College as part of their Quadrennial.

Here are links to some of the press that was generated from these exhibitions:

Burn Away
Interview for University of West Georgia
Modern Luxury
More from Burn Away
Review of Quadrennial
Arts Critic ATL review of Quadrennial

Press Release for "Convergent Frequencies"

2010-08-08T12:30:00.001-07:00

For Immediate Release July 22, 2010

i45 ArtBox presents: “Convergent Frequencies”

The galleries of i45 are pleased to announce “Convergent Frequencies”, a site-specific art installation commissioned by ArtBox, an i45 project. The event will take place at the intersection of Krog Street and Irwin Street/Lake Avenue, where three local artists will reinvent the empty lot with three large shipping containers using images, film, and sound, while simultaneously celebrating the surrounding neighborhoods. “Convergent Frequencies” will be open to the public, free of charge, 6pm – 12 midnight during the weekend of September 17,18 and 19.

Each evening at dusk, media artist and designer, Matt Gilbert, will present his new video inspired by the modularity of the brain's vision system and the similar separation of color and movement in digital video. It splits images of the local area and musical performance into two parts—movement and color—investigating them as independent components, and recombining them into a new video work.

Matt Haffner’s contribution to “Convergent Frequencies” will be a series of narrative portraits applied to the exteriors of the three shipping containers. His silhouetted figures play out scenes with a background of urban iconography including bodegas, pawnshops, liquor stores and laundromats. Using found images, local architecture, and his personal understanding of the urban experience; Haffner relates the imagery specifically to the Inman Park, Old 4th Ward, Little 5 Points area that both he and the works inhabit.

Artist and designer, Nat Slaughter, will convert the interiors of the containers into a series of sound installations of binaural field recordings gathered from walks around Old Fourth Ward, Inman Park and the spaces in-between. The discrete interior spaces transport listeners throughout the neighborhood, where designed and random occurrences are experienced.

i45 is a collective of Atlanta galleries in Inman Park (i), the Old Fourth Ward (4) and Little Five Points (5) working together to promote this neighborhood's rich, creative identity. Member galleries include Barbara Archer Gallery, Henley Studios, Whitespace Gallery, and Wm Turner Gallery. Through shared events and common interests, we seek wider visibility for our artists and our vision of building a vibrant arts community.

Friday, September 17th / Saturday, September 18th / and Sunday,

September 19th: 6pm – Midnight, with a live performance at 9 pm, Saturday night.

Free and open to the public. Food and beverages available for purchase.

Media contact: Susan Bridges
i45galleries@gmail.com
404.849.8176

Some Upcoming Projects and Exhibitions

2010-08-08T12:07:00.000-07:00

Been hitting it hard in the studio in the last few months in preparation for some really cool projects. September is going to be a busy month. First off is a project with the i45 group (i45 standing for Inman Park, Old Fourth Ward, and Little 5 Points in the East side section of Atlanta). Myself, sound artist Nat Slaughter, and video / animation artist Matt Gilbert are attacking a grouping of industrial shipping containers that will be placed in an abandoned lot at the corner of Krog St. and Lake and Irwin Streets. I will be doing wheat-pasted narrative portraits, Nat will be doing a sound installation of his field recordings from the area. Matt Gilbert will be doing a large scale video / animation diptych projected on the adjacent Studioplex building. This event will be September 17th, 18th and 19th. I'll have some official flyers soon on here.

Here is a little teaser image.

Next in September for me is the Greater Decatur Quadrennial at the Dalton Gallery at Agnes Scott College. I'll be doing a large mixed media installation, including cut paper, stencils, multi-channel video projection. Opening for this show is: September 23rd.

The list of artists that will be included in this exhibition are:
Jonathan Bouknight
Marc Brotherton
Chung-Fan Chang
Matt Haffner
Sara Hornbacher, Hartmut Koenitz & Ken Knoespel
Susan Krause
Claire Paul
Lisa Tuttle

more info here: daltongallery.agnesscott.edu

Last thing for the month is a solo exhibition of my work at the University of West Georgia. Opening reception September 30th.

