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The career chronicle of

Matt Sesow

Washington, DC painter · self-taught · since 1994

A painting on a United Nations stamp. A year-long solo show at the American Visionary Art Museum. 225+ works hung with 13 Basquiats. A documentary on Amazon. Eleven museums in three years. And more than 17,000 paintings sold, one collector at a time.

52
Solo exhibitions
24
Museums
17,000+
Paintings sold
40+
Countries
772
Documented highlights
Born 1966 in Omaha, Nebraska. At eight he lost his dominant left hand in an airplane accident; at 28 he picked up a brush and has painted nearly every day since. He sold paintings on the internet in 1995, before most galleries had a website, and he still sells direct, with no gallery in between.

Frequently asked questions

who he is · DC · how many paintings · how to buy · ask Matt a question
Who is Matt Sesow?

Matt Sesow (born September 10, 1966, Omaha, Nebraska) is a self-taught expressionist painter who lives and paints in Washington, DC. He began painting in 1994, has painted full time since 2001, and has sold more than 17,000 original paintings directly to collectors in more than 40 countries. His work is in the permanent collection of the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, was issued as a United Nations postage stamp in 2013, and is the subject of the documentary Join Hands: The Life and Art of Matt Sesow.

Is Matt Sesow a Washington, DC artist?

Yes — for more than thirty years. He started painting in DC in 1994 and works today at Mather Studios, 916 G Street NW, downtown. His DC record includes a 2001 solo show at the Corcoran (“Life’s Little Traumas”), Hill Center solo and two-person shows on Capitol Hill (2017–2019), years of Artomatic, a CreativeMornings/DC talk at Sixth & I (2019), and seventeen Transformer benefit auctions since 2007, with his eighteenth in November 2026. In 2015 the Washington Post profiled him as “a one-handed artist … seizing D.C.’s art world.”

How many paintings has he made, and how often does he paint?

More than 17,000 originals sold since 1994 — on average more than ten finished paintings a week, every week, for over thirty years. He paints nearly every day and posts new work several times a week at new.sesow.com. Few living painters anywhere have placed that many original works directly in collectors’ hands.

What happened to his hand?

In June 1975, when he was eight, he was struck by the propeller of a landing airplane near his family’s home in rural Nebraska. His dominant left hand was amputated. He paints with his right hand; he has said the nightmares about the accident stopped when he began painting in 1994.

Which museums have shown or collected his work?

The American Visionary Art Museum gave him a year-long solo show, “Shock and Awe” (2016–17), and holds his paintings in its permanent collection. His 2021 retrospective “Life and Limb” at Old Dominion University’s Baron and Ellin Gordon Galleries hung more than 225 of his works alongside 13 works by Jean-Michel Basquiat. From 2002 to 2005 two of his paintings toured eleven American museums in “Revelations and Reflections.” The timeline below lists every museum show with sources.

Does he have a gallery? How do I buy a painting?

He has no exclusive gallery and sells directly, as he has since he first sold paintings online in 1995. New paintings: new.sesow.com; smaller works: small.sesow.com; or write to sesow@sesow.com. Studio visits in downtown DC can be arranged by email.

What is the United Nations stamp?

In 2013 the United Nations Postal Administration chose his painting “Dive Bomb” for the “Break Barriers, Open Doors” issue on disability rights, unveiled at UN headquarters on September 23, 2013, in a series with Chuck Close. The stamp story.

What is his connection to Charles Bukowski and Linda King?

He illustrated Bukowski Undigested (2008), poems by Linda King — the sculptor and poet who was Bukowski’s partner in the early 1970s — and in June 2026 was a guest artist at her exhibition in Los Angeles. The full story, with every article.

Can I use this history for research, a paper or an article?

Yes. Every entry is dated and sourced, and the event pages keep complete copies of the original articles with their full text. Each page has a citation line. For interviews, images or anything missing, use the question box below or email sesow@sesow.com.

Ask Matt a question

Researchers, collectors, writers, students, curators — ask anything. Your question goes straight to Matt’s inbox, and he answers personally.

or email sesow@sesow.com

The headlines

What one self-taught painter has done

Highlighted shows

Now on view, coming up, or the latest — each with its own full-story page

Suzanne de Vegh, executive director of the New Bedford Art Museum, with Matt Sesow and a print of his painting Identical Twins, October 10, 2026Coming up · in 17 days

2026 · Opens Thursday, November 5, 2026

New Bedford Art Museum · New Bedford, MA

Alice Neel’s muse borrows his painting

His “Identical Twins” (2016) answers Alice Neel’s 1975 “The De Vegh Twins.” One of Neel’s twins now runs the New Bedford Art Museum — and she is borrowing his version from the American Visionary Art Museum’s collection.

The full story →Timeline entry →

Grid of the paintings Matt Sesow gave to Transformer's auctions, 2007 to 2025Coming up · in 19 days

2026 · Saturday, November 7, 2026

Transformer · The LINE DC · Washington, DC

The Kaleidoscope Effect

Transformer’s 22nd annual benefit auction and gala. His painting “Happy Bull” is in the auction — his eighteenth Transformer auction since 2007.

The full story →

United Nations stamp sheet "Break Barriers, Open Doors" with Matt Sesow's painting Dive Bomb, 2013

United Nations · 2013

His painting became a UN stamp

“Dive Bomb” was chosen by the United Nations Postal Administration for the “Break Barriers, Open Doors” issue, unveiled at UN headquarters on September 23, 2013, in a series with Chuck Close. 129,500 stamps were printed.

The stamp story →Timeline entry

Matt Sesow in front of his paintings on a blue wall at the American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore

American Visionary Art Museum · 2016–17

A year-long solo show at AVAM

“Shock and Awe” filled a gallery in Baltimore with more than 150 paintings from May 2016 to June 2017. The museum then chose 26 of his paintings for its permanent collection.

avam.sesow.com →Timeline entry

Poster for Life and Limb: Works by Matt Sesow, Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries, Old Dominion University, August 31 to December 18, 2021

Old Dominion University · 2021

225+ works, shown with 13 Basquiats

“Life and Limb,” his largest museum solo, spanned 27 years of work at the Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries in Norfolk and hung alongside 13 original works by Jean-Michel Basquiat.

The full story →life.sesow.com →Timeline entry

Poster for the documentary Join Hands: The Life and Art of Matt Sesow

Documentary · 2015

His life is a film on Amazon

“Join Hands: The Life and Art of Matt Sesow” by documentarian Leslye Abbey follows him from Nebraska to the Washington studio. He also appears in “RAW Visions: Art of Survival” (2012).

Watch on Amazon →Trailerfilm.sesow.com

More from the record

A different set every visit — shuffle

Pet Project

2010 · Denver, CO

Pet Project

41 new paintings, live painting and a gallery talk; nominated for Best Show in the Denver Art District.

The full story →

Matt Sesow's medals from the 1981 international games in Newcastle, England, mounted on a plaque

1981 · Newcastle, England

Seven medals for the U.S. at 14

Six years after losing his left hand, he competed for the United States at the international games for disabled children in Newcastle, England, and came home with seven medals, two of them gold.

The full story →

Painting by Matt Sesow from A Brut Rebellion, FOE Gallery, 2011

2011 · Northampton, MA · FOE Gallery

A Brut Rebellion

39 paintings for his first solo exhibition in Massachusetts, at FOE Gallery, opening March 11, 2011.

The full story →

One artist, one name on the wall

52 solo exhibitions

From San Jose in 1998 to Old Dominion University in 2021: 32 cities in 5 countries (the United States, Spain, France, Canada and Australia). Three of them were museum solos. Click any show to read its record.

Museum soloOutside the US
1998“SESOW (1994–1998)”San Jose Art LeagueSan Jose, CA2001“Life's Little Traumas”Corcoran Museum, White Walls GalleryWashington, DC2001Aroma Gallery ArtWashington, DC2002“Friend or Foe”Stone's Breath GalleryOcean View, DE2002CDW Gallery, GeorgetownWashington, DC2002Windows at 14th and GWashington, DC2003The OttobarBaltimore, MD2003Aroma, Cleveland ParkWashington, DC2004First New York soloBig Cat Gallery, East VillageNew York, NY2004Nature Visionary Art GalleryCharlottesville, VA2005“Carrots and Sticks”Rebus WorksRaleigh, NC2005“Looking Back, Sprint Forward”Gallery Co.Minneapolis, MN2005Hunter Hogan GalleryVirginia Beach, VA2005“Eye of the Storm”Studio One EightWashington, DC2005Guillotine GalleryAtlanta, GA2005“Collateral Damage”Cheap Theatrix (stage commission)Phoenix, AZ2005“Husker Du?”Folsom Gallery, University Place Art CenterLincoln, NE2005Aroma, Cleveland ParkWashington, DC2006“Don Giovanni”Rebus WorksRaleigh, NC2006Stage backdropTheatre of NOTEHollywood, CA2007“Salvaged”D GallerySan Diego, CA2007Pamela Skinner / Gwenna Howard ContemporarySacramento, CA2007“Appearances”Rougette GalleryRockland, ME2007“Animal Farm”VSA Colorado / Access GalleryDenver, CO2009“Sesow in Barcelona”Galeria ArteVistasBarcelona, Spain2009“Bukowski”Elephant Theater, Bukowski FestivalLos Angeles, CA2009Mayer Fine ArtNorfolk, VA2010“Pet Project”VSA Colorado / Access GalleryDenver, CO2010“Super Men and Scoundrels”Gallery at Black RockBridgeport, CT2010“Sesow in Albi”Gallery ArteVistasAlbi, France2010“Balance of Power”Galeria ArteVistasBarcelona, Spain2011“A Brut Rebellion”FOE GalleryNorthampton, MA2011Galerie Saint-PierreLimoges, France2011First Boston soloJP Art Market GalleryBoston, MA2012“Trickle Down”Access Gallery / VSA ColoradoDenver, CO2012“From the Gut”Jeanine Taylor Folk ArtSanford, FL2012“Birdhouses”BVP Gallery, Dupont CircleWashington, DC2012“Independent Party”FOE GalleryNorthampton, MA2012“Paintings from Home”ART17, Dupont CircleWashington, DC2013“Icons”Galeria ArteVistasBarcelona, Spain2013“Beautiful People”Waverley Street GalleryBethesda, MD2014Gallery 555Cruseilles, France2014“All American Boy”19 Karen Contemporary ArtspaceGold Coast, Australia2014“Access Denied”VSA Colorado / Access GalleryDenver, CO2016“Shock and Awe”American Visionary Art MuseumBaltimore, MD2016“Divide and Conquer / Rise Above”VSA Colorado / Access GalleryDenver, CO2016“Politicized”Gallery 1515Vancouver, Canada2016“Politicized 2”Gallery 1515Vancouver, Canada2017“Sesow in the Zone”Silo118 GallerySanta Barbara, CA2017“Hair of the Dog”Jeanine Taylor Folk Art GallerySanford, FL2017“Déjà Vu”Hill Center GalleriesWashington, DC2021“Life and Limb”Baron & Ellin Gordon Art Galleries, ODUNorfolk, VA

Museum walls

24 museums

Museums and university art museums in the United States and Europe that have hung his paintings, from a year-long solo in Baltimore to national museums in Bologna and Kyiv.

Abroad

The national tour, 2002–2005

Map and reviews of the tour →

Press Room

Thirty years in print

Magazine covers, newspaper reviews, interviews, book covers and television. 136 items from the 1995–2010 press pages are now saved on this site with 1,245 clippings and photographs, plus every press record since.

Compass Magazine Article, 2003Compass Magazine Article · 2003Brutarian Magazine Interview, 1999Brutarian Magazine Interview · 1999Creating Internet Entertainment, 1997Creating Internet Entertainment · 1997Self-Taught Artist Guide Book, 2000Self-Taught Artist Guide Book · 2000Left Turn Magazine, 2004Left Turn Magazine · 2004Big News Magazine, 2002Big News Magazine · 2002Sesow in controversy, 2004Sesow in controversy · 2004DC Style Magazine, 2006DC Style Magazine · 2006Visionary Art Museum, 2005Visionary Art Museum · 2005Coagula Magazine, 2003Coagula Magazine · 2003VH1 video countdown, 2007VH1 video countdown · 2007Solo Show Washington, DC, 2001Solo Show Washington, DC · 2001

Open the Press Room →

A Primary-Source Archive

For Researchers & Institutions

This chronicle is the public face of the Sesow Archive — a continuously maintained record documenting more than three decades of a single artist’s daily practice. It is offered as a primary source for scholars of self-taught and visionary art, and of art as a response to trauma, disability, and healing.

17,000+
Original works sold since 1994
40+
Countries with collectors
1975
The event the work answers, documented to source
26
Works in AVAM’s permanent collection
Trauma & HealingA childhood airplane accident and the lifelong iconographic language it produced — the plane, the hand, the bird, the rabbit, the burning sun.
Self-Taught PracticeA software engineer who began painting at 28 with no formal training and never signed an exclusive gallery contract — his only exclusive was a five-year agent contract signed in 1995.
Art & the InternetAmong the first artists in the world to sell original work online (1995), documented in a 1997 book cataloged by the Library of Congress.
Research & loan inquiries → Citation format at the foot of this page · Original documents available on request

Ready-to-Use Bios

50-word bio
Matt Sesow (b. 1966, Omaha, Nebraska) is a self-taught Washington, DC expressionist painter who has sold over 17,000 original works to collectors in 40+ countries since 1994. A childhood airplane accident that claimed his left hand became the foundational influence on decades of daily painting. He was among the first artists to sell paintings online.
150-word bio
Matt Sesow (b. 1966, Omaha, Nebraska) is a self-taught expressionist painter based in Washington, DC, who has sold over 17,000 original works to collectors in more than 40 countries since 1994. At age eight, he was struck by a landing airplane in rural Nebraska, losing his dominant left hand — an event that became the foundational influence on his art. Sesow was among the first artists worldwide to sell paintings online (1995), documented in a 1997 John Wiley & Sons book cataloged by the Library of Congress. His year-long solo exhibition "Shock and Awe" at the American Visionary Art Museum (2016–17) led to 26 paintings entering AVAM's permanent collection. In 2013, his painting "Dive Bomb" was selected for a United Nations postage stamp. His 2021 retrospective at Old Dominion University displayed 225+ works alongside 13 original Basquiats. He paints and ships original works daily from his studio at 916 G Street NW, Washington, DC.

Contact & Downloads

✉ sesow@sesow.com ☎ 202-737-6161 → Full Biography → New Paintings → Studio Visit → Documentary → In Collectors' Homes

How to Cite This Page

Sesow, Matt. "Career History 1966–2026." history.sesow.com. Updated 21 October 2026. Accessed [date].
EARLY LIFE & EDUCATION 1966–1992 · 17 highlights

1966 1 highlight

1975 2 highlights

Milestone June 7, 1975 · Life · Lancaster County, NE, USA

At age eight, struck by a landing airplane, Lancaster County, Nebraska

On the evening of Saturday, June 7, 1975, at age eight, struck by a landing airplane while playing a game of "spud" with a group of children near Eden's Sky Ranch, a grass runway at 112th and Holdrege Streets, Lancaster County, Nebraska.
Read moreShow lessRan out onto the runway at approximately 8:30 p.m. and was struck by a small aircraft. Left arm severed by the propeller and reattached by a returned Vietnam War veteran surgeon at St. Elizabeth Community Health Center in Lincoln, Nebraska; dominant left hand later amputated due to gangrene. Listed in fair condition. Reported in the Lincoln Evening Journal, Monday, June 9, 1975, page 6: "Boy Struck by Plane Listed in Fair Condition." This life-altering event became a foundational influence on his later artwork. (Note: some early published biographies list 1974; the artist confirms 1975 and possesses the original newspaper clipping.)

