Mehdi Matin

I am an Iranian born Artist living in New York City. I moved to New York in 1993 when I was 13, with my parents and siblings. Our lives in Kuwait, where I grew up from an early age, was disrupted during the Gulf War of 1990. Moving to New York shaped my identity, and introduced me to art. Later during a certain momentous occasion whilst I was in my early 20s wandering the streets of Paris in a mood of total liberation and contemplating a return to reality. Stopping to sit at a fountain I found myself proclaiming my devotion to the perfection of my "art." At that moment I blindly entered into a contract that is only slightly less mysterious to me now. I am attracted to expression, the most valuable thing to have in all its glorious abstractions. True expression exists in innumerable forms, however certain forms are more true. Nature envelopes life, and reveals these forms and so in my life it has been a huge influence. In an age which tries to describe itself in terms of quantized particles I too am struggling with certain existential ideas. My art is a result of that struggle. In this sense the struggle is analogous with a movement. This “movement” at its essence can flow between the creative arts and certainly does for me, so I...

After going to college for 5 years I was left feeling disenfranchised. Knowing that my primary motivation was counter the corporate destinies of most of my classmates I decided to drift. In that drifting I found the courage to wait for the right thing. Dorothea Baer Tyler provided me that opportunity. I was 25 when I met her and she was 74. She had graduated with a fine art degree at the Chicago Art Institute and had a career as a woodworking teacher at a prestigious Upper East Side private school. I spent close to 8 years living with Dorothea. Despite the fact that there were no papers signed and no talk of an apprenticeship in hindsight thats what it was. Dorothea’s central philosophy was to embolden the love for learning. Her guidance was focused on my humanity rather than directed at industry. Emphasis was placed on time spent in the studio working rather than on technique. She would say that I was her son, she never had children, I’ve always felt it was due to the deep bond we shared in creation.

Now if you read the above Events section, you will get the picture that I have exhibitions quite regularly. And I do, every time the Phalanstery has an opening my studio by virtue of being at the Phalanstery gets traffic. I show new work, amongst other works that have cause for reshowing. I work on a yearly schedule which generally begins with the year in the studio, Spring and Autumn are when I show usually in conjunction with the events at the Phalanstery. I have curated shows outside of the Phalanstery but it has not been of my own work.