When it rains it pours, eh?

Back Online

2010-07-28T08:04:00.000-07:00

Not that I've really been away, but I've been devoting my time to studio work and have elected to partially ignore my site and the updates I should have been keeping up with.
A large part of the last several months has been devoted to writing proposals for projects, grant writing, and applications to residencies. In doing all this I have made several large drawings, though for the time being they only live in digital form. This is a time consuming process and it is frustrating for me as an artist to only be making work in the computer. I need tangible processes and results.
Here are a few of the images for proposed projects. For the sake of the the anonymity of the clients, I have not included where these proposal are for.

The next few images are all from the same proposed installation. Complete with sound and multi-chanel video.

As time consuming as these are, I never feel like they should be a part of any of my portfolios, so sadly for the time being this is the only place these will be seen.
I'm currently working on a major proposal that has come to fruition. I'll be posting more about this soon.

Upcoming Show at Pentimenti Gallery

2010-02-05T16:05:00.001-08:00

SPARK, BORROW & STEAL

MATT HAFFNER

JUDY GELLES

PATRICIA LAMBERTUS

AURORA ROBSON

VIVIANE ROMBALDI SEPPEY

MARCH 13 - APRIL 24, 2010

Reception: Saturday, March 13, 2010, 4 - 6:30 PM.

First Friday: Friday, April 2, 2010, 5 - 8:30 PM.

In conjunction with Philagrafika 2010.

Pentimenti Gallery will present a variety of print material based works in SPARK, BORROW & STEAL by Matt Haffner, Judy Gelles, Patricia Lambertus, Aurora Robson and Viviane Rombaldi Seppey. The exhibition’s title is inspired by Picasso’s renowned quote: “good artists borrow, great artists steal.” Beginning with inspiration and ending with artworks, these artists create or use pre-existing printed material (and concepts of mass communication) from their original source. All the artists provide different perspectives on the constant imagery and printed materials we are too often accustomed to disregard.

PENTIMENTI GALLERY

Christine Pfister

145 North Second St.

Philadelphia, PA 19106

215.625.9990

The December Show @ Whitespace Gallery

2009-12-15T17:19:00.000-08:00

the DECEMBER SHOW: now open!

Selected Gallery Artists:
Robin Bernat - Jonathan Bouknight - Teresa Cole - Sarah Emerson - Jody Fausett - Matt Haffner - Sally Heller - Julia Hill - Ann-Marie Manker - Beth Marcum - David Yoakley Mitchell - John Otte - Mark Sandlin - Red Weldon-Sandlin - Michele Schuff - Scott Silvey - Caroline Smith - Micah Stansell - Whitney Stansell - Ann Stephenson - Richard Sudden - Tommy Taylor - Yukari Umekawa - Tracy Wagner

http://www.whitespace814.com
http://whitespace814.blogspot.com

Hours { wednesday - saturday 11-5} or by appointment
Location: 814 Edgewood Ave, Atlanta, GA

Video from LeFlash

2009-12-15T17:15:00.000-08:00

A little late but finally here. I have been very slow to update this part of my site, but wanted to get some old items up and also list some upcoming shows I've got in the works. Please check back soon for more.

Street Fighter from matt haffner on Vimeo.

This video was silent with the idea that the soundtrack would come from the street itself. The video was projected onto the entire facade of a building in the Castleberry Hill arts district of Atlanta as a part of LeFlash 2009. As people walked the streets, cars, bikes, motorcycles, buses and horse-drawn carriages droned past, and planes flew overhead, the characters in this video fluidly "danced" to a symphony of urban reverb and modulation.

