Matthew Best

"Lisp" 2014. 24 by 24 inches. Acrylic on panel.

 I'll be showing two paintings in "Art For Sale." 

An exhibition featuring the work of 23 artists at
Real Art Ways, 56 Arbor Street, in Hartford, CT.  
Meet artists at the reception.
All of the work is available for purchase. 

The public is invited to an opening reception on:
Friday, June 12, 2015, from 5pm to 8pm

Works not sold at the opening night art sale will be available for purchase throughout the exhibition. Art For Sale will run through Sunday, August 23.  Gallery Hours are from 2pm to 9pm, 7 days a week.

Artwork available by Artists: Stella Maria Baer, Cat Balco, Matt Best, Micheal Borders, George Chaplin, Geoffrey Detrani, Laurie Flaherty, Amy Genser, Barbara Hocker, Janet Lage, Terry Lavin, Roxann Leibenhaut, Linda Lindroth, James Montford, Adam Niklewicz, Victor Pacheco, Kathi Packer, Ronnie Rysz, Mike Ulrich, Kevin Van Aelst, Peter Waite, Tim Wengertsman, and Mark Williams.

More information: http://www.realartways.org/event/art-for-sale/2015-06-12/

"All At Once" 2015. 8 by 8 inches. Acrylic on panel. 

Local Artists and AIDS Connecticut Unite for an Exciting Art Grab
Fundraiser to Support HIV/AIDS Services in Connecticut!

HARTFORD, CT - AIDS Connecticut (ACT) is pleased to invite you to the 6th Annual Art for AIDS fundraiser. A portion of the proceeds will benefit The Richard B. Fried Fund for ACT, a permanent endowment administered by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. The event will be held on Saturday, June 6 at 7:00 p.m. at ArtSpace, 555 Asylum Ave., Hartford, CT.

The evening will include an art show/sale and an exciting art grab where each guest will take home an original 12"x12" piece of art created by a local artist on a canvas donated by Jerry's Artarama. Ticket prices start at only $50 and guests will enjoy an evening of art, food, music, wine and fun! 

Our goal is to raise funds to support our mission: AIDS Connecticut, in partnership with its member agencies, improves the lives of people impacted by HIV through care and supportive services, housing, advocacy and prevention..

Tickets go on sale May 1, 2015. For more information go to www.aids-ct.org or call Wendy Graveley at (860) 247-2437 x320.

detail of #richardsimmons, 2014. acrylic on panel. 24 by 24 inches

I called this show Limited Means for two reasons, first, I work with a limited palette, typically no more than two or three colors per painting as well as a limited array of shapes. I'm interested in getting maximum impact with the simplest elements. The repeated elements are changed by context rather than variation.

Second, making art is expensive and I decided to stop buying paint and work with what I had on hand. I assembled all the paint I could find in the studio. At first I had my full usual palette along with some odd metallics and some air-brush paint. I spent the following 6-7 months working exclusively with these colors. At first it was easy but quickly things began to run out. My challenge was to make due with what was left. It forced me to make decisions that I wouldn't normally make such as odd, sometimes uncomfortable color combinations. My only concession was replacing white after it ran out, I found that was the one thing I couldn't work without. Beyond that it was liberating.

The show will be on view from January 23 to March 13, 2015 at the Gallery at Three Rivers Community College in Norwich, CT (http://www.threerivers.edu/Div_academics/Gallery/theGallery.shtml).  I will be giving an artist talk on Monday, February 2 at 9:30am and there will be an opening reception on Tuesday, February 3 from 6-7:30pm. Both events are free and open to the public.

Regular gallery hours are Monday-Friday 9am to 7pm.

My first show in 2015 will be Brights at Worrell Smith Gallery (http://worrellsmithgallery.com/up-next-brights/) in Westport, CT. The show is designed to be an antidote to the winter blues, all the Connecticut based artists in the show use bright colors in their work. The show will be up from January 16 to February 15. There will be an opening reception on Friday, January 16 from 6-8:30pm.

#lonianderson, 2014. 24 by 24 inches. Acrylic on panel.

Untitled, 2014. Acrylic on canvas

I have two paintings on display in November at the new art gallery, Satellite Contemporary in Las Vegas. I'm excited to be a part of their inaugural show. It features paintings, works on paper and photography by Jared Jelsing, Eleanor Aldrich, Judith Baumann, Matthew Best, Joomi Chung, Sean Greene, Pang-Chieh Hsu, Sandy Litchfield, Morgan McKeehan, Larissa Mellor, Bridget Mullen, Bridget O’Brien, Nicole Stone and Derrick Velasquez.

The gallery describes their first show as:

"Unabashedly, Out-of-towners is an acknowledgement of our position outside the local arts scene. We are moving in, bringing with us our amazing friends, colleagues, and affiliates, and are hoping to introduce the Las Vegas community to a fresh, new pool of talent. For this inaugural exhibition, we wanted to collect a group of artists that represent our aspirations as a contemporary arts space. From Judith Baumann and her notorious Dead Wrestlers to Sara Pertras' elegant ladies, we have an enormous range of work in our little gallery. We invite you to see the it in person on Saturday November 15th, from 6-10pm at the Emergency Arts building on Fremont St. in downtown Las Vegas. For more information and directions, please see the contact page."

More information can be found here: http://www.satellitecontemporary.com/about-us/