Assimilation 01. Mixed Media on Panel. 12 x 12 inches.
OPENING RECEPTION
Saturday, August 19, 2017
New Works by Matt Manalo
August 19 – September 23, 2017
Kirk Hopper Fine Art (3008 Commerce Street) is pleased to exhibit New Works by Houston artist, Matt Manalo. This exhibit will feature Matt’s most recent mixed media paintings in our project space, opening Saturday, August 19th, with a public reception for the artist from 6.00 – 8.00 pm.
Originally from Manila, Philippines, Manalo creates work as a form of an ongoing journal of experiences from his time living in the Philippines in juxtaposition to his life in the United States. At the age of 18, Matt Manalo and his family decided to move to the United States in pursuit of a better life. Although living in a city as diverse as Houston he continues to reconcile his old life with his new life in the largest city in Texas. Matt states, “As an artist, I was looking for a tangible outlet to express my feelings, memories and newfound experiences.” He is constantly redefining his definition of “Home,” while struggling with memories from his homeland and the feeling of being split into two pieces emotionally.
Manalo’s work represents an abstracted image of a specific place or memory from either back home or from his new surroundings in Houston. The artist incorporates repetitive marks, shapes, collage and/or stamped images and scratch marks on his work. They signify the amount of “to and fro” with flashbacks that he has when making a piece. One notable aspect of Manalo’s work is the significant amount of physical or visual texture on the surface, which represents the grittiness of living in a city like Manila. As one will notice, Filipino artist Matt Manalo has two very different stories to tell.
Concrete (Gray). Mixed Media on Panel. 12 x 12 inches.
Artist Biography 
Matt Manalo was born and raised in Manila, Philippines. He moved to the
United States along with his family to pursue his education. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting with a minor in Art History at the University
of Houston. He has always been drawn to making art since he was a child. He grew up being heavily influenced by comic books and cartoons. His intuitive art making process includes the processes of collage, painting, and sculpture. His work talks about his identity as a Filipino and the places he has lived in.
Kirk Hopper Fine Art is located at
3008 Commerce Street, Dallas, Texas 75226 in the Deep Ellum neighborhood.
Gallery hours are Tuesday – Saturday from 12pm – 6pm or by appointment.
Phone: 214-760-9230, Email: giovanni@kirkhopperfineart.com
Propagate tells a story that begins with the primordial formation of dirt particles that traveled through light, water, air, and time, to find themselves in this new composition. For the artists, compressed earth is representative of a building system whose roots are ancient and whose benefits are great but generally unrecognized, misunderstood and under-researched. This work is inspired by a belief in the potentials of earth construction as a revived and modernized art, re- engineered for durability. Earth, stabilized with a small percentage of cement, finds its form and strength through confinement and curing. Earthen cubes are arranged in a self-organizing phyllotactic pattern, an array which naturally emerges in dynamic biological systems. Linking a terrestrial material with the rationality of form, “Propagate” is a bridge between past and future, mystery and logic, and above all, harmony and earth.
