Matthew Borgen

Contact Information

matthew@matthewborgen.com

http://www.matthewborgen.com/

Please contact artist for purchases, commissions, etc.

Drawing/Digital Art

Artist's Statement

My latest series, Comic Spatial Analysis, explores the possibilities inherent in sequential art when the structure is divorced from the responsibility of maintaining a coherent narrative thread.

To create these images I remove individual 1930s and 40s era comics panels from their normal linear sequences and recombine them utilizing alternative strategies of organization.

Through this activity I have wrested control of this fictional world from the Author, whom the audience typically trusts to lead them with some purpose, only showing them what they need to see in the most economical way possible.

Rather than acting as a surrogate for the author, I have taken on the role of explorer, making comparisons and drawing conclusions just as a naturalist might wandering through an uncharted wilderness. These panels are my specimens, collected with a trained eye for their uniqueness and ability to describe through a segment, the experience of the whole.

What these new combinations offer is not the elimination of narrative, but the possibility of alternative readings. These works are to narrative what the experience of a dream or memory is to viewing a film. The process of constructing these combinations mirrors the mind’s tenuous hold on the accurate recollection of experienced events.

Selected Exhibitions

2017
Comic Spatial Analysis, The Center for Contemporary Art, Bedminster, NJ

Cities in the Sky, Barbara Crawford Gallery, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, Philadelphia, PA

2016
2016 International Juried Exhibition, Center for Contemporary Art, Bedminster, NJ
Juror: Jonathon Goodman

Revolutions of Making: Faculty Exhibition 2016, Arcadia University Art Gallery, Glenside, PA

2015
National Juried Competition 2015: Works on Paper, Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences, Loveladies, NJ
Juror: Carter E. Foster, Steven and Ann Ames Curator of Drawing, Whitney Museum of American Art

Abington Art Center Annual Juried Show, Abington Art Center, Jenkintown, PA
Juror: Gerard Brown, assistant professor, Tyler School of Art

2014
Performance Video And Colored Gloves, Exploded View, Tucson, AZ

Arcadia University Faculty Exhibition, Arcadia University Art Gallery, Glenside, PA

2012
Arcadia University Faculty Exhibition: The Persistence of Drawing, Arcadia University Art Gallery, Glenside, PA

2011
Arcadia University Faculty Exhibition: Scale 1:1, Arcadia University Art Gallery, Glenside, PA

SEPCHE Faculty Exhibition, Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia, PA

2009
Faculty Exhibition 2009: The Artist and the Object, recent work by Arcadia University fine arts faculty presented with objects from their studios, Arcadia University Art Gallery, Glenside PA

2008
First Person Art Salon, Gersham Y, Philadelphia, PA

Connected, 621 Gallery, Tallahassee, FL

2006
Sound and Vision, (A collaborative work with Gary Setzer), Art Gallery Ohio University Southern, Ironton, OH

2005
Re/creation: Storyteller, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, MI

2002
The Landscape Reconsidered, Arlington Center for the Arts, Arlington, MA

2002 University of Minnesota MFA Exhibition, Katherine Nash Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Visual Literacy, Orbit Gallery, St. Paul, MN
Jurors: Lyndel King, Director, Weisman Art Museum, Joan Rothfuss, Curator, Walker Art Center, Martin Weinstein, Owner, Weinstein Gallery

Consider the Ordinary – Question the Common, Furlong Gallery, Menomonie, WI

2001
University of Minnesota Graduate Exhibition, Katherine Nash Gallery, Minneapolis, MN

Cycle, Emily Davis Gallery, Akron, OH

2000
University of Minnesota Graduate Exhibition, Katherine Nash Gallery, Minneapolis, MN

Gettin’ My Mind Right, Mezzanine Gallery, Minneapolis, MN

1998
Loss and Found, BFA Exhibition, Atrium Gallery, University of Akron, OH

Normal, Senior Honors Project, Projects Gallery, University of Akron, OH

1997
Creative Communities: Art from Akron’s Neighborhoods, Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH

Urban Renewal, a series of large scale paintings from the urban landscape, Projects Gallery, University of Akron, OH

Artist's Bibliography

Print
2009
Arcadia University: Art and Design Faculty Catalog. Glenside: Published by University via Blurb.com, 2009. Print.