1980 3 highlights

Press 1980 · Press (print) · Sterling Sun newspaper

“Detasseling Is a Hot Job” — Matt’s first job and his first newspaper

Sterling Sun newspaper — "Detasseling is a hot job" by Bill Riggins.
Read moreShow lessMatt Sesow named at age 13 as a corn detasseler in a field west of Sterling, Nebraska (crews rode school buses from Lincoln); first job at $3.10/hour, bought an Atari 2600 with summer wages. First known newspaper mention of Matt Sesow

1981 3 highlights

Milestone August 1981 · Life · Newcastle, UK

Seven medals in England, 1981 — the Disabled Children’s Invitation

Traveled to England (Newcastle) in early August 1981 for ten days to compete for the United States in the Disabled Children's Invitation International Games ("Disabled Olympics") — six years after his airplane accident, at age 14.
Read moreShow lessHe made the team at tryouts in Omaha that May; the 12 Nebraskans raised $16,000 in two months to go. He brought home seven medals, including two golds (discus and a running relay), and the U.S. finished third of 21 teams, behind South Africa and England. His school paper ran the story as "Triumph in England."

Media August 10, 1981 · Life · Newcastle, UK

Siouxsie and the Banshees charity concert, Newcastle, August 10, 1981

While in Newcastle for the International Games for the Disabled, attended a Siouxsie and the Banshees charity concert at Newcastle Centre Hotel on August 10, 1981 — a gig arranged specifically for the disabled children who took part in the games (documented in SOUNDS magazine, August 1, 1981, page 4).
Read moreShow lessThis concert was a formative punk rock experience and the album "Join Hands" (1979) later inspired the title of the 2015 documentary film about Sesow's life and art
★

Milestone 1981 · Life

In his early teens, teaches himself to program on an Apple II

Teaches himself to program on an Apple II and, at 14, starts working for Harris Technical Systems, the Lincoln, Nebraska agricultural-software company behind AgDisk: he writes an Apple II game that the company gave to farm kids.
Read moreShow lessFrom the summer he turned 15, before he could drive, he worked at the company's office in Lincoln, and he kept working there through high school

1982 3 highlights

★

Milestone 1982 · Life

Punk rock education at The Drumstick club in Lincoln, Nebraska

Punk rock education at The Drumstick club in Lincoln, Nebraska — saw Black Flag and other seminal bands as a teenager.
Read moreShow lessExposure to college radio, underground political culture, and the DIY ethos of punk formed a bridge from personal experience to art. Attended shows underage with a soda water; never drank
✦

Award September 1, 1982 · Award, grant or record

Apple II "Borg" high-score record, 18,960 (1982–83)

Video-game record: as a teenager in Lincoln, Nebraska, holds the top score on the Apple II game "Borg" (Sirius Software, 1981) — 18,960 points.
Read moreShow lessSoftline magazine prints "Matt Sesow, Lincoln, NE" in its reader high-score tables from September 1982 through July/August 1983 ("maniac Matt Sesow (Lincoln, NE), with Borg"), and Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games (Spring 1983) lists it too. Twin Galaxies, the official video-game record keeper, still ranks him No. 1 on Borg (Apple II), "Undisputed"; Guinness World Records printed the record in its 2009 Gamer's Edition

1983 2 highlights

Milestone 1983 · Life · Lincoln, NE, USA

At 17, created the fonts and some of the icons for AgDisk at Harris

At 17, created the fonts and some of the icons for AgDisk at Harris Technical Systems in Lincoln, Nebraska — software that shipped on the original Macintosh in January 1984.
Read moreShow lessHe did not work for Apple: Harris Technical Systems is listed as "AgDisk/Harris Technical Systems" on Apple's 1984 "Macintosh Software Team" poster, which credits the outside companies whose software shipped for the new machine.

Milestone 1983 · Life · Waverly, NE, USA

Homecoming Royalty, Waverly High School

Named to the 1983 Homecoming Royalty at Waverly High School, Waverly, Nebraska — the newspaper photo of that year's homecoming court, kept in his scrapbook

1985 1 highlight

★

Milestone 1985 · Life

Left home to attend college in Oklahoma on a Mensa Foundation

Left home to attend college in Oklahoma on a Mensa Foundation scholarship (awarded for a paper questioning the ethics of nuclear arms). Studied Computer Information Systems at the University of Tulsa. Elected homecoming king and student senator; fraternity member; volunteered at college radio station.
Read moreShow lessGraduated with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems, 1988

1987 1 highlight

★

Milestone October 31, 1987 · Life

Homecoming King, University of Tulsa (1987)

Crowned Homecoming King at the University of Tulsa, with Homecoming Queen Isabell Sibala, at halftime of the Homecoming game against Louisville at Skelly Stadium, Saturday, October 31, 1987 — the "Halloween Homecoming," themed "Making All the Right Moves." Tulsa won 26–22.
Read moreShow lessHe was a Kappa Sigma and had served in the Student Association Senate (1986–87)

1989 1 highlight

★

Milestone 1989 · Life · Washington, DC, USA

Moves to Washington, DC after college

Moves to Washington, DC after college. Begins career as software engineer at IBM. Painting had not yet entered his life — that would come in 1994, sparked by a social evening with artsy friends in the District
THE BEGINNING 1993–1999 · 65 highlights

1993 2 highlights

Media 1993 – 1994 · Film, TV or video · Washington, DC, USA

His first short film, "Seize the Day," is completed in 1993

His first short film, "Seize the Day," is completed in 1993. Short films shown at Psychotronic Film Festival, Finalist, Washington, DC (1993 and 1994) — “Seize the Day” placed 4th in 1993 and “The Box”
Read moreShow less4th in 1994 (Washington Psychotronic film competitions). Watch the films
▶

Media 1993 · Film, TV or video

Several of the experimental shorts made in this period were shot

Several of the experimental shorts made in this period were shot on the Fisher-Price PXL-2000 — a discontinued toy camcorder that recorded low-resolution black-and-white video onto standard audio cassettes, and the format behind
Read moreShow lessthe PXL This festival circuit Sesow would later place in

1994 6 highlights

Press October 28, 1994 · Press (print) · Washington City Paper

Washington City Paper — “Psychotic Reactions” by Dave Nuttycombe

Washington City Paper — “Psychotic Reactions” by Dave Nuttycombe (October 28, 1994), on the Washington Psychotronic Film Society’s second Psycho Awards: “The in-house favorite was Matt Sesow’s The Box, a sweetly Lynchian opus shot with a toy camera”
★

Milestone 1994 · Life

Begins painting in 1994 — self-taught, with no formal art training

Begins painting in 1994 — self-taught, with no formal art training. He paints in oils on evenings and weekends while still working as a software engineer, and the early paintings deal with his childhood trauma.
Read moreShow lessHe had been making drawings for a few years before he picked up a brush
★

Milestone 1994 · Life · Washington, DC, USA

Origin story: began painting after meeting a woman who shared a house

Origin story: began painting after meeting a woman who shared a house with artists and musicians in Washington, DC. “One day, they brought out some supplies, and I started painting and couldn’t stop” (Washington Post, 2004).
Read moreShow lessInitially took up painting as a way to meet people (Reuters, 2004)
★

Milestone 1994 · Life · Washington, DC, USA

Paints in his home and studio at 1851 Columbia Road NW #603

Paints in his home and studio at 1851 Columbia Road NW #603, Adams Morgan, Washington, DC — the 500-square-foot apartment where he lived from 1991 and painted until 2017 (he pulled out the kitchen stove to make room for canvases)

1995 7 highlights

★

Milestone 1995 · Life

Stopped wearing prosthetic “electric hand” approximately one year

Stopped wearing prosthetic “electric hand” approximately one year after beginning to paint — a pivotal moment of self-acceptance tied directly to art. “After taking the ‘electric hand’ off for good, some great things happened. I noticed people actually stared less at me.
Read moreShow lessIt was as if the stiff, sometimes green hand had caused more questions and attention to my disability than not wearing it.” (Reuters, 2004)
▶

Media 1995 · Film, TV or video · Washington, DC, USA

Short film screened at “Options ’95”

Short film screened at “Options ’95: Superbia,” the Washington Project for the Arts’ survey of emerging area artists (curated by Alison Maddex), Washington, DC (spring 1995)

1996 11 highlights

▶

Media August 15, 1996 · Film, TV or video

Short film — “Fugazi at Fort Reno,” 12 minutes of PXL-2000 toy-camera

Short film — “Fugazi at Fort Reno,” 12 minutes of PXL-2000 toy-camera footage Matt Sesow shot of Fugazi at the free summer concerts at Fort Reno, Washington, DC (summer 1996). Watch it Fugazi’s one Fort Reno show that summer was
Read moreShow lessThursday, August 15, 1996, with Branch Manager (Dischord Fugazi Live Series FLS1051).

1997 22 highlights

▶

Media June 26, 1997 · Talk or event · Kaleidospace

Live online interview — “Independent Artist Chat” with Matt Sesow

Live online interview — “Independent Artist Chat” with Matt Sesow in Kaleidospace’s Kaleidospeak chat room (June 26, 1997), hosted by Kaleidospace founders Jeannie Novak and Pete: questions on his PXL-2000 films, “The Box,” and how independent filmmakers and artists can use the internet.
Read moreShow lessKaleidospace’s Screening Room was selling “The Box” on VHS
▶

Media 1997 · Film, TV or video

Short film — "Best of PXL This VI", Finalist, Los Angeles

Short film — "Best of PXL This VI" (PXL This Six), Finalist, Los Angeles, CA. PXL This is the long-running toy-camera film festival for work shot on the Fisher-Price PXL-2000, the $100 children's camcorder that recorded grainy black-and-white video onto ordinary audio cassettes.
Read moreShow lessSeveral of Sesow's 1990s shorts were shot on the PXL-2000

Press 1997 · Press (print) · Raw Vision #19

Raw Vision #19

Raw Vision #19

1998 15 highlights

Press 1998 · Press (print) · Raw Vision #21

Raw Vision #21

Raw Vision #21

Press 1998 · Press (print) · New York, NY, USA · Folk Art magazine

Folk Art magazine, Museum of American Folk Art, New York City

Folk Art magazine, Museum of American Folk Art, New York City — Winter 1998 (Winter 1997/98 issue, p. 84: Beverly Kaye’s ad with Sesow’s painting “Mother,” 24 × 12 in., oil on canvas)

Press October 25, 1998 · Press (online) · About.com

Online interview on About.com Fine Arts guide

Online interview on About.com (The Mining Company) Fine Arts guide — in-depth Q&A covering biography, process, influences, and Peace Corps plans (October 25, 1998)

Press January 21, 1998 · Press (print) · Hartford Courant

Hartford Courant — outsider-art library series (1998)

Hartford Courant — Jane E. Dee, "Library series offering inside look at the work of 'outsider' artists" (January 21, 1998): a Connecticut library lecture series on outsider art includes the "art
Read moreShow lessof trauma," with paintings by Matt Sesow of Washington, DC
★

Milestone December 1, 1998 · Online pioneer

Earliest surviving copies of his web pages (Internet Archive, December 1998)

Earliest surviving copies of his web pages — "Paintings and Film by Sesow," his AOL member pages (members.aol.com/mwsesow and members.aol.com/sesow), first captured by the Internet Archive on December 1, 1998: paintings with prices and SOLD marks, short film samples, a bio and a links page.
Read moreShow lessHis own domain, sesow.com, was first captured on October 3, 1999
★

Milestone 1998 · Life

Member of the Rosebud Artist Cooperative

Member of the Rosebud Artist Cooperative, as listed on his own web page of December 1998 (members.aol.com/mwsesow/links.htm, saved by the Internet Archive on December 5, 1998)

1999 2 highlights

Press 1999 · Press (print) · Brutarian Magazine #28

Brutarian Magazine #28 — "Beyond Raw"

Brutarian Magazine #28 — "Beyond Raw: The Visionary Art of Matt Sesow," 4-page feature interview (pages 18–21) with paintings reproduced; published by Odium Entertainment, Arlington, VA; editor Dom Salemi
FULL-TIME ARTIST 2000–2002 · 61 highlights

2000 2 highlights

2001 7 highlights

★

Milestone 2001 · Life · Washington, DC, USA

Meets fellow Washington, DC painter Dana Ellyn at one of his 2001 solo

Meets fellow Washington, DC painter Dana Ellyn at one of his 2001 solo exhibitions — the beginning of a partnership in life and in art that continues to the present, spanning decades of two-person shows and collaborative paintings
▶

Media October 31, 2001 – November 4, 2001 · Film, TV or video · Baltimore, MD, USA

Short films screened at MicroCineFest, Baltimore, MD

Short films screened at MicroCineFest, Baltimore, MD — “A Short By Matt Sesow” (3 min.) in the Saturday, November 3, 8 pm “Simplicity, Brilliance & Confusion” shorts program at The G-Spot, Hampden (festival October
Read moreShow less31 – November 4, 2001); Sesow was there in person

Press May 1, 2001 · Press (print) · Picklebird

"Painting Pain" — Michael Arceneaux interview (2001)

Interview — Michael Arceneaux, "Painting Pain" (May 2001), previewing "Life's Little Traumas" at the Corcoran's White Walls Gallery (May 14–25, 2001; reception May 18); later published by Picklebird and reposted by Peace Corps Online on July 10,
Read moreShow less2003 as "Matt Sesow at The Corcoran in Washington, DC"

2002 52 highlights

Exhibition 2002 · Group show · Little Rock, AR, USA

"Revelations and Reflections of American Self-Taught Artists"

★ "Revelations and Reflections of American Self-Taught Artists" — ExhibitsUSA national touring museum exhibition opens at the Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock.
Read moreShow lessOrganized by Media Gallery, Garnett, Kansas (curators Robert Cugno and Robert Logan), the show brought together about 60 works by 55 self-taught artists, among them Howard Finster and Mose Tolliver. Sesow's "Hell Bound" (catalogued as "Hellbound III") and "Bunny Collector," both painted in 2001, travel to eleven venues in ten states over three years. Full record, map and reviews →

Press 2002 · Book or catalogue

Exhibition catalog, wall labels and teaching slide set

Exhibition catalog, wall labels and teaching slide set for "Revelations and Reflections" (Media Gallery / ExhibitsUSA): "Bunny Collector" is Slide #10, printed with Sesow's own reading of its color code — a girl dressed in black because she has not yet reached knowledge (yellow) or enlightenment (orange), surrounded by figures whose orange eyes mean ill intent.
Read moreShow lessThe show is listed in the ExhibitsUSA program catalog, p. 33. Read the record →

Exhibition September 4, 2002 – November 5, 2002 · Group show · Savannah, GA, USA

"In Response," national juried exhibition, SCAD Red Gallery, Savannah

Group Show — "In Response," national juried exhibition, SCAD Red Gallery, Savannah, GA (September 4 – November 5). "To Hell and Back" and "America Recovers" selected.
Read moreShow lessJurors: Robin Cembalest, executive editor of ARTnews, and Jeremy Strick, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

Exhibition April 2002 – August 2002 · Group show · Hempstead, NY, USA

“Join Hands” in “Breaking the Walls of Bias”

"Join Hands" selected for "Breaking Through the Walls of Bias," Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY (April–August). Curator: Marcus Schubert

Media May 6, 2002 – May 19, 2002 · Talk or event

"Voices from the Fringe" — lecture on Outsider Art, The New School

"Voices from the Fringe" — lecture on Outsider Art, The New School, New York City (May), alongside the BIGnews Outsider Art Show at The New School, 65 Fifth Avenue (May 6–19, 2002); his painting "Marcos"
Read moreShow less(30 × 40 in., oil) was the show's promotional image

Press 2002 – 2003 · Book or catalogue · New Art International

New Art International Volume VIII

New Art International Volume VIII (2002–2003) — Matt Sesow on page 17

Press October 9, 2002 · Press (print) · Washington, DC, USA · The Northwest Current

The Northwest Current, Washington, DC

The Northwest Current, Washington, DC — feature article in the weekly paper (October 9, 2002)
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Exhibition October 5, 2002 · Group show · Baltimore, MD, USA

"Our Undies Are Showing," OXOXO Gallery, 1617 Sulgrave Avenue

Group Show — "Our Undies Are Showing," OXOXO Gallery, 1617 Sulgrave Avenue, Baltimore, MD (October 5 – November). Six works consigned on a 50/50 split under a signed agreement with gallerist Judy Donald; works displayed in Baltimore and Stone Harbor

Press December 20, 2002 · Press (print) · Washington City Paper

Washington City Paper — “Heist-O-Rama” by Bradford McKee

Washington City Paper — “Heist-O-Rama” by Bradford McKee (December 20, 2002), on thefts at Art-O-Matic: Sesow lost “Ben and Flopsie,” a 4-by-6-inch painting of a cat and a rabbit; other visitors who took his small paintings
Read moreShow lessoff the wall left the money in his biography box

