Future of Matney Gallery and Featured Artists

NEW TRAJECTORIES, ENDURING VOICES: A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE OF THE MATNEY GALLERY AND THE ARTISTS FEATURED

“A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE” – EXHIBITION OVERVIEW (2022–2023) WITH ADDITIONAL WORKS

In December 2022, Matney Gallery unveiled A Glimpse Into the Future, a bold exhibition pairing landmark works from the past decade with newly acquired pieces to explore forward movement across mediums, borders, and generations. Curated by gallery director John Lee Matney, the show invited dialogue between “new and old pieces of art” to illuminate the gallery’s growth and “newest phase”l The installation brought together lenticular prints, traditional and transformative painting, photography, and sculpture, emphasizing that artistic evolution is possible not only through innovation but also through reflection on the past. As Matney described in the exhibition preview, “movement takes many forms. With the passage of time, art evolves, but evolution is also possible through past reflection’. This curatorial approach set the tone for a strategic shift at Matney Gallery toward programming that feels at home in a museum context, with rich layers of scholarship and storytelling.

Crucially, A Glimpse Into the Future was more than a year-end group show – it was a statement of intent. The juxtaposition of established voices and emerging talents mirrored Matney Gallery’s mission to connect regional narratives with global discourses. The opening reception drew both local enthusiasts and institutional observers, signaling that the Williamsburg-based gallery was stepping onto a broader stage. By uniting works that span time periods and cultural contexts, the exhibition fostered connections between a Southern U.S. art heritage and international contemporary art currents. This forward-looking mix positioned the gallery as a “laboratory for experimentation and research” where artists of different generations and origins could “continually evolve” through collaboration. In effect, the exhibition served as a microcosm of the gallery’s future trajectory: museum-aligned shows that pair scholarly depth with regional authenticity.

AN EVOLVING MISSION WITH AN INSTITUTIONAL FOCUS

Over the last few years, Matney Gallery’s programming and initiatives have increasingly reflected an institutional ethos, bridging academic and museum circles. Founded in 2010 in honor of Matney’s mother Linda, the gallery has “always been about more than art”, rooted in community and education. John Lee Matney, who spent years in the Athens, Georgia art scene, envisioned the gallery as a collaborative hub from the start. “We want to create a laboratory for experimentation and research for our artists where collaboration lets their work continually evolve,”Matney explained during the pandemic. This vision laid the groundwork for exhibitions like A Glimpse Into the Future, which are curated with an almost curatorial essay-like approach, drawing connections across time and theme.

Matney Gallery’s evolving mission is evident in its partnerships and audience engagement. The gallery frequently works with museum professionals, educators, and curators in shaping projects, embodying a consultancy model alongside traditional gallery functions. It has collaborated with academic institutions – for instance, hosting the William & Mary Senior Art Majors’ capstone show – and forged links between local college artists and established figures from outside the region. “We have reached out to local colleges such as Christopher Newport and William & Mary and brought their work in dialogue with artists from Athens,” Matney notes, emphasizing the importance of nurturing homegrown talent in conversation with broader art movements. Such efforts signal the gallery’s intent to serve not only private collectors but also institutional audiences like museums and universities, by providing content rich in context and cultural relevance.

The inclusion of artists such as Olga Tobreluts and Ivan Plusch—presented in collaboration with Deborah Colton Gallery—signals Matney Gallery’s expanding engagement with international voices and cross-institutional exchange. This partnership aligns with Colton Gallery’s broader artist roster, which includes conceptual photographers like Frank Rodick and influential painters such as Dick Wray, offering a curatorial dialogue that spans experimental media and generational legacies. Matney’s programming increasingly echoes the structure of a contemporary art museum, with catalog essays, artist interviews, and thematic exhibitions that encourage scholarly and public engagement. These efforts also complement the collecting priorities of institutions like the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, reinforcing the gallery’s role as a conduit between regional practice and wider contemporary currents. By connecting local narratives to artists and frameworks recognized by major museums, Matney Gallery positions itself as both a cultural incubator and a partner in larger conversations about the direction of contemporary ar

Below, we profile each of the featured artists from A Glimpse Into the Future, examining their artistic evolution, notable works (especially those shown at Matney), current projects, and how their visions align with the gallery’s mission of connecting enduring voices with new trajectories.

Brittainy Lauback, *Mello Yello*, 2012, 24 × 20 in | 61 × 50.8 cm, Edition of 15.

