Gallery Reception for Matt Rogers, local painter

ST. HELENA, CA - Caldwell Snyder is pleased to announce the upcoming painting exhibition for Matt Rogers, highlighting a breadth of styles from his diverse artistic oeuvre, from black and white abstracts to vibrant graphic landscapes. Reception with the artist on Thursday, March 12th with live music and wine reception. Exhibition will be on view through March 31st.

California-based artist Matt Rogers synthesizes Pop art with classic Western painting, depicting timeless subjects in a wholly original and contemporary style marked by bold colors, energetic gestures, and unexpected compositions. A love of nature and an adventurous spirit infuses Rogers’ work: his well-known “Dark Horse” series is comprised of highly graphic, monochromatic paintings of horses and riders, or abstracted images of racing hooves, while a recent series of tree paintings draws from his lifelong passion for skiing and a climbing expedition to Mount Kilimanjaro. Verging on abstraction, the new paintings capture the essence of their subject with icy palettes and vertiginous perspectives.

Rogers counts California landscape painters Elmer Bischoff, Richard Diebenkorn, and David Park as influences, and above all, renowned painter Wayne Theibaud, whom he considers a hero and mentor. From Theibaud, he learned to continually ask questions of his work and to weigh each painting’s entrances and exits, the mechanics of the picture, and the temperature and volume of its colors. He has noted, as well, the importance of music as inspiration: many of his paintings contain musical rhythms, while his well-known horse paintings begin as “a big physical exercise, with big brushstrokes to capture the drumbeat of the animal.”

In Rogers’ work, we can sense the artist’s deep understanding of California’s complicated, dark, bright beauty. As a lifelong resident, he knows firsthand that California’s landscape is as precarious as it is idyllic--prone to devastation in the form of earthquakes, fires, and mudslides. It is a place where utopia coexists with dystopia, and beach culture rubs shoulders with counterculture--a paradox that infuses much of his unique work.

Born in Oakland, Rogers studied at the San Francisco Art Institute and lives and works in St. Helena, California. He has shown his paintings in solo and group exhibitions in California and beyond.