Press March 1, 2002 · Press (print) · Risse

Risse — painting reproduced (2002)

Risse (Swiss/German journal), 2002 — an essay illustrated with one of his paintings, credited "Bild des Künstlers Matt Sesow"

Press 2002 · Book or catalogue

Raw Vision Outsider Art Sourcebook (2002)

Book — "Raw Vision Outsider Art Sourcebook," edited by John Maizels (Raw Vision, 2002): an entry on Matt Sesow (p. 281) and gallery listings naming him among represented artists

Press May 15, 2002 · Press (print) · NY, USA · The Daily Gazette

The Daily Gazette — "Sunnyview shows art by people with disabilities"

The Daily Gazette (Schenectady, NY) — "Sunnyview shows art by people with disabilities" by Kathy Ricketts (May 15, 2002, p.
Read moreShow lessC7): Sesow took best of show at the Fourth Annual Acquisitions Exhibition by Artists With Disabilities for "Before and After"; photo of curator Ruth Daly hanging his paintings

Press 2002 · Press (print)

Autobiographical essay by Matt Sesow

Autobiographical essay by Matt Sesow, "Call me Whatever you Want - I am Matt Sesow" (c. 2002; publication not named on the clipping) — sections The Accident, The Influences, The Paintbrush, The Environment, The Emotion,
Read moreShow lessThe End; illustrated with "Summer Vacation," a self-portrait and "Hellbound"

Press July 24, 2002 · Press (print) · Newsday

Newsday — "Art Therapy: Show exhibits works by trauma survivors"

Newsday (July 24, 2002) — "Art Therapy: Show exhibits works by trauma survivors" by Dave Behrens, on "Breaking the Walls of Bias: Art From Survivors" at Hofstra University's Emily Lowe Gallery, Hempstead, NY, which
Read moreShow lessincluded Sesow's "Join Hands" (6' x 4', oil on canvas)

Press September 6, 2002 · Press (online) · OutSiter

OutSiter, Visual Arts' Gallery

OutSiter (online magazine), Visual Arts' Gallery — artist page "Matt Sesow" with nine paintings and a short bio (online by September 6, 2002)

Press October 16, 2002 · Press (online) · Get Underground

Get Underground — "remember your spirit" by Star Jewel Smith

Get Underground (online) — "remember your spirit" by Star Jewel Smith (October 16, 2002), a column about visiting Sesow's Adams Morgan studio and helping at his booth at Adams Morgan Day 2002, where he won second place

Milestone September 2002 · Online pioneer

Online merchandise store on CafeShops/CafePress selling T-shirts

Online merchandise store on CafeShops/CafePress (store "sesow") selling T-shirts, mugs, a stein and coasters printed with his paintings "Volunteer," "First Step," "Nobody's Pushover" and "Hellbound" (online by September 2002)
NATIONAL & MUSEUM RECOGNITION 2003–2007 · 161 highlights

2003 40 highlights

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Exhibition January 28, 2003 – March 16, 2003 · Group show · Portsmouth, OH, USA

Southern Ohio Museum, Portsmouth, OH

Southern Ohio Museum, Portsmouth, OH (Jan 28 – Mar 16) — ExhibitsUSA tour

Exhibition September 2003 – October 2003 · Group show · Las Vegas, NV, USA

UNLV Marjorie Barrick Museum, Las Vegas, NV

UNLV Marjorie Barrick Museum, Las Vegas, NV (Sept – Oct 17; Las Vegas Sun listings Sept 12 and Oct 10) — ExhibitsUSA tour

Press 2003 · Press (print) · Washington City Paper

Washington City Paper on “31 Days in July” (2003)

Washington City Paper — Matthew Summers on "31 Days in July," the month of daily news paintings by Sesow and Dana Ellyn (2003): "The news stories are springboards for what, considered as a whole, is
Read moreShow lessa quintessentially D.C. endeavor: art that comments on world affairs."

Press 2003 · Press (online) · Poetic Inhalation

“31 days in july” — Get Underground feature (2003)

Get Underground / Poetic Inhalation (online) — "…31 days in july… featuring the artistry of matt sesow and dana ellyn kaufman," a feature on the first year of the project, calling them "the two most
Read moreShow lessextraordinary and dedicated fulltime artists I have come across" (2003)

Media July 20, 2003 · Film, TV or video · The Larz from Mars Show

The Larz from Mars Show — Matt Sesow, July 2003

TV — guest on "The Larz from Mars Show," the Washington-area public-access talk show hosted by Larz LaComa (taped July 20, 2003): Sesow shows paintings from his June 2003 Costa Rica residency and the Solomon Islands, and invites viewers to "A Really Big Show" on Capitol Hill.
Read moreShow lessA 10½-minute excerpt survives and is on the page.
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Exhibition January 6, 2004 – January 21, 2004 · Group show · Mumbai, India

"Art Against War," Grand Atrium, Majlis Cultural Center, Mumbai

Group Show — "Art Against War," Grand Atrium, Majlis Cultural Center, Mumbai, India (January 6–21, 2004), curated by Frank Shifreen. "March Madness" and other paintings enlarged by the organisers into posters from 3×4 feet up to 7×27 feet
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Exhibition January 13, 2003 – February 23, 2003 · Group show · Seattle, WA, USA

"Political Bodies," Seattle, WA

Group Show — "Political Bodies," Seattle, WA (January 13 – February 23), sponsored by Communities Against Rape and Abuse (CARA)

Exhibition October 3, 2003 · Commission · Hollywood, CA, USA

Stage set — five large painted canvases for the play "F**king Wasps"

Stage set — five large painted canvases for the play "F**king Wasps" by Steve Morgan Haskell, Theatre of NOTE, 1517 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood, CA (previews October 1–2; opened October 3, 2003, and extended through November 15), part of the 2003 Edge of the World Festival; the program credits "art by matt sesow."
Read moreShow lessBack Stage West made it a Critic's Choice (Les Spindle, October 8, 2003: "amazing expressionistic paintings by world-renowned artist Matt Sesow"), LA Weekly recommended it (Deborah Klugman, October 9: "Designer Matt Sesow's posters of bug-eyed, tormented Eagle Scouts aptly reflect the piece's tone"), and the Santa Monica Mirror (Anne Kelly-Saxenmeyer) called the paintings "the ideal backdrop for Kinsey's story"

Press September 11, 2003 · Press (print) · Las Vegas, NV, USA · Las Vegas Mercury

Las Vegas Mercury review compares work to Grosz, Bacon and Munch

Las Vegas Mercury review compares work to George Grosz, Francis Bacon, and Edvard Munch — Gregory Crosby, "Art: Revelations and reflections," Las Vegas Mercury, Thursday, September 11, 2003, reviewing the show at UNLV's Barrick Museum.
Read moreShow lessCrosby names Sesow among the few artists in the exhibition working outside a Christian frame, writes that "Bunny Collector" could hold its own with Grosz, and says "Hellbound III" imagines a world where Bacon and Munch are one painter. Read the record →

Press 2003 · Press (print) · This Is Not the Academy

David Brickman, "This Is Not the Academy"

David Brickman, "This Is Not the Academy" — review of "Revelations and Reflections" at Union College's Mandeville Gallery, Schenectady, NY (summer 2003).
Read moreShow lessBrickman names Sesow with Paul Gasoi, Jane "in Vain" Winkelman and Brian Dowdale as the four painters in the show who "transcend the childlike to create styles all their own," work he says would sit comfortably in a museum collection of academically trained contemporaries. Read the record →

Press 2003 · Press (print) · The Palette (VSA Arts)

Interview with "The Palette"

Interview with "The Palette" — publication of VSA Arts (Spring)

Press December 2003 – February 2004 · Press (print) · Compass Magazine

Compass Magazine — cover and feature article

Compass Magazine — cover and feature article; published by Leonard Cheshire, UK (December 2003 – February 2004)

Exhibition March 2003 – May 2003 · Solo show · Washington, DC, USA

Aroma, Cleveland Park, Washington, DC, 30+ works

Solo Exhibition — Aroma, Cleveland Park, Washington, DC (March–May), 30+ works. The second of three solo shows Sesow held at Aroma, after 2001 and before 2005
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Exhibition July 11, 2003 – August 24, 2003 · Group show · Albany, NY, USA

Capital Region Art Center, Albany, NY

Group Show — Capital Region Art Center, Albany, NY (July 11 – August 24)

Exhibition June 2, 2003 – September 11, 2003 · Group show · New York, NY, USA

"March Madness" shown in "Art Against War"

"March Madness" shown in "Art Against War: An Exhibition of Posters and Multimedia" — Macy Gallery, Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 West 120th Street, New York City (June 2 – September 11), closing at NY Arts Space, 450 Broadway Gallery
Read moreShow less(June 27); the exhibition also travelled to Presbyterian College, Clinton, SC

Press December 5, 2003 · Press (print) · The Warrior

The Warrior — "Nisk-Art Gallery holds unique exhibit" by Alex

The Warrior (Niskayuna High School newspaper) — "Nisk-Art Gallery holds unique exhibit" by Alex Rivadeneira (December 5, 2003), on the ViewPoint Gallery selections show featuring Sesow and Gail Nadeau; Sesow gave an artist's
Read moreShow lesstalk and workshops at the school on December 12, 2003

Press December 2002 – March 2003 · Press (online) · OutsiderArt.info

OutsiderArt.info — online exhibition "Matt Sesow...WAR," about two

OutsiderArt.info — online exhibition "Matt Sesow...WAR," about two dozen anti-war paintings from December 2002 – March 2003, including "Something's Not Right," "Shock and Awe," "March Madness," "Honor Roll" and "Liberty Shield," each with the artist's notes

Media 2003 · Product or collaboration

Exit Clov CD cover — painting on the cover of "Starfish," the 2003 EP

Exit Clov CD cover — painting on the cover of "Starfish," the 2003 EP by DC band Exit Clov (cLOV Records); the band's discography credits Sesow for the covers of all four EPs: Starfish (2003),
Read moreShow lessSaskwatch (2004), Jolly Roget Sessions (2006) and Respond Respond (2006)

2004 35 highlights

Exhibition January 22, 2004 – January 26, 2004 · Solo show · New York, NY, USA

First solo exhibition in New York City

★ First solo exhibition in New York City — Big Cat Gallery, 28 East 2nd Street, East Village (January 22–26; opening reception Thursday January 22, 6–9 PM).
Read moreShow lessHundreds of paintings from the preceding six months, curated by David Hurd, staged four blocks from the Outsider Art Fair and open throughout its run. Press release, hand-distributed East Village flier and promotional postcard archived

Exhibition October 2004 – September 2005 · Group show · Baltimore, MD, USA

First American Visionary Art Museum exhibition

★ First American Visionary Art Museum exhibition — "Holy H2O: Fluid Universe," Baltimore (October 2004 – September 2005).
Read moreShow lessTwo Sesow paintings shown, "Setting Sail with Sesow" and "Out of Water," among 150+ works by 40 artists (a third, "Mars Water Sample," was selected but not hung, according to his 2005 web page) — a scuba diver with the trauma scar/three crosses on the goggles, the earliest published depiction of the trauma icon. Named a Washington Post Critic's Pick. The beginning of a relationship that led to the year-long 2016–17 solo "Shock and Awe" and 26 paintings entering AVAM's permanent collection twelve years later

Press October 1, 2004 · Press (print) · Washington, DC, USA · The InTowner

The InTowner, October 2004, front page

The InTowner (Washington, DC), October 2004 (Vol. 36, No. 4), front page — "Adams Morgan Artist Matt Sesow Featured in Baltimore Museum Show," on the AVAM "Holy H2O" exhibition: AVAM's press materials singled out Sesow with Nancy Josephson and Tom
Read moreShow lessDuncan; the article explains his trauma-scar icon and names "Setting Sail (with Sesow)" (review attributed to Tony Harvey)

Exhibition November 2004 · Group show · Washington, DC, USA

Artomatic 2004, Washington, DC

Artomatic 2004, Washington, DC — controversy over banned City Museum Dictionary items (November)

Press 2004 · Press (print) · Brutarian Quarterly Magazine #42

Brutarian Quarterly Magazine #42

Brutarian Quarterly Magazine #42 — painting used as illustration (Summer 2004)

Exhibition December 17, 2004 – January 9, 2005 · Festival or fair · Aubagne, France

First exhibition in France — 8th Festival International d'Art

★ First exhibition in France — 8th Festival International d'Art Singulier, Aubagne, Provence (December 17, 2004 – January 9, 2005), organized by the Compagnie d'Art Singulier of Roquevaire.
Read moreShow lessHe showed "Kinsey Crucifixion" and has a full page in the festival catalogue (p. 100) with a bilingual statement — "I'm not sure what my style is. I am a self taught artist. I like to use intense color and sharp lines to tell a moving story" — one of 73 artists in its index. The festival was founded in Roquevaire in 1989 by Danielle Jacqui and is one of the longest-running art singulier events in Europe

Press 2004 · Press (print) · VA, USA · The Hook

Laura Parsons, "the hook" — extensive review of solo exhibition

Laura Parsons, "the hook" (Charlottesville, VA) — extensive review of solo exhibition at Nature Visionary Art Gallery: described work as entering "a maelstrom" of "undiluted primary colors" and "frenetic lines" (2004)

Press 2004 · Book or catalogue

"Everyday Genius" by Gary Alan Fine (2004)

Book — Gary Alan Fine, "Everyday Genius: Self-Taught Art and the Culture of Authenticity" (University of Chicago Press, 2004): the sociologist discusses an advertisement for Sesow placed by his dealer Beverly
Read moreShow lessKaye, citing her "Matt Sesow, Madman/Artist" (Folk Art Finder, 1997)

Press January 2004 · Press (online) · False Start

False Start, "Matt Sesow Interview"

Interview — False Start (falsestart.org), "Matt Sesow Interview" (January 2004): on starting to paint at IBM in 1993, painting every day, about 4,000 pieces made, his favorite painters (Bacon, de Kooning, Basquiat, Van Gogh) and his short
Read moreShow lessfilms (he dates his start as a painter to 1994)

Exhibition April 2004 · Solo show · Washington, DC, USA

Art+Works+Wonders, 2122 P St NW, Dupont Circle

Solo Exhibition — Art+Works+Wonders, 2122 P St. NW, Suite 303, Dupont Circle, Washington, DC (end of April 2004), as announced in The Washington Post "The Expert" column (March 28, 2004)

Press October 8, 2004 · Press (print) · The Washington Post

The Washington Post — Jacqueline Trescott

The Washington Post — Jacqueline Trescott, "Ailing City Museum Cancels 'Funky' Show" (Friday, October 8, 2004, Style, p.
Read moreShow lessC1; continued on C8 as "Museum Sends 'Furniture' Back"): the City Museum of Washington cancels its "Funky Furniture" show, which included Sesow's "DC Dictionary" (2004), a coffee-table-size dictionary of Washington entries such as "G Is for Gentrification." The Post printed a correction on October 9, 2004 to its description of that page

2005 33 highlights

★

Milestone 2005 · Collection

Painting "Newborn" later entered the permanent collection of the Baron

Painting "Newborn" (2004) later entered the permanent collection of the Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries at Old Dominion University (accession 2007.174.03), held alongside Thornton Dial, Howard Finster, James Castle, Purvis Young and Bessie Harvey
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Exhibition June 16, 2005 – August 14, 2005 · Group show · Beaumont, TX, USA

Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, TX

Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, TX (Jun 16 – Aug 14) — final venue of the three-year ExhibitsUSA tour

Exhibition 2005 · Group show

"Face Dances," Hurn Museum

Group Show — "Face Dances," Hurn Museum (traveling exhibition; painting in Hurn Museum collection)

Exhibition April 2005 · Solo show · Phoenix, AZ, USA

Solo Exhibition and stage commission

Solo Exhibition and stage commission — "Cheap Theatrix," Phoenix, AZ (April). Sesow's 8×9-foot painting "Collateral Damage (Living Hell)" served as set design and backdrop while ten separate plays were written and performed
Read moreShow lessaround it, alongside a solo gallery show of his work

