Matthew Terrell

Atlanta

February-June 2017

A public art exhibition in partnership with AIDS Healthcare Foundation and The National Center for Civil and Human Rights. This publicly-accessible sculpture sat on a hill above a busy intersection in downtown Atlanta. Using CDC data, the numbers were updated every week with a new projection of how many people in metro Atlanta were living with an HIV diagnosis.

This work generated extensive conversation about HIV, and the artist’s role in presenting such sensitive issues. Included were an NPR interview, a story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a feature in ArtsATL, a scathing review in the queer zine Wussy, and praise on TV news.

“Atlanta’s HIV+ Population Now” was so polarizing, that it spawned a protest exhibit called “More Than a Number,” also held at The National Center for Civil and Human Rights.

To download a grant report for this project and its impact, click here.

San Francisco

2018

Every year for Harvey Milk’s birthday, the Castro Merchants Association in San Francisco arranges an art walk where artists transform storefront windows with creative portraits of the late gay rights leader.

For the 2018 edition, I installed a portrait of Harvey Milk made out of reflective window tint. Below his image was the word “HERO.” By seeing their image in Harvey Milk’s face, viewers are reminded of how they are part of Milk’s legacy. Everyone sees themselves as a hero carrying on his work.

Violet Chachki, a queen born and raised in the gay city of Atlanta, won Rupaul’s Drag Race in 2015. I watched Violet come up through the clubs in Atlanta, and was so proud to see her snatch the crown!

This photographic series was first produced for Huffington Post, and documents Violet’s transition from boyface into full drag makeup.

Atlanta

2017

A documentary produced especially for Out On Film, the Atlanta LGBTQ film festival. “The American Music Show” (TAMS) was a queer public access show on the Atlanta airwaves for nearly 30 years. This supercut documentary tells the story of the TAMS founders, and traces their lives as their careers are launched (like RuPaul) and they leave Atlanta. Interspersed throughout the documentary were images and maps of the current location of these videos which were shot decades ago in a much less developed Atlanta.

To read a review of this show at Wussy, a local queer ‘zine, click here.

To download a ‘zine produced especially for this screening, click here.

Atlanta

2014

I went on a research bender, reading and consuming everything I could about Keith Haring. The iconic 80s pop and street artist inspires me, and informs my work as a contemporary gay artist. Keith Haring paved the way for me to be out and to celebrate queer identity through my work.

In Keith Haring’s diaries, there was one notation I became obsessed with: Mural, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1988

I set out to figure out what became of that mural. Eventually, I found the lone remaining fragment, and I helped return it to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, so kids can see and enjoy it every day.

My story in Huffington Post about finding the fragment went viral. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution featured my story on their cover, and I was written up in The Georgia Voice and Project Q.

Steamboat Springs, Colorado

2018

Images printed largescale as silk tapestries

Includes 1 45-foot-long photo on vinyl

On the top of Storm Peak, my 1979 Pentax K1000 film camera needs as much bundling up as I do. The old gears of the camera don't work so well below 0 degrees Fahrenheit, so my camera stays wrapped up with hand warmers. I buy double the anti-fog cloths, because my goggles and my camera lens both need them. Shooting on 35 mm film while skiing requires a lot of care for myself and my equipment (navigating through the trees while carrying a 15-pound medium format camera can be a clumsy challenge), but the rewards are delightful. These analogue images from the mountain capture a timeless quality, and give Steamboat's slopes that classic appeal that has made it so popular for generations.

When I shoot, I use a double-exposure process that creates images evocative of Surrealist painting, Dada sculpture, and fantasy film. All of the images are constructed completely in camera—no computer-controlled trickery needed to capture these other-worldly compositions. To do this I expose, rewind, and reshoot rolls of film without knowing what images are being combined. This randomized process allows odd and unusual images to come forward. Bodies grow out of trees, buildings hide faces in their facade, and colors buzz against each other to heighten the images. Long strips of film reveal a narrative of time and place, and show my progression on the slopes. These movie-like photographs are printed with the marks of the film apparent—frame breaks, sprocket holes, and film codes structure the images.