Also, here are a few of the images from the installation to give a better sense of the install.

you can find more images at the LeFlash flickr page here:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1255110@N23/pool/

and here:

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=leflash

LeFLash 2009

2009-09-07T07:07:00.001-07:00

I've been working on a new piece for the October 2nd, Le Flash 2009 event here in Atlanta. My piece will be a video projection on the facade of 235 Walker Street.
This will be a site specific video installation. The piece is entitled "Street Fighter". It looks at the seductive nature of violence in urban environments and the relationships our bodies have to the architecture that surrounds us.
For more info on my piece or the 2009 Le Flash event, please go to:
http://leflash-atlanta.com

Installation Images

2009-05-07T05:28:00.000-07:00

Here are a few images of recent installations at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Atlanta. These are all cut paper and other media. The large "Sleeping Giant" is white cut paper on a brown and black painted wall. The crouching giant, entitled; "Trepidation" is made simply of black cut paper. The other works are black cut paper and video projections. Each video has slight movements including circling hawks, planes flying through clouds, elevated commuter trains, and flocking birds.

Dreams of a Sleeping Giant - Opening Reception / Exhibition dates and Artist talk

2009-04-07T11:18:00.000-07:00

Dreams of a Sleeping Giant - Matt Haffner

Exhibition Dates: April 24th - June 6th, 2009
Opening Reception: Friday, April 24th, 2009, 6:30-8:30pm

Artist Lecture: Wednesday, May 20th, 2009, 6:30

Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia
TULA Arts Center
75 Bennett Street, Suite A2
Atlanta, Ga. 30309
404.376.8700
info@mocaga.org

About the MOCA Ga. Working Artist Project

We are grateful to the Charles Loridans Foundation for funding the Working Artist Project, including the exhibition and catalog. This project is an initiatve of The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia to support established, working artists in the Atlanta metroplolitan area.

Joining MOCA's Annette Cone-Skelton as a 2008/2009 juror was Carter Foster, Curator of Drawings at the Whitney Museum of AMerican Art, New York. Each of the Three winning artists is supported with an exhibition, promotion, a studio assistant and major stipend to create work over the course of a year. The Working Artist Project exhibitions and the accompanying catalog will present new work by these three artists and document the work created throughout the project year.

Matt Haffner's exhibition is the first in the series presented by the 2008/2009 Working Artist Project winners. This exhibitiobn will be followed by solo exhibitions by the other two artist winners, Marcia R. Cohen and Maria Artemis. A catalog featuring the work of all three winners will be available at the end of the three exhibitions.

Exhibition in Philadelphia

2009-03-02T04:57:00.000-08:00

Pentimenti Gallery

Info for upcoming show at Pentimenti Gallery in Philadelphia:
Laura and I are having concurrent exhibitions at Pentimenti Galery in Philadelphia this month. Conceptually and aesthetically, our work is completely unrelated. This is the first time that we have shown "together", aside from single pieces in group shows, auctions and the like.

MARCH 6 - APRIL 11, 2009
Reception: Friday, March 6, 6 - 8:30 pm
Pentimenti Gallery is pleased to announce 2 solo exhibitions AGGREGATE and TALES FROM THE LONESOME CITY from March 6 - April 11, 2009. A reception with the artists will be held on Friday, March 6 from 6 - 8:30 pm.

LAURA BELL
"Aggregate"
Paintings

This series of paintings is derived from biomorphic forms and cellular systems, as well as celestial objects such as constellations, nebulae, and galaxies. Image sources include both Hubble photographs and microscopic slide images of deadly human diseases, in an exploration of both the minute and the monumental.
The images suggest an inner space, populated by fluids and gasses, bacterial growth, paramecium, fungus, and mold. Through the exploration of microscopic forms that simultaneously hold both regenerative power and destructive potential, the images are both a celebration of the beauty found in the pulsating undercurrents of life, as well as the an acknowledgement of the powerful threat that these same forms can wield. Despite their intimate size, the paintings also refer to an outer, infinite space, which hints at both the source of life, as well as its absence.

see more of her work here:
laurabellstudio.com

MATT HAFFNER
"Tales from the Lonesome City"
Paintings & Works on paper

MATT HAFFNER’s paintings and ink drawings on mylar with traditional photograph derive from film noir, comic book and contemporary popular media. This new series presents fictional and chaotic urban landscapes with remembrances of street life staged with transparent figures evoking a feeling of nostalgia. Also in these works, the source imagery is from the streets of 3 cities: Philadelphia, New York and Atlanta.