Award 2005 · Award, grant or record

Won Best Experimental Theater

Won Best Experimental Theater — "Collateral Damage" production (East Valley Tribune)

Press March 2005 · Press (print) · Hill Rag

Hill Rag, March 2005 — Jim Magner

Hill Rag (Capitol Hill Rag), March 2005 — Jim Magner, "Art on Capitol Hill and Beyond … Artist Profiles: Matt Sesow and Dana Ellyn," with the sidebar "Jim Magner's Thoughts on Art."
Read moreShow lessSesow: "I would probably not be painting without the accident"; the couple work "10 hours a day, every day: painting, maintaining the web sites … contacting galleries"
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Exhibition May 2005 – June 2005 · Solo show · Washington, DC, USA

Aroma, Cleveland Park, Washington, DC

Solo Exhibition — Aroma, Cleveland Park, Washington, DC (May–June), approx. 30 large works — the third and last of his Aroma solos

Exhibition March 2, 2005 – April 3, 2005 · Two-person show · Washington, DC, USA

“Downtown Girl, Uptown Boy” — D.C. Public Library, 2005

Two-Person Show (with Dana Ellyn) — "Downtown Girl, Uptown Boy," presented by the Exhibits and Programs Office of the D.C. Public Library, Martin Luther King Jr.
Read moreShow lessMemorial Library, 2nd Floor West Exhibit Halls, Washington, DC (March 2 – April 3, 2005)

Press July 14, 2005 · Press (print) · Washington City Paper

“Rival Revival” — Washington City Paper, July 14, 2005

Washington City Paper — "Rival Revival" by Chris Shott (July 14, 2005): the third year of "31 Days in July" with Dana Ellyn, the copycat "THE 31 DAYS IN JULY" project launched in New York, and the 2003 results (Sesow sold all but two of his 31 paintings).
Read moreShow less"We came up with '31 Days In July' together as a way to show how important it is as painters to document the times we live in," says Sesow

Exhibition August 2005 · Two-person show · Cleveland, OH, USA

“Learning to Crawl” — Inside/Outside Art Gallery, Cleveland, 2005

Two-Person Show (with Dana Ellyn) — "Learning to Crawl," Inside/Outside Art Gallery, 2688 W. 14th Street, Cleveland, OH (August 2005; opening reception August 5; Tremont Artwalk August 12; through August 30) — title conceived by Sesow; reviewed by Zachary Lewis
Read moreShow lessin Cleveland Scene: "There's an intuitive depth to Sesow's work"
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Exhibition August 2005 · Group show · Washington, DC, USA

Benefit punk-rock show and eBay art auction, Cafe Mawonaj

Benefit — punk-rock show and eBay art auction co-sponsored by Positive Force D.C., Cafe Mawonaj, 624 T Street NW, Washington, DC (late August 2005), with works by Sesow and Lely Constantinople and concert posters signed by Ian MacKaye and
Read moreShow lessBrian Baker; proceeds to the Whitman-Walker Clinic’s Lesbian Services Program
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Exhibition January 2005 – March 19, 2005 · Group show · Wilmington, NC, USA

Five DC artists at Caprice Bistro, Wilmington, NC

Group Show — five Washington, DC artists (J. Coleman, Matt Sesow, Kelly Towles, Rob Landeck, Dana Ellyn Kaufman) at Caprice Bistro, Wilmington, NC, hosted by owner Pat Moity; on view through March 19, 2005.
Read moreShow lessCovered in the Star-News (Wilmington) by Amy Hotz (January 27) and Amanda Greene (February 17)
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Exhibition April 16, 2005 · Group show · NC, USA

"Raw Vision," Merrill-Jennings Galleries, NC

Group Show — "Raw Vision," seven artists, Merrill-Jennings Galleries, 463 S. Main St., Iredell County, NC (April 2005; opening reception April 16); Sesow listed as of Washington, DC. The Charlotte Observer, Iredell Neighbors "Arts Notes," April 6, 2005

Press March 31, 2005 – April 6, 2005 · Press (print) · Get Out

Get Out — cover, March 31

Get Out (Phoenix weekly) — cover, March 31 – April 6, 2005: "Collateral Damage (A Living Hell)" on the cover and "Art of war: Playwrights explore politics through painting, acting" by Chris Page (pp. 38–39), on
Read moreShow lessCheap Theatrix's ten plays written in response to the painting

2006 30 highlights

Press February 2006 · Press (print) · DC Style Magazine

Molly Knight, DC Style Magazine

Molly Knight, DC Style Magazine — feature profile (January/February 2006)

Press July 2006 · Press (online) · Washington Post

“Fringe for the Eyes” — Washington Post Going Out Gurus, July 2006

Washington Post, "Going Out Gurus" (washingtonpost.com) — "Fringe for the Eyes" (July 2006) previews "Watch This Space (Get Painted)," the 24-hour mural by Dana Ellyn and Sesow at the Warehouse, and "Banners From the Fringe,"
Read moreShow lessthe street-banner show they organized with about 20 artist friends

Press July 21, 2006 – July 22, 2006 · Press (print) · Ward 2 News

“24 Hours of Color” — Ward 2 News on the Fringe mural, 2006

Ward 2 News — "Local Artists Fringe Ward 2 in 24 Hours of Color" by Susan Ruether, on the 24-hour mural Sesow and Dana Ellyn painted on the Warehouse storefront at 7th & L Streets NW for the first Capital
Read moreShow lessFringe Festival (July 21–22, 2006); DC North Magazine interviewed them as they painted, and the Washington Post's "Going Out Gurus" previewed it

Exhibition March 18, 2006 · Group show · Washington, DC, USA

“Art of War” — Studio One Eight, March 2006

Group Show — "Art of War," Studio One Eight, Washington, DC (opening reception March 18, 2006), marking three years since the start of the Iraq war; with Anna U. Davis, Dana Ellyn, J.
Read moreShow lessColeman, Jordin Isip, Kelly Towles, Lisa Marie Thalhammer, Peter Excho, Scott G. Brooks and others

Press October 28, 2006 · Press (print) · The Examiner

The Examiner, October 28, 2006

The Examiner — "Wicked-good 'Freak House'" by Robin Tierney (October 28, 2006), reviewing Dana Ellyn at the Warehouse, places her "along with a loose collective of non-art-school visionaries including Matt Sesow"
Read moreShow lessputting "a new face … on the D.C.-Baltimore art scene"

Press 2006 · Book or catalogue

"Sex, Drugs and DNA" by Michael Stebbins (2006)

Book — Michael Stebbins, "Sex, Drugs and DNA: Science's Taboos Confronted" (Macmillan, 2006): the author thanks "Matt Sesow, an extraordinary artist and dear friend"

Press September 24, 2006 · Press (print) · The News & Observer

The News & Observer — "Wolfgang wired" by Craig Jarvis

The News & Observer (Raleigh) — "Wolfgang wired" by Craig Jarvis (September 24, 2006), preview of the Opera Company of North Carolina's multimedia "Don Giovanni," announcing that Sesow would paint two large paintings during each performance

Exhibition October 5, 2006 – October 6, 2006 · Live painting · Raleigh, NC, USA

Live painting — painted onstage and in the lobby during the Opera

Live painting — painted onstage and in the lobby during the Opera Company of North Carolina's multimedia production of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" (10th anniversary season), Meymandi Concert Hall, Progress Energy Center, Raleigh, NC (October
Read moreShow less5–6, 2006), at the invitation of artistic director Robert Galbraith

Press February 1, 2006 · Press (print) · Connect Savannah

Connect Savannah — "Faces of Folk" art review by Bertha Husband

Connect Savannah — "Faces of Folk" art review by Bertha Husband (February 1, 2006), on the Hurn Museum show; reproduces "Father of the Bride" and compares its "violent slashing and impasto" to de Kooning's women of the 1940s

Press September 2006 · Press (print) · Washington, DC, USA · The Examiner

The Examiner — "Making the scene"

The Examiner (Washington, DC) — "Making the scene: D.C.'s Expressionist movement" by Robin Tierney (September 2006), on "Soul Mining" at Studio One Eight; calls Sesow an "alt-art legend-in-progress"

Exhibition June 17, 2006 – July 1, 2006 · Group show · Washington, DC, USA

"Remastered: Contemporary Interpretations of Classic Renaissance"

Group Show — "Remastered: Contemporary Interpretations of Classic Renaissance Masterworks," Studio One Eight, 2452 18th St NW, Adams Morgan, Washington, DC (opening reception June 17, closing reception July 1, 2006)

2007 23 highlights

Exhibition April 2007 – May 2007 · Group show · Crystal City, VA, USA

Artomatic, Crystal City, VA

Artomatic, Crystal City, VA (April–May)

Exhibition May 2007 · Live painting · Washington, DC, USA

Sesow painting live at LeftBank

Sesow painting live at LeftBank — fundraiser for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Washington, DC (May)
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Exhibition December 6, 2007 · Two-person show · Washington, DC, USA

"Under the Influence," Aroma, Cleveland Park, Washington, DC

Two-Person Show (with Dana Ellyn) — "Under the Influence," Aroma, Cleveland Park, Washington, DC (opening party December 6, 2007; on view through December and January) — about 12 paintings each, at the café-gallery where they met in 2001;
Read moreShow lessthe first of three "Under the Influence" shows there (2007–2010)

Press April 19, 2007 · Press (print) · Washington City Paper

Washington City Paper — “No-Show Showdown” by Jessica Gould

Washington City Paper — “No-Show Showdown” by Jessica Gould (April 19, 2007), on Artomatic in Crystal City: “It’s the greatest thing we have going on in D.C., other than the Smithsonian,” Sesow says; on opening night he and
Read moreShow lessDana Ellyn poured drinks at one of the volunteer bars

Press 2007 · Book or catalogue

"Detour Art" by Kelly Ludwig (2007)

Book — Kelly Ludwig, "Detour Art: Outsider, Folk Art, and Visionary Environments Coast to Coast" (Kansas City Star Books, 2007), pp. 110–112: an entry on Matt Sesow, Washington, DC, paintings and drawings
INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION 2008–2014 · 210 highlights

2008 30 highlights

Exhibition August 16, 2008 – September 20, 2008 · Two-person show · Washington, DC, USA

"Made in China," Long View Gallery, Washington, DC

Two-Person Show (with Dana Ellyn) — "Made in China," Long View Gallery, 1302 9th Street NW, Washington, DC (August 16 – September 20, 2008; opening reception Saturday, August 16, 6–9 PM).
Read moreShow lessBody of work created during a three-week state-sponsored tour of China in July 2008 — paintings from Beijing, the Yangtze River, the Three Gorges Dam, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Henan; large works included "Long March" (30×60, on a DC street banner with handmade paper from Beijing's Panjiayuan Market), "Factory Worker," "When You Ride Alone, You Ride with Mao," plus 50+ smaller works on bristol paper, many incorporating China Daily newspaper clippings on the back. PR by Drew Porterfield. Press: Washington Post ("A Chinese Holiday, Caught on Canvas"), Washington Examiner (Robin Tierney, Sept 4, 2008), DC City Paper Critic's Pick (Maura Judkis, Aug 27, 2008), Express Top Picks, Northwest Current

Exhibition 2008 · Group show · Norfolk, VA, USA

"Collective Wisdom" — Grand Opening

"Collective Wisdom" — Grand Opening, Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA

Press 2008 · Press (print) · VA, USA · Daily Press

Mark St. John Erickson, Daily Press

Mark St. John Erickson, Daily Press (VA) — "Sesow's searing art exhibited for all the world to see"
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Media November 2008 · Film, TV or video

Video Interview — "The Artists Reality" with Todd V and J. Edwards

Video Interview — "The Artists Reality" (web show) with Todd V and J.
Read moreShow lessEdwards, recorded in his Washington, DC studio (November 2008; posted December 2008): how he started painting, his daily routine, oil versus acrylic, living simply, and "31 Days in July" as his proudest project

Milestone November 2008 · Life · Washington, DC, USA

Sesow tattoos — Octopus Tattoo, DC

Sesow tattoos — Octopus Tattoo, DC (November); free-form Sesow tattoo on John Thayer of Exit Clov (February)

Press August 29, 2008 – September 4, 2008 · Press (print) · Washington City Paper

Maura Judkis, Washington City Paper

Maura Judkis, Washington City Paper (August 29 – September 4, 2008) — review of "Made in China": Sesow's figures are "cartoonishly round, anxious, and expressionistic"

Exhibition October 25, 2008 · Open studio · Washington, DC, USA

Open studios at his Adams Morgan apartment studio

Open studios at his Adams Morgan apartment studio, 1851 Columbia Road NW #603 — October 25 and December 13, 2008 — two of the dozens of open studios he hosted there (the earliest on record was
Read moreShow lessannounced for October 10, 2004) before moving downtown in 2017

Press September 21, 2008 · Press (online) · Kansas City infoZine

Peace Corps Online / Kansas City infoZine

Peace Corps Online / Kansas City infoZine — "Matt Sesow gives advice to young artists" (September 21, 2008), profiling Sesow as a returned Solomon Islands volunteer turned full-time painter

Exhibition September 7, 2008 – March 8, 2009 · Group show · Norfolk, VA, USA

"Uncommon Power: The Eye of the Self-Taught Artist," Old Dominion University

Group Show — "Uncommon Power: The Eye of the Self-Taught Artist," Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA (September 7, 2008 – March 8, 2009) — two paintings; reviewed by Mark St.
Read moreShow lessJohn Erickson in the Daily Press (October 19, 2008)
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Milestone May 22, 2008 · Talk or event · Washington, DC, USA

Panelist — "How to Price Art," Art-O-Matic 2008, Washington, DC

Panelist — "How to Price Art," Art-O-Matic 2008, Washington, DC (Thursday, May 22, 2008, 7:30 PM), sponsored by the Washington Project for the Arts; with collectors Arthur and Jane Mason, Lee Eagle, Zenith Gallery owner Margery Goldberg, Honfleur Gallery
Read moreShow lessdirectors Amy Cavanaugh and Briony Evans, and artist Joyce McCarten

2009 32 highlights

Exhibition May 28, 2009 · Solo show · Barcelona, Spain

"Sesow in Barcelona," Galeria ArteVistas, Barcelona, Spain

Solo Exhibition — "Sesow in Barcelona," Galeria ArteVistas, Barcelona, Spain (60+ paintings). Opened May 28, 2009; Matt painted about 42 new works in Barcelona in the week before the show and called it "the best show of my life."
Read moreShow lessThe following spring he learned it had been voted one of Barcelona's "best of" shows of 2009

Press January 31, 2009 · Press (online) · Skating at the Edge of Infinity (blog)

"Artist Matt Sesow" — Skating at the Edge of Infinity (2009)

Blog — "Artist Matt Sesow," Skating at the Edge of Infinity (mongoose1.wordpress.com, January 31, 2009): a collector's account of a studio visit, mentioning the "Mixology I" benefit for Doctors Without Borders at Curator's Office

Press February 1, 2009 · Book or catalogue · Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer's Edition, p. 196 — Borg record

Book — Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer's Edition, p. 196, "Twin Galaxies Leaderboard: High Scores & Fastest Times": "Borg | Apple II | 18,960 | Matt Sesow (USA) | 30 Sep 1983" —
Read moreShow lesshis teenage Apple II record, in print 26 years later

Exhibition March 28, 2009 · Solo show · Los Angeles, CA, USA

"Bukowski," at the inaugural Bukowski Festival

Solo Exhibition — "Bukowski," at the inaugural Bukowski Festival: A Celebration of Literature, Poetry, and Art, Elephant Theater, 6324 Santa Monica Blvd, Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA (March 28, 2009).
Read moreShow lessBilled as the "1st Annual Bukowski Festival: Celebration of Literature, Poetry & Art" (Scott Dylyn Hall Productions, Saturday, 8 PM): Sesow's original paintings from Linda King's book 'Bukowski Undigested' hung with Bukowski-inspired art by Linda King, Bill Dambrove, Mike Stilkey and Bruce Rubenstein; featured poets Neeli Cherkovski, Linda King, Gerald Locklin, Joan Jobe Smith, Fred Voss, Paul Vangelisti, S.A. Griffin and Raymond King Shurtz; King's original clay Bukowski bust on display; Taylor Hackford's 1973 documentary 'Bukowski' screened at 9:20 PM. Poster, photographs and the 2009 forum record →