Brittainy Lauback – Chaos and Catharsis Through the Lens

Brittainy Lauback’s photography transforms the tumult of everyday life into moments of poignant clarity. “Not unlike the moment a cry gives way to a laugh,” Lauback’s work reflects “the emotionally chaotic reality that we experience daily.”Trained as a photographer (BFA, University of New Mexico; MFA, University of Georgia), she honed a keen eye for capturing unguarded human moments. Her imagery often finds sublimity in the mundane – a fleeting expression, a foggy morning street – inviting viewers to find catharsis in shared experience. Lauback’s photographs have garnered significant recognition in the Southern art scene, featured in major survey exhibitions like New Southern Photography at the Ogden Museum of Art in New Orleans, and Reckonings and Reconstructions: Southern Photography from the Do Good Fund, a traveling exhibition of contemporary Southern photographers. These showcases situate her alongside leading voices chronicling the changing cultural landscape of the American South.

Her film Please Enjoy, screened at the Linda Matney Fine Art Gallery and other venues, offers an intimate and nuanced meditation on vulnerability, anxiety, and self-awareness. The film blurs the boundary between documentary and performance, reflecting Lauback's continued interest in the construction of identity and the emotional undercurrents of daily life. Its layered and experimental style mirrors the raw immediacy of her still photography, expanding her visual language into time-based media.

In a later exhibit Lauback’s work served as a bridge between personal memory and collective history. Her photograph “Mello Yello” (2012) was shown in dialogue with newer pieces in The Portrait: Histories, Myths and Allegories.. The image’s intimate yet unvarnished portrayal of its subject encapsulates Lauback’s approach of finding beauty in vulnerability. Now based in Houston, Texas, Lauback continues to expand her practice: she has recently joined Matney Gallery’s roster and is actively working on projects that span regional identities and global themes. Her emotionally resonant work, rooted in Southern photographic traditions yet universally accessible, embodies the gallery’s aim to connect local narratives to broader human experiences.

Brittainy Lauback, *Precious,*, 24 × 20 in | 61 × 50.8 cm, Edition of 15.

Elizabeth Mead, Untitled Williamsburg 09, 2018-19,Paper, Tyvek, string / archival pigment print,4.5”x7”x6” / 15.25"x22" (left) and Eliot Dudik, Alligator Alley, Oregon Road (right)

Lauback’s practice forms part of a wider photographic and conceptual dialogue nurtured by Matney Gallery. Photographer Eliot Dudik has been featured in exhibitions such as Habitation and Installation / Works on Paper 2023, where his large-format landscapes explored the psychological presence of place. Likewise, Elizabeth Mead’s photographs of sculptural installations explore space, memory, and perception through poetic material gestures. Alongside Lauback’s emotionally charged imagery, these artists exemplify the gallery’s commitment to practices that deepen our understanding of regional experience and interior states—across both lens-based and spatial media

Frank Rodick – The Uncanny Image as Emotional Excavation

Frank Rodick’s psychologically charged photographic works explore the blurred terrain between memory, trauma, and identity. A Canadian artist whose images have been collected by institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Rodick is known for his emotionally intense process and layered digital compositions. Drawing inspiration from figures like Francis Bacon and Antonin Artaud, Rodick creates photographs that feel less like representations and more like manifestations of internal states.

Matney Gallery’s presentation of Rodick’s work, in collaboration with Deborah Colton Gallery, introduced his practice to new audiences in Virginia. One of his haunting pieces from the Human Remains series was recently acquired by a private collector on the Southside, reflecting a growing interest in emotionally complex, conceptually driven photography. This acquisition underscores the gallery’s mission to connect serious collectors with artists whose work challenges conventions while remaining deeply personal. Rodick’s inclusion in Matney’s orbit complements the gallery’s focus on lens-based media that investigates the self, aligning with broader currents in museum collecting and psychological portraiture.

Olga Tobreluts, *"Heart, "* Oil on Canvas - Geometric Abstraction, 2014-2015, 78 x 74 Inches

Olga Tobreluts – Pioneering Digital Visions Across Eras

A legendary figure in digital art, Olga Tobreluts brings a distinctly global and historical perspective to Matney Gallery’s programming. Born in 1970 in Russia, Tobreluts is celebrated as “a pioneer of the digital art movement in Russia” and a key member of the Neo-Academism group in St. Petersburg since the 1990s. Her multidisciplinary practice spans photography, video, painting, and sculpture, often blending classical imagery with cutting-edge techniques. In Tobreluts’ works, gods and heroes of antiquity are just as likely to appear as pixelated muses or lenticular apparitions. Recent pieces involve lenticular printing – images that morph or follow the viewer’s gaze – exemplifying her drive to make static art come alive with movement. This technical experimentation reflects an evolution from her early digital experiments to more recent explorations of perception and illusion. “The images she creates are printed in a specific way so that they either follow the viewer or morph from one object to another as the viewer moves around the piece,” notes Isabella Chalfant in a 2022 interview for Matney Gallery.