2002
New American Paintings: The MFA Annual 2002. Boston: Open Studios Press, 2002. Print.

1997
Stamp, Lew, “Neighborhood Art Brings City to Life,” Akron Beacon Journal, June 30, 1997: Print.

“UA Students Share Insights on Art Project,” West Side Leader, {Akron, OH] July 17, 1997: Print.

Online
2012
“Art and Design Faculty Address the ‘Persistence of Drawing,’” The Bulletin Arcadia University, Arcadia University, December 14, 2012. Web. November 7, 2013

Retter, Jen, “Drawn Together: Art and Design Professors Exhibit Work,” The Bulletin Arcadia University, Arcadia University, November 30, 2012. Web. November 7, 2013

2008
“A Night at Salon,” First Person Arts, First Person Arts, August 14, 2008. Web. November 7, 2013

Kelley, Brian, “Matthew Borgen @ First Person Arts tonight in Philly,” Technology and the Arts, Brian Kelley, August 13, 2008. Web. November 7, 2013

Professional Experience

2012 – Present
Exhibitions Coordinator, Art Research Collaboration (ARC) Exhibition Program, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA

2007 - Present
Adjunct Professor, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA

Awards and Honors

2017
Arcadia University Faculty Development Grant

2007
Arcadia University Faculty Development Grant

2001
Zelda Berman Fliegel Scholarship

2000
Brown-Mackenzie Scholarship

1999
University of Minnesota Fellowship

1993
University of Akron Honors Scholarship

 

Publications

2014
Borgen, Matthew, “The Mediation of the Vortex,” exhibition catalog, February 2014, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Philadelphia, PA

Lectures and Talks

2017
Cities in the Sky, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy

2015
“Chaos in Patterns: One Artist in a Series of Many,” Jennifer Titone ’11, Arcadia University Alumni Artist Lecture Series. (Moderator)

2014
“You’ll Understand When You’re Older,” Jannalyn Bailey, Arcadia University Alumni Artist Lecture Series. (Moderator)

2013
A Conversation with Jamar Nicholas and Mike Manley, Glenside, PA (Moderator)

2012
Arcadia University Faculty Exhibition: The Persistence of Drawing, Arcadia University Art Gallery, Glenside PA

2011
Arcadia University Faculty Exhibition: Scale 1:1, Arcadia University Art Gallery, Glenside, PA

2009
Faculty Exhibition 2009: The Artist and the Object, Arcadia University Art Gallery, Glenside PA

2008
First Person Art Salon at the Gersham Y, Philadelphia, PA

2005
Urban Institute for Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI

Curatorial projects

2017
John Hathaway: Studies, Drawings, Paintings, and Prints, Commons Art Gallery, Great
Room Lobby, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA

2016
David Guinn: Before the Wall, Mural Sketches and Designs, Great Room Lobby, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA

Alumni Spotlight Exhibition: Jesse Vincent, Other Than a Memory, Commons Art Gallery, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA

Jane Geayer: Harmonious Geometries, Commons Art Gallery, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA

2015
Alumni Spotlight Exhibition: Jennifer Titone, Great Room Lobby, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA

2014
Band of Artists: Spectrum Order Disorder, University Commons Art Gallery, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA
Co-curated with Alan Powell

Arcadia University Alumni Spotlight Exhibition: Jannalyn Bailey, University Commons Art Gallery, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA

2013
Jamar Nicholas: World Building, University Commons Great Room Lobby, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA
Co-curated with Samantha Schaeffer

Alive! Revealing the Art of Puppetry, University Commons Art Gallery, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA
Co-curated with Alisa Kleckner

Arcadia University Alumni Spotlight Exhibition: Christopher Thomas, University Commons Art Gallery, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA

Presence of Process, University Commons Art Gallery, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA

2012
Mitos Y Realidades: Inspiraciones De La Republica De Cuba Myths and Realities: Inspirations from the Republic of Cuba, University Commons Art Gallery, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA
Co-curated with Abigail Ryan

Arcadia University Alumni Spotlight Exhibition: Andrew Ortwein: The Greatest War, University Commons Art Gallery, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA

Collections

Springside Chestnut Hill Academy

Education

2002
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
MFA, Drawing and Painting

1998
University of Akron, Akron, OH
BFA, Drawing
(Honors Program)

Recent Artist Member Mentions on InLiquid