BIO

Matt Duffin was born in 1968 and grew up in Houston, Texas. He received his Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Houston. He never practiced as an architect, choosing instead to become an artist. Through art, he found that he could easily combine his tendency toward right angles and persective drawing with the more human themes of solitude and irony. Over time, his medium has evolved from charcoal to encaustic wax, but he continues to dwell in the realm of dark recesses and stark contrasts.

In the past several years, Duffin's work has received critical recognition by some of the most respected private collectors and museum curators in the country. Tracy Bashkoff, Associate Curator for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, began the trend by selecting his work for Encaustic Works '03: Fourth International Biennal Exhibition at the Marist College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY. At the Los Angeles Art Show in 2007, Michael Govan, Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and former Deputy Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, singled out his work and brought it to the attention of Lynda and Stewart Resnick, LACMA's most esteemed benefactors. Govan then facilitated the acquisition of one of Duffin's pieces by the Resnicks' Roll International Corporation, which added another piece to its collection a year later. Other notable collections include the Crocker Art Museum, which in 2008 acquired the piece entitled "Crowd Control" for its permanent collection, the Tulman Collection of Contemporary Art in Chicago, as well as the private collections of Carlie Wilmans, granddaughter of San Francisco arts benefactor Phyllis Wattis (1914-2002) and Director of the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, and Eleanor Notides, Executive Director of Christie's in San Francisco. Duffin's work has also been shown at the Bakersfield Museum of Art, the Berkeley Art Center and at fairs nationwide including The LA Art Show, Art Chicago, SOFA, Scope, and Flow, Miami. His work has appeared in Artnews, NYArts Magazine, Studio Visit Magazine, The Morning News, Zyzzyva, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Sacramento Bee, and The Oxford American, among other publications.

Duffin is represented by galleries in San Francisco, Santa Fe, Philadelphia, and Houston. He has lived in Spain, Costa Rica, and Taos, New Mexico and currently resides in northern California with his wife and two small children.


RESUME


SOLO & TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS

Koelsch Gallery, Houston, TX., November 2010 (solo-upcoming)

Nightshift, Garson Baker Fine Art, New York, NY., October 2008 (solo)

Koelsch Gallery, Houston, TX., November 2007 (solo)

Waiting for Green, Nelson Macker Fine Art, Port Chester, N.Y., May 2007 (solo)

Life in Shadows, Julie Baker Fine Art, Nevada City, CA., September 2005 (two-person)


SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

The Dallas Art Fair, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA., February 2010

Art of Play, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA., December 2009

??st Annual Small Works Show, The Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA., December 2009

Metropolitan Home Magazine's Modern by Design, Steven Miller Design Studios (Courtesy Dolby Chadwick Gallery), San Francisco, CA., August 2009

Annual New Talent Show, The Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA., July 2009

Figurations II, Nuart Gallery, Santa Fe, N.M., July 2009

Valentine Show, Evan Lurie Gallery, Indianapolis, IN., February 2009

The LA Art Show, Julie Baker Fine Art , Santa Monica, CA., January 2009

Small Wonders, Garson Baker Fine Art, NY, NY., June 2008

Melt My Art: Encaustic Expressions, Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield, CA., May 2008

The LA Art Show, Julie Baker Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA., January 2008

Flow - Miami Invitational Art Fair, Julie Baker Fine Art, Miami, FL., December 2007

Tease, Garson Fine Art, New York, NY., September 2007

Art Chicago, Julie Baker Fine Art , Chicago, IL., April 2007

Get Real, The Gallery at R&F, Kingston, N.Y., April 2007

Tainted Love, Lisa Coscino Gallery, Pacific Grove, CA., February, 2007

Los Angeles Art Show, Julie Baker Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA., January 2007

Flow - Miami Invitational Art Fair, Julie Baker Fine Art, Miami, FL., December 2007

Homegrown, Julie Baker Fine Art, Nevada City, CA., November 2006

Art Chicago, Julie Baker Fine Art, Chicago, Ill. May 2006

Los Angeles Art Show, Julie Baker Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA., January 2006

AAF Contemporary Art Fair, Julie Baker Fine Art, Pier 92, New York, NY., November 2005

