Way back in November 2014, The Empty Spaces Project gallery in Putnam, CT exhibited the work of Al Mathes. Happily, I was able to see the show on the very last day of the exhibition -- which was the same day I went to hang the 5x5 Small Works show. Also happily, the artist was at the gallery and I had a chance to spend a bit of time talking to him.
His work is created on sheets of mylar, which allows him to play with transparency in a way that is completely impossible with canvas, paper or wood. The medium is acrylic and ink and his larger pieces are approximately 8x7 feet. Although Al doesn't have a website, you can read a bit more about him here and see a short video of the exhibition here.
As you can see by the number of detail shots I took, I spent a lot of time enjoying every square inch of these works.
And how amazing...when these pieces are taken off the wall, they are simply rolled and ready to go. Now that is brilliant!
14 comments:
Beautiful work!
Love these! They remind me of concrete walls where rust has run and created its own artful marks. Thanks for sharing your photos.
Amazing work!! I can understand why you spent some time looking, talking & taking shots.
I love Jennifer's comment about these works- she nailed it!
Very cool how they roll up and are ready to travel!
Love these! Mylar is just an interesting material to work with.
These are lovely. I'm going to get some Mylar and see what I come up with. :)
Oh I love, love, love these. I could look at them all day.
Totally amazing work. I love the neutrals.
oh. my. these are stunning! *swoon* I've played with Yupo before and this reminds me a lot of that. but transparency too? yah. double swoon!
Stunning and portable! Love the idea of transparency with the layers.
YES! the layering, texture and transparency is wonderful!
The detail is extraordinary! I will have to investigate Mylar.
WAY COOL!
Wow, Seth, thanks for the introduction. I am in love with Al Mathes! His art is pretty cool, too! ;-) Seriously, Al's work is the kind of art that I love. I don't want an artist tell me what to think or feel when I look at his or her work. I want to be sucked into a painting and say, "I feel this or that." Or, "I see this or that." That's my job. Al lets me do this. He took me to my childhood where I would draw on cement sidewalks. He returned me to Venezuela, where I was reminded of how weather can create its own art on the stucco walls of homes. He allowed me to see my own works as valuable pieces of art.
I almost bypassed your post today, Seth, because I have so many things to do that there will not be enough hours in this day. However, had I done that, I would have missed something very, very special!
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