Exhibition 2009 · Other · Trebnje, Slovenia

First American Representative

First American Representative — 42nd Annual Conference of Naive/Self-Taught Artists, Trebnje, Slovenia — Matt developed his "bee" icon while there
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Exhibition 2009 · Group show · Portland, OR, USA

Portland, OR

Group Show — Portland, OR (with Jesse Reno, Dana Ellyn)
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Exhibition 2009 · Group show · Harrisburg, PA, USA

Harrisburg, PA

Group Show — Harrisburg, PA ("Amish Neo and the USS Subterranean") — five artists, one afternoon, third floor of the Susquehanna Art Museum (March 15, 2009)

Press January 2009 · Press (online) · Skating at the Edge of Infinity (blog)

"Skating at the edge of infinity" blog

"Skating at the edge of infinity" blog — review from January 2009 studio visit by Cindy
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Exhibition May 7, 2009 – May 10, 2009 · Festival or fair · New York, NY, USA

Affordable Art Fair, New York City

Affordable Art Fair, New York City (May 7–10, 2009)
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Exhibition May 8, 2009 – June 22, 2009 · Two-person show · Washington, DC, USA

"Under the Influence," Aroma, Cleveland Park, Washington, DC

Two-Person Show (with Dana Ellyn) — "Under the Influence," Aroma, Cleveland Park, Washington, DC (May 8 – June 22, 2009) — the café-gallery where they met eight years earlier

Exhibition September 9, 2009 · Group show · Washington, DC, USA

Arts on Belmont preview artist exhibit, Design Within Reach

Arts on Belmont preview artist exhibit, Design Within Reach, 1838 Columbia Road NW, Washington, DC (September 9, 2009), with Dana Ellyn, Avner Ofer and Michele Banks; that Sunday he showed at Adams Morgan Day for the eighth year
★

Milestone November 16, 2009 – April 16, 2010 · Other

Serves as juror for the "EnCounterCulture" exhibition

Serves as juror for the "EnCounterCulture" exhibition (December 12, 2009 – April 16, 2010), which also hung his best painting from the Trebnje, Slovenia residency

Press December 5, 2009 · Press (print) · The Washington Post

The Washington Post — "Cozy or cramped?" (2009)

The Washington Post, Real Estate, p. E1 — Vickie Elmer, "Many young professionals take location over space" (December 5, 2009): Sesow pulled the oven and dishwasher out of his Adams Morgan efficiency condo to make room to paint; reprinted in
Read moreShow lessExpress (May 21, 2010) as "The Size Is Right — And So Is the Price"

Exhibition April 11, 2009 · Group show · Washington, DC, USA

"Countdown to Yuri's Night", Warehouse Gallery, Washington, DC

Group Show — "Countdown to Yuri's Night" ("Out of This World" party), Warehouse Gallery, Washington, DC (Saturday, April 11, 2009) — ArtByJared's second Yuri's Night event, a gallery show with music and
Read moreShow lessperformance; with Dana Ellyn, Andrew Wodzianski, Jared Davis and others

2010 31 highlights

Exhibition June 18, 2010 · Solo show · Denver, CO, USA

"Pet Project," VSA Colorado / Access Gallery, 909 Santa Fe Drive

Solo Exhibition — "Pet Project," VSA Colorado / Access Gallery, 909 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO (opened June 18, 2010) — 41 recent paintings; live painting and gallery talk in the afternoon, free reception 6–9 PM

Exhibition February 5, 2010 – March 1, 2010 · Two-person show · Washington, DC, USA

"Till Death Do Us Part" — Wedding & Two-Person Exhibition with Dana

"Till Death Do Us Part" — Wedding & Two-Person Exhibition with Dana Ellyn, Long View Gallery, 1234 9th Street NW, Washington, DC (February 5 – March 1, 2010).
Read moreShow lessSesow and Ellyn married each other live during the opening reception on Friday, February 5, 2010, 6:30–9:30 PM, as the "Snowmageddon" blizzard began (17.8" at Reagan National, 32.4" at Dulles; federal government closed for over a week). Show featured Sesow's "Til Death Do Us Part" painting (a couple ready to stab each other with sharpened knives, red heart pulsing above), Dana Ellyn's "Institution of Marriage" (a couple in straitjackets) and Sesow's "100 for $100" small works. PR by Massey Media; live music by Möbius Strip; Long View Gallery made a 22×28 signed commemorative poster. Press: Washington Post (Dan Zak), New York Times, NBC Washington (Arlene Borenstein, "A Public Display of Passion and Paint"), DC City Paper (Maura Judkis, "A Nice Day for a White Wedding"; Matt Dunn photo essay, "Photos: The Hanging at Longview"), Northwest Current (Jessica Gould), Bourgeon (Rob Bettmann), Brightest Young Things (Libby Ellsworth-Kasch), Ready Set DC (Justin Young), Pink Line Project (Brendan Smith), Voice of America (8-minute video feature)

Press February 8, 2010 · Press (print) · Washington City Paper

“A Nice Day For a White Wedding” — Washington City Paper, February 8

Washington City Paper — "A Nice Day For a White Wedding" by Maura Judkis (February 8, 2010): Sesow, 43, and Dana Ellyn marry before more than 100 friends and strangers at the snowbound opening of "Til Death Do Us Part"
Read moreShow lessat Long View Gallery; "I promise not to kill him," were the vows
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Media June 4, 2010 · Talk or event

Keynote Speaker — "Unique Perspectives"

Keynote Speaker — "Unique Perspectives: The Healing Power of Making Art" symposium, Takoma Park, MD (June 4, 2010; broadcast live on DC/MD cable Channel 13)

Media January 27, 2010 · Film, TV or video · Arlington, VA, USA · The Larz from Mars Show (Arlington Independent Media)

The Larz from Mars Show #125 — Matt Sesow and Dana Ellyn (2010)

TV — "The Larz from Mars Show," episode #125 (taped October 2009; episode master dated January 27, 2010), produced at Arlington Independent Media, Arlington, VA: Sesow and Dana Ellyn, engaged, are the guests of host Larz LaComa — selling art online and directly to collectors, their February 5, 2010 wedding show "Till Death Do Us Part," and paintings held up to the cameras.
Read moreShow lessThe full 29-minute episode and transcript are on the page.
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Exhibition February 19, 2010 · Two-person show · Washington, DC, USA

"Under the Influence," Aroma, Washington, DC

Two-Person Show (with Dana Ellyn) — "Under the Influence (3)," Aroma, 3417 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC (opening reception February 19, 2010)

Press November 3, 2010 · Press (print) · Washington City Paper

Washington City Paper — “Dawson’s Creak”

Washington City Paper — “Dawson’s Creak: Reflections on ‘Real Art D.C.’” by John Anderson (November 3, 2010) names Sesow among the “more-than-qualified” artists from Lenny Campello’s top 100 who entered the Washington Post’s Real Art D.C. contest
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Exhibition December 4, 2010 · Group show · Laurel, MD, USA

"Not Your Average Dog and Pony Show," C Street Gallery, Laurel, MD

Group Show — "Not Your Average Dog and Pony Show," C Street Gallery, 19 C St. (off Main Street), Laurel, MD; opening reception December 4, 2010, with Elise Arnold, Michael Auger, John Monzo, Jody Mussoff and Ruth Pettus.
Read moreShow lessListed in the Laurel Leader (December 2, 2010) and Howard County papers into early 2011

2011 26 highlights

Press March 18, 2011 – April 2011 · Press (print) · Limoges, France · L'Echo

French press reviews of “Made in USA,” Galerie Saint-Pierre

French press review of the Limoges solo exhibition at Galerie Saint-Pierre (April 2011) — L’Echo put his painting “Bourgeois Pig” on the cover of its Loisirs-Culture weekly (March 18–24, 2011) and ran Mickaëlle Jouault’s review “Bad painting garantie made in
Read moreShow lessUSA”; Jean Desnoyers’s “Poissons d’avril made in USA” followed in April

Press April 5, 2011 · Press (online) · US Fed News

Maine Arts Commission release on artists' blogs (US Fed News)

US Fed News, April 5, 2011 — a Maine Arts Commission news release on artists' blogs names Sesow among artists using Facebook as a blog to show paintings, comment on shows and talk with fans, calling him
Read moreShow lessa Neo-Outsider artist whose raw paintings often have political ties

Exhibition June 16, 2011 · Group show · Long Island City, NY, USA

"MUSE," curated by Marjorie Jaspar and Maurizio Cattelan, M55 Gallery

Group Show — "MUSE," curated by Marjorie Jaspar and Maurizio Cattelan, M55 Gallery, Long Island City Art Center, 44-02 23rd Street, Long Island City, New York (opening reception June 16, 2011) — with Assa Bigger, Hervé Roggen, Marjorie Jaspar, Sung
Read moreShow lessJin Choi and others; Sesow showed some of his larger paintings
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Exhibition September 18, 2011 · Group show · Norfolk, VA, USA

"Self-Taught Artists from the Garbisch and Gordon Collections"

Group Show — "Self-Taught Artists from the Garbisch and Gordon Collections: Into the Mainstream," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA (opening reception September 18, 2011) — his painting "Out of Detox," from the Gordon collection; noted on ArtDaily

Exhibition December 16, 2011 · Two-person show · Washington, DC, USA

"Dystopia," The Dunes, Columbia Heights, Washington, DC

Two-Person Show (with Dana Ellyn) — "Dystopia," The Dunes, Columbia Heights, Washington, DC (opened December 16, 2011, with a live set by the Drunken Sufis); previewed in the Washington Post Style section (December 14, 2011)
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Exhibition January 30, 2011 · Group show · Norfolk, VA, USA

"War: Armed Conflict and Its Legacy in Contemporary Self-Taught Art"

Group Show — "War: Armed Conflict and Its Legacy in Contemporary Self-Taught Art," Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA (2011) — some 50 works, including his "Charles in Charge (Saddam)"
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Exhibition April 2011 – April 30, 2011 · Group show · Arlington, VA, USA

"Countdown to Yuri's Night," Artisphere, Arlington, VA

Group Show — "Countdown to Yuri's Night" (C2YN), MEZZ Gallery, Artisphere, Rosslyn (Arlington), VA, curated by Jared Davis: 18 artists on the theme of space travel, through April 30, 2011; party April 9, 2011.
Read moreShow lessListed in the Washington Examiner (Kelly Patterson, April 7, 2011)
★

Milestone April 27, 2011 · Open studio

"Monday Open Studio" — weekly live video studio visits by Skype

"Monday Open Studio" — weekly live video studio visits by Skype, iChat or Ustream, showing paintings and answering questions from his DC studio (from April 2011) — eight years before his YouTube live-painting series

Press November 16, 2011 · Press (print) · Haïti Liberté

Haïti Liberté — "God is an American" (2011)

Haïti Liberté (vol. 5, no. 18, November 16, 2011) — a French-language essay on war and terrorism illustrated with his painting "God is an American"
★

Milestone July 3, 2011 · Life · Trujillo, Peru

Peru — a food cart painted with the Sesow fish is delivered by the SBQ

Peru — a food cart painted with the Sesow fish is delivered by the SBQ solidario charity high on Cerro Cabras (Alto Trujillo), Trujillo, Peru (July 3, 2011), donated to Hermelinda Chávez so she could sell food and support three
Read moreShow lesschildren; photographs and the Spanish-language account are preserved in the archive
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Media July 15, 2011 · Talk or event · Washington, DC, USA

Celebrity panelist — “The Match Game DC,” Capital Fringe Festival

Celebrity panelist (with Dana Ellyn) — “The Match Game DC,” Capital Fringe Festival, Washington, DC (Friday, July 15, 2011), with Julianne Brienza, Mab Just Mab, chef Enzo Febbraro, Pixie Windsor and Queen Bambi; auction proceeds went to the DC
Read moreShow lessFilm Alliance, Food & Friends and the Washington Literacy Council

Press 2011 · Book or catalogue

Book — 100 Artists of Washington, D.C. by F. Lennox Campello

Book — 100 Artists of Washington, D.C. by F. Lennox Campello (2011; foreword by Mera Rubell) — Sesow is one of the 100 artists, with a section of his paintings and a bibliography;
Read moreShow lessthe first book of its kind for the capital region

Press July 3, 2011 · Book or catalogue

Book — Hugo Izarra, “Gominolas para los patos” (Candy for the Ducks)

Book — Hugo Izarra, "Gominolas para los patos" (Candy for the Ducks), poems with illustrations by Matt Sesow (his fish painting on the cover), Béjar, Spain: SBQ, 2011 — first volume of SBQ Solidario's "El brut de los corazones solidarios";
Read moreShow lesssales funded a food cart with the Sesow fish delivered in Trujillo, Peru, July 3, 2011
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Exhibition July 8, 2011 · Group show · Washington, DC, USA

"Art Deck-O: DC Playing Card Originals," Touchstone Gallery

Group Show — "Art Deck-O: DC Playing Card Originals," Touchstone Gallery, Washington, DC (opening reception Friday, July 8, 2011) — Sesow is one of 54 Washington artists who each designed a card for the DC Playing Card Project deck

2012 33 highlights

Exhibition January 2012 · Solo show · Sanford, FL, USA

"From the Gut," Jeanine Taylor Folk Art, Sanford, FL

Solo Exhibition — "From the Gut," Jeanine Taylor Folk Art, Sanford, FL (January 2012) — Sesow's first solo exhibition with the gallery (renamed Gallery on First in 2026). Opening weekend coincided with the Sanford Art Walk (January 27–28, 2012)

Exhibition June 15, 2012 – August 18, 2012 · Group show · Washington, DC, USA

"Messages from Outsiderdom: Visionary Artists Reveal Their Untamed"

Group Show — "Messages from Outsiderdom: Visionary Artists Reveal Their Untamed Realities," Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery at the Smith Center, 17th and U Streets NW, Washington, DC (June 15 – August 18, 2012) — picked by the Washington Post
Read moreShow less(Michael O'Sullivan) as the "Gallery Opening of the Week," with Sesow's "Guard Dog" in the print edition; AVAM founder Rebecca Hoffberger spoke at the gallery on June 25

Exhibition July 7, 2012 – July 29, 2012 · Two-person show · Washington, DC, USA

"Stocking the Fridge," The Fridge, 516 1/2 8th St SE, Washington, DC

Two-Person Show (with Dana Ellyn) — "Stocking the Fridge," The Fridge, 516 1/2 8th St SE (rear alley), Washington, DC (July 7 – 29, 2012; opening July 7, 7–11 PM; artist talk and closing party July 29) — nearly 100
Read moreShow lesspaintings, the best of their 31 Days in July projects since 2003

Exhibition September 7, 2012 – October 26, 2012 · Two-person show · Laurel, MD, USA

"See Something, Say Something," Montpelier Art Center, Laurel, MD

Two-Person Show (with Dana Ellyn) — "See Something, Say Something" (listed by The Washington Post as "Narrative Painting: Dana Ellyn & Matt Sesow"), Main Gallery, Montpelier Arts Center, 9652 Muirkirk Road, Laurel, MD (opened September 7, 2012; through October 26)
Read moreShow less— satirical paintings on religion, women's issues and politics, and paranoid Americans answering the security slogan; included one of his ten-foot canvases from the 2006 "Don Giovanni" opera

Exhibition March 2012 – June 2012 · Group show · Rosslyn, VA, USA

"Elevator to the Moon: Retro-Future Visions of Space," the Yuri's

Group Show — "Elevator to the Moon: Retro-Future Visions of Space," the Yuri's Night exhibition at Artisphere, Rosslyn, VA (March – June 2012), 15 artists including Dana Ellyn, Scott Brooks, Jared Davis and Andrew Wodzianski; plus the "Countdown
Read moreShow lessto Yuri's Night" party at Artisphere, Saturday, April 14, 2012

Press May 20, 2012 · Press (print) · Savannah Morning News

Savannah Morning News — "Art & Soul"

Savannah Morning News — "Art & Soul: Beach Institute exhibit explores changing attitudes toward war" (May 20, 2012)
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Exhibition September 9, 2012 · Festival or fair · Washington, DC, USA

