The Avenue in Hampden had the good fortune of one of the most prolific young artists in the city opening his new gallery there recently. The vibrant cultural fusion that makes 36th Street one of the most engaging destinations in the city just got a little more colorful thanks to Matt Muirhead. Muirhead‘s new gallery Headspace hosts a varied collection of mixed media paintings that covers a wide swath of subject matter and whose execution is a testament to the artist’s inventiveness. It would literally take hours to explore the pieces in the basement gallery and the larger ones hosted upstairs at Metta Integrative Wellness Center. Currently the works displayed at Headspace are all Muirhead’s with the exception of the collaborations. The work shown here is a collaboration between Muirhead and poet Dina Maria Teresa Versalone. Headspace is located at 720 W. 36th St. and is open from 2-9pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Much of the art is incredibly affordable. This is where I intend to do most of my shopping this holiday season.
Photo by Brooke Hall, story by Justin Allen.
“Symmetry pervades life, and life systems. I begin each painting with a series of circular gestures on the page. A mindless, empty beginning. I fold the paper. The opening paper is a blossom; the birth of a new species, a new evolutionary pathway to be wandered down, and lingered upon. I then allow my intuition to complete the evolution of this new organism by painting in it’s details, including the idiosyncratic, and decidedly non-symmetrical centers, which, to me, function as sources of character (a mole on a cheek, or other such imperfections). The finished painting, I hope, conveys something new. I want the viewer to participate in this endeavor. The creative act of weaving a tale of the ancestry of the subject. moving across it’s surface to assign the myriad forms within a relative in reality. much like Rorschach did with his inkblot technique for psycho-analysis, I want the viewer to come up with their own iconography for the piece. I’m inspired by all symmetry in nature, birds wings extended to take flight, animal bodies viewed from certain angles, the beauty of faces, and all the imperfections that create character. I think my pieces work on the mind at an instinctive level. Our brains are pattern recognition computers. we use symmetry as a touchstone to understanding and familiarity. Faces are memorized by how they are symmetrical, and how they are not. I think my pieces have the power of faces (the symmetrical, the beautiful). they are to be lingered upon. They really do grow on you, like friends, like all good things. They hold an identity and retain themselves in your memory.” –Matt Muirhead
The one and only Kristen Forbes, from the Scotch Bonnets, was on hand to support her friend and entertain those in attendance at the grand opening of Headspace. Since their formation in 2009, The Scotch Bonnets have become a favorite among many of the rocksteady reggae fans in Baltimore City and DC.
Headspace- Matt Muirhead
Headspace- Matt Muirhead
Dina Maria Teresa Versalone
Vintage clothes are among the many surfaces Matt Muirhead adorns with his distinct flavor of screen printing.
Adam Meister, Baltimore’s favorite up and coming political pundit emerged from behind his screen where he writes his blog, The Political Meister, to exercise his right brain a bit at Headspace.
Headspace- Matt Muirhead
Headspace- Matt Muirhead
Headspace- Matt Muirhead
Headspace- Matt Muirhead
