During the month of September, the Prairie Arts Center Gallery will be featuring art by Matt Redbeard (aka Matt Adams).
EARLY OPENING! We will be hosting an opening reception for this exhibit on Friday, August 30th from 6:00-8:00 so as not to conflict with Homestead Festival activities. Please join us!
Born and raised in North Texas, Matt spent his childhood years alternating time between his artist’s table, the river bottoms of the Trinity River, and his granddad’s wood shop. A self-taught artist, he has perused thousands of books, visited dozens of galleries in the US and the United Kingdom, and has made it his full-time career to pursue practical experiments which hone his craft.
Mr. Adams has an abiding appreciation for simple lines and the intersection of white space and color. He’s been known to embarrass his family by closely inspecting the details and structure (“the bones”, he says), of each piece of art he sees. Mr. Adams has a great love for the WPA murals of the late 1920’s and early 30’s, being drawn to the muted colours, overt symbolism, and large scale.
For this collection, Adams drew inspiration from early Celtic illuminated manuscripts and artists including Albrecht Durer and William Blake. His lifelong obsession with the Book of Kells has contributed to his blending of lines and swirls, colours and creatures. A years-long study of Blake led Adams to include mythological and morality tales into his work. Mr. Adams has also gained great inspiration from non-traditional artists including Mark Ryden, Omar Rayyan, Banksy, and Andy Goldsworthy.
The original pieces in the A Modern Mythology collection were created between 2015 and 2019 in Bureau County, Illinois. Adams works in ink, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, wood, resin, plaster, and from time to time, computer-aided graphic design. When possible, Adams repurposes materials to reduce his ecological footprint. Adams has volunteered his time teaching art to local students. He has enjoyed participating in art shows in Bureau and LaSalle Counties, and is honored to be featured at the Prairie Arts Center.
Mr. Adams moved to Bureau County in 2008. His family currently lives in Malden. When he’s not painting, you can find him restoring his family’s Folk Victorian home, tending the garden, or online at www.mattredbeard.com
The exhibit will be open on weekends in September from 1:00-4:00pm, except for the weekend of the Homestead Festival