Olga Tobreluts, Russian, b. 1970, *Modernization II*, 2002-printed 2012, Kodak Metallic Print Edition, 47 1/5 × 55 1/10 in, 119.9 × 140 cm, Edition of 5

**Olga Tobreluts,** *Fountain,* 2018, Lenticular Panel, 38.5 x 23.5 Inches

**Olga Tobreluts.** *Nimfa,* 2018, Master Edition 1/3 copy 10, Stereo-Vario, 40 Inch Diameter

**Olga Tobreluts,** *Amphibious Dollar,* 2014 - 2015, Oil on Canvas, 78 x 74 Inches

Tobreluts’s work often fuses classical sculpture with digital animation, a testament to her Neo-Academist roots and futuristic inclinations. Such pieces were highlights of Matney Gallery’s A Glimpse Into the Future, where Olga represents the digital age of art. Her presence in Williamsburg was a coup for the gallery’s new trajectory; Tobreluts has held solo exhibitions at major museums worldwide, from the Tate Modern in London to the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. Her works are part of prestigious collections including MoMA (New York) and the V&A (London. By featuring Tobreluts, Matney Gallery connected local audiences to global contemporary discourse. Currently, Olga Tobreluts maintains studios in St. Petersburg, Berlin, and Italy. Despite geopolitical challenges, she continues to create and exhibit internationally – in recent years her work has been showcased in Berlin and she was featured in exhibitions curated by Matney that introduced her digital baroque style to American collectors in Virginia.. Tobreluts’s enduring voice, which bridges the classical past and the digitized future, aligns perfectly with Matney Gallery’s mission of scholarship-driven programming with worldwide reach.

Ivan Plusch – Post-Soviet Narratives in Paint and Space

Ivan Plusch (b. 1981) emerged from the vibrant St. Petersburg art scene as part of the Nepokorennie “Unconquered” collective, and has since become a vital voice in post-Soviet contemporary art. A painter and sculptor, Plusch is of the generation that “were still children at the time of the fall of the USSR,” and his work poignantly registers the sociological and emotional upheavals of that eral. Plusch’s paintings often appear to melt or ooze, with figures and environments dissolving into flowing pigment – a visual metaphor for the “boundary state between existence and non-existence” that he seeks to capture. “The main question I explore is the existential being of the modern human on the border between the current reality and the reality of new media and technology,” Plusch explains, describing a world where humanity gradually “disappears” into artificial environments To embody time’s passage, he literally lets paint run and sag on the canvas, collaborating with gravity in what he calls a “dance” between artist and materiall. This unique technique invites viewers to contemplate change and impermanence.

In A Glimpse Into the Future, Plusch’s canvases – such as his “Effect” series of 2018 – resonated with themes of memory and transformation, complementing Tobreluts’s digital works in the same gallery space, The inclusion of Plusch, “a young artist from the rising Russian scene”, underscored Matney’s commitment to international dialogue. Now based in Budapest, Ivan Plusch continues to exhibit globally: he has recently shown new series like Solaris (2024) and Shadows from Tears(2023) in solo exhibitions in Moscow and Berlin. In 2024, Matney Gallery itself hosted Current Midtown, a special exhibition of Plusch and Tobreluts in a collaborative venue, signaling ongoing support for his work. Plusch’s paintings and installations, which play with Soviet-era iconography and futuristic imagery, question “the relationship between man and his environment” in a rapidly changing world.. His practice not only enriches Matney Gallery’s curatorial narrative of linking regional and global perspectives, but also provides an exemplar of the gallery’s scholarly, forward-looking bent – investigating history, politics, and technology through avant-garde art.

Rebecca Shkeyrov, *The Painter as Keeper,* 2023, Private Colleciton

Rebecca Shkeyrov – Radiant Symbols and Diasporic Imagination

A Korean-American artist raised in Virginia and now based in Paris, Rebecca Shkeyrov constructs vivid visual worlds where memory and mythology intersect. Working primarily in painting, Shkeyrov uses “vibrant colors and geometric structures in figures and spaces”, adopting a formalist approach to explore surreal narratives of self-identity and heritage, Her compositions often feature floating archetypal motifs – houses, suns, angels – that recur across canvases like characters in an evolving personal cosmology.These symbols, drawn from her cultural inheritance and subconscious, “resist singular interpretation”, instead inviting viewers to linger in ambiguity. Critics have described her paintings as feeling both intimate and mythic: “offering entry points into landscapes shaped as much by feeling as by form,” with layered fields of saturated blues and reds creating a dreamlike suspension.

