The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
‘Signs’ exhibition opens on Oct. 21 at Darren Winston, Bookseller
Darren Winston, Bookseller, will host a reception for Signs, an exhibition of photographs by artist Matt Magee, on Oct. 21 from 6–8 p.m. The show will be on view through Nov. 19.
Matt Magee has never been tied to one medium; even as a graduate student at Pratt his work fell into the category of “New Forms,” instead of the traditional discipline of painting or sculpture. He has continued these explorations throughout his career as an artist, masterfully making oil paintings, lithographs, and found object sculptures. He has also dabbled with the camera for decades, though he has only recently begun exhibiting his photographs.
Taken largely in the areas surrounding his current home of Phoenix, Arizona, and farther afield in places such as Cairo (a world traveler, he was born in Paris and spent part of his childhood in Libya), these photographs capture the world the way Matt Magee sees it. They have an immediacy about them; while his paintings are the product of many hours of meticulous work, these images are the result of a single instant, capturing the perfect juxtaposition of a cactus and a lamppost or a bridge bisecting the sky. The images in his photographs come readymade, requiring only his unique vision and a quick trigger finger.
His works are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the University of New Mexico Museum, the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, and others. He has been exhibiting his work for over thirty years, and has recently had solo exhibitions at inde/jacobs in Marfa, Texas and at John Molloy Gallery in New York. He currently lives and works in Phoenix, Arizona.
The exhibit is presented by Darren Winston, Bookseller in his Modernist-style showroom at 81 Main Street in Sharon, Connecticut. Winston began his career in New York City in 1995 and opened his shop in Sharon in 2009. The space is well-known for its unique take on the vintage bookshop and the traditional gallery. For more information about the event or for contact details, please visit darrenwinstonbookseller.com. Store hours are Thursday through Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and by appointment.