The270 and FineRepast are proud to present our third artist spotlight with a free ad in C-Bus Magazine. For the March/April 2008 issue, we spotlight artist Matt Barnes.

Matt grew up across the United States in his early youth afforded me a keen eye for observation. He spent many days and nights drawing and photographing the things in his environment and filling pages with his imagination from his very American experiences. After finally settling in Columbus, Ohio with his family at the age of 14, Matt began to expand his explorations with writing, performance, events, collecting, and collage while maintaining his sketch books and photographic images.

Matt graduated High School and was looking towards a career in performance but opted out for a, what he thought, more realistic degree in Fine Art. While in college Matt appeared on ‘As the World Turns’ in a principal role. He also organized a huge senior exhibition filling a 10,000 sq. ft. warehouse with over 120 of his own original works with the help of many friends and family.

Matt graduated with a BFA from The Ohio State University with a specialization in Photography and minor in Film Studies and Art History.

Since graduation Matt has increasingly continued to create. He jump started, with the help of many other individuals, an event entitled SHOWcolumbus which aimed to highlight all facets of creative outlet here in Columbus. Matt wrote a 400+ page book of short stories, poems, and one liners of which has yet to be published. He has exhibited bi-monthly, on average, since graduation featuring his photographs, drawings, and found object combinations.

Currently Matt is involved in a Co-op Gallery in the Short North called 772. It is a hidden gem in the middle of the Short North located at the Northeast corner of Warren and High St. It has amazing wall space and an inviting ramp in the middle of the main area. The gallery has been featured in the Columbus Alive, The Columbus Dispatch, and UWeekly. 772 is now having huge openings on Gallery Hop with an average attendance of 500 or more people through the doors.

Matt is deeply committed to the growth and expansion of art history, especially in the United States, by using and manipulating ideas and works from the past to move forward. He feel it is one the things we do best here. In his works Matt tries to represent the strengths of what America stands for and also to represent an era of time spanning our collective past to our present, rather than to represent a specific date. He is not limited in the display of his work. Rather, Matt prefer to show his art in the form of a collection show. Matt was heavily influenced by an exhibition arranged by the Wexner Center which displayed the Sonnabend Collection entitled ‘From Pop to Now.’

If you are interested in seeing more of Matt’s work, you may contact him at (614) 638-3714 or parasynthetic [at] gmail [dot] com.

According to sleeveface lore, the DJ Carl Morris placed the McCartney II album cover over his face while djing. Other DJ’s copied. Then pictures cropped up on the web. And they were known as sleeveface. And then big media picked up the story. Likely though after trolling boing boing.

I’m just going to have to look at my old LP’s to see if I can come up with my own sleeveface.

Sleeveface party anyone?

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Anyways, LA Weekly has just put out it’s Art ‘08 issue. Check out Some Paintings. And the other links:

Art Utopia  By HOLLY MYERS
Jim Shaw and Marnie Weber have it made — and so do their assistants 

Those Fabulous Fabricators and Their Finish Fetish
By PAUL YOUNG
At Carlson & Co., they do it with art

The Never-ending Exploration
By ARTY NELSON
Justin Beal likes his art open-ended

Light and (Social) Space
By CHRISTOPHER MILES
Olafur Eliasson, Robert Irwin and James Turrell bring us closer to illumination — and to ourselves

LACMA + BCAM = a Future
By CHRISTOPHER MILES
The not-so-little engine that could

Our Fair City
By PETER FRANK
Getting fairer?

Then, for those in the know, let us know how Columbus Art compares.

Wish I had a wife, partner, agent, publicist, or gallery do this instead of me,
but I don’t. I am outside the outsiders and more independent than the
independents! For a whole bunch of crazy ass stuff, check out
www.chrismohler.com

And what do I do? Sit on it. Sorry Chris for slacking on the shout out.

Skully’s Music-Diner is in the Short North
1151 N. High Street
Columbus, OH 43201

Because sometimes people don’t read comments, I thought I would let you know that the {Insert Name Here} Chalk event is now called the Official Unofficial Via Colori® at the North Market. VespaMary, who brought back the event, said this:

Call it the “Official Unofficial Via Colori (R)”! At the North Market (or at least on Spruce Street), Saturday, September 8 from 8AM until the artists feel like quitting (Market closes at 5PM), and Sunday, September 9 from noon (earlier if you want to resume chalking)- 5PM!

The event could not have been named what it is without the blessing of Via Colori. It’s founder Rick Compton sent Mary the following e-mail:

Hi Mary –

This letter is to authorize you to conduct Via Colori® in Columbus this year, 2007, adjacent to the North Market, on September 8 and 9. It is to be called the Official Unofficial Via Colori®. All uses of Via Colori will be followed by the registration mark ®. You agree that there will be no formal competition, that you will do you best to not allow any commercial messaging in the art, and that all the art will be appropriate for public, family viewing.

No sponsorships will be sold, and there will be no other revenues generated by the event other than those earned in the normal courses of business by North Market merchants. Via Colori waives all royalties that we might normally expect.

The fee for licensing Via Colori® for this event, this year is also waived.

Attached, to help you execute the event, you’ll find this year’s artist list and a chalk ordering formula. If you need more, just ask!

Rick Compton
Via Colori®

So it’s on. Be there.

The event was on for this year. Then off. Then tentatively on. Then positively off. Then miraculously on. It won’t be called the Via Colori. But there will be chalk. And there will be pavement. And I’m sure, there will be fun.

Unofficial announcement is here, again at the CU. No time was announced. But, let’s assume daylight. The date is Saturday September 8 and Sunday September 9. At the North Market. If you want to participate as an artist, e-mail Mary at mmartineau@northmarket.com.

I’ll definitely be there. Except not at 3:30. I’ll be watching Michigan play Oregon. OSU fans will probably be there at noon, because OSU’s opponent that day is the Zips. OSU’s game will be televised on the Big Ten Network. Which means, they won’t be televised. Who carries that network anyways?