BLAA x Subsamson Makeover! Reception

Last Friday night, I went out to the BLAA 'Makeover!' show reception at Subsamson, part of the Samson Projects gallery in Boston! I arrived early, and photographed the installation before the masses arrived - and, of course, I took plenty of photos of my work in the show! And also, thanks to the very helpful gallery curator Sam Toabe for taking numerous photos of me until I was satisfied, haha ;)

Geena Matuson presents two pieces in a series of new work at the BLAA x Subsamson Makeover! show, 2015.

Right at the entrance to Subsamson, the gallery in the lower level of Samson Projects, you can find a portfolio binder with the bios and images of the featured artists in the show! Flip through the slideshow below for a peek:

BLAA x Subsamson Makeover! show portfolio binder, featuring works of the exhibiting artists, 2015.

BLAA x Subsamson Makeover! show portfolio, featuring works of BLAA Director Dylan Hurwitz.

BLAA x Subsamson Makeover! show portfolio, featuring works of (left) Lenny Schnier and (right) Geena Matuson.

BLAA x Subsamson Makeover! show portfolio, featuring works of (left) Geena Matuson and (right) Rosie Ranauro.

BLAA x Subsamson Makeover! show portfolio, featuring works of (left) Rosie Ranauro and (right) James Helenski.

BLAA x Subsamson Makeover! show portfolio, featuring works of (left) Andrew Mroczek and Juan Jose Barboza Gubo, and (right) Lauren Gillette.

BLAA x Subsamson Makeover! show portfolio, featuring works of (left) Giancarlo Corbacho and (right) Robert Siegelman.

BLAA x Subsamson Makeover! show portfolio, featuring works of (left) Brian Christopher Glaser and (right) Robyn Day.

The Boston LGBTQIA Artist Alliance created individual blog posts about each exhibiting artist, and you can see more on their website blog at blaa.us. The reception was also host to several performance artists, which I was unable to document; you can see more about the artists, such as Madge of Honor, on the blaa.us blog. Additionally, artist Coorain Devin assisted in curating the show. Below, check out the 'virtual tour' I created with photos of the installation!

Hedy Jo Star: My Unique Change
Lauren Gillette

Hedy Jo Star: My Unique Change
Lauren Gillette

Untitled
Robert Siegelman

Two-Fer
Brian Christopher Glaser

Two-Fer
Brian Christopher Glaser

Collage #3
Lenny Schnier

Yoked and Neon Opalescence
Geena Matuson

Yoked and Neon Opalescence
Geena Matuson

Untitled
Robert Siegelman

Trans*ience C
Giancarlo Corbacho

Simone
Robyn Day

Little Blue Room and Interesting Patient
Rosie Ranauro

6 Minutes, 60 Pounds
James Helenski

The Pink Kitchen
Caleb Cole

Formative
Casey Ausman

Untitled and Untitled
Dylan Hurwitz

I can see great things happening for the BLAA in the future, and I will definitely be staying involved with them! Additionally, BLAA Director Dylan Hurwitz and I will be featured in an upcoming article for Art New England Magazine, the very same publication in which Samson Projects was featured in the last issue!

Geena Matuson presents two pieces in a series of new work at the BLAA x Subsamson Makeover! show, 2015.

The Makeover! show will be up until October 24th, 2015, so drop in and check it out! Follow the BLAA on Facebook and Twitter for more!

- Geena

---

Art Reception @ Executive Office of Education Exhibition

Yesterday afternoon I attended the art reception at the offices of the MA Secretary of Education, Matt Malone! In the spring, MassArt gathered some student work to hang in his offices to hang for a year's time, and we had a private artist reception!

Boston photography hanging in Secretary of Education Matt Malone's office, 2013. Geena Matuson's (@geenamatuson) photograph hands in the middle of the three images.

Geena Matuson (@geenamatuson) speaking to another artist about the work, 2013.

Geena Matuson (@geenamatuson) speaking to a fellow artist, 2013.

