LUNES, EL SEIS DE DICIEMBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ
Sassetta's 'St Anthony the Hermit being tormented by Devils', 1423, Panel, 24 x 39 cm, Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena, Italy. I got this image off the internet, specifically from one of those websites that advertise "quality oil reproductions" of an artwork. They've actually cleaned up this image by removing the incised graffiti that appears along the base of the image.

DOMINGO, EL CINCO DE DICIEMBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ
I'm just getting ready to start a new painting. At this point, it feels like I've never painted before and I have no idea what I'm doing. I love that feeling. I have no fear of the starting of a painting though, the most painful aspect is the '3/4th finished' dilemma for me, because I expect the painting to be mostly finished, but then the anxiety sets in because I'm getting closer to completion, and often I struggle to assess whether it's finished or not. That's when I tend to find the original primer colour, remix it and scrape it over the painting with a spatula. It sort of bundles the whole painting up, then i can see a bit more clearly to what needs to be done and clarified to complete the work.
At present, I have Sassetta flying around in my head, so I'll be tapping back into his influence that I strongly felt while painting some of the big works in 2006/7

SABATO, EL CUATRO DE DICIEMBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ
I received this book in the mail today, along with a rare Guston catalogue from a Skidmore College exhibition from the mid 80's titled 'Early And Late Works"
The book I'm holding in the photo is excellent and I'm really enjoying it as it shows Guston's dedication to the process, act and execution of painting. It features many writings, lectures and artist interviews - some I've read previously and some I haven't but it's great to have them in a collected volume. I believe it to be essential reading for any painter, wither to further your knowledge or to just get warm fuzzies from the mulitude of clever analogies and quotes used by Guston to illustrate what it is to paint.

VIERNES, EL TRES DE DICIEMBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ
Last night I went out to an opening at Brett Wesley Gallery in Las Vegas, a three-person show titled 'Wild at Heart'. I particularly like the work of Sri Whipple because of it's smart art-historical referencing and knowledge and freedom of subject matter. Unfortunately, the better paintings, which had a plethora of penis and vagina-type forms, were squirreled out the back of the gallery, obviously in a fashion to NOT offend the regular buyers to the gallery ( the painting is also NOT featured on the gallery website). I got to talk to Sri and we talked non-stop for a good 20 mins (it could have been longer, but it was his opening and I thought it best not to take up his time).
Anyway, in thinking of his work, I can up with this idea, which I recently posted on Facebook:
"an exhibition I'd really like to see, preferably curated by Robert Storr, possibly titled 'F**k Paintings', showing the work of Barry Reigate (UK), Robert McLeod (NZ) and Sri Whipple (USA)"
The responses were excellent, with other folk suggesting who else could be in the exhibition and where I could possible get hold of Robert Storr.
To this I answered:
"My idea here is it look at pattern recognition in trends of painting that have a core notion but their work pushes out from that point. Also by grouping three geographically disparate artists, it shows a social conscienceness towards paint and the body, you know -pickin up on that de Kooning statement of how oil paint was invented to depict flesh."

JUEVES, EL DOS DE DICIEMBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ
I've got a few artworks on show in Wellington at Mark Hutchins Gallery, as part of his Maquette exhibition. Here's a link to the works in the show.

MIERCOLES, EL UNO DE DICIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
Three portraits of the Bonham Family, 1825 by William Bonnell (1804-65) Oil on panel. Coll. of Chicago Institute. Possibly a reference point for the enlarged heads of American Pop Surrealism? Recently, I've been talking to Wellington artist Liam Barr. I guess his work could be put into the Pop Surrealism category, with Martk Ryden as the most well-known proponent of the movement. These works popped into my head for their head to body scale as a possible influence on Ryden. This photo was taken during our trip to Chicago in 2008.