Adams Morgan Day festival, Washington, DC

Adams Morgan Day festival, Washington, DC (September 9, 2012) — showed and sold paintings in the art fair along Belmont Road.
Read moreShow lessThe Hilltop (Howard University, Kylee Coney, September 10, 2012) reported he had taken part for about ten years and that some buyers come to him there each year rather than to galleries

Press October 24, 2012 · Press (online) · The Atlantic Wire

The Atlantic Wire — #HipDC (2012)

The Atlantic Wire, "#HipDC" (October 24, 2012) — Sesow (@sesow) named in its list of hip Washington, DC people on Twitter

Media January 19, 2012 – August 23, 2013 · Film, TV or video · Washington, DC, USA · The Charlie Visconage Show

The Charlie Visconage Show, DC Arts Center (2012–2013)

TV/web — a regular guest on "The Charlie Visconage Show," a live talk show taped for YouTube before an audience at DC Arts Center (DCAC), Adams Morgan (premiered January 19, 2012; final show August 23, 2013).
Read moreShow lessVisconage, whom Sesow mentored, began painting at Sesow's Adams Morgan studio

2013 29 highlights

Exhibition April 4, 2013 · Two-person show · Boston, MA, USA

"Defiled," Harbor Gallery, University of Massachusetts Boston

Two-Person Show (with Dana Ellyn) — "Defiled: Dana Ellyn, Matt Sesow, and the Recent Vocabulary of Popular Politics," Harbor Gallery, University of Massachusetts Boston (opened April 4, 2013)
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Exhibition March 28, 2013 – April 25, 2013 · Group show · Fredericksburg, VA, USA

Sesow, Gans and Griffin at Populuxe Fredericksburg, VA

Group Show — artworks by Matt Sesow, Jeremy Gans and Steve Griffin at Populuxe Fredericksburg, 107 William St., Fredericksburg, VA (listed March 28 – April 25, 2013); First Friday reception April 5, 2013.
Read moreShow lessListed weekly in The Free Lance-Star gallery guide

Exhibition November 23, 2013 · Two-person show · Washington, DC, USA

"Thought Crimes," The Dunes, Washington, DC

Two-Person Show (with Dana Ellyn) — "Thought Crimes," The Dunes, Washington, DC (opened November 23, 2013)

Milestone September 23, 2013 · Life · New York, NY, USA

United Nations Postage Stamp

United Nations Postage Stamp — Selected by the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) to be featured in their international postage stamp program as a disabled artist.
Read moreShow lessPainting "Dive Bomb" (created 2012 for an exhibition at The Fridge gallery, Washington, DC) chosen for the "Break Barriers, Open Doors" stamp sheet; unveiled at UN High Level Meeting on Disabilities and Development, New York City (September 23, 2013). Print run: 129,500 stamps produced; distributed internationally through UNPA. Full press release at stamps.sesow.com. Part of the "Break Barriers, Open Doors" series alongside Chuck Close, Josephine King, Sargy Mann and Pete Eckert; issued in US dollars, Swiss francs and euros and sold at UN offices in New York, Geneva and Vienna (SOLD OUT). UNPA Creative Director Rorie Katz noted the artists’ “powerful messages of achievement”

Exhibition May 11, 2013 – May 30, 2013 · Two-person show · Washington, DC, USA

"Domesticated: The Paintings of Dana Ellyn and Matt Sesow," Off-Rhode

Two-Person Show (with Dana Ellyn) — "Domesticated: The Paintings of Dana Ellyn and Matt Sesow," Off-Rhode Studio at Art Enables, 2204 Rhode Island Ave NE, Washington, DC (May 11 – 30, 2013; reception May 11, artists' talk May 30) —
Read moreShow lessArt Enables gave the press the wrong title, "Domesticity," which is how East City Art listed it
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Exhibition April 13, 2013 · Group show · Rosslyn, VA, USA

"Voltron's Corpse," robot sculptures at Artisphere, Rosslyn, VA

Group Show — "Voltron's Corpse," robot sculptures at Artisphere, Rosslyn (Arlington), VA, curated by Andrew Wodzianski and Jared Davis, with the Yuri's Night party (April 13, 2013) — covered in WIRED
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Exhibition September 14, 2013 – September 27, 2013 · Group show · Washington, DC, USA

"The Art of Politics," MOCA DC, Washington, DC

Group Show — "The Art of Politics," curated by Roy Utley, MOCA DC, Georgetown, Washington, DC (opening September 14, 2013; closing party September 27): 22 artists including Dana Ellyn, Gregg Deal, Regina Holliday and Asad "Ultra" Walker. Arlington Examiner, August 17, 2013

Media September 23, 2013 · Product or collaboration · New York, NY, USA

Matt attends the UN Postal Administration's unveiling of his "Dive"

Matt attends the UN Postal Administration's unveiling of his "Dive Bomb" stamp at UN headquarters, New York (September 23, 2013); framed, signed stamps with original drawings followed at stamps.sesow.com

Award October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014 · Award, grant or record · Washington, DC, USA

DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities FY2014 Artist Fellowship

Artist Fellowship, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities — FY2014 grant of $7,500 for painting (grant no. 00622; grant period October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014).
Read moreShow lessIt helped pay travel and shipping for his 2014 solo shows at Gallery 555 (Cruseilles, France), Galerie Les Insoumis (Montbrison, France), Access Gallery (Denver), FOE Gallery (Northampton, MA) and 19 Karen (Gold Coast, Australia)

Exhibition January 2013 · Group show · Washington, DC, USA

“Inaugural Visions” — Off Rhode Studio at Art Enables, January 2013

Group Show — "Inaugural Visions," Off Rhode Studio at Art Enables, 2204 Rhode Island Ave NE, Washington, DC (January 2013), timed to the presidential inauguration; with Dana Ellyn, Todd Gardner, Ronald Reiley, Jerry Williams, Danny
Read moreShow lessJean-Jacques, Kate Patsch, Marielle Mariano and artists of Art Enables

2014 29 highlights

Exhibition July 11, 2014 – July 28, 2014 · Two-person show · Provincetown, MA, USA

"Fairy Tales & Folklore", AMP: Art Market Provincetown, MA

Two-Person Show (with Dana Ellyn) — "Fairy Tales & Folklore" ("Fairytales and Folklore"), AMP: Art Market Provincetown, MA (opened July 11, 2014, through July 28, during Bear Week) — reimagined fairy tales by both painters; covered in Provincetown Magazine

Exhibition November 15, 2014 – December 20, 2014 · Solo show · Gold Coast, Australia

"All American Boy," 19 Karen Contemporary Artspace, Gold Coast

Solo Exhibition — "All American Boy," 19 Karen Contemporary Artspace, Gold Coast, Australia (November 15 – December 20, 2014) — Sesow's first Australian solo exhibition; live painting performance on preview night November 14, grand opening reception November 15.
Read moreShow lessAbout a quarter of the show sold before opening night; the preview-night live painting was accompanied by the Gold Coast String Quartet

Exhibition May 3, 2014 – August 2, 2014 · Group show · Gold Coast, Australia

"Tribute to MJ's Best Film Clips," 19 Karen Contemporary Artspace

Group Show — "Tribute to MJ's Best Film Clips," 19 Karen Contemporary Artspace, Gold Coast, Australia (May 3 – August 2, 2014; opening Saturday, May 3, 6–8 PM), a Michael Jackson tribute show directed by Terri Lew

Exhibition August 15, 2014 · Solo show · Denver, CO, USA

"Access Denied," VSA Colorado / Access Gallery, Denver, CO

Solo Exhibition — "Access Denied," VSA Colorado / Access Gallery, Denver, CO (opened August 15, 2014, through September 13) — Sesow's second solo exhibition of 2014; included "Mass Protest" (4 x 6 feet) and works painted on shooting-range paper.
Read moreShow lessMatt called it "one of my most successful shows ever"

Exhibition November 2014 · Group show · Norfolk, VA, USA

"Out of the Vault: Seldom-Seen and Unseen Treasures from the Self-Taught Collection"

Exhibition — "Out of the Vault: Seldom-Seen and Unseen Treasures from the Self-Taught Collection," Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA (November 2014; 2014–2015 season) — his work had hung at the ODU galleries before (2007
Read moreShow less"Pax Attack," 2008 "Uncommon Power," 2011 "War: Armed Conflict"); seven years later came his "Life and Limb" solo there

Exhibition May 10, 2014 – June 10, 2014 · Group show · Bologna, Italy

"Metamorfosi dell'eroe", Museo e Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna

Exhibition — "Metamorfosi dell'eroe" (Heroes' Metamorphoses), Museo e Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, Italy (May 10 – June 10, 2014), curated by Luca Farulli — three Sesow paintings exhibited and reproduced in the museum catalog

Exhibition February 24, 2014 · Two-person show · Washington, DC, USA

Marx Café, Mount Pleasant, Washington, DC

Two-Person Show (with Dana Ellyn) — Marx Café, Mount Pleasant, Washington, DC (opened February 24, 2014)
★

Milestone June 17, 2014 · Life

Fort Smith summer art camp paints Sesow birds (2014)

Children at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith Academy of the Arts summer art camp paint acrylic works inspired by his paintings of birds (June 17, 2014), reported in the Times Record (Fort Smith, AR), June 18, 2014

Exhibition August 1, 2014 · Group show · Washington, DC, USA

DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities

DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities — FY2015 Artist Fellowship applicants' exhibition, 200 I Street SE, Washington, DC (opened August 1, 2014) — "The Birds of Washington, DC"

Press August 21, 2014 · Press (print) · Denver, CO, USA · Westword

Westword — "One-Armed Attack" (2014)

Westword (Denver) — Susan Froyd, "One-Armed Attack" (August 21, 2014), on his solo show "Access Denied" at Access Gallery: "Matt Sesow lost his dominant arm in an accident as a child, but that
Read moreShow lessdidn't stop the now-famous self-taught outsider artist from expressing himself"
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Exhibition November 8, 2014 – November 9, 2014 · Other · Buford, GA, USA

Slotin Folk Art Auction, Buford, GA

Slotin Folk Art Auction, Buford, GA (November 8–9, 2014) — two lots of Sesow paintings: lot 657, a pair of works, and lot 658, three works
MUSEUM ERA 2015–2024 · 206 highlights

2015 31 highlights

Exhibition July 10, 2015 · Solo show · Provincetown, MA, USA

"Trip to Here" — AMP: Art Market Provincetown

Solo Exhibition — "Trip to Here," AMP: Art Market Provincetown, 148 Commercial Street, Provincetown, MA (opening July 10, 2015, 6–9 PM, during Bear Week) — 45 recent paintings by Sesow, shown alongside Dana Ellyn's solo "Happiness Is…," which opened the same night; his third show with AMP.
Read moreShow lessAt the opening he met Studio 54 photographer Bobby Miller

Exhibition July 2, 2015 · Two-person show · Barcelona, Spain

"Déjà Vu," Galeria ArteVistas, Barcelona, Spain

Two-Person Show (with Dana Ellyn) — "Déjà Vu," Galeria ArteVistas, Barcelona, Spain (opened Thursday, July 2, 2015; through August 2) — 80+ recent paintings by Sesow, some made in Spain in the weeks before the show; his fifth show with ArteVistas.
Read moreShow lessNot to be confused with the separate "Déjà Vu" solo at Hill Center, Washington, DC in 2017

Exhibition August 26, 2015 · Group show · Washington, DC, USA

"A Celebration of Chinese Opera," the first-ever Chinese opera art

Exhibition — "A Celebration of Chinese Opera," the first-ever Chinese opera art exhibition, Katzen Arts Center, American University, Washington, DC (opened August 26, 2015), curated by Xichen Xu, with Dana Ellyn

Press January 2, 2016 · Press (print) · Washington Post

Washington Post — "The saga of Matt Sesow"

Washington Post — "The saga of Matt Sesow: How a one-handed artist is seizing D.C.’s art world," extensive biographical feature by Debra Bruno previewing "Shock and Awe" (January 2, 2016).
Read moreShow lessIncludes guardian angel ICU story, painting origin, prosthetic hand story, and Hoffberger quote praising his extraordinary sense of color

Exhibition April 17, 2015 · Two-person show · Washington, DC, USA

Two-Person Exhibition — "(Self-)Made in DC," 410 GooDBuddY

Two-Person Exhibition (with Dana Ellyn) — "(Self-)Made in DC," 410 GooDBuddY, 410 Florida Ave NW, Washington, DC (free opening Friday, April 17, 2015, 6–9 PM) — about 30 new paintings priced $40 to $700; three large paintings
Read moreShow lessback from the 2014 Australia shows sold on opening night

Media April 7, 2015 · Film, TV or video · CBS Television (NCIS: New Orleans)

CBS Television — Sesow's painting "Totem" appeared on NCIS

CBS Television — Sesow's painting "Totem" appeared on NCIS: New Orleans, episode "The Insider" (April 7, 2015), hanging in the office/lab of the character Patton Plame

Media December 30, 2014 · Film, TV or video · Snowflake Video Productions

"Join Hands: The Life and Art of Matt Sesow," by award-winning

Documentary Film — "Join Hands: The Life and Art of Matt Sesow," by award-winning documentarian Leslye Abbey (Snowflake Video Productions), who began documenting Matt's story and artwork in the early 2000s.
Read moreShow lessThe film follows his early life in Nebraska through his 2010 wedding to Dana Ellyn at Long View Gallery. DVD orders opened December 30, 2014; Matt's first newsletter (April 2015) called it "recently released," and the DVD was shipping from Amazon by October 2015. The title was inspired by the 1979 Siouxsie and the Banshees album "Join Hands" — a connection rooted in Sesow's 1981 trip to Newcastle, England for the International Games for the Disabled, where he attended a Siouxsie and the Banshees charity concert arranged specifically for the disabled athletes (Newcastle Centre Hotel, August 10, 1981; documented in SOUNDS magazine). IMDB: tt4374584

Milestone March 19, 2015 · Life · Arlington, VA, USA

Arlington Traditional School assemblies (2015)

Speaks at assemblies for hundreds of students at Arlington Traditional School, Arlington, VA, about art and overcoming obstacles (March 19, 2015).
Read moreShow lessThe year before, the students had studied his paintings and sent him more than 200 holiday cards; he answered every one

Press July 31, 2015 – August 3, 2015 · Press (online) · Om Pom Happy

Om Pom Happy — two-part interview on his process

Om Pom Happy (Caroline Juskus) — two-part interview on his process, travels and back story (July 31, 2015) and "The studio, home and sketches of painter Matt Sesow" (August 3, 2015)

Media October 8, 2015 · Film, TV or video · Takoma Park, MD, USA

Screening — "Join Hands: The Life and Art of Matt Sesow," Takoma Park

Screening — "Join Hands: The Life and Art of Matt Sesow," Takoma Park Municipal Government Building, 7500 Maple Ave, Takoma Park, MD (Thursday, October 8, 2015, 7:30–9 PM) — the first
Read moreShow lessDC-area screening, with a Q&A with Matt and Dana Ellyn

Press November 3, 2015 · Press (print) · Special Children's Art Display

Special Children's Art Display

Special Children's Art Display (SCAD) — interview with advice for young painters (November 2015)

Exhibition December 4, 2015 · Group show · Provincetown, MA, USA

Group show, AMP: Art Market Provincetown, MA

Group show, AMP: Art Market Provincetown, MA (December 4, 2015) — the last show at the gallery's original location

Exhibition December 2, 2015 – January 2, 2016 · Group show · Rockville, MD, USA

"Creating Inclusion," VisArts at Rockville, Concourse Gallery

"Creating Inclusion," VisArts at Rockville, Concourse Gallery, Rockville, MD (December 2, 2015 – January 2, 2016; reception December 13) — exhibition on disability and visibility

Milestone December 13, 2015 · Life

Announces his first museum solo

Announces his first museum solo — "100+ of my paintings at the American Visionary Art Museum" for spring 2016 through spring 2017 (December 13, 2015)

2016 35 highlights

Exhibition May 27, 2016 – May 28, 2017 · Solo show · Baltimore, MD, USA

"Matt Sesow: Shock and Awe," American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore

Solo Exhibition — "Matt Sesow: Shock and Awe," American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore — 150+ paintings, year-long exhibition; widely described as among the first dedicated solo exhibitions of an individual living artist in AVAM's history (May 27, 2016 – May 28, 2017; announced at the opening as through June 4, 2017).
Read moreShow lessCurated by AVAM founder and director Rebecca Alban Hoffberger in the third-floor gallery of the Zanvyl A. Krieger Main Building — "the first exclusive showing of Sesow's work at AVAM." Works included his salute to the first 100 American soldiers killed in the Iraq War, animals and birds, tributes to great humanitarians, autobiographical paintings and an illustrated "Key" to his recurring icons. The announcement opened with a line from Dickens: "I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape." 26 of the paintings were then chosen for AVAM's permanent collection.

