MATT HOPSON-WALKER
Failing Hearts to Destroy a World Burnt in the Fires of Industry, Days Have Come Like Snow in the Hills.
MATT HOPSON-WALKER
May I dare say the words “Post-Pandemic?” I like the sound of those words and I am sure those of us that were lucky enough to have survived the Covid-19 pandemic would agree. For many of us the pandemic struck really hard with the loss of family and friends. For artists, the way we produce, exhibit and sell artwork has changed. Sequestered from the world, the stoppage of forward momentum in art making careers and the changes in how the artworld operates, exhibits and sells artwork has been a difficult transition for most of us. But transition we must and artists continue to produce artwork in spite of this very different artworld.
Thus, is the case of Matt Hopson-Walker, an artist with an interesting and varied past, one who has embraced a wide variety of images and styles to come out creating amazing printmaking. In this current exhibition, Hopson-Walker embraces modern American culture and the history of printmaking. Additionally, his collaborations with printmaking colleagues has brought them full tilt out of the pandemic and moved them to the forefront of today’s printmaking. As you view this exhibition, you will begin to question what you see and what do you want to be in this new PostPandemic World.
I would like to thank the many colleagues that have been instrumental in presenting this exhibition. Matt HopsonWalker for the chance of exhibiting his wonderful work, Brad Peatross of the School of the Arts, California State University, Stanislaus for the catalog design and Repro-Graphics, California State University, Stanislaus for the printing of the catalog.
Much gratitude is extended to the Instructionally Related Activates Program of California State University, Stanislaus, as well as anonymous donors for the funding of the exhibition and catalogue. Their support is greatly appreciated.
Dean De Cocker, Director, University Art Gallery California State University, Stanislaus
Rapidly Decaying Temporal Lobe, print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
Failing Hearts to Destroy a World Burnt in the Fires of Industry, Days Have Come Like Snow in the Hills.
Like many artists, I came out of the Pandemic unsure about my creative practice. Much of my time and artistic energies had been spent creating tutorials for my students and just checking in on them to make sure they were ok. As things slowly opened back up I had several conversations with many artist friends who were feeling a similar burnout. Five of us arrived at a collaborative project with a plan to meet for one week during August, 2022 and begin making none editioned print media based works on paper. Each of us lending elements to the shared library of images from our personal artistic languages. It was important to us that we have a studio practice of equals and that each of us have some part of our studio practice in the finished works on paper.
Printmaking has a long history of collaboration beginning with the historical artist and craftsperson/publisher relationship. This was not an activity of equals but rather one of creator and employee. With the transition of the 1950’s art market to include traditional arts and crafts as fine art. Printmakers shifted from being purely printing technicians for other artists to being artists in their own right. After that transition, collaboration (with the exception of commercial publishing) in printmaking became an activity of equals, a generative process to explore new and different concepts or push technical boundaries of the craft. The weeklong collaborative event we participated in allowed us to both explore the overlapping of five different artists conceptual content and methodologies but also the inherent tension of five overlapping craft based approaches.
The historical context of printed marks is similar to that of other communicative handmade marks (cuneiform and other written languages) to form the bases for a visual language that on one hand is shared by all its practitioners and on the other hand allows for individual expression. Because of the historical use of printmaking for disseminating information it’s visual language of marks has content that it brings to the artist’s work.
The importance of collaboration within the field of printmaking can’t be overstated because it allows for exploration of the shared visual language as well as the practice and development of individual expression. Each different artist has a different language and collaboration allows for the building of a new visual vocabulary.
Though a single body of work, Failing Hearts to Destroy a World Burnt in the Fires of Industry, Days Have Come Like Snow in the Hills is a series of singular impressions or monoprints made collaboratively from August 2022 to August 2023. Artists Joshua Butler, Matthew Hanson-Weller, Matt Hopson-Walker, Michael McGovern, and Howard Paine. Using printmaking matrices and elements of repeatability, instead of using a single matrix or multiple matrices to make an edition of identical prints, our approach was to use multiple matrices like a library of images and textures to create several related but individual pieces. I am sharing 24 of the 38 finished monoprints from this series and I am currently working on another 54 prints for this series with a planned total eventually reaching over 100. Each print has an individual title but as a group they are also known under a single title and are meant to be seen as a single piece / installation.
- Matthew Hopson-Walker
BIOGRAPHIES
Joshua Butler
Joshua Butler was born in Denver, Colorado in 1972. He graduated from Colorado State University with an MFA in printmaking and drawing in 2002. Perusing his commitment to living a life with the arts he then taught high school art classes for two years in Rifle, Colorado. In 2004 he began teaching art courses at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Colorado where he has earned tenure and is now the head of their printmaking program. Joshua shares his professional fortune with his beautiful wife, Bonnie, and amazing daughter Nala. His artwork can be found at www.joshuabutlerartist.com.
