Matt Merkel Hess c.v.

b. 1978 Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Lives and works in New York City

Education

2010 MFA, University of California, Los Angeles
2002 BA, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas


Solo and Two-Person exhibitions

2019
American Stoneware, Thomas Hunter Project Space, Hunter College, New York

2015
Torsos and Buckets ( two-person show with Amy Bessone), Salon 94 Freemans, New York
Peters Projects, Santa Fe, New Mexico
ACME., Los Angeles, California
Solo Booth, Fog Art Fair, San Francisco

2014
MerkelWare Party, Marine Projects, Santa Monica, California
Things, Volume Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
Water and Gasoline, Burnet Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota

2013
Oeuvreday, James Harris Gallery, Seattle, Washington
Hereafter, Salon 94 Freemans, New York
Anvils, ACME., Los Angeles, California

2012
.SUM (with William J. O’Brien and Arlene Shechet), Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, Kansas

2011
Bucketry, ACME., Los Angeles
MerkelWare, Iko Iko, Los Angeles

2010
Devils Tower–LA, Las Cienegas Projects, Los Angeles
Project Space exhibition, 18th Street Arts Center, Santa Monica, California
Thesis Show, UCLA Wight Gallery, Los Angeles
UCLA Room, Warner Graduate Studios, Los Angeles


Group Exhibitions

2019
Cool Clay, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, Califonia
Optical Illusions in Contemporary Craft, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

2018
Housewarming, Nicelle Beauchene, New York
Between the Lines, Steuben Gallery, Pratt Institute, New York
The Ashtray Show, Fisher Parrish, New York
Depth of Surface, Honey Ramka, New York
Enfant Savant Salade Sauvage, Arturo Bandini, Los Angeles
Systems at Play, LVL3, Chicago

2017
All the Small Things, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
By The River, ACME., Los Angeles, CA

2016
Double Time, Volume Gallery, Chicago, CA

2015
Vessels, Blackston Gallery, New York, NY
Where the Sand Worm Slumbers, Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles

2014
Clay, Marcelle Joseph Projects, London, England
Transmogrification of the Ordinary, Angles Gallery, Los Angeles
20 Years of ACME., ACME., Los Angeles
Another Cats Show, 356 Mission, Los Angeles
More Material, Salon 94 Bowery, New York
Corporeal Impulse, Vincent Price Art Museum, Los Angeles
Archive of Representation and Collections, Favorite Goods, Los Angeles
Ceramics: In and Out of Tradition, Nan Rae Gallery, Woodbury University, Burbank, Calif.

2013
The Cat Show, White Columns, New York
Faux Real, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California
Salon No. 10, Marine Art Salon, Venice, California
The White Album, Louis B. James Gallery, New York
A Thousand Hours, Jane Deering Gallery, Santa Barbara, California

2012
Americana, Grey Area, New York
The Planter Show, ForYourArt Space, Los Angeles, California
The Thing Itself, Chapman University Art Gallery, Orange, California
Venice Beach Biennial, curated by Ali Subotnick, Venice, California
Material: A Group Show Curated by Duro, Salon 94 Freemans, New York

2011
001, Favorite Goods, Los Angeles
Works of Paper, ACME., Los Angeles
Paul Clay, Salon 94, New York
Los Angeles Museum of Ceramic Art, ACME., Los Angeles

2010
Monster Drawing Rally, Outpost for Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Haunted JMOCA, Justin’s Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
(N)either Swords (N)or Ploughshares, Cerritos College Gallery, Cerritos, California
Wet Paint II, Steve Turner Contemporary, Los Angeles
Keramik, Pacific Design Center, West Hollywood, California

Bibliography

2020
Harren, Natilee. “We Are All Fluxus Artists Now: Making the Most of Mundane Tasks.” The Chicago Blog, University of Chicago Press. May 12, 2020.

2017
Elderton, Louisa and Rebecca Morrill, “Vitamin C: Clay and Ceramics,” Phaidon Press, 2017
“The Ceramic Mundane,” photographs by Luca Pizzaroni, Disegno #16, Autumn 2017

2014
Tschorn, Adam. “LAXART Gala Serves up Typing, Tattoos and Smashing Taboos,” The Los Angeles Times, September 29, 2014.
Gardner, Chris. “Glitzy LAXART Gala Draws Glamorous L.A. Crowd to Greystone,” The Hollywood Reporter, September 28, 2014.
Wagley, Catherine. “L.A. Salons Bring Together Art World Novices and Insiders.” LA Weekly, July 31, 2014.
Smith, Roberta. “Clash of the Items, At A Gallery Near You.” The New York Times, July 25, 2014.
Unzicker, Allyson. “Corporeal Impulse: Contemporary Artists Working in Clay.” Brooklyn Rail, April, 2014.
Regan, Sheila. “Matthias Merkel Hess’ ‘Water & Gasoline’ ” Minneapolis City Pages, March 2014.

