Press 2006-09
The Examiner — Washington, DC
Newspaper article · inferred: September 2006 (handwritten note on clipping: "DC Examiner" Sept. 2006)
Making the scene: D.C.'s Expressionist movement
The Examiner (Washington)
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Photographed by Matt Sesow from his press packets, October 18, 2026; text transcribed from the photos by Claude.
ARTSCAPES
Making the scene: D.C.'s Expressionist movement
By Robin Tierney
Special to The Examiner
German Expressionism ... Pop Art ... Contemporary Post-Expressionist Subpop Romantic Surrealistic Lowbrow on the Potomac. OK, the third is too cumbersome and limiting a moniker for D.C.'s burgeoning art movement. Nonetheless, a formidable, distinctive scene has surged up from the underground, and a great place to dive in is Studio One Eight in Adams Morgan.
"Soul Mining," on view by appointment up to the Sept. 9 closing reception, features an arcade of colorful, eye- and mind-popping works by alt-art legend-in-progress Matt Sesow and J. Coleman, a Mary Washington grad who moved here to apprentice with Sesow in 2004. The show's title refers to the use of art as a therapeutic release; the two dozen works reflect on emotions from agony to hope, and issues from personal isolation to a war-torn world.
Among the all-new works are four large-scale collaborations created earlier this summer on Coleman's Mount Vernon Place urban rooftop, where he does most of his painting, much of that inspired by the energy and poverty on constant parade below.
"Martyr" proffers a tableau of religious iconography and political zeitgeist, commingling Coleman's Day of the Dead-derived figures, sacred hearts and sacrificial virgins with Sesow's strapped-up suicide bomber. "Salvation meets self-destruction," Coleman says of the visual collision, recalling the duo's efforts to capture desperation about world violence ... and to a lesser extent, working conditions as the roof heated to 110 degrees.
"It's a grimy type of piece [that reveals] the passion in its making," says Coleman. As testament, the unstretched canvas bears footprints, sweat and spillage from drinks. "Martyr" is the artist's pick, but the other pieces merit attention as well.
Normally a loner, Coleman feels supercharged with the action/reaction interplay with collaborator Sesow.
WHERE TO SEE SOUL MINING
On view by appointment
Artists' closing reception 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9
Venue: Studio One Eight, 2452 18th St. NW, Washington
Tix: Free
Info: 703-862-2775; studiooneeight.com
[Handwritten: "DC Examiner" Sept. 2006]
Where this record comes from
- Matt Sesow press packet (photographed by Matt, 2026-10-18)
Cite as: Sesow, Matt. “The Examiner — Washington, DC.” Matt Sesow Career Chronicle, 2006. history.sesow.com/e/2006-examiner-making-the-scene-tierney.html. Accessed [date].
Were you there? Do you have a photo, a clipping or a memory of this? Please write to sesow@sesow.com or use Ask Matt a question, and it will be added here.
Also in 2006
- Media Artist Talk — Matt Sesow speaks about his art at George Washington University
- Exhibition “Don Giovanni,” Rebus Works, Raleigh, NC
- Press Molly Knight, DC Style Magazine
- Exhibition Two-Person Show — with Dana Ellyn
- Exhibition Two-Person Show — with Justin Kaufman
- Exhibition Two-Person Show — with J. Coleman
- Milestone Curated and created paintings from DC Street Banners for “Banners from the Fringe”
- Exhibition 24-hour mural painting — Washington, DC Fringe Festival
- Press “Fringe for the Eyes” — Washington Post Going Out Gurus, July 2006
- Press “24 Hours of Color” — Ward 2 News on the Fringe mural, 2006
- Exhibition “Cupidity,” Gallery Neptune, Washington, DC
- Exhibition Outsider Art in the Hamptons
- Exhibition “The Many Faces of Folk Art” — Hurn Museum of Contemporary Folk Art, Savannah
- Press Washington City Paper — “Remastered” Critic’s Pick
- Press Sacramento Bee — Critic’s Pick, Pamela Skinner Gallery Dog and Cat Group Show
- Press MSDC Magazine — “Art of War” article
- Press “The Pain Practitioner” Magazine
- Press “Ideas in Pictures” #5 — two drawings by Matt Sesow
- Press N&O Newspaper — Raleigh
- Press Days of Action, Calls For Peace
- Media Exit Clov CD covers — painting on two CD covers by DC band Exit Clov
- Milestone Paints in Morocco — Essaouira and Marrakech
- Exhibition Merrill-Jennings Galleries, Davidson, NC
- Exhibition “Art of War” — Studio One Eight, March 2006
- Press The Examiner, October 28, 2006 — “a loose collective of non-art-school visionaries”
- Press The News & Observer — Raleigh
- Exhibition Live painting — painted onstage and in the lobby during the Opera Company of North Carolina’s multimedia…
- Press Connect Savannah — “Faces of Folk” art review by Bertha Husband
- Exhibition “Remastered: Contemporary Interpretations of Classic Renaissance Masterworks,” Studio One Eight, 2452 18th St…