Studio 2009

NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release
AUGUST 10, 2009




Solo Exhibition of New Work by Matthew Dibble Opens at Asterisk Gallery
CLEVELAND—August 10, 2009—On Friday, August 14th, Asterisk Gallery in Tremont will showcase recent figurative work from Cleveland artist Matthew Dibble in a solo exhibition consisting of ten drawings and fourteen paintings. The exhibition is titled “Equipping the Shop for Action,” and runs through September 5th. According to Dibble, the title is not to be taken literally, but is a metaphor for the psychological preparation he undertook before completing this series of work.

The paintings in this exhibit were inspired by an ongoing series of figurative pen-and-ink drawings that the artist has been producing since his days in art school. Commenting on the paintings, well-known artist and writer Douglas Max Utter said, “Like half-remembered myths, Dibble’s figures move as outlines across a patchwork ground of light and shade … part hero, part clown, tumbling in a world that is no more than a back-drop for their antics. They are perhaps like skins of light, shed in the process of personal change.”
The drawings on display were selected by Christopher Pekoc, the 2007 Cleveland Arts Prize winner who also curated the first public exhibition of Dibble’s drawings in 2005. Pekoc explains, “In his drawings, Matt produces an elegant line drawn with a sure and sensitive hand. He fills these small worlds with mystery and beauty. I am attracted to them because of their uniqueness and originality, and also because I suspect that their source lies deep within the artist’s creative core.”
Pekoc will also participate as a panelist in an artists’ dialogue at the gallery on Saturday, August 15th at 3 pm, along with innovative neon artist Jeffry Chiplis, Utter, and Dibble.
Dibble’s work has been exhibited at the Cleveland Museum of Art, Tregoning & Company, and the Butler Institute of American Art, and resides in private and corporate collections.
Asterisk Gallery is located at 2393 Professor Ave. in the historic Tremont area of Cleveland. For more information, contact artist and gallery owner Dana Depew at 330-304-8528 or www.asteriskgallery.com. For more information on Matt Dibble, please visit www.dibblepaintings.com. “Equipping the Shop for Action” will be on view from August 14th through September 5th.