Cut from the Same Cloth

Matt Katsaros

RECEPTION SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 6-9pm
Through July 16

Artist Statement
Jonathan Gold, the first food critic to win the Pulitzer Prize, once said of his native Los Angeles that it is an “anti-melting pot – less a melting pot but a great, glittering mosaic.” Cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco provide an urban backdrop where the idea of a multicultural melting pot is rejected and, instead, a “glimmering mosaic” can emerge. Countless new ideas in art, food, architecture and everything in-between emerge not just from the individual pieces that produce these mosaics, but, as Gold says when “huge numbers of multiple cultures that live in the city come together in this beautiful and haphazard fashion, the fault lines between them is sometimes where you find the most beautiful things.” This image conjured from this glittering mosaic metaphor is one that feels familiar as you drive the avenues of the Outer Sunset. Repetition and patterns emerge as pass rows of identical Doelger homes varying only in the tinting of their salt-faded colors.

In this window installation, Matt Katsaros explores this metaphor through quilted sculptures constructed from fabric dyed mostly using local plant materials. The central sculpture, dressed in a quilt of repeating patterns, shapes, and colors is made in response to the last eight years living in the Outer Sunset. This piece invites viewers to peek into its hull where a video can be seen displaying archival images of locations across the Sunset from the 2018 project “Collective Geographies” by artist Kelley O’Leary.

About the Artist
Matt Katsaros is an artist working in textiles, dyeing, printing, and sculpture out of (until one month ago) his home and garage studio in the Outer Sunset of San Francisco. His work uses color, repetition, and improvisation to explore how rigid structures and patterns can transform to something entirely unique and playful with only slight interventions. Katsaros’ work has been shown at BAMPFA, Irving Street Projects, the General Store, and the Perish Trust.
 

About the Video Images
Artist Kelley O’Leary created  “Collective Geographies” as a part of her 2018 residency at Irving Street Projects where she combined both digital and analog research methods to map the Outer Sunset in a way that re-inserted the emotion and personal experience that maps never capture. For Collective Geographies, O’Leary invited the public to contribute memories associated with a street address in the Outer Sunset; each locale was added to a large-scale collage in the gallery, and each memory was transcribed in a set of corresponding cards for visitors to explore. This project also lives as a book that is available for purchase (inquire within). Matt Katsaros would like to thank Kelley for creating this project and for the generosity and openness to including the archival images in this show.

Artist Links

Website mattkatsaros.com/

Instagram @matt_kat_studios