MARTES, EL TRIENTE DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
A new retablo started today. I've been struggling a bit in the studio lately, so I needed to vent out a bit. A Facebook conversation with Pauline from 'Art And My Life' blog ( see links to the right) made a statement about neurosis and venting and I thought that was a great starting point. There's still more to go to finish it, but subtle little additions so as to not distract from the initial impact that it's a sacred spleen rather than a sacred heart.
I picked up the old frame from a Savers store here in Las Vegas, I've been having good fortune scoring lovely antique frames around the city.

LUNES, EL VEINTINUEVE DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
An interesting comparison I found as I was thinking about the Magritte painting in the right. The work on the left is a reverse glass painting in our collection. While watching a very good DVD on Magritte that started off by tracing his de Chirico's impression on him, there were animations of some of his paintings. The one on the right had candles melting in the holders, which instatly reminded me of the work on the left. Also the mantlepiece, the train as a mortality symbol (do you think?) and the mirror as the skull, which was always designed as a way for the viewer to confront their mortality.

DOMINGO, EL VEINTIOCHO DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
Andre Derain's 'The Black Feather Boa',1935, at the Met, NYC. One of my favourite paintings there, besides De Chirico's 'Oedipus and the Sphinx'...

SABATO, EL VEINTISIETE DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ

We headed up to Red Rock Canyon to take the Ice Box hike with Mike and Terri. Was definitely a great idea to get out and stretch our legs and enjoy good company since the art at present is dragging it's feet. We're also planning a trip to LA soon to catch up with some folk and head out to a few fav's, The Getty Museum, Historia Antiques in Santa Monica, LACMA, and the dealer galleries at Bergamot Station and Culver City. Photo by JK Russ.

VIERNES, EL VEINTISEIS DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
Thanksgiving last night with the Quaranto's. Fantastic food, laughs and company. Photo by JK Russ

JUEVES, EL VEINTICINCO DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
I've found that yesterday's Magritte painting, The Bungler was painted for the International Bulletin of Surrealism (Belgium edition), also I was watching a DVD on Magritte and this film footage of an oil painting appeared. I've never seen the painting before, So I'm going to try and hunt it out.

MIERCOLES, EL VEINTICUATRO DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
Rene Magritte, La Gâcheuse (The Bungler), 1935, collection of the National Galleries of Scotland.
It's only a small work, about A4 size if I remember rightly. I saw in in 2003 in the Nat Gallery in Edinburgh in the Roland Penrose collection and it reached out and rang the gong in the head. I had a the postcard of it hanging on my studio for years and it influenced many paintings, including some of the large works I did in Scotland during my 2003 Royal Overseas League Residency.

MARTES, EL VEINTITRES DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
Late November and December sees in the last of the exhibition openings for the year.
Below are listed the upcoming exhibition openings that feature my work:

~Away From Dios: The Seven Deadly Sins, CMTV Galería, Carrer de Sant Pere Mes Alt 36 Barcelona, Spain, 9 December 2010 - January 2011. I have a single oil painting in this exhibition, along with six other international artists, that deal with contemporary updates on the Seven Deadly Sins. You can read the press release here.

~Goonies Never Say Die! Group exhibition, Blackbird Studios, 1551 Commerce St (Commerce & Wyoming), Las Vegas, USA, 3 - 22 December 2010. I have a small, framed drawing, titled 'Superchunk', of the 'dismembered' statue of Michelangelo's David, featured in the film. (drawing is below)

~Reconstructed. Group exhibition, Mahara Gallery, Mahara Pl, Waikanae, New Zealand, 28 November 2010 - 23 January 2011. I have a diorama from 2003 and three small crucifixes.

~Maquette. Group Exhibition, Mark Hutchins Gallery, 216a Willis St, Wellington, New Zealand, December 2010 - January 2011

Continuing Exhibitions:
~Credo and Quest–a selective survey of Religion and Spirituality in New Zealand Art, Whangarei Art Museum, Water Street, Whangarei, New Zealand, 15 Nov 2010 – 7 Jan 2011. I have a wooden devotional box from 2009 and a large crucifixion painting from 2006, courtesy of the Wallace Collection, Auckland.