After this solo show at Pentimenti Gallery, I will be having another solo exhibition open April 25, 2009 at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, Atlanta.

Upcoming Exhibition of Drawings and Paintings

2009-01-28T03:30:00.000-08:00

This has been a busy last several months, and now I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The first thing on my calendar coming up is an exhibition of drawings and a couple paintings at Pentimenti Gallery (March 6th - April 12th / Opening reception as part of First Friday, March 6th).
Next on the agenda will be a long anticipated solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Atlanta. This show will feature, large scale works of installation, video pieces and paintings.
In the next few days I will post a couple images for these shows with some more formal announcements.

2009-01-19T13:00:00.000-08:00

Studio View.
I've been working 100 miles an hour lately. Getting ready for my April 25th opening at MOCA here in the ATL. Here's a quick sneak peak as to what's being worked on. Lots of cut paper, video, stencils and exacto blade cuts.

New Life to the old Web Site

2008-12-06T07:56:00.000-08:00

I just gave the web site a bit of an overhaul. New images, new text, some videos, etc. I'm working on revising the links and a few other tweaks, but the portfolio was the priority.

check out the face lift:

http:www.matthaffner.com

Atlantan Shout Out

2008-11-28T06:03:00.000-08:00

I've been off the blog for a bit working feverishly on a couple exhibitions for the spring. I'm making renewed effort to keep up with postings. Just the other day the December issue of the Atlantan magazine came out with an Arts issue. This issue features one of my paintings on the cover and a small blurb about me and my work on page 12.

Here's the link :

http://digital.modernluxury.com/publisher/modernluxury1/ATLA/issue14/magazine.php?logo=0&issueid=4617&page=1

Back from the woods

2008-08-07T05:39:00.000-07:00

i got back last weekend from a really great residency at the hambidge center in north georgia. it was a great opportunity to make art, mediate on some coming shows and get some god momentum on my studio practice. here are some images from the trip and a few of the pieces that i made while i was in residency there.

and here's the art. these are part of a series of 13 works. they are ink on frosted mylar over a traditional cprint (color photo for the lay folk). some of these mylar pieces have been cut into to reveal specific items of the photograph beneath, creating an interesting dimensional push and pull in the imagery.

i've yet to really craft my artist statement for these much less title the work, but i've been thinking a lot about how these are kind of post apocalyptic view of the cityscape. the photos are barren of life with people drawn back in that speak about the memory of place and the chaos that ensues during the collapse of a city. more once i've fleshed out an artist statement on this stuff.

Hambidge Residency

2008-07-14T17:38:00.000-07:00

I'm getting ready for a two week residency in the mountains between north georgia and north carolina at the hambidge center. this should be a great opportunity for me to focus on nothing but making new work. as the facilities are limited i'll be trying to work exclusively on works on paper and photography.
i'll be interested to see what two weeks away from family, friends, with no email, phone reception, facebook, etc. will do to my psyche. i'm sure this will be great fro getting work done, but right now i'm a little freaked out about being alone with myself and my art and a book of the writings of marcel duchamp.
check back in a couple weeks and i'll post some new works that were made while at the residency.

Installation of "The Pushcart Vendors"

2008-06-29T13:16:00.000-07:00

2008-06-12T07:54:00.000-07:00

Matt Haffner - Discusses his new work -
"Community Profiles" or "The Pushcart Vendors"

a large-scale public art installation
as a part of A New Genre Landscape

the talk will be at Coan park in the Kirkwood / Edgewood area of Atlanta

4pm, Saturday June 14th

located on Hosea L. Williams Drive between Anniston Ave. and Woodbine Av.
(the installation is in the lower part of the park on the side of the community center)
1520 Woodbine Ave., SE, Atlanta, GA 30317

Installation shots of "The Pushcart Vendors"

2008-06-02T07:10:00.000-07:00

here are a handful of the shots from yesterdays install.