2013
Kangas, Matthew. “Oeuvreday at James Harris Gallery.” Art Ltd., November 2013
Myers, Andrew. “The Man of Clay.” L.A. Confidential Magazine, October 2013.
Suqi, Rima. “The Afterlife Can Now Be More Fun.” The New York Times, June 20, 2013.
Ollman, Leah. “Matthias Merkel Hess’ sculptures at once earnest and sly.” The Los Angeles Times, June 19, 2012.
Muller, Mario. Matthias Merkel Hess at ACME. glasstire.com, June 13, 2013.
Zara, Janelle. “Art for the Afterlife,” Modern Painters, June 2013, p. 25.
Donelan, Charles. “Light Touch: Ceramics and Photography on Display,” Santa Barbara Independent, January 17, 2013.

2012
Ollman, Leah. “The Happy Medium,” Art in America, December 2012, pgs 156-161.
Harris, Gareth and Riah Pryor. “Domestic bliss meets DIY,” The Art Newspaper, Frieze Art Fair Friday edition, October 12, 2012, page 2.
Finkel, Jori. “Venice Beach gets a breezy biennial on the boardwalk,” The Los Angeles Times, July 11, 2012
Drohojowska-Philp, Hunter. “Biennial Goes to the Boardwalk,” KCRW Art Talk, July 12, 2012
Wagley, Catherine. “Venice Beach Biennial Preview: ‘Art World’ Artists Meet Boardwalk Vendors,” LA Weekly, July 12, 2012
Thorson, Alice. “Nerman Museum exhibit shows the power of ceramics,” The Kansas City Star, June 16, 2012
“Artist of the Week: Matthias Merkel Hess,” lvl3.tumblr.com, April 2, 2012
Artist Project, Slake, Issue #4 “Dirt”, pg 208-11, April 2012
Smith, Roberta. “Duro Olowu: Material,” The New York Times, March 2, 2012
Ollman, Leah. “Clay Keeps Breaking the Mold,” Los Angeles Times, January 29, 2012.
Shaw, Michael. “Matthias Merkel Hess: Come for the Merkel, Stay for the Bucketry,”
The Conversation: an Artist Podcast, notesonlooking.com, January 13, 2012

2011
Hodge, Brooke. “Seeing Things: Matthias Merkel Hess,” Seeing Things blog, The New York
Times T Magazine, December 8, 2011.
Ollman, Leah, “Art Review: Aaron Morse and Matthias Merkel Hess at ACME,” Los Angeles Times, December 8, 2011.
Baum, Gary, Marissa Gluck and Alexis Johnson. “Arts & Power: On the Make,” Angeleno Magazine, December 2011
“Pin-Up Menagerie: A Collection of 69 Beautiful Things,” Pin-Up Magazine, Issue 11, Fall/Winter 2011-2012, page 167.
Hodge, Brooke, “Iko Iko Goes West,” Seeing Things blog, New York Times T Magazine, August 18, 2011.
Ollman, Leah, “Art review: ‘Works of Paper’ at ACME,” Los Angeles Times, July 21, 2011.
Smith, Roberta, “Art in Review: ‘Paul Clay’,” The New York Times, June 30, 2011.
Kilston, Lyra. “Los Angeles Museum of Ceramic Art,” artforum.com critics pick, January 20, 2011.
Pagel, David. “Art Review: ‘Los Angeles Museum of Ceramic Art’ at ACME,” Los Angeles Times, January 13, 2011.

Fellowships and Awards

California Community Foundation Emerging Artist Grant, 2014

18th Street Arts Center Project Room Award, 2010

Elaine Krown Klein Award, University of California, Los Angeles, 2009

Hoyt Scholarship, University of California, Los Angeles, 2009

Fine Arts Affiliates Scholarship, California State University, Long Beach, 2006

Art Department Scholarship, Pasadena City College, Pasadena, CA, 2005


Public Collections

Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California

Hallmark Art Collection, Kansas City, Missouri

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, Kansas