About

Artist Statement

 

          Art is a process, not a product. Museums and galleries do not contain art, but works of art. Art is the process through which these artworks came into being. As an artist, I value the process over the product. I believe that by emphasizing the process, the artist can create more aesthetically profound artworks and also cultivate positive personal growth. Art is not just how I create beautiful objects, but how I strive to live a beautiful life. My practice is the practice of living and is not limited to the art studio. While I have cultivated a daily studio routine that includes ceramics, painting, and drawing, I have also developed a daily exercise regimen that includes yoga and martial arts. All of these disciplines form the foundation of who I am as a person and define my worldview; they are present in every bowl and every brushstroke. This practice has led to works of art that exude a sense of stillness and peace; each providing the viewer with a quiet moment to breathe and contemplate; a respite from the hectic pace of contemporary life. However, the true product of my art is not any artwork, but who I am striving to become as a person.

          Visually, my artwork is rooted in minimalism, non-objectivity, and geometric abstraction. I focus mainly on the circle, square, and triangle, and only occasionally employ color beyond black and white. I find formal and material limitations to be liberating and am awed by how much can be expressed by only a single shape in black and white. I approach both ceramics and paintings with the same methodology; I repeat the same form over-and-over until it becomes muscle memory—until the creative process is a dance. With each iteration, I experiment by changing a single variable, like the thickness of the paint or glaze mixture, or the dryness of a clay slab. By making only small changes over multiple iterations, I am able to appreciate the subtle connections between form, meaning, and process.

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Biography

 

          Multidisciplinary artist Matthew Madison Rowe (A.K.A. Mr. Limn) was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1986. Rowe first began his education in ceramics in 2000, while still a high-school student. He gained a foundation in conceptual art practices while attending the Oxbow School in Napa, CA in 2003. Rowe received a B.A. in English and Philosophy from the University of New Mexico in 2011, and an M.A. in Art History and Visual Culture from Lindenwood University in 2023. Although his degrees were academically inclined, he continued to study ceramics throughout; working as a ceramics studio assistant and instructor during his undergraduate, and maintaining a private ceramics studio in Santa Fe, NM from 2012-2023. During this time, Rowe also worked as the director of his family’s fine art gallery. There he developed an intimate knowledge of the art business; specifically in marketing, archiving, sales, appraisals, and curation. Although most of Rowe’s life has been spent studying visual arts, his most significant influence came from the study of martial arts, which began at the age of six. It was his martial arts training that led him to the understanding that art is a process and not a product. Rowe’s engagement with process as a means of both aesthetic and personal refinement has led him to a variety of creative expressions that are defined by a sense of stillness, quiet, and timelessness. Rowe’s current paintings and ceramics explore the question “what does it mean to be broken?” And invite the viewer to find the beauty in broken things.

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Exhibitions

• Two-person exhibition, The Gold That Binds Us, Santa Fe, NM, October-December 2023. Heidi Loewen Fine Art.

• Two-person exhibition, A Legacy of the Earth, Santa Fe, NM, July 2023. Farahnheight Fine Art.

• Solo exhibition of ceramics and paintings, Canyon, TX, June-September 2023. West Texas A&M University,

• Group exhibition, Intersect Palm Springs, Palm Springs, CA, February 2023. Addison Rowe Gallery

• Group exhibition, Art on Paper, New York, NY, September 2022. Addison Rowe Gallery

• Group exhibition, Art on Paper, New York, NY, February 2019. Addison Rowe Gallery

• Solo exhibition, Jackson Hole Fine Art Fair, Jackson Hole, WY, September 2019.

• Solo exhibition, Contextual Kerning, Santa Fe, NM. September-October, 2018. Beals & Co. Showroom

• Artist in residence, Tesuque, NM. September 2018. Rancho Encantado Four Seasons Resort

• Artist in residence, Santa Fe, NM. January 2018. Drury Hotel.

• Group exhibition, Visually Speaking: Color & Light, curated by Joe Novak, Cathedral City, CA. June-December 2016. Rebecca Fine Art Gallery

• Group exhibition, Art Palm Springs, Palm Springs, CA, February 2016. Addison Rowe Gallery

• Two-person exhibition, Santa Fe, NM. September 2015. Wade Wilson Fine Art.

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Lectures

• “The Influence of Russian Symbolism on Transcendental Painting in the Southwest,” The Space Between Conference, West Texas A&M University, Canyon, Texas, June 2023.

• “Agnes Pelton: Desert Transcendentalist,” New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM, November 2019

• “The History of the Santa Fe Art Market: A Logical Progression of Economic Growth,” Art Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM, July 21, 2019

• “Emil Bisttram: Amazing in Five Minutes.” Fast Art Day, New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM, May 2017.

• “Raymond Jonson and the Transcendental Painting Group,” Art Aspen, Aspen, CO, July 2016.

• “Raymond Jonson and the Transcendental Painting Group,” Art Palm Springs, Palm Springs, CA, February 2016.

• “The Influence of Raymond Jonson on the Art Scene in New Mexico,” The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, NM, April 2015.