Exhibition Announcement: Matthew Choberka
MATTHEW CHOBERKA: I Know Some Nice People
a solo exhibition presented by Carper Contemporary
SHOW DATES:
FEBRUARY 5 – APRIL 30th, 2021
ARTIST RECEPTION:
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5th, 6 – 8pm
LOCATION:
THE ARGO HOUSE, 529 25TH STREET
OGDEN, UT 84401
This February, Carper Contemporary presents its first pop up exhibition of the year at The Argo House with I Know Some Nice People, featuring the work of Ogden-based artist Matthew Choberka. Choberka, painter and art professor at Weber State University, releases a body of work for the show that continues to evolve his exploration of figurative elements amidst his typical turbulent abstraction. New paintings as well as works on paper will be exhibited at The Argo House from February 5th to April 30th in the downstairs lobby and upstairs common areas. The public is invited to an opening reception during Ogden’s First Friday Art Stroll on February 5th from 6-8pm. All state directives and local health orders concerning COVID-19 will be followed for the event.
"To live in these times is in a lot of ways scary, and in all of my recent works I'm working to acknowledge that, and to overcome it,” states Choberka in his artist statement. Choberka’s work is a personal navigation of the contemporary world, from his everyday experiences to the distressing state of society. As is typical with abstraction, underlying narratives are not always discernable to the viewer yet strongly resonate as familiar felt experience. The emergence of the figure in Choberka’s latest work, however, introduces a new interplay between forms that speaks more directly to the artist’s perceptions and ultimately, our own internalized emotions. “In a way, it says a lot more about how I see the world and how I feel about it,” says Choberka of his pull toward figurative based compositions. “It’s time to be frank in this way.”
The unrest that has rippled throughout the globe this past year reverberates through Choberka’s canvases, taking shape as androgynous forms in exploding color. The work is an artistic exposure of our most vulnerable emotions – anxiety, hope, fear, obsession – and the complexities therein, embodying our shared human experience and what it truly means to “live in these times.”
“When I suggested giving this show the title, “I Know Some Nice People,” I thought it pretty clever; a way to point toward the way these pictures embody a grotesquery that I perceive just about everywhere in our contemporary lives…in our politics, in our culture.”
“But that’s not really it. At least as important, and very likely much more so, is a reckoning going on with aspects of myself. My imagination, my knowledge, such as they are, all I have to guide me in painting. But, until I have this work mirrored back to me, in the responses of friends, colleagues, I find that I can’t really even fully “see” what it is I am painting. Art demands a self-acceptance that I am not sure is possible for me.”
Matthew Choberka is a painter based in Ogden, Utah and Professor of Art at the Department of Visual Art & Design at Weber State University. Hereceived his BA from Colombia College in Illinois, studied painting and drawing at the New York Studio School, and received his MFA in painting from Indiana University. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally with exhibitions at the Torrance Art Museum in California, galleryELL in Brooklyn, Governor’s Island Art Fair in New York Harbor, Raid Projects in Los Angeles, and Beaux-Arts des Ameriques in Montreal, Canada. Choberka is also a represented artist at A Gallery/Allen+Alan Fine Art in Salt Lake City. His current studio practice encompasses oil and acrylic painting, as well as digital painting.
Carper Contemporary, founded by independent curator Kelly Carper, is an art advisory and pop up gallery offering contemporary fine art for commercial and residential projects. Learn more about upcoming shows, available artwork, and consulting services at carpercontemporary.com.