Jacob Giberson and painting, 2013.

Jacob Giberson and painting, 2013.

Shawn Kelley and paintings, 2013.

Shawn Kelley beside his work, 2013.

Some very intense conversation is happening as Matt Malone speaks to Shawn Kelley and Elizabeth DiCicco at the Executive Office of Education Art Exhibition, 2013.

Geena Matuson (@geenamatuson) and Amy, sort of mimicking the manly photos behind us on the wall...

Geena Matuson (@geenamatuson) and Amy pose with "proof" they were at the Executive Office of Education in Boston, MA, USA, 2013.

Amy, Geena Matuson (@geenamatuson) and Elizabeth DiCicco, the women who coordinated the Executive Office of Education Art Exhibition, 2013.

Artists and professionals along with Matt Malone at Office of Education Exhibition, 2013.

The Education Office also has a flickr account with a few other photos from the event. It was a pretty awesome thing to see student artwork hanging in the 'Executive Office of Education' - and, of course, it was all the more awesome because my work was part of the show!

- Geena

Made In Yugoslavia

I've uploaded a web version of my multimedia piece 'Made In Yugoslavia,' part of my 'Liar Liar' series.

"Liar Liar (Pants On Fire) is a series that can resonate differently with every viewer. The fire can symbolize rebirth, regeneration - or perhaps a darkness, an absence of control. For the artist, this series focuses on the movement of fire to play with time and to express the ephemeral nature of many things.

"However, as video is a time-based medium, these singular moments are able to exist forever in the present. Through the use of video, the fire moves both forward and back, allowing the smoke to billow inwards at times. As so poignantly put with her description of Made In Yugoslavia - 'everything repeats - reverts - nothing truly changes.'"

This short shows plastic flowers burning, the plastic melting off the wax stems - all atop a broken chair made in Yugoslavia. The fire appears to burn in reverse, expressing the idea that everything repeats, reverts - nothing truly changes.

I created the music for this non-looping version of 'Made In Yugoslavia,' a remix of Bach's Air on G-String, a violin solo. The original, looping version of this piece was created for gallery display.

- Geena

---

Liar Liar, Curtains On Fire

Just in case you were unable to make it to my 'TransFIREmation' gallery show and installation, I wanted to share my photographic series 'Curtains On Fire' with you, part of my larger 'Liar Liar' multimedia project.

Below, you can see the six photographs that were printed at 24x36" and hung in the gallery show. While typically displayed horizontally, I'm sure you can feel a similar effect through stacked images.

Art prints 'Curtains On Fire' part of Geena Matuson's (@geenamatuson) multimedia series Liar Liar, printed at 24x36".

Art prints 'Curtains On Fire' part of Geena Matuson's (@geenamatuson) multimedia series Liar Liar, printed at 24x36".

Art prints 'Curtains On Fire' part of Geena Matuson's (@geenamatuson) multimedia series Liar Liar, printed at 24x36".

Art prints 'Curtains On Fire' part of Geena Matuson's (@geenamatuson) multimedia series Liar Liar, printed at 24x36".

Art prints 'Curtains On Fire' part of Geena Matuson's (@geenamatuson) multimedia series Liar Liar, printed at 24x36".

Art prints 'Curtains On Fire' part of Geena Matuson's (@geenamatuson) multimedia series Liar Liar, printed at 24x36".

Though I have placed them here in true chronological order, hanging them on the wall in the gallery space allowed viewers to experience the process in reverse, too.

Geena Matuson (@geenamatuson) displays her art prints from project 'Liar Liar,' six photographs printed at 24x36" and hung in her TransFIREmation Gallery Show, April 2013.

When the show was up, I would hang out in the gallery and speak to some of the interested viewers.

Some of the viewers said they had a very strong connection to this series, this piece and the projection across the gallery, and it impacted them greatly. One woman in particular started to cry, and said she had a very personal, emotional response to this piece, and was enjoying it.