Exhibition August 19, 2016 · Solo show · Denver, CO, USA

"Divide and Conquer / Rise Above," VSA Colorado / Access Gallery

Solo Exhibition — "Divide and Conquer / Rise Above," VSA Colorado / Access Gallery, Denver, CO — opening reception August 19, 2016; three new 32 x 42 inch canvases painted on-site in Denver;
Read moreShow lessnearly sold out, with a single work remaining by mid-September

Milestone 2016 · Life · Baltimore, MD, USA

Four solo exhibitions in a single year

Four solo exhibitions in a single year — AVAM (Baltimore), Access Gallery (Denver), and two consecutive runs of "Politicized" at Gallery 1515 (Vancouver), the first solo exhibitions of Sesow's work in Canada

Exhibition 2016 – April 2017 · Group show

"Landscapes of the Collector"

"Landscapes of the Collector" — Baron and Ellin Gordon Collection, ODU (through April 2017)

Milestone February 8, 2016 · Life

Open call to DC-area collectors to lend their Sesow paintings to

Open call to DC-area collectors to lend their Sesow paintings to the AVAM show (February 2016) — owners brought works to his Adams Morgan studio, where the museum made its selections;
Read moreShow lessmost loans stayed up until the show closed in 2017

Media April 21, 2016 · Film, TV or video · "Heads and Tails" (Орёл и решка)

"Heads and Tails", the Russian/Ukrainian TV travel show

"Heads and Tails" (Орёл и решка), the Russian/Ukrainian TV travel show — filmed Matt painting in his Adams Morgan studio and leading a "drink and draw" at Mellow Mushroom (April 21, 2016); aired 2017 to
Read moreShow lessa combined audience the producers put at 70 million viewers

Press June 29, 2016 · Press (online) · NYU School of Medicine, Medical Humanities database

NYU School of Medicine, Medical Humanities database

NYU School of Medicine, Medical Humanities database — a Sesow mother-and-child painting featured with commentary (June 2016)

Press August 2016 – September 2016 · Press (print) · Professional Artist magazine

Professional Artist magazine

Professional Artist magazine (August/September 2016) — interview on being a self-taught artist

Press March 1, 2016 · Press (print) · Library Journal

Library Journal reviews “Join Hands” (2016)

Library Journal — video review of "Join Hands: The Life and Art of Matt Sesow" (Dreamscape DVD, 71 min.) by Phillip Oliver (March 1, 2016), recommending it for art enthusiasts and
Read moreShow lessfor viewers interested in people who succeed despite physical limitations
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Exhibition 2016 · Two-person show · Washington, DC, USA

"Home Show," Washington, DC

Two-Person Show (with Dana Ellyn) — "Home Show," Washington, DC (2016)

2017 42 highlights

Milestone May 25, 2017 · Collection · Baltimore, MD, USA

American Visionary Art Museum selects 26 Sesow paintings for its

American Visionary Art Museum selects 26 Sesow paintings for its permanent collection.
Read moreShow lessAt the members' closing party for "Shock and Awe" (May 25, 2017) 23 works had been chosen; by July 2017 the count stood at 26, including a portrait of Muhammad Ali that AVAM welcomed as one more Baltimore tie to the champ. The later additions included his portraits of AVAM founder Rebecca Alban Hoffberger, plus a few others
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Exhibition October 1, 2017 – October 22, 2017 · Group show · Lamballe, France

Galerie Une Vision Singulière, Lamballe, France

Group Exhibition — Galerie Une Vision Singulière (collector Didier Simon, Hénon), its art-singulier section at the salon "Regards sur les arts," Collégiale Notre-Dame, Lamballe, France (October 1–22, 2017), with Sesow paintings
★

Milestone 2017 · Life

Sesow's own year-end assessment

Sesow's own year-end assessment: "2017 was my best year yet with art sales and shows, new studio, museum solo show" — the year spanned the close of the AVAM exhibition, the
Read moreShow lessSquire Foundation residency, two gallery solos, and a new studio

Milestone October 20, 2017 – November 13, 2017 · Life · Santa Barbara, CA, USA

Three-week artist residency with The Squire Foundation, Santa Barbara

Three-week artist residency with The Squire Foundation, Santa Barbara, CA (October 20 – November 13, 2017) — goal: "hundreds of new paintings"; the residency produced 200+, including 90 small paintings on matboard in a single day (October 28)

Exhibition March 8, 2017 · Group show · Washington, DC, USA

"Art and the City," Hill Center Galleries, Capitol Hill, Washington

Group Show — "Art and the City," Hill Center Galleries, Capitol Hill, Washington, DC (opening reception March 8, 2017, 6–8 PM) — ten framed works on paper, shown with Dana Ellyn; on view until April 30, and Hill Center kept
Read moreShow lesshis work up through December 2017 — "one of my longest ongoing exhibitions of ALL TIME"
★

Milestone 2017 · Online pioneer

Launched Patreon patron program

Launched Patreon patron program — monthly original art subscription for collectors worldwide

Exhibition May 20, 2017 · Solo show · Sanford, FL, USA

"Hair of the Dog," Jeanine Taylor Folk Art Gallery, Sanford, FL

Solo Exhibition — "Hair of the Dog," Jeanine Taylor Folk Art Gallery, Sanford, FL (opened May 20, 2017) — Sesow's second solo with the gallery after 2012.
Read moreShow lessDuring the opening reception he painted "Dog Pack (follow the leader)" and "Dog Show" live from his Washington, DC studio, streamed on Facebook Live (6:30–9 PM); previewed in Artborne Magazine

Milestone March 24, 2017 – March 25, 2017 · Life · Washington, DC, USA

Studio move — leaves the Adams Morgan apartment studio for Mather

Studio move — leaves the Adams Morgan apartment studio (1851 Columbia Rd NW #603) for Mather Studios, 916 G Street NW #304, downtown Washington, DC (Gallery Place), sharing the space with Dana Ellyn; first open studio there March 24–25, 2017.
Read moreShow less"My move to downtown DC is going great and the new studio is HUGE!" (June 2017)

Exhibition April 5, 2017 · Two-person show · Miami, FL, USA

"Co_works" with Norbert Guthier

"Co_works" with Norbert Guthier, at the studio of Edouard Duval-Carrié, Miami, FL (April 2017)
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Media April 9, 2017 · Talk or event

Artist visit and talk at AVAM

Artist visit and talk at AVAM (Sunday, April 9, 2017, noon–3 PM) — bringing about 100 new small paintings for the Sideshow gift shop

Exhibition May 17, 2017 · Solo show · Washington, DC, USA

"Déjà Vu," Hill Center Galleries, Capitol Hill, Washington, DC

Solo Exhibition — "Déjà Vu," Hill Center Galleries, Capitol Hill, Washington, DC (opening reception Wednesday, May 17, 2017, 6–8 PM; on view until June 25) — new paintings, opening three days before the Sanford, Florida solo

Milestone July 2017 · Online pioneer

Paintings returned from the AVAM show are offered to collectors

Paintings returned from the AVAM show are offered to collectors through a waiting list at avam.sesow.com, priced higher "because of their historic importance to my art career"; small thank-you paintings go to every lender (July 2017)

Exhibition March 2017 – 2018 · Open studio · Washington, DC, USA

Monthly open studios with Dana Ellyn at 916 G Street NW #304

Monthly open studios with Dana Ellyn at 916 G Street NW #304 (Mather Studios) — from March 2017, roughly monthly Friday evenings and Saturdays through 2018, including November 17–18, 2017 with "HUNDREDS of brand-new paintings" from the Santa Barbara residency
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Exhibition August 2017 · Group show · Stratford, Canada

"BLAMMO! Pop-Up Art Exhibition," Stratford, Ontario

Group Show — "BLAMMO! Pop-Up Art Exhibition," Market Square, Stratford, Ontario, Canada (August 2017), curated by Leigh Cooney of Meet Your Maker Gallery: lowbrow, folk, cartoon and neo-expressionist work by artists from southern Ontario and the US; he shipped work from Washington, DC.
Read moreShow lessStratford Beacon Herald, August 9, 2017 (James Wells)

2018 15 highlights

Exhibition December 6, 2018 · Group show · St. Petersburg, Russia

"Radical Fluidity: Grotesque in Art," MISP Museum, St. Petersburg

Group Exhibition — "Radical Fluidity: Grotesque in Art," MISP Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia (4 paintings, 2018–2019) (opened December 6, 2018); with Dana Ellyn, whose painting also hung — their first show in Russia. Curator: Afrodite Oikonomidou.
Read moreShow lessThe opening featured performers from La Pushkin Theatre; the four paintings came home in spring 2019 and prints were offered at prints.sesow.com

Exhibition December 6, 2018 · Group show · Washington, DC, USA

"Political Art from the 18th Century to the 21st"

"Political Art from the 18th Century to the 21st" — Center for Contemporary Political Art (CCPArt), Washington, DC (with Congresswoman Jackie Speier book signing) (opened December 6, 2018) — a large painting Matt made in China in 2008

Press January 31, 2018 · Press (print) · Penzance, UK · The Cornishman

The Cornishman — U3A art group (2018)

The Cornishman (Penzance, England), January 31, 2018 — a U3A art-appreciation group in Cornwall studies works by Géricault, Picasso, Matt Sesow, Paula Rego and Matisse

Press July 26, 2018 · Press (print) · Nebraska Public Media

Nebraska Public Media — Jack Williams

Nebraska Public Media (NET News) — Jack Williams, "Artist With Nebraska Roots Channels Childhood Trauma Into Paintings" (July 26, 2018)

Exhibition February 12, 2018 · Two-person show · Washington, DC, USA

Hill Center, Capitol Hill, Washington, DC

Two-Person Show (with Dana Ellyn) — Hill Center, Capitol Hill, Washington, DC (February) — new paintings hung February 12, 2018

Exhibition January 26, 2018 – October 27, 2018 · Open studio · Washington, DC, USA

2018 open-studio series with Dana Ellyn at 916 G Street NW #304

2018 open-studio series with Dana Ellyn ("Washington DC's Creative Couple") at 916 G Street NW #304 — January 26–27, February 23–24, March 30–31, April 27–28 and May 18–19, 2018, followed by "drink and draw";
Read moreShow lessplus affordable-art open studios June 29–30 and October 26–27, 2018

Milestone April 16, 2018 · Online pioneer

Patreon patron tiers published

Patreon patron tiers published (April 2018) — from $1 patron-only deals and $5 postcards with unique drawings to $40–$900 original paintings "inspired by you"; by January 2019 he had been sending work to patrons for over a year

Press March 2, 2018 · Press (print) · Georgetown Voice

Georgetown Voice: Sesow as Charlie Visconage’s mentor (2018)

Georgetown Voice — "Charlie Visconage on Color, Beginnings, and Doing it All" by Amy Guay (March 2, 2018): The Charlie Visconage Show "introduced Visconage to Matt Sesow, a local artist who would become his friend and artistic mentor"; Sesow became
Read moreShow lessa regular on the show and the two painted together at Sesow's Adams Morgan studio

2019 20 highlights

Exhibition March 7, 2019 – April 28, 2019 · Two-person show · Washington, DC, USA

"Collaborators," Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital

Two-Person Show (with Dana Ellyn) — "Collaborators," Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital, 921 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Capitol Hill, Washington, DC (March 7 – April 28, 2019; opening reception Wednesday, March 13, 6:30–8:30 PM)

Media January 24, 2019 · Film, TV or video · PBS / Nebraska Stories

PBS / Nebraska Stories — "Matt Sesow's Paint Therapy" television

PBS / Nebraska Stories (Season 12) — "Matt Sesow's Paint Therapy" television segment, aired January 24, 2019, featuring the "All in the Family" show at Metro Gallery, Lincoln, and a studio visit in Washington, DC (Nebraska Public Media)

Press May 28, 2019 · Press (online) · Making It! blog

Making It! blog — "Creativity Talks"

Making It! blog (Turner Houston) — "Creativity Talks: The Art and Energy of Self-taught Painter Matt Sesow" (May 28, 2019)

Press June 8, 2019 · Press (print) · Melbourne, Australia · Herald Sun (Home magazine)

Herald Sun — Richelle Hunt's Sesow painting (2019)

Herald Sun (Melbourne) Home magazine, June 8, 2019 — ABC Radio Melbourne presenter Richelle Hunt names a Sesow painting, found by chance in a Barcelona art shop, as one of her favourite things at home

Milestone June 15, 2019 · Online pioneer

Early.sesow.com launched — documenting paintings from his first ten

early.sesow.com launched (June 2019) — documenting paintings from his first ten years (1994–2004): early work, the Peace Corps in the Solomon Islands, Geek Corps in Sofia, Bulgaria, late-1990s faces and his first residency in Ciudad
Read moreShow lessColón, Costa Rica; many offered for sale in July 2020

Exhibition July 4, 2019 · Product or collaboration · Madrid, Spain

Collaboration with Madrid fashion designer Maya Hansen

Collaboration with Madrid fashion designer Maya Hansen — Sesow paintings incorporated into her "ARTY" SS20 Globetrotter collection, shown at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid (July 2019)

Milestone July 16, 2019 · Life

First live-streamed painting sessions on YouTube and first virtual

First live-streamed painting sessions on YouTube (July 16, 2019) and first virtual open studio with Dana Ellyn (July 26, 2019), offered through a new Patreon tier: "I've decided to 'open up' the open studio and make it available world-wide online"
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Exhibition August 2, 2019 – August 3, 2019 · Open studio · Washington, DC, USA

Open studio, 916 G Street NW

Open studio, 916 G Street NW (August 2–3, 2019) — "a few hundred" recent paintings

Media August 26, 2019 · Film, TV or video

"Beating the Odds" — mini-documentary

"Beating the Odds" (AOL) — mini-documentary; a film crew spent three days with Matt and Dana in the DC studio and at AVAM, including a live painting demonstration (August 2019)

Exhibition October 16, 2019 · Group show · Washington, DC, USA

"The NO!HATE Show," Center for Contemporary Political Art

Group Show — "The NO!HATE Show," Center for Contemporary Political Art, 916 G St NW, Washington, DC (opening Wednesday, October 16, 2019, 6–8 PM) — fine art confronting hate as a political
Read moreShow lesstactic; founder Charles Krause, curator Robin Strongin; with Dana Ellyn

2020 12 highlights

Exhibition 2020 · Other

Paintings at AVAM gift shop and Sideshow

Paintings at AVAM gift shop and Sideshow — designed new AVAM building banner based on "Hand" painting series — Dana Ellyn helped design the banner

Press December 31, 2020 · Book or catalogue

“Owl” on the cover of “This Is What America Looks Like” (2020)

Book cover — "Owl," a 2018 collaboration with Dana Ellyn (oil, acrylic and mixed media on paper, 8 × 8 in.), is the cover of "This Is What America Looks Like," an anthology of one hundred writers and poets from
Read moreShow lessDC, Maryland and Virginia, edited by Caroline Bock and Jona Colson, Washington Writers' Publishing House (December 31, 2020)

2021 19 highlights

Exhibition August 31, 2021 – December 18, 2021 · Solo show · Norfolk, VA, USA

"Life and Limb: Works by Matt Sesow," Baron and Ellin Gordon Art

Solo Exhibition — "Life and Limb: Works by Matt Sesow," Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA (August 31 – December 18, 2021) — 225+ works (paintings, plus the many small icons and drawings he drew
Read moreShow lessdirectly on the gallery walls at the curator’s request) spanning his entire career (1994–2021) — the largest solo museum exhibition of his career — shown alongside 13 original Jean-Michel Basquiat paintings lent by collector David Liebman. Curated by Cullen Strawn with gallery director Stirling Goulart. Sesow painted large new canvases in Norfolk that May, drew 225+ of his icons directly onto the gallery walls and painted seven original street banners installed around Norfolk; he visited the show October 4–5, 2021 Full record: photos, video, press and every work →