Shade, Koelsch Gallery, Houston, TX., May 2005

San Francisco International Art Exposition, Julie Baker Fine Art, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA., January 2005

Lazy Days, Julie Baker Fine Art, Grass Valley, CA., August 2004

Scope, Los Angeles, Julie Baker Fine Art, Grass Valley, CA., May 2004

Art Chicago, Julie Baker Fine Art, Grass Valley, CA., May 2004

Scope, New York, Julie Baker Fine Art, Grass Valley, CA., March 2004

Unframed, Koelsch Gallery, Houston, TX., February 2004

The San Francisco International Art Exposition, Julie Baker Fine Art, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA., January 2004

Good Things Come in Small Packages, Julie Baker Fine Art, Grass Valley, CA., December 2003

Encaustic Works '03: Fourth International Biennal Exhibition, The Marist College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY. (Juror: Tracy Bashkoff, Associate Curator for Collections and Exhibitions, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY.), October 2003

The Affordable Art Fair, Julie Baker Fine Art, Pier 92, New York, NY., October 2003

20th Annual National Juried Exhibition: Works on Paper, The Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA. (Juror: Marion Parmenter, Executive Director, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Artists Gallery), August 2003


SELECTED COLLECTIONS

Progressive Corporation

Roll International Corporation

The Tullman Collection of Contemporary Art

The Crocker Art Museum

Carlie Wilmans, San Francisco, CA

Paul Rickert, Greenbrae, CA

Ellanor Notides, San Francisco, CA

Marcy Friedman, Sacramento, CA

Michael Polenske, San Francisco, CA


PUBLICATIONS

Bruno, Franklin, "Modern City, Modern Writer: Donald Barthelme's Houston," The Oxford American,

Fall 2009

Donohoe, Victoria, "New Talent," ,The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 17, 2009

Promotional Brochure, The LA Art Show, October 2009, illus.

Baldwin, Rosecrans,"Wax Figures", The Morning News, November 2008

"Reviews: New York: 'Small Wonders'," Artnews, October 2008

Studio Visit Magazine, Open Studios Press, Boston, MA., Fall 2008, illus., (Juror: Carl Belz, Director Emeritus of the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University)

Syfers, Jim, Hotel Mulberry, Cover Image, September 2007

"Reviews: National: Nevada City," Artnews, March 2007, illus.

Dalkey,Victoria, "Mining a New Vein," Sacramento Bee Weekend Ticket, November 17th 2006

Dusharme, Laurien, "Life in Shadows," NY Arts Magazine, Vol. 11, Nos. 3/4, (March/April, 2006), illus.

Waters, Joan, "Emerging Artists," Sacramento Magazine, March 2006, illus.

Dalkey, Victoria, Critic's Pick, The Sacramento Bee, February 20th, 2005, illus.

Dusharme, Laurien, "Night Moods: New Paintings by Matt Duffin," Art Contemporaries: A Publication of The Museum of Contemporary Art at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, Winter 2005, illus.

"City events: 6th annual San Francisco International Art Exposition," SFstation.com, January 2004, illus.

Feineman, Carol, "Grass Valley-based artist receives national acclaim," The Union, January 1st, 2004, illus.

Zyzzyva, Cover Image, Fall 2003

Cassai, Mary, "Marist gallery exhibit validates encaustic process," Daily Freeman, Nov. 14th, 2003, illus.

Smart, Paul, "Encaustic comments: two Poughkeepsie shows highlight hot new/old medium," Woodstock Times, Nov. 13th, 2003, illus.

Edwards, Nicole, "Multi-layering of colors, textures make encaustic works bloom," The Poughkeepsie Journal, Nov. 7th, 2003, illus.

Taylor, Robert, "Recent works capture artists¹ somber moods," The Contra-Costa Times, Aug. 15th, 2003


AWARDS

Juror's Award (Juror: Marion Parmenter, Executive Director of the SFMOMA Artists' Gallery), 20th Annual National Juried Exhibition: Works on Paper, The Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA., August 2003

Director's Award (Juror: Tracy Bashkoff, Exhibition Curator of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Musuem, NY,NY), Encaustic Works '03: Fourth International Bienniel Exhibition, The Marist College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY., December 2003


EDUCATION

B.S. Architecture, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, 1991