Art Gallery Exhibitions @ St. George, Utah

www.sgartmuseum.org, museum@sgcity.org47 East 200 North, St. George, Utah 84770Phone:  435.627.4525  Fax:  435.627.4526
Hours:  Monday-Saturday 10-5      3^rd Thursdays 10-9pmwith Art Conversations at 7pm
September 22 through December29, 2012Main Gallery For the Love of Travel & Art by Sue Cotter & SpikeRessMezzanine Gallery A Dream by J. Kirk Richards &Brian Kershisnik & Metal Imagined by Matt ClarkLegacy Gallery Gallery 12
            ArtConversations at 7pm           October 18 Sue Cotter & Spike Ress           November 15 J. Kirk Richards & Brian Kershisnik           December 20 What is Real Pt. 3:  Do Titles Matter
October 26& 27, 2012 “For the Love of Art” Home Fundraising Tour
Matt Clark isa lifelong resident of the southern Utah region and grew up on a ranch north ofSt. George.  He taught himself toweld and work with metal beginning at age fifteen when he purchased a weldingmachine.  Little did he know hisearly interest in working with metal attaching trailer hitches would lead to acareer as a full-time metal sculptor.As a child andteenager, he dreamed of becoming a world champion cowboy, but at age 17, he experienceda serious spinal cord injury. After more than two months in the ICU and sixmonths in spinal rehab, the doctors dismissed him to a rest home and gave Mattthree years to live. Medicine offered him no hope for a future, but somethingdeep inside him said, “Wait a minute. I am going to define my life.” Thirty-fouryears later, he still works from a wheelchair. His physical limitations haverequired him to create his own tools and processes for doing things, but hisaccident has also gives him the opportunity to recreate himself.   This is perhaps expressed best bythe inscription on my sculpture The Healer, displayed at the Craig Hospital Healing Garden inDenver, Colorado: “My body has been broken and may not heal, but my spirit canand will transcend my limitations.”.Matt writes, “Creating objects ofbeauty is not my goal as an artist. Beauty is intended to please the senses with an immediate response.  My intent is power of expression, whichfor me is deeper than the senses, contemplative, even spiritual.”
He credits his success in the art worldto business acumen.  Clarks says,“I was bored one afternoon and had a pile of scrap.”  He welded up a dinosaur and was surprised to find that “peopleliked it.”  He started by makinggifts for friends and family, and then he moved on to selling his work.  The steel,stainless steel, copper, stone and found objects he uses in his art wereoriginally created to perform a specific function. At some point, the discardednow found objects had outlived their usefulness, were broken, and withoutvalue. Matt surrounds himself with them and asks the question “What is the bestpurpose for this object?”  He then searchesfor each piece’s innate power and then resurrects it and gives it a new lifethrough welding, cutting, grinding, and forging.   For him, the transformation of these objects issymbolic of his own journey—of ultimately transcending broken dreams andheartache. His artistic process is a reenactment of his life’s journey.“I did not set out to become an artist,and I had no arts education,” he says. In fact, he had studied business in college and had been working as anadministrator at Dixie State College. Clark didn’t know he would have such a successful art career, or thathis business background would be so important to his achievements as asculptor.
“There are a lot of talentedindividuals out there,” says Clark. “But if you lack the ability to market your art and manage your artbusiness, it is dang near impossible to earn a living as an artist.”
A capable marketer as well as asculptor, Clark sells his work in Juniper Sky Gallery in Kayenta, through artfestivals, private commissions, and interior designers.  His work falls into two maincategories:  the whimsical and thecontemporary both formed of natural rocks and welded metal.  Festival goers may remember hisroadrunners, rock animals, and other creatures on motorcycles.
Some of his recent accomplishments andawards include: 2009 presented with the Art Around the Corner Partner in theArts award;  2004 purchase awardwinner for the Art On the Corner competition in Grand Junction, CO; 2004 firstplace sculpture St. George Art Festival; 2002 best of sculpture at Art in thePark, St. George, UT; 2000-2001 first place in sculpture at the St. George ArtMuseum’s Regional Exhibition; 1997 best of show award at Art in the Park;Displaying artist for three years at Loveland Invitational Sculpture Show inLoveland, CO
His advice to artists who want to makeit on art alone:  “Get rid of thepre-conceived notion that an artist has to fail or be poor, and replace it withextreme confidence and a positive attitude.  Be willing to combine art and business.  Understand the role of art in people’slives and be willing to interact with people on a professional basis.”(stgeorgemagazine.com April 2006)