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Matthew Falls

Matt Falls makes furniture. Matt Falls makes art—the kind of art that occupies that esoteric space between pure and applied aesthetics. He not only straddles that fine line, he can walk down both sides at the same time.

What matters most to Matt is function—that a finished work is what it is supposed to be: a chair, a table or a flat screen TV cabinet. The form, however, is design driven, using solid wood, mostly cherry, with the most revered construction traditions. While he designs in cooperation with his customer, it is ultimately his clear aesthetic sensibility that controls the finished work. There are no design knock-offs…no copies of famous pieces.

Matt is a co-founder of “CAOS” (Coalition of Artists On Shore) and is collaborating with local artists to include painted effects and reach a higher expression of individual identity. Furniture art has a long tradition and permits that combination of painting and craftsmanship that takes it to the art side of the aesthetic line.

Matt became a carpenter in Southern California after leaving the Navy, hanging out with clans of serious artists. He came east to be with family and discovered the sophisticated Washington market.

He uses strict Old School methods at his studio in Cambridge on the eastern shore and buys the finest cherry wood logs from the Forest Service. He strips the tree bark by hand and converts the logs to lumber—the wood is dried from 6 months to 2 years. Because he makes everything by hand, Matt is limited in how many pieces he can complete each year, so each customer and work is a crucial decision.

So here it is: you have a chance to reach beyond the usual and co-create a reasonable investment in very practical art with a superior craftsman and collaborating artists.

Matt’s works can be seen this month at CAOS on F, 923 F St. NW, and at the Eastern Market on Capitol Hill on Sundays. www.CaosonF.com.

Jim Magner’s Thoughts on Art
It struck me as I was talking with Matt Falls (see Artist Profile) and strolling through the current show at the Phillips Collection, Paint Made Flesh, that identifying styles of either furniture or art by era or, more recently, by decade, is no longer possible. Certainly before 1950, or even 1960, there were clear “styles” that dominated—held to be most desirable by critics, collectors and galleries.

In furniture there were such historic styles as Queen Anne, Colonial, Federal, Victorian, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and even Scandinavian Contemporary…they all defined a period of time. Now, you can choose from any of those—there is no current celebrated style, unless it’s Ikea Dorm Room.

In Western “art” there were such grand period styles as Egyptian, Classical Greek and Roman. Then, Byzantine and Gothic in the Middle Ages, Baroque in the 17th Century, Romanticism in the 1800’s, Impressionism in the late 1800’s—then in the first half of the 20th Century, things got moving with Art Nouveau, The Fauves, Expressionism, Cubism, Modernism, Dada, Surrealism, Social Realism and Abstract Expressionism to name some celebrated movements. Then in the 60’s, things got a little nuts…with Pop (which had many manifestations), Minimalism, Assemblage, Op/Kinetic, Conceptualism, Earth, Hyper-Realism and Performance to name a few. The occurrence of new styles slowed down in the 70s and 80s because just about everything had been staked out. Installations became more prominent. Video Art became possible. So, to be noticed and make the history books, the Neos came along: Neo-Expressionism Neo-Abstraction, Neo-Conceptualism, Neo-Geo…neo-desperation to make a mark. The one Ism that spans all the others for past few hundred years is Realism, which is the least intellectually challenging and the most enjoyed.

So what’s the problem? We now have more to choose from than ever. Sure, nothing is currently “correct” but nothing is incorrect. Maybe that’s what we we’ll be remembered for: nothing. Maybe it doesn’t matter. What’s truly important is that an artist connects with you—makes you think, feel and most of all, care.

At the Museums

“Paint Made Flesh”
The Phillips Collection
1600 21st St NW
-- Sept. 13
This intriguing exhibition is said to present two ways of thinking about the correlation of flesh and paint. First, “material similarity.” The paint itself acts like an epidermis over the canvas and it is just as malleable. There is virtually no limit to the techniques and variations of depicting the human hide.

The second point is that the sight of painted flesh sets off emotional reactions that taunt us all —our adoration of flawless youth, our fear of the outward signs of aging, and the dread and loathing of the defects that cause us pain—both physical and social. These identities touch us in ways that we may not be aware. A connection—or revulsion—is made.

There is an obvious third big idea of the show: Just as biography is as much about writing as it is about the person in the book, a portrait is also about painting, the making of art. The painters here are telling us what they thought about painting. They are also telling us how they want us to see them. It’s really their faces on the canvas. So go see them. Look them in the eye and ask them who they were at the moment they finished that painting. They might have been surprised at their own answers. And don’t miss “Hyphen,” the huge double portrait by Jenny Saville. That’s the way I would love to use oil paint. It’s glorious.

Summer Showcase
Sitar Arts Center
1700 Kalorama Road NW
Aug 3-Oct 2
Every once in a while I discover a happy surprise. This time it is the Sitar Art Center that provides a whole range of arts: visual, dance, drama, and writing, as well as variations on all of those. They serve 700 students a year in after-school and summer classes, 80% of whom come from low-income homes.

Much of this is possible because artists, writers, and teachers volunteer their time each week. And they do more than instruct—they work along side the kids so it is a learning experience for everyone. And the facility itself is “state-of –the-art” with large studios and a gallery. The center also partners with Arena Stage, the Corcoran, the Washington Ballet, the NSO and the Washington Performing Arts Soc.