MATTHEW DIBBLE
MIXED MEDIA ARTIST
B. 1957 USA
Dibble's work has long displayed this double trajectory, in which expression moves towards meaning in the abstracts and also in the counterbalancing figural work—as if the right and left hemispheres of his brain were performing an intricate dance.
Matthew Dibble spent decades in the construction business, and approaches his art like a true tradesman: with watchful attention and professional confidence, he composes gesturally abstract and figural paintings marked by creative choreography. He attended Cleveland’s former defiantly inspiring Cooper School of the Arts, and has marched to his own drummer ever since graduating in 1978. Dibble’s ongoing body of work includes original, nuanced reactions to both modern and postmodern sensibilities, with as few aesthetic or philosophical pretensions as possible. A fascination with gesture and action continues to underlie his large-scale Abstract Expressionist paintings, while his figurative work deploys distorted, other-worldly creatures across layered surfaces that fascinate. His work has long displayed this double trajectory, in which expression moves towards meaning in the abstracts and also in the counterbalancing figural work—as if the right and left hemispheres of his brain were performing an intricate dance.
AVAILABLE WORK
MATTHEW DIBBLE CV
Training
Cooper School of Art, Cleveland, OH 1975-1978
Selected Exhibitions
Saatchi Art, The Other Art Fair, Virtual Edition, Global, 8-29 November 2021
Elder Gallery of Contemporary Art, "Levels of Abstraction", new work from 5 artists, Charlotte, NC May 2021
Lyons Wier Gallery, on line exhibition "Chrysalistasis" new work from 50 artists, curated by James Austin Murray_New York, NY June 2020
First Street Gallery” Legendary Bog” Solo Painting Exhibition, New York, NY January 2019
The Painting Center, Group Exhibition, “Kindred Spirits”, New York, NY November 2017
The Other Art Fair, Brooklyn Expo Center, Brooklyn, NY November 2017
Tregoning & Co. Solo Painting Exhibition “Puzzled Bipeds”, Cleveland, Ohio May 2017
First Street Gallery: “Useful Pressures” Solo Painting Exhibition, New York, NY January 2017
First Street Gallery: “Under the Influence” Members Show, New York, NY April 2015
Tregoning & Co. Solo Painting Exhibition “Brace” Cleveland, OH May 2014
Elder Gallery, “Solo Painting Exhibition”, Charlotte, NC March 2014
Tregoning & Co. “Aspects of Modern Life,” Cleveland, OH April 2011
Arts Collinwood Gallery “Hope For the Picture Guild, ”Cleveland, OH Sept. 2010
Butler Institute of American Art, 74th Midyear Exhibition, Youngstown, OH July 2010
Asterisk Gallery, “Equipping the Shop for Action,” Cleveland, OH, August 2009
Tregoning & Co., “Paintings and Constructions,” Cleveland, OH July 2009
73rd Annual Midyear Exhibition, Butler Institute, Youngstown, OH June 2009
Tregoning & Company, Cleveland, OH April 2008
50th Chautauqua National Exhibition of American Art, Chautauqua, NY June 2007
Butler Institute of American Art, 70th Midyear Exhibition, Youngstown, OH July 2006
Beaker Gallery, “sawtelle, the sequel” Tampa, FL October 2004
Thrive, an artspace, “Beyond the Surface” Cleveland, OH April, 2004
domestic setting, “Sequel” Los Angeles, CA March, 2003
superior (an exhibition space), Cleveland, OH April 2002
Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA April 1998
Massillon Museum, Massillon, OH March 1996
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH June 1994
Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV March 1994
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH June 1993
Moreau Gallery, St. Mary’s College, South Bend, IN January 1990
Karamu House, Cleveland, OH November 1984
SPACES, Cleveland, OH July 1984
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH 1980, 1984, 1985
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When asked to make a statement about my work, part of me begins to draw back. Something is seen that makes me uncomfortable. Words become unsatisfying. I’ve been there before, so I stay with it and begin to realize that I don’t know. Relaxing a bit, certain possibilities become open to me. There is a chance that if I’m quiet enough, it can work through me. My work is what happens in the course of that process—the encounter between myself, the present moment, and the materials at hand.