That impacted me greatly; to think, I had created a piece that could reach others on an emotional level. I think this is what most artists aspire to do, and it felt so great that I could communicate with another person through my art - without words. Thank you for taking the time to view this series, and I hope you got something out of it :)

- Geena

---

TransFIREmation Gallery Reception

Though the show has been up all week, the reception was set to start at 7pm - and everyone from MassArt filtered out of their 6 o'clock class and into the Student Life Gallery. It was packed!

"TransFIREmation is an art exhibition produced, curated by and featuring recent works of Geena Matuson from her 'Liar Liar' (2013) series. TransFIREmation group gallery show features MassArt Undergraduate 2D work, sculpture and video installation with a focus on fire, masks and the moon - all with a theme of transformation..."

'Invisible Smoke I' and 'Invisible Smoke II' by Your Imagination (Geena Matuson) at her at Geena Matuson's (@geenamatuson) TransFIREmation Gallery Show & Installation in the MassArt Student Life Gallery, 2013.

While the rush came when class got out around 6:30 and thinned, people were in and out until the gallery closed for the night.

I needed to fill-in some space by the windows, so I setup two pedestals and labeled them as if displaying art, 'Invisible Smoke I' and 'Invisible Smoke II' by Your Imagination.

Apparently, quite a few people found this amusing! We also got a few shots of the artists beside their work, check out the mini-slideshow.

'New Moon I' and 'New Moon II' by Shannon Knight at Geena Matuson's (@geenamatuson) TransFIREmation Gallery Show & Installation in the MassArt Student Life Gallery in Boston, MA, US.

'Terror on Tashirojima Island' by Christina Kelly at Geena Matuson's (@geenamatuson) TransFIREmation Gallery Show & Installation in the MassArt Student Life Gallery in Boston, MA, US.

'Leporidae 3' by Rachel Stanton at Geena Matuson's (@geenamatuson) TransFIREmation Gallery Show & Installation in the MassArt Student Life Gallery in Boston, MA, US.

'Leopard Society' by Tiffany Chan at Geena Matuson's (@geenamatuson) TransFIREmation Gallery Show & Installation in the MassArt Student Life Gallery in Boston, MA, US.

Geena Matuson (@geenamatuson) with MassArt Professor of Film/Video Saul Levine at Matuson's exhibition 'TransFIREmation', 2013.

Artist Sydney Schofield at Geena Matuson's (@geenamatuson) TransFIREmation Gallery Show at MassArt, 2013.

Some viewers check out the trailer and art prints from my short film 'My Big Bad Wolf' (2013), nearing completion for its May premiere!

Artist Sydney Schofield photographed other artists looking at her sculpture piece Untitled (Suspended Progression). It's hand-dyed yarn and rope hanging 33". Emelie Bergh's fashion and fiber's dress 'Craters' made out of egg cartons, soda tabs and screen mesh was gaining quite a bit of attention!

Andrew Brown at Geena Matuson's (@geenamatuson) TransFIREmation Gallery Show & Installation in the MassArt Student Life Gallery, 2013.

Devon Fisher speaks with Geena Matuson (@geenamatuson) at her TransFIREmation Gallery Show & Installation in the MassArt Student Life Gallery, 2013.

Jeremy Day watches 'Liar Liar, Pants on Fire' at Geena Matuson's (@geenamatuson) TransFIREmation Gallery Show & Installation in the MassArt Student Life Gallery, 2013.

I chatted with Devon Fisher from Moth Vegas, the band creating the soundtrack for my thesis film 'My Big Bad Wolf' (2013), and Jeremy watches my projection 'Liar Liar' - an extended piece not found online. And, I seemed to match painter Carly Sheehan's painting!

Geena Matuson (@geenamatuson) at her TransFIREmation Gallery Show & Installation in the MassArt Student Life Gallery, 2013.

You can see more from my 'Liar Liar' series and 'My Big Bad Wolf' on my website.

- Geena

---