Matthew Hanson-Weller
Matthew Hanson-Weller grew up in Lawrence, Kansas and as a child he would spend most of his days drawing fantastic images spurred by sci-fi and fantasy books and movies. As he grew older, exposed daily to the diverse culture that Lawrence offered, his artistic vision would be fueled by pop sub-cultures, electronic media, dadaism, advertising, and propaganda. The revolving door of music acts, performance art, local and international creatives, and the access to cable television, were revelations of the everexpanding window of expressive possibilities. These possibilities were well beyond the simple mark making of pencil and paper. Matthew received his associates degree in Digital Media from San Juan College, a certification in Cultural Resource Management Archaeology, and a double major BS in Anthropology and Studio Art from Fort Lewis College. He has worked within the fields of photography and videography, television, film, radio, graphic design, archaeology, museum archives, and publication, all of which plays a vital role in his artistic lexicon. He owns and operates Primordia Print and Picture, an A/V and print studio, located on a mountain outside of Durango, Colorado.
Matthew Hopson-Walker
Born and raised in Fresno California, Matthew Hopson-Walker grew up reading comic books and dystopian science fiction novels. During a formative age he was exposed to movies such as Mad Max, Total Recall, Escape From New York, Blade Runner, and The Omega Man and many themes with in them show up in his work. In 2006 he was recipient of the prestigious James D. Phelan Award in Printmaking given by the San Francisco Foundation and administered by the KALA Institute. Matt has been included in over 220 juried or group exhibitions and 14 solo shows since 2006. Matthew Hopson-Walker is currently an associate professor in printmaking at Fresno State University.
Michael McGovern
Michael McGovern was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. In 2004 McGovern received his BFA in Photography from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon. In 2009 McGovern received his MFA in Printmaking from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. Since 2009 McGovern has been rooted at PCC Rock Creek teaching printmaking, digital photography and drawing. As of 2017 McGovern is a full-time instructor and is currently the Faculty Department Chair at PCC Rock Creek.
Howard Paine
Howard Paine is an Associate Professor of Printmaking at the University of Nebraska Omaha and is the head of the Printmaking area and coordinator of the BFA Program. Previously, he taught at Memphis College of Art where he the director of the MFA program and at the University of Southern Mississippi where he was the Chair of the Department of Art and Design. He earned an MFA in Printmaking from Washington University in St. Louis, and a BA in Studio Art and American Studies from Grinnell College. He has been integrating digital imaging and traditional printmaking processes for 30 years. His prints have been shown nationally and internationally. In 2019, he was a guest artist and lecturer at the Beihai College of Art and Design in Beihai China. Thematically his work is concerned with ideas of death, memory, and transformation over time. He lives and works in Omaha Nebraska with his wife Teresa and dogs Truman and Akira.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My work is based on investigating myself within the context of American popular culture. The difference between the drawn mark and the appropriated image is a metaphor for the conflict between reality and ideology that many of us experience. I try to create a sense of uncomfortable visual tension by blending thoughts and images that do not fit together. I am influenced by narratives and characters found in contemporary entertainment, which often centers on themes of dystopia and unresolved conflict. I want my work to record and document specific times and places, suggest the selfish motives that lurk beneath socially acceptable behavior, and reference the surface qualities and rich graphic aesthetic in the history of printmaking.
The contradiction between private and public behavior was a recurring theme in my childhood. While I was raised to admire a strong work ethic and regard growth and excess as markers of success, sprawling industrial agriculture and its accompanying evils [ills] were omnipresent. In the Central Valley region of California unlimited growing potential was paired with the ever-present threat of drug and gang violence. My home county produced 80% of America’s table wine and 80% of its crystal meth. I lived in a rural area plagued by urban problems. My daily experiences were set against a backdrop of fictional landscapes like Blade Runner, Mad Max, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Three Stooges, and accompanied by a Punk and Heavy Metal soundtrack.
I filter the complexities of adulthood through the exaggerated simplicity of narratives aimed at children. The tension between these opposites is a key component of my work. My images also incorporate several subjective elements such as memory, fancifulness, and intuitive connections between personal experiences and universal expressions of experience. The characters in my prints find themselves in situations where their behavior reflects their sense of personal, social, or moral responsibility.
The narratives found in graphic novels, movies, and video games are not so different from older morality plays and allegorical art. These works of fiction use over-the-top or exaggerated action to belabor a point or resolve conflict. Beyond reinforcing a narrative, the action in these stories reflects personal aspects that are often sublimated in social situations where maintaining harmony is prized over honest expression.
