MATTERN: Standard Size
Standard Size
ANDY MATTERN
September 5 - October 18, 2014
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Andy Mattern transforms the inconsequential materials of the photographer’s studio into a collection of formally composed objects, which he then documents photographically. Discardable photo paper boxes rife with corporate marketing clichés become geometric and abstract compositions when Mattern physically removes or redacts text and imagery found on the box. With a BFA in studio art from the University of New Mexico and an MFA in photography from the University of Minnesota, Standard Size is a testament to Mattern’s artistic training. Using a ritual process of cutting and sanding stock imagery off surfaces, covering logos and text with various colored masking tape, Mattern delivers a new surface both contained and freed.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Andy Mattern is a visual artist working in the expanded field of photography. His photographs and installations dissect and question the medium itself, reconfiguring expectations of photography's basic ingredients, conventions, and opportunities.
Mattern’s work is held in the permanent collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the New Mexico Museum of Art, the Southeast Museum of Photography, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, among others. His projects have been exhibited nationally and abroad. He has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants such as the Artist Initiative Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board and Art 365 from the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. His first monograph, Average Subject / Medium Distance, was published by Aint-Bad Press in 2021.
Mattern holds an MFA in Photography from the University of Minnesota and a BFA in Studio Art from the University of New Mexico. Presently, he serves as Head of the Department of Art, Graphic Design and Art History, Vennerberg Chair in Art, Hargis Professor, and Director of the Doel Reed Center at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater.
