Matthew Russo: Practiced Play
About
Practiced Play serves as an extension of Russo’s collaboration-informed, inquiry-driven studio practice. The construction of the space calls for the viewer to become a hands-on collaborator in engaging and activating the objects that make up this new body of work. Centralized around a long table with varying heights and over a hundred foam, resin, and cement objects strewn on shelves throughout the gallery, visitors are asked to delve into a participatory process of play and investigation. Practiced Play invites its participants to notice how, with some tactile study, an object's history may become evident in its form. Objects that seem unidentifiable can be handled intuitively. Combinations, arrangements, and collaborations expand the perceived limits of engagement and give rise to a childlike sense of curiosity.
About the artist
Matthew Russo (b. Worcester, MA; lives and works in Washington, DC) earned his BFA in Painting from Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, Old Lyme, CT, and his MFA from American University in Washington, DC. As part of his art education, he studied in Prato, Italy, where he focused on traditional forms of painting and printmaking. His work actualizes theoretical research into sculpture, painting, and drawings. He uses abstraction as a language to dissect the relationships between objects, materials, and their roles in gender, consumerism, class, and personal history. Russo has exhibited his work at Dodomu Gallery in Brooklyn, NY, and But, Also in Washington, DC. Russo is a 2021–2023 Hamiltonian Artists Fellow.
Vist
May 6–June 10, 2023
Thursday–Saturday, 11–6pm
Hamiltonian Artists
1353 U Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
View map
Programs
Opening reception
Saturday, May 6, 5–7pm
Artist talk
Thursday, May 25, 6–7pm
Info