Cooperstown NY—Friday October 2 at 4PM the Art Garage will offer ‘ A Conversation between Matjames Metson and Marilynn Karp.’ Matjames Metson, a self-taught artist, will discuss his inventive work with established artist, Marilynn Karp. Both artists’ intriguing works are featured in the latest Art Garage exhibition, Surprising Unions. The gallery will open at 3:30. Reservations recommended (leartgarage@gmail.com or text 315-941-9607.) Off-street parking on the grounds is requested for public safety.

Matjames Metson spent his boyhood in Charlotteville and France, then lived in New Orleans for two decades until Katrina forced a move to Los Angeles. In LA he exhibited in numerous spaces including museums. He has only recently reestablished himself Upstate in Davenport. Each place he inhabits affects his aesthetic. His art is imbued with layers of meaning – memory, loss and more—by juxtaposing bits of society’s flotsam, such as anonymous old photographs, discarded materials and vintage lettering and texts. The finished objects develop their own identity and are always more than a summation of the individual parts.

 Metson’s choice of antique, found elements for his art is in part formed by his childhood in rural Charlotteville, where he grew up in a family of artists. Indeed he was surrounded by a community of artists, most drawn to the valley because of the legendary Ivan Karp, founder of OK Harris gallery in SoHo.

“I work as hard as I can every day,” he noted in a transcribed interview with George Adams. “The medium, the subject matter and the materials demand it. I work directly with time, memory, and ghosts. What I am doing is translating voices that are not being heard. Building homes for vanished things needing a place to settle. Creating safe areas designed to respect what may seem like such common items, yet items which hold an alarming resonance – a haunting if you will….My goal is to create sculpture that uses architecture, geometry and craftsmanship in balance with fine art.”

Marilynn Karp spends her summers in Charlotteville, NY where she and her late husband, the art world titan Ivan Karp, created a rural oasis, far from their busy New York City life. She is the director of the Museum of the History of Charlotteville that presents the history of the hamlet and its families in exquisitely researched detail. She also directs the Anonymous Arts Museum that occupies the ground floor of the same building. An art historian as well as an artist, MGK taught at New York University for 42 years; she is Professor Emeritus.

The exhibition will be on display through Saturday October 17. Also on display: Lavern Kelley’s two-sided works on paper in the Middle Bay gallery – a nod to Metson’s two-sided objects– and Nancy Pettibone and Louis Sherry in the MG Bay.

The Art Garage is open Saturdays 11-3 and welcomes visits every day: simply contact leartgarage@gmail.com or text 315-941-9607. Free admission.

The Art Garage has served the area 15 years with free curated exhibitions and public programs including demonstrations, talks, panel discussions and workshops, at 689 Beaver Meadow Road, Cooperstown. It exhibits works by local, regional and international artists, and hosted a two-week county-wide residency for Kenyan artist Adam Masava in 2022. The Art Garage also represents the estate of self-taught farmer artist, Lavern Kelley (1928-98). Watch Facebook/Instagram for periodic updates: @CooperstownArtGarage.