Cover Image: Desire Weaved Into Reality, print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
Horrors Left in Me Undying, print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
Destined for the Darkness, print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
A Key Crafted by the Ancient Enemy. print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
Contractual Utilitarian Nightmare, print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
Nonsense Brain Jail, print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
Your Aim, print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
A Kingdom of Men, print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
The Museum of Human Misery. print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
Beyond the Count of Grief, print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
A Dark and Fierce Desire, print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
Secret Misanthrope, print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
Nonsense Brain Jail II, print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
Poisoned Whispers and Dark Dreams, print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
Burned On the Surface of Eternity, print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
Anthropomorphized Vessel of Knowledge, print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
Passed Like Rain In the Mountains, print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
The Long Sleep of Death Embalmed, print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
Frail Hearts of a People Destroyed, print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
The True King Returns, print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
Dreams Forged From Hatred. print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
Post Modern Modification, print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
Terrors of Direct Experience, print media, 30” x 22”, 2022
INSTALLATION
Installation at California State University, Stanislaus’ Universtiy Art Gallery
MATT HOPSON-WALKER CV
EDUCATION
2003 MFA Printmaking, School of Art and Art History, University of Iowa
2002 MA Printmaking, School of Art and Art History, University of Iowa
1998 BFA Printmaking, Kansas City Art Institute
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2023– Associate Professor, Printmaking, California State University-Fresno, Fresno, California
2018–23 Assistant Professor, Printmaking, California State University-Fresno, Fresno, California
2015–18 Assistant Professor, Printmaking and Foundations Coordinator, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021 A Tower of Ashes Built, Art Gallery, Porterville College, Porterville, California
2020 2019 Best of Show, Solo Exhibition, Merced Multicultural Art Center, Merced, California
2019 Empires of Commerce, Merced College Art Gallery, Merced, California
JURIED AND INVITATIONAL EXHIBITIONS
2023 Narrative: Artists as Storytellers, Four Person Exhibition, Arts Visalia Gallery, Visalia, California
Fresno Printmakers’ Guild Spring Exhibition, Ferrari Gallery, Carnegie Arts Center, Turlock, California
Asymmetric, Gallery 130, Fresno, California
2022 Decennial Celebration Red Press Collaborative Exhibition, Columbus Printed Arts Center, Columbus, Ohio
Fresno Printmakers’ Guild Winter Exhibition and Print Sale, Gazebo Gardens, Fresno, California
Printmaking Group Exhibition, Showcase Gallery, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee
Printocalypse 2022 Exhibition, Corridor 2122 Gallery, Fresno, California
Fresno State Faculty Exhibition, Conley Art Gallery, California State University Fresno, California
Black Arts Tarot - Major and Minor Arcana, Art Gallery, Colorado Mesa University, Mesa, Colorado
2021 TRUMPED 2, Showcase Gallery, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee
20 Years of Marais Press: Imprinting a Campus and Collection, Hilliard Art Museum, Lafayette, Louisiana
Moving On, The Union Gallery, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
Fresno Printmakers’ Guild 2021 Print Exhibition, Kings Art Center, Hanford, California
Decennial Celebration Red Press Collaborative Exhibition, Foster Art Gallery, Westminster College, Westminster, Ohio
2020 TRUMPED 2, Gallery FAB, University of Missouri - St. Louis, St. Louis Missouri
Decennial Celebration Red Press Collaborative Exhibition, John J. McDonough Museum of Art, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio
For Rosalie, Eggcups & Curated Exhibition, MAINSITE Contemporary Art Norman, Oklahoma For Rosalie, Eggcups & Curated Exhibition, Ruddell Gallery, Black Hills State University, Spearfish, South Dakota 2019 7th Annual International Juried Print Exhibition, Remarque/New Grounds Print Workshop Gallery, Albuquerque, New Mexico Triton 2019 Statewide 2D Competition and Exhibition, Triton Museum, Santa Clara,California
Paper West 2nd National Works on Paper Juried Exhibition, Gittins Gallery, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
17th Annual Juried Art Exhibition, Grace Gallery, Mills River, North Carolina
72nd Gilpin County Arts Annual Juried Exhibition, County Arts Association Gallery, Central City, Colorado
13th California Centered: Juried Printmaking Exhibition, Merced Multicultural Art, Center, Merced, California
