Matthew Wettlaufer grew up in Idyllwild, California, in the mountains of Southern California. He is the son of a sculptor and an English literature teacher. In 2005, while teaching a philosophy class at the University of Stellenbosch in Cape Town, South Africa, he began taking art lessons from three instructors: Jill Trappler, Paul Birchall, and Lynne Lymofsky. His work began to be exhibited and sold a year after he commenced painting. In 2010, Matthew moved back to California and now resides in Palm Desert with his husband and son. While not painting he works as a licensed therapist and enjoys playing Scriabin, Hindemith, and Debussy on piano or hiking in the mountains.
Artist Statement
"My early work was driven by the need to express the grief and loss in my experiences of working in El Salvador during the 1990s in health care, as well as my political activism in Queer Nation and ACT-UP/San Francisco. I was also driven by sometimes socialist, sometimes anarchist political ideals such as greater economic equality, radical democracy, mutual aid, freedom, and the accompaniment of the marginalized and persecuted. Finally, another theme that has informed my work is the existential anguish surrounding the fact of mortality as well as the mortality of all life and the universe (in astrophysics, this would be the theory of the "big freeze"). When I was focused on social justice issues, I turned to large political narratives inspired by artists like Diego Rivera and a style reminiscent of Max Beckmann and New Objectivity. With existential themes I have moved further and further into abstraction, finding inspiration in the work of Joan Mitchell, Richard Diebenkorn, Kandinsky, and the Russian Constructivists. My method for making abstract art is intuition and accident driven, replicating internal imagery rather than exterior objects. Abstraction feels like the most direct approach to expressing the tragedy of life as well as its joy and beauty. I tend to work mostly in oils, but also reverse glass painting, watercolors, linocut prints, collage, and drawing."
CV
Awards
2006—South African Society of Artists, Cape Town SA, Kirstenbosch Gardens Group Show; Prize for reverse glass painting.
Exhibitions
2024--Las Laguna Gallery, Laguna Beach, Online juried exhibition, Showing of the painting "There's a Light at the End of It."
2020—City of Indio, Public Art Works Project, Use of the painting "From Dawn to Dusk."
2014—Field Projects Gallery, New York City, Publication of animated film "The Holy Longing" on gallery's website.
2013—City Hearts, Fresh Focus Invitational from actor Max Adler, Auction of prints of Dave Karofsky Portraits.
2012—Riverside Press Enterprise, "Artist Goes Around The World To Find Home."
2012—Aroma Café, Idyllwild CA USA, solo show.
2010—Tikkun Magazine, "The Transformative Promise of Queer Politics."
2009—Cape Gallery, Cape Town SA, group show.
2006—South African Society of Artists, Cape Town SA, Kirstenbosch Gardens, group show; Award for outstanding artwork: "Pacific Crest Trail" reverse glass painting.
2006—French Consulate, Cape Town, South Africa—Picasso in Africa Exhibition, "Woman in Green."