The feature image of “Children of Winter” is a 45-foot-long photograph that documents a day skiing. The single double-exposed image weaves in and out of the various parts of a great day on the slopes, starting in the gondola, going down the slopes, and ending on the edge of the mountain. Entitled “Happy Hour”, this photograph wraps around the walls of Urbane. Other images in the show include single frames of double-exposed film, enlarged and printed on fabric. These tapestries are meant to be displayed on large walls, and are lightweight and transportable—the perfect one-of-a-kind memento from Steamboat Springs.

Over the years, I've had the privilege of photographing the natural beauty of Steamboat Springs ski resort, and have fallen in love with the slopes and the city. The locals have been incredibly welcoming, as well as supportive of my artwork. Many thanks to the folks at Urbane for seeing my vision for this show.

This show was featured by Steamboat Pilot.

7 Stages annual theatre festival

Atlanta

May 4-14, 2017

Curated by Michael Haverty, seven local ensembles and artists create original and interactive performances hidden in and around the building to represent and redefine queer culture.

For this festival, I presented four short films I made as part of my MFA thesis. This series, called “TEA” examine the relationship between technology and sexuality, and show the ways in which relationships and our bodies are influenced by the media devices we use.

Interspersed between these films were selected clips from “The American Music Show,” an iconic queer Atlanta public access television show.

From ArtsATL: Short films by Matthew Terrell are certainly some of the strongest and most memorable work in the show, but, by nature, film is too static for this particular setting, and the aesthetic of the films themselves — stark, personal, autobiographical, narrative, confessional — seems somehow at odds with the more performative, fantastical and imagistic strategies of Curious Queer Encounter’s other pieces.

120 mm film shots of the Chihuly show at Atlanta Botanical Garden in 2016. Playing with colored filters here to "paint" my photographs

For Art Paper Magazine

Atlanta

2014

Experimental documentary film about Derrida’s first English-language interview, and the botched recording of it. Slide stills of the interview are projected over the only two people who were there: Lucinda Bunnen and Jerry Cullum.

No Cameras:

A peek inside the Clermont Lounge--Atlanta's most famous and notorious strip club. Blondie, the reigning queen of Atlanta strippers, presides over her domain. Barbie and Candy are there, too.

whitespec gallery, Atlanta, 2016

35 mm film-based photography that uses a double-exposure process to create images evocative of filmstrips. The surrealist-inspired double-exposure process creates fantastical images where bodies, flowers, architecture, and graphics collapse into strange new forms.

Photo show produced for Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Florida. October 2013. 

This series captures the scenic and kitschy communities along Florida’s Treasure Coast. The human presence is removed from the images as to give them a “captured in amber” effect.  

Magnet — The Castro clinic for San Francisco AIDS Foundation

San Francsico

2015

Every time I go to San Francisco, I wake up each morning and ask myself “What happened to me yesterday, and was that all real?” The city is so incredibly hedonistic you can't help but enjoy all the sex, booze, and drugs lobbed your way. My memories of San Francisco become blurs of beautiful men and back alley bars at night, blossoming flowers and bustling neighborhoods during the day. I wanted to capture this strange dichotomy, and find the connections between all contrasting worlds of San Francisco.

This show was featured art exhibit in The Advocate.

Read a review of this show in the queer ‘zine “Beautiful Magazine.”

In 2013, I traveled to San Francisco for the first time to photograph a drag queen funeral. Jose Julio Sarria was the first gay man to run for public office (he lost), a full decade before Harvey Milk ran and won. Sarria founded The Imperial Court System, an international LGBTQ advocacy organization run by drag queens.

As per Sarria’s last request, mourners were to cover themselves in black clothes, wear their biggest hair, and have a veil covering their face.

Included in this project was a story in Huffington Post about the funeral, including a personal photographic essay.

35mm film snapshots

2012-Present

Drag represents the pinnacle of artistic achievement. This is more than putting on a wig and shaking your hips for dollar bills. Drag is performance, fashion, dance, drama, painting, and even sculpture. Drag encapsulates all forms of art. Drag is everything.