Post-minimalist artist Linda Matalon will be the fall term artist-in-residence at Dartmouth. She will have an exhibition entitled “Work” at the Jaffe-Friede Gallery in the Hopkins Center for the Arts from September 18 through October 14.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to have uninterrupted time to explore media that I don’t have a chance to explore in New York,” says Matalon. “I am looking forward to using the ceramics studio, learning to weld, and using the wood shop facilities. To have these facilities close by and be away from my day-to-day responsibilities at home is a great privilege.”
Matalon, who is from Brooklyn, N.Y., has had exhibitions at The Drawing Center in New York, The New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, and The Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts in Wilmington. Matalon uses wax and graphite to provide depth in her drawings.
“Linda Matalon’s sculpture and drawings have an incredible presence,” says Brenda Garand, professor of studio art. “She has a way of making the viewer stop and pay attention to the humble moment of a lone mark, or to feel the weight of time within one’s self. They are strong in their fragility, and moving in their silence. I have thought about her work for years, and I am so excited to have her as an artist-in-residence in the Studio Art Department.”
Matalon, the first artist to move into the studio located in the Black Family Visual Arts Center, has settled into the space—hanging projects on the walls and plugging in rice cookers to melt the wax she uses in her work. The airy studio, with floor-to-ceiling windows, overlooks Ellsworth Kelly’s Dartmouth Panels and the Maffei Arts Plaza.
“It’s exciting to be the first of many future artists to be setting up this studio,” she says.
The artist-in-residence program began in 1932, when inaugural artist Carlos Sanchez spent a year on campus. The next artist was José Clemente Orozco, who spent two years in residency working on The Epic of American Civilization—a series of murals in Baker-Berry Library. Since 1962, Dartmouth has hosted three to four distinguished artists every year.
Matalon will deliver a lecture about her work at 4:30 p.m. September 18 in the Hood Museum of Art Auditorium. A reception will follow in the Jaffe-Friede Gallery. The event is open to the public.
Matalon’s exhibition at Dartmouth will feature both sculpture and work on paper. She will be on campus for the 10-week term, interacting with students, faculty, and the Upper Valley community.
“Our students are fortunate to have such an incredible artist here for 10 weeks,” says Garand.
