Local ceramic artist Matt Goldberg presents a sculptural installation in the Guardhouse of Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture
Matt Goldberg. Mercury Surgery, 2018. Ceramic, faux seaweed, thermometer, dentist mirror, Operation board game, tuna cans, bolts.
Matt Goldberg’s ceramic studio is attached to a karate dojo. The spaces each foster a version of ‘kung fu’– which refers to any discipline requiring patience, energy, and time to complete. In this way, the two adjacent rooms make perfect neighbors (aside from the dust). Kung Fu Goo combines elements of discipline with the looser tradition of West Coast ceramic ‘goo’ – the Bay Area’s legacy of canonical, if goopy, ceramic sculpture.
In KFG, the irreverence of Bay Area funk ceramics is replaced with broader material considerations, the relationship between objects across media, and the friction between the intimately caressed and cared for material and the American consumer product. The coldness and ease of the online shopping click married to clay forms and their evidence of hand. The relationship of food-to-object through the longevity of the ceramic vessel and the short-lived yet over-sized consumer packaging of our snacks. Each work forms its own visual poem while the series provides insight into a practice of collecting, sourcing, and building a vocabulary of idiosyncratic art objects.
Kung Fu Goo is a precursory exhibition to Embark Art’s show “Extra Ordinary,” which explores the function of everyday objects in art and opens on Friday, September 13 (6-9 PM).
Matt Goldberg. Cold Turkey, 2018. Ceramic, plungers, rotary phone dial, flocking.
Matt Goldberg is an artist living and working in San Francisco. His work is primarily sculptural and stems from a background in ceramics as well as reclaimed objects and materials. Matt received his MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and holds undergraduate degrees from the University of Colorado. His work has been shown around the Bay Area and he has participated in residencies at Recology and the Palo Alto Art Center. Matt works as the Director of Ceramic Programs at SOMArts Cultural Center.
Embark Arts offers exhibition opportunities to current and recently graduated Masters of Fine Arts students in the San Francisco Bay Area. We provide a space for an engaged community of artists, curators and scholars, and we aim to expand the audience for up and coming contemporary art. The juried exhibitions are held at our gallery in San Francisco at the historic Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture.
On view 24/7: Starting August 16 in the Guardhouse at Fort Mason Center.
Opening Reception: August 17, 2-6 PM. Live music by artist’s band Sputnik.
Off The Grid Event: August 23, 7 PM. Live music by band Juice Bumps, during OTG food truck festival.
Media Contact: Angelica Jardini | Curatorial Director | info@embarkgallery.com