Photo New Mexico – A juried Show (Juror: Katherine Ware, Curator of Photography, New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe)

Rob Thalmann
Anthropormphic Study I
Silver Photographic Print, Selenium Toned, Oil Paint


Bruce Shortz
The Distant Mountains
HDR Photography



Zak Ruttledge
Rural Mechanism
Digital Photography



Now in its second year, this juried show will feature the pinnacle of New Mexico photographic talent in this first-ever collaboration between an Albuquerque gallery and the New Mexico Museum in Santa Fe.


Exhibition dates: July 3 – August 1
(Early Bird Preview: May 31 – July 3)

First Friday Artscrawl Reception: July 3, 5 – 8:00 PM
The public is invited to select the “People’s Choice Award” during the reception with the winner to be announced at 7:45 PM

Gallery Talk with juror Katherine Ware, Saturday, July 11, 1 – 2 PM

Gallery hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 9 – 6; Tuesday 10 - 4, Closed Monday

Contact person: Regina Held, 268-8952
Cost of event: Free

Location: 3812 Central Ave. SE - 2.5 blocks east of Carlisle between Solano and Aliso, next to New Grounds Print Workshop & Gallery.

Art Journey: New Mexico

Art Journey: New Mexico is being released in November 2009 by the Collector's Guide. Congratulations to Stacy Hawkinson and Frank McCulloch for making it into the book!

Realism is alive and well in Albuquerque!

During very well attended reception several clients and artists discussed with me the “state” of realism. Are artists going back to it? Is there a renewed interest in it? In my humble, but firm opinion, both of it is the case. Not only do I seem to come across realistic painting quite often, whether in galleries, art fairs, or art magazines, I am also impressed by the high standard of craftsmanship practiced by realist artists. Maybe we have seen so much digital art that artists want to practice using a brush again, or maybe it is the very availability of digital media that allows artists to create a fully worked out “sketch” before moving on to the canvas. Whatever the reason, I am delighted to be able to represent so many talented and hard-working realist artists who live and work right here in New Mexico.

Patricia Malcolm employs the ancient and extremely time consuming medium of egg tempera to create her highly detailed animal images which go beyond portraits; they usually represent attributes such as “strength” or “humility.”


Rodney Wood also uses animal imagery in his work, but his pieces exhibit a surrealistic and sometimes supernatural bend in addition to showing his great sense of humor.

Matthew Lutz is an emerging artist whose larger than life flower clusters are beyond real, they are super-real with a nod to pop art.

Sarah Hartshorne is a new artist at Matrix Fine Art. Although she covers a large variety of subjects, her still lives are some of our favorites. They also made everybody very hungry!

Once again, this was a very busy reception; the gallery had a continuous stream of visitors all evening long. Thank you everybody for coming out to see the show!

Anise, our trusted server, is getting cuter and cuter.

Gallery assistant Tanya Landin and director Regina Held wrote and submitted this blog. And no, those are not giant strawberry earrings, just an unfortunate placement of Tanya’s head in front of Sarah’ strawberry still life……


Jeff Simpson, who is a New Grounds artist, volunteered his time to take pictures during the reception. Thank you Jeff, great job! (We’ll overlook the strawberry earrings this time….).



Regina Held, director, Matrix Fine Art

New Grounds and Matrix Artists’ swept up a huge amount of purchase awards from the CABQ 1% for the Arts Program.

We want to give a round of applause to the artists’ whose work was chosen by the city. Artists’ represented by Matrix Fine Art include Sally Condon, Harriette Lawler, Katrina Lasko and Iva Morris. Chosen from New Grounds Print Workshop and Gallery were pieces by Diane Alire and Dan Noyes.
The City of Albuquerque's Public Art Program, one of the oldest in the country, began in 1978, with the passage of the Art in Municipal Places Ordinance. This bold initiative set aside 1% of City construction funds derived from the general obligation bond program and certain revenue bonds for the purchase or commission of works of art. (Read more about it at http://www.cabq.gov/publicart/about-1-for-art).

Contemporary Realism – Paintings by Rodney Wood, Leo Neufeld, Patricia Malcolm, Matthew Lutz, Mark Beck and Sarah Hartshorne

Sarah Harthshorne
Blackberries
30 x 40"
Acrylic on Canvas


Although the beginning of the 21st century exhibits a pluralism of styles an increasing number of artists are returning to realism. This particular show features several aspects of realism with three artists, Leo Neufeld, Mark Beck and Sarah Hartshorne, working traditionally in a realist style defined as “the accurate and apparently objective description of the ordinary, observable world (Wikipedia).” Quite different from these, Patricia Malcolm’s egg tempera paintings explore a more symbolist approach while Rodney Wood and Matthew Lutz work in a distinctly hyper-realist style. In addition, these six outstanding painters cover a wide variety of subject matters from the figure to still-lives, botany and landscapes.

Exhibition dates: June 5 – 27, 2009
(Early Bird Preview: June 2 - 5)

First Friday Artscrawl Reception: June 5, 5 – 8:00 PM