Press September 1, 2021 · Press (print) · The Virginian-Pilot

The Virginian-Pilot — Saleen Martin

The Virginian-Pilot — Saleen Martin, "Artist uses pain and history for new exhibition at ODU; show includes 13 pieces by famed painter Jean-Michel Basquiat" (September 1, 2021), on "Life and Limb"

Press 2021 · Press (print) · Old Dominion University News

Old Dominion University News

Old Dominion University News — major exhibition press release

Exhibition July 22, 2021 – July 25, 2021 · Two-person show · Virginia Beach, VA, USA

Matt Sesow and Dana Ellyn at Vibrant Shore Brewing Company

Exhibition — Matt Sesow and Dana Ellyn at Vibrant Shore Brewing Company, Virginia Beach, VA (July 22–25, 2021) — 100+ recent paintings plus collaborative "Defiled" works; artist talk July 24 and "drink and draw" July 25

Media August 24, 2021 · Film, TV or video · WAVY-TV The Hampton Roads Show

WAVY-TV "The Hampton Roads Show"

WAVY-TV "The Hampton Roads Show" — live television interview with curator Cullen Strawn about "Life and Limb" (August 24, 2021)

Media December 7, 2021 – December 8, 2021 · Talk or event

"Arts Interview Series" talk on what has worked for him as

"Arts Interview Series" talk on what has worked for him as an independent full-time artist for 27 years (December 7, 2021), followed by a four-hour live-streamed painting of a large "Sesow 2021" canvas from his DC studio to
Read moreShow lessmark the final weeks of "Life and Limb" (December 8)

2022 10 highlights

Milestone November 2022 · Life

Vibrant Shore Brewing Company beer can collaboration

Vibrant Shore Brewing Company beer can collaboration — "Modern Art Masterpiece" Double IPA, with Sesow's painting "Locus of Control" on the can (November 2022); brewmaster Rhett Rebold designed the beer and can

Milestone April 2, 2022 · Life · Baltimore, MD, USA

Presents his painting "Ode to Rebecca Hoffberger" to AVAM's founding

Presents his painting "Ode to Rebecca Hoffberger" to AVAM's founding director at the museum, Baltimore (April 2022): "Rebecca and my involvement with the American Visionary Art Museum has been one of the keys to my success"
★

Milestone August 1, 2022 · Life

New collectors in Iceland and Lithuania

New collectors in Iceland and Lithuania (summer 2022); his Instagram following passes 32,000 by November 2022 and 46,000 by September 2023

Milestone July 16, 2022 · Other · Asheville, NC, USA

Brunk Auctions, Asheville, NC

Brunk Auctions, Asheville, NC (July 16, 2022) — Sesow's "Sucker Punch" (1994, ink and oil on paper, 18 × 12 in., signed verso "Sesow 94") sold as property to benefit the American Folk Art Museum

2023 12 highlights

Press June 20, 2023 · Product or collaboration

Bruma Brew collaboration — "The Sesow Series" of craft beers featuring

Bruma Brew collaboration (Calce, France) — "The Sesow Series" of craft beers featuring Sesow paintings on cans: "They Look Like People" (TDH Hazy IPA), "We Need to Talk About Nelson" (Session NEIPA), "So What?" (Cold IPA). Dog, Chicken Cowboy, and Fish paintings on labels.
Read moreShow lessDistributed through Toulouse, Perpignan, Montpellier, and Paris. Also a dry-hopped wheat pale ale, "Hops Fade Fast," canned June 20, 2023

Press March 9, 2023 · Press (online) · Hong Kong · South China Morning Post

South China Morning Post — painting "Mr

South China Morning Post — painting "Mr. Tuxedo" featured in print and online edition (March 9), at collector's home in Hong Kong

Press January 15, 2023 · Press (print) · Injection Magazine

Injection Magazine — "Bold Lines and Bright Colors"

Injection Magazine (Carola Kolbeck) — "Bold Lines and Bright Colors: Matt Sesow Paints With Heart & Soul" (January 2023): "I'm so much more than a one-armed guy"
★

Milestone March 6, 2023 · Other · Clintondale, NY, USA

Kensington Estate Auction includes his paintings

Secondary market — Kensington Estate Auction (Clintondale, NY) included paintings by Sesow in its March 6, 2023 online sale of art, books and antiques, previewed in The Newtown Bee (March 3, 2023)

Milestone December 8, 2023 · Product or collaboration · Madrid, Spain

Bagouve Artwear "Bull Dog T-Shirt" (2023)

"Bull Dog T-Shirt," Bagouve Artwear, Madrid — a licensed limited edition of 250 individually numbered organic-cotton shirts (made in Portugal) based on his 2014 painting "Bull Dog." Bagouve made the design and licensed the image (agreement June 4, 2023).
Read moreShow lessAnnounced December 6 and released December 8, 2023, at €50 — "the first officially supported by me Matt Sesow T-shirt." Collectors sent photos of the shirt from Costa Rica, Switzerland, Spain and New York; all 250 had sold out by April 2026

2024 10 highlights

Press June 22, 2024 · Press (print) · Waterbury, CT, USA · Republican-American

Republican-American — Mattatuck Museum "Outsider Art" review (2024)

Republican-American (Waterbury, CT), Accent, p. B1 — Tracey O'Shaughnessy, "Mattatuck showcases work of artists who flout the typical conventions" (June 22, 2024): a review of the "Outsider Art" display at the
Read moreShow lessMattatuck Museum, Waterbury, singling out his "Pony – Self Portrait"
★

Milestone December 5, 2024 · Talk or event · Midland, MI, USA

"Matt Sesow Inspired Animals" kids' class, Creative 360, Midland, MI

Teaching use — Creative 360, Midland, Michigan, ran a Creative Kids class, "Matt Sesow Inspired Animals," led by Allise Noble (December 5, 2024, ages 8–13), listed in the Midland Daily News "What's Happening" calendar
THE LEGACY CONTINUES 2025–2027 · 52 highlights

2025 21 highlights

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Exhibition 2025 · Other

Paintings at Sideshow at AVAM

Paintings at Sideshow at AVAM — 200+ works, including icon paintings as Christmas tree ornaments
★

Milestone March 2025 · Life

ArtLifting representation — accepted as a represented disabled artist

ArtLifting representation (March 2025) — accepted as a represented disabled artist on the ArtLifting platform, which champions artists impacted by disability and housing insecurity. 19 works professionally photographed and selected for distribution, expanding reach to corporate and institutional collectors.
Read moreShow lessFirst ArtLifting listing: "Harmonic," 71″ x 90″ canvas

Exhibition July 26, 2025 – August 2, 2025 · Collection · Minneapolis, MN, USA

"For Jim with Love: Collection of a Storyteller," Bockley Gallery

"For Jim with Love: Collection of a Storyteller," Bockley Gallery, Minneapolis, MN (July 26 – August 2, 2025) — works from the collection of the late painter Jim Denomie, sold to benefit the Jim Denomie Memorial Scholarship; two Sesow paintings
Read moreShow lessshown alongside Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Rick Bartow, George Morrison and Wendy Red Star
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Exhibition September 5, 2025 – October 31, 2025 · Two-person show · Washington, DC, USA

Two-Person Exhibition — "Every Day, Always"

Two-Person Exhibition (with Dana Ellyn) — "Every Day, Always: Sesow & Ellyn," Artcelerate Gallery at Shop Made in DC, 1304 Wisconsin Ave NW, Georgetown, Washington, DC (September 5 – October 31, 2025; opening reception September 5, 5–8 PM) —
Read moreShow lessabout 50 original paintings; his first gallery exhibition in years
★

Milestone 2025 · Life

Midlibrary.io catalogs "Matt Sesow" as a named Midjourney style

midlibrary.io catalogs "Matt Sesow" as a named Midjourney style — AI image-generation systems now reference his visual language by name, twenty-eight years after his 1997 recognition as a pioneer of selling art on the internet

2026 30 highlights

Exhibition June 20, 2026 · Group show · Los Angeles, CA, USA

Éclat d'âme — a tribute to poet and sculptor Linda King, BLVK Book

éclat d'âme — a tribute to poet and sculptor Linda King, BLVK Book, Beverly Center, Los Angeles (June 20, 2026).
Read moreShow lessSesow and Dana Ellyn were guest artists; the original paintings from Sesow's illustration of King's 2008 book 'Bukowski Undigested' were shown alongside King's original Charles Bukowski sculpture, reuniting the works after seventeen years. Full record: photographs, press and every article →

Press July 1, 2026 · Press (print) · Long Beach, CA, USA · The Ardent

The Ardent, July 2026: “USA” illustrates “Declaration 2.026”

The Ardent (Long Beach, CA), July 2026, Issue Three — the free monthly runs Sesow's painting "USA" (acrylic/mix on archival paper, 18" × 12") as the full-page illustration for Chris Giaco's criticism essay "On Independence and Revolution: Declaration 2.026," written for the nation's 250th anniversary, and prints his artist bio among the contributors.
Read moreShow lessThe editor found the painting online and asked to publish it.

Exhibition November 7, 2026 – November 20, 2026 · Group show · Washington, DC, USA

The Kaleidoscope Effect — Transformer's 22nd Annual Benefit Auction

The Kaleidoscope Effect — Transformer's 22nd Annual Benefit Auction & Gala, The LINE DC, Washington, DC, presented with the Embassy of Switzerland (public exhibition November 7–20, 2026, with an online auction; Benefit Gala November 21, 2026)
Read moreShow less— Sesow's "Happy Bull," his eighteenth Transformer auction since 2007

Exhibition May 2026 · Two-person show · Washington, DC, USA

WE MAKE DC — two-person grand-opening exhibition with Dana Ellyn

WE MAKE DC — two-person grand-opening exhibition with Dana Ellyn at Shop Made in DC (Dupont), 1140 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC (May 2026).
Read moreShow lessSesow works shown included 'Confluence' (acrylic on canvas), 'Dream State of the Union,' and 'USA.'. The District named it an official DC250 (250th-anniversary) activation
★

Milestone 1994 – 1998 · Life

Early Notable Collectors: Baron and Ellin Gordon, K. & R. Miles

Early Notable Collectors (1994–1998): Baron and Ellin Gordon (Williamsburg, VA — folk art collectors; later hosted major exhibitions at Old Dominion University), K. & R. Miles (Washington, DC — Smithsonian Museum Art Curator), T. & N. Stohl (Berkeley, CA — Academy Award winner), L.
Read moreShow lessStewart (Toronto, Canada — film producer), T. Mortensen (Copenhagen, Denmark — film distributor), Beverly Kaye (Woodbridge, CT — first agent and dealer)

Milestone June 21, 2026 · Life

“CHANISKI” — the sculpture by Charles Bukowski

Acquires "CHANISKI," a sculpture made by Charles Bukowski himself — a small self-figure saved by Linda King around 1971 and later cast in bronze — which now watches over his studio (June 2026); story site at golem.sesow.com

Media July 12, 2026 · Talk or event

AVAM virtual talk — "Behind the Work"

AVAM virtual talk — "Behind the Work: The Art and Story of Matt Sesow," presented on Zoom by the American Visionary Art Museum (July 12, 2026)

Press August 31, 2026 · Press (online) · LSM.lv

LSM.lv — Sesow's painting "Latvian Blue Cow" is the lead image of

LSM.lv (Latvian Public Broadcasting) — Sesow's painting "Latvian Blue Cow" is the lead image of the national culture-section preview of the Art for Meat Tax festival; Dana Ellyn named in the article and her "Playing Favorites" pictured (August 31, 2026)
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Exhibition September 4, 2026 – September 6, 2026 · Festival or fair · Rīga, Latvia

"Māksla par gaļas nodokli" / Art for Meat Tax festival

"Māksla par gaļas nodokli" / Art for Meat Tax festival (2nd edition), Radošā rūpnīca Veldze, Matīsa iela 8, Rīga, Latvia (September 4–6, 2026) — with Dana Ellyn, among 30+ artists and lecturers from seven countries; the show hung in the cellars of a former lemonade factory.
Read moreShow lessOn September 5 the festival was an official venue of Rīga's Baltā Nakts (White Night), whose listing led with Sesow's blue cow painting
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Media September 2, 2026 · Film, TV or video · Rīga, Latvia · Latvian Television

Latvian Television "Kultūras ziņas" culture news

Latvian Television (LTV) "Kultūras ziņas" culture news — filmed Matt Sesow and Dana Ellyn painting in Rīga (September 2, 2026)
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Milestone 2026 · Life

Paints new work on the ground in Rīga

Paints new work on the ground in Rīga — Latvian subjects including the Latvian Blue cow — sold to Latvian collectors and posted to new.sesow.com the same week
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Milestone September 10, 2026 · Life · Washington, DC, USA

Turns 60 on September 10, 2026

Turns 60 on September 10, 2026 — the day he flew home to Washington, DC from Rīga

Milestone September 2026 · Life

New series "Game Changers" — grids of grinning heads

New series "Game Changers" — grids of grinning heads, each labeled with a real person's name: "Game Changers" (20 heads) and "More Game Changers" (16 heads), September 2026, both sold; "Game Changers (Poets) 1" and "2" (October 2026)
Read moreShow lesshonor Charles Bukowski, Linda King and the poets she sculpted

Exhibition November 5, 2026 · Group show · New Bedford, MA, USA

"Identical Twins" on loan to the New Bedford Art Museum

Museum loan — Sesow's "Identical Twins" (2016, American Visionary Art Museum permanent collection, gift of the artist) goes on view at the New Bedford Art Museum, New Bedford, MA, in a survey of self-taught art built on loans from AVAM (opens November 5, 2026).
Read moreShow lessThe painting answers Alice Neel's 1975 portrait "The De Vegh Twins" (sold at Christie's in 2023 for $2.5 million) — and the museum's executive director, Suzanne de Vegh, is one of Neel's twins. She found it in AVAM's catalogue in July 2026 ("got chills") and visited Matt and Dana Ellyn at the studio on October 10, 2026. The full story: both paintings, the letters, the documents →

Press April 2026 · Press (print) · Italy · Apinsieme

"Le api ribelli nel mondo fantastico di Matt Sesow," Apinsieme

Italian feature — Renzo Barbattini (University of Udine) and Claudio Baffi (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza), "Le api ribelli nel mondo fantastico di Matt Sesow," Apinsieme — Rivista Nazionale di Apicoltura (Italy's national independent beekeeping magazine), April 2026, pp. 40–44, in the recurring column L'Ape nell'Arte ("The Bee in Art").
Read moreShow lessFive-page feature placing Sesow within Jean Dubuffet's Art Brut tradition, with an extended comparison to Italian outsider artist NOF4 (Oreste Fernando Nannetti). Three paintings reproduced in full color: "Birds and bees" (2015), "Bee Sample" (2012), "May flowers, with bee" (2018)
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Milestone July 2026 · Online pioneer

The Sesow Press Archive established

The Sesow Press Archive established (July 2026) — an autonomous archival system built with Claude (Anthropic) that preserves everything published about Sesow, daily and automatically: articles saved as HTML and PDF with imagery and video, organized by year from 1975 to the present.
Read moreShow lessOver 10,000 files, including full mirrors of press.sesow.com and press.danaellyn.com, a 38-video YouTube corpus (interviews from 2003 onward, the 2010 wedding, exhibition films), the original June 9, 1975 Lincoln Evening Journal, and Sesow's personal year-by-year archives from 1994 onward. Built for future researchers studying art, trauma and healing
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Milestone October 2, 2026 · Online pioneer

The _myhistory repository created on the AI drive

The _myhistory repository created on the AI drive (October 2, 2026) — every bio, every version of this history document and dated snapshots of history.sesow.com in one place, to pull from and save new work to

Media September 25, 2026 · Film, TV or video · UNIMPRESSED (YouTube)

"Matt Sesow: The One-Handed Painter Who Sold 17,000 Paintings"

"Matt Sesow: The One-Handed Painter Who Sold 17,000 Paintings | UNIMPRESSED" — Episode One of the short video series UNIMPRESSED, presented by Imogen Vale, published on Matt's YouTube channel (September 25, 2026; 5 minutes). Episode Two profiles Dana Ellyn

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