6th Annual Living Mark, Verum Ultimum Art Gallery, Portland, Oregon
EXCELSIOR! National Juried Exhibition, H Gallery, Ventura, California
The Collection Show, Safety-Kleen Gallery, Elgin Community College, Elgin, Illinois
Making a Mark: Printmaking Experience, M Street Gallery, Fresno California
Fresno Printmakers Guild 30th Anniversary, Vernissage Gallery, Fresno, California
Trumped, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska
RectoVerso, Salt Lake State University, Salt Lake City, Utah
Black Arts Tarot 1: Major Arcana, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska
AWARDS
2019 Honorable Mention, 17th Annual Juried Art Exhibition, Grace Gallery, Mills River, North Carolina
PaperWest Joint Equal Prize, Paper West 2nd National Works on Paper juried Exhibition, Gittins Gallery, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah Best of Show, 13th Annual California Centered: Juried Printmaking Exhibition, Merced Multicultural Art Center, Merced, California
OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2023 Curator, Narrative: Artists as Storytellers, Visalia, California
Curator, Printocalypse 2023 - Group Printmaking Exhibition, 2122 Corridor Gallery, Fresno, California
Juror, Carnegie Art Showcase, Carnegie Arts Center, Turlock, California
Juror, Arts Alive, Fresno, California
2022 Visiting Artist, Artist presentation, screenprinting demonstration and artist talk Cal Poly Humboldt, Arcata, California
Curator, Printmaking Extended Exhibition, 2122 Corridor Gallery, Fresno, California
2021 Artist Lecture, University of North Carolina - Pembroke, Pembroke, North Carolina
2020 Juror, Fresno Print Guild International Juried Printmaking Exhibition, Online Exhibition due to Covid 19 Juror, 14th Annual California Centered, Merced Multicultural Art Center Merced, California
2019 Visiting Artist, Artist presentation, printmaking demonstration and artist talk Reedley College, Reedley, California
Conference Demonstration, Photo screen print sugar lift, Souther Graphics Council nternational, Dallas, Texas Curator, Into the Printerverse Exhibition, 2122 Corridor Gallery, Fresno, California
Artist Lecture, College of the Sequoias, Visalia, California
COLLECTIONS
Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Artist Printmaker/Photographer Research Collection, Texas Tech University Museum, Lubbock, Texas
University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
South East Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio
University of Saint Francis, Fort Wayne, Indiana
Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, Illinois
Elgin Community College, Elgin, Illinois
Stanislas State University, Turlock, California
The Janet Turner Print Museum Print Collection, California State University Chico Chico, California
Syracuse University Art Museum, Shaffer Art Building, Syracuse, New York
Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library, Permanent Collection, Indianapolis, Indiana
Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland, Oregon
Zuckerman Museum of Art, Kennesaw, Georgia
Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia
University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, Indiana
Mason Gallery, Keene State College, Keene, New Hampshire
Arizona State University Print Archive, Tempe Arizona
Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri
Elgin Community College, Elgin, Illinois
University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, Indiana
University of North Carolina-Pembroke, Pembroke, North Carolina
Middle Tennessee State University Print Archive, Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Muhlenberg College Permanent Collection, Allentown, Pennsylvania
Imagery Winery Collection, Glen Ellen, California
Corcoran School of Art & Design, Washington DC
Franklin Furnace Artist Book Collection, Museum Of Modern Art, New York, New York
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, STANISLAUS
Dr. Susan E. Borrego, President
Dr. Richard Ogle, Provost/Vice President of Academic Affairs
Dr. James A. Tuedio, Dean, College of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
DEPARTMENT OF ART
Martin Azevedo, Associate Professor, Chair
Dean De Cocker, Professor
James Deitz, Lecturer
Daniel Edwards, Associate Professor
Jessica Gomula-Kruzic, Professor
Dr. Alice Heeren, Assistant Professor
Chad Hunter, Lecturer
Dr. Carmen Robbin, Professor
Ellen Roehne, Lecturer
Dr. Staci Scheiwiller, Associate Professor
Susan Stephenson, Associate Professor
Jake Weigel, Associate Professor
Mirabel Wigon, Assistant Professor
Alex Quinones Instructional Tech II
Matt Hayes, Equipment Technician II
UNIVERSITY ART GALLERIES
Dean De Cocker, Director
Kory Twaddle, Gallery Assistant
SCHOOL OF THE ARTS
Brad Peatross, Graphic Specialist II
Matt Hopson-Walker
Failing Hearts to Destroy a World Burnt in the Fires of Industry, Days Have Come Like Snow in the Hills.
August 29–October 6, 2023 | University Art Gallery, California State University, Stanislaus
200 copies printed. Copyright © 2023 California State University, Stanislaus • ISBN 978-1-940753-79-9
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the publisher. This exhibition and catalog have been funded by Associated Students Instructionally Related Activities, California State University, Stanislaus.