SOMA NewArt GALLERY

Matthew Farina

Matthew Farina is a Queens-based painter.  His abstract vocabulary conjoins geometric tensions with an aesthetically-minded approach to painterly color and mark-making.

Farina has exhibited has exhibited his work widely. His paintings were seen recently in Abstraction NOW at the Nassau County College, at The Print Center in Philadelphia, and in 35/25: Twenty-Five Painters under Thirty-Five at The Painting Center in new York.  He has received recognition and support from the Richard C. Von Hess Foundation, The Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation, The National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts, and The Vermont Studio Center.

Farina graduated from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and earned a BFA from The University of Pennsylvania.  He has worked at the Yale University Art Gallery, The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and The School of Visual Arts.

b. 1982 Wisconsin

Lives /works, Queens, NY

E X H I B I T I O N   H I S T O R Y

2010         Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, SOMA NewArt Gallery, Cape May, NJ

                 Philadelphia Painters (curator), The Painting Center, NY

                 New Walls Fresh Paint, The Painting Center, New York, NY

                 The Square Deal Project, Various Locations in Philadelphia PA

2009         35/25: Twenty-Five Painters under Thirty-Five, The Painting Center, New York, NY

Abstraction Now, Nassau County Community College, Garden City, NY

Matthew Farina: Tangent, One-Person Exhibit, Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2008         Matthew Farina & Brae Howard, Two-Person Exhibit, The Laundromat, Philadelphia, PA

LGBTQ Emerging Artists, William Way Community Center, Philadelphia, PA

The Square Deal Project, Various Public Locations, Philadelphia PA

Small Works Show, Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2007         Matthew Farina: Paling, One-Person Exhibit, Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Learning to Love You More (online)

Small Works Show, Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2006         City-wide Exhibit, ARTSPACE, New Haven, CT

Small Works Show, Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2005         Annual Small Works Show, Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Juried Exhibition, The 1301 Gallery, Philadelphia PA

2004         Wayne Art Center, Annual Juried Exhibition, Wayne, PA

Juried Exhibition, The 1301 Gallery, Philadelphia PA

 2001        National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, ARTS Exhibit, Miami, FL

H O N O R S  / G R A N T S / R E S I D E N C I E S

   2009       Vermont Studio Center Residency, Visual Arts Grant, Johnson VT

 2006         Visiting Lecturer, Jamie Hulley Foundation for the Arts, Woodbridge CT

 2004        The Richard C. von Hess Memorial GrantThe Elena and Will Barnet Prize for Abstract Art (PAF

               2001        National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, A.R.T.S. Awardee

 B I B L I O G R A P H Y

                                       2009         "35/25" Catalog, Ryan Cobourn and John Yau, 6-23-09

2007        Stripe Tease", The Philadelphia Inquirer, Edith Newhall, 4-6-07

2006     " Hodgepodge for the Holidays", The Philadelphia Inquirer, Edith Newhall, 12-22-06

"City-Wide head to the 'hood", The New Haven Register, Donna Doherty, 10-14-06

                  "Artspace show explores history", The Yale Daily News, Justin Jannise, 11-29-06

   2001       "Waukesha Art Students enter Million-Dollar Club," Waukesha Freeman, Lee Colony, 5-16-01

E D U C A T I O N

BFA,  University of Pennsylvania, 2008