*Links to the gallery websites and the images in the exhibitions can be found on my website homepage
For a any more information, don't hesitate to contact me.
I hope everyone has a safe holiday season!

hasta pronto
Matthew

LUNES, EL VEINTIDOS DE NOVIEMBRE, VENITE-DIEZ
BEN CAUCHI-The Doppler Effect
December 4 2010 – January 28 2011
190 Wicksteed Street Whanganui 4500 NEW ZEALAND
www.mcnamara.co.nz

DOMINGO, EL VEINTIUNO DE NOVIEMBRE, VENITE-DIEZ
A beautiful carved Head of John The Baptist, lot 79, a Sth German, 17th C. head of St John the Baptist...6,000 - 8,000 quid estimate. http://www.sothebys.com/

SABATO, EL VEINTE DE NOVIEMBRE, VENITE-DIEZ
Time for a spring clean-up on the laptop.

VIERNES, EL DIECINUEVE DE NOVIEMBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ
Another exhibition invitation to another group exhibition I'm in, this time in Barcelona, Spain:

CMTV Gallery invites you to the exhibition:

AWAY FROM DIOS
The Seven Deadly Sins
Opening: 7:30pm, 9th December, 2010

10th of December 2010 - 29th January 2011

The Seven Deadly Sins are a classification of the human vices found in Christianity and Catholicism. As mentioned in the first lessons, they have been part of Western tradition for centuries. Artists have addressed these vices and have made interpretations that serve as a cultural and moral witness to specific eras of our history.

CMTV Gallery, with the aim of updating this topic, commissioned eight international artists to create an artwork of predetermined format (90 x 90 cm). based on one of the cardinal sins. The objectives of this exhibition are to reflect on these ever-current vices, while promoting artistic dialogue between continents and countries.

Each artist has their own unique style, yet there are common elements running throughout the exhibition including irony, metaphor; the desire for beauty, the combination of religion and popular culture; the influence of surrealism and the return of the human form - aspects that reflect contemporary art practice in this time.

List of guest artists: Spain: Gonzalo Rueda (Pride), José Luis Serzo (Greed), Dani Torrent (Gluttony), Rubenimichi (Lust); USA: Tim Hooper (Envy), Bethany Marchman (Sloth); New Zealand/USA: Matthew Couper (Wrath).
Sergio Mora (gallery manager) curator of the exhibition.

Artist Website links:
Matthew Couper www.mattcouper.com
Tim Hooper www.mrhooperart.com
Dani Torrent www.danitorrent.carbonmade.com
José Luis Serzo www.joseluisserzo.com
Rubenimichi www.rubenimichi.com
Bethany Marchman www.bethanymarchman.com
Gonzalo Rueda www.gonzalorueda.com
Sergio Mora www.sergiomora.com

More information:
www.comomevesteveras.com/awayfromdios
www.comomevesteveras.com/galeriacmtv
www.comomevesteveras.com/blog

Tel: + 34 93 319 0819
Sant Pere Mes Alt 36
08003 Barcelona
España

JUEVES, EL DIECIOCHO DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
An invitation to a group exhibition I'm part of at Mahara Gallery, Waikanae, Wellington, New Zealand. I'm not exactly sure which work of mine is in the exhibition, but I'll update you as soon as I hear.

LUNES, EL QUINCE DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
Today, my painting 'Half and Half' (which is on display at present at the New Dowse, New Zealand, as part of the 2010 Wallace Art Awards) is featured in John Seed's Huffington Post Blog, 'Five Paintings, Five Palettes: F. Scott Hess, Peter Zokosky, Sarah McKenzie, Nathan Oliveira, Matt Couper'.
The main idea of the blog is to compare and contrast artist's palettes. So far, mine is the skankiest, with paper plates sitting on the ground with a mess of brushes.