New Mural Went Up Today

2008-06-01T17:24:00.000-07:00

click on the image below to get a larger view

"The Pushcart Vendors" - 2008 Matt Haffner

with the amazing help of my crew, we threw up my biggest wheatpaste mural to date - 80 feet long and 2o high. it took about 8 hours to get this completed, but i looks great. check back this week and i'll have some installation shots and hopefully some video of the installation soon as well. for now here's the final installation shot.
this mural is in Coan park in the ATL. it is a part of the (new) genre landscape. check the posting below for more info on this installation, the opening and the artist talk on site.

Atlantan Magazine Article

2008-05-27T17:19:00.000-07:00

Be sure to check out the feature article in the Atlantan magazine here:

http://www.modernluxury.com/digital.php?e=ATLA

jump to page 48 to view the article.

Artist Talk for A (new) Genre Landscape

2008-05-27T17:15:00.000-07:00

Mark your calendars, I will be doing an on-site artist talk,

June 14 @ 4:00pm
at Coan Park
1530 Woodbine Avenue.

I will be talking about the new piece that I'm installing for this city-wide public art exhibit, my methods for working on a piece like this and the concepts behind a work like this.

Opening Reception for New Genre Landscape

2008-05-21T06:12:00.000-07:00

clink on the image below to view it larger.
hope to see you all at the opening on the 7th and on the 14th for my artist talk. more info on that later

New Genre Landscape

2008-05-09T05:37:00.000-07:00

Currently I'm working on a temporary public art project for the City of Atlanta's Bureau of Cultural Affairs. The project has been conceptualized and is curated by Stuart Keeler. For this project, I am creating a wheat-pasted mural similar to those that I made for Atlanta Celebrates Photography in 2006. This will be in Coan Park in the Kirkwood neighborhood of Atlanta, on the side of the concrete structure in the lower part of the park. Here is some info about the project and the opening reception.

A (New) Genre Landscape
Temporary Art Projects

OVERVIEW

What happens when a public park becomes an artist studio? Twelve Atlanta artists will explore new ways of working with local communities through the creation of temporary site-specific "artscapes". Sponsored by the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs Public Art Program OCA/PAP, A (new) Genre Landscape Temporary Public Art Project will take place in twelve Atlanta parks from May 31 through the summer of 2008.
The multi-disciplined contemporary public art of twelve Atlanta artists respond to a curatorial framework developed by project curator, Stuart Keeler. Keeler's curatorial concept aims to broaden accepted ideas of public art by asking the question: Can the networks, systems and fields of the public park, create a new social landscape? Atlanta artists will examine new contexts of working with local communities through the creation of digital, sound, video and other experimental works.

PROJECT STATUS
06/07/08, Saturday, OPENING RECEPTION - Grant Park

MOCA GA Working Artist Project

2008-05-09T05:29:00.000-07:00

The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia

is pleased to announce the winners of the

2008 Working Artist Project

funded by

The Charles Loridans Foundation

Maria Artemis

Marcia R. Cohen

Matt Haffner

MOCA's Director Annette Cone-Skelton and Carter Foster, Curator of Drawings at the Whitney Museum of American Art chose this years recipients . Foster is a native of Atlanta and a graduate of the University of Georgia. His career has led him to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art before joining the Whitney in 2005.

The Working Artist Project was created by MOCA GA to support artists living and working in Atlanta. The program aims to go beyond artist grants and strives to establish Atlanta on a national level as a city in which to launch a viable career in art. Additionally, the WAP program was created to help retain existing artists in Atlanta and attract artists to come to the Atlanta area, bringing in new, exciting talent.

The three artists chosen will receive financial support in the form of a $12,000 stipend. They will be provided a paid studio assistant during the year, working 10-15 hours a week. In an unusual twist, the winning artist then provides valuable mentoring to the studio assistant, helping to launch careers of young artists and thus contributing to an artist-friendly environment in Atlanta.

Each artist will be featured in a solo exhibition with catalogue at MOCA GA. In addition, a work of art from each artist will be added to the MOCA GA permanent collection, insuring their place in the overall history of Georgia's contemporary art.