Rebecca Shkeyrov, **if felt, then real,** 36”x48”x1.5”, Oil on canvas, ,2023 (left) and Rebecca Shkeyrov, **If seen, then real,,** 36”x30”x1”, Oil on canvas, 2023

Shkeyrov is a 2020 graduate of William & Mary (Studio Art and Art History), and her dual grounding in practice and scholarship shines through in her work. She has quickly built an exhibition record across the U.S., with recent shows in New York, Ohio, Maryland and her native Virginia. At Matney Gallery, Shkeyrov was first featured in the 2022 A Glimpse Into the Future exhibition and later given her own spotlight. In 2023, the gallery mounted Kept Under Her Wing, a solo show spanning several years of Shkeyrov’s work. One notable piece, Two Mothers, exemplifies her diasporic sensibility: its composition navigates “matrilineal memory, Korean symbolism, and generational loss”, forming an atmosphere “charged with feeling and absence alike,” rather than a literal narrativel This poetic approach aligns with the gallery’s emphasis on depth and story. “Her canvases hum quietly, insistently, asking viewers to trust what is felt more than what is seen,” wrote Matney Gallery’s Isabella Chalfant, highlighting Shkeyrov’s resistance to the spectacle of the contemporary art world

Now an artist-in-residence in Paris, Rebecca Shkeyrov continues to develop work that bridges continents and cultures. She recently participated in The Portrait: Histories, Myths, and Allegories (2024) at Matney Gallery, and her paintings have begun entering private collections that appreciate their narrative richness. By fostering Shkeyrov’s growth – from local student to internationally active painter – Matney Gallery exemplifies its mentorship mission. Her art, deeply rooted in personal and collective history yet presented in a contemporary, symbolic form, reinforces the gallery’s role as a conduit between regional talent and global discourse.

Lee Matney, *Still Life , Home of Jeremy Ayers*, 1994( left) and Lee Matney, *Jeremy Ayers and Globe*, 1994

John Lee Matney – Photographer, Curator, and Visionary Connector

Though primarily known as the gallery’s owner and curator, John Lee Matney (often simply “Lee Matney”) is also an artist in his own right, whose photographic endeavors and artistic vision underpin the gallery’s direction. A Virginia native who spent formative years in Athens, GA, Matney has a background in fine art photography and multimedia art. His own work reflects an ethnographic curiosity and a reverence for cultural storytelling—a sensibility that carries into the gallery’s program. As an artist, Matney has explored themes of spirituality and nature; as a curator, he channels those interests into exhibitions that blend art with anthropology and history. His photographs have been exhibited regionally, and he often includes his imagery in gallery projects. (The Lee Matney Photographs series, for instance, shares his lens on Southern landscapes and folk icons.)

However, Lee Matney’s most significant artistic “work” may be the gallery itself—a living art project he has shaped over a decade and a half. He has established a research-based contemporary gallery that develops thematic group shows and collaborative art projects with international and American artists, corporate and private patrons, curators, professors, and students. His dual role as artist-curator allows him to mentor emerging talents and juxtapose established artists in innovative ways. In doing so, Matney has become a specialist in “Southern figurative and contemporary Southern art, photography, European contemporary, and art associated with Virginia colleges,” as one description of the gallery notes.

Under his leadership, the gallery’s curatorial projects—including A Glimpse Into the Future—often feel like extensions of his artistic ethos: blending scholarly rigor, community engagement, and creative experiment. Lee Matney’s commitment to curating exhibitions and mentoring innovative emerging artists, as well as furthering the careers of established national and international artists, is the engine driving Matney Gallery’s enduring voice. In essence, his artistic evolution—from a photographer of culture to a cultivator of cultural dialogue—embodies the gallery’s mission of forging new trajectories while honoring enduring voices.

Lee Matney, College Square, Athens GA, 2025

Art Rosenbaum – A Southern Visionary Bridging Music, Memory, and Myth

The late Art Rosenbaum (1938–2022) remains one of the South’s most significant multi-disciplinary artists, celebrated equally for his visual art and his role as a folklorist, musician, and chronicler of vanishing American traditions. A long-time professor at the University of Georgia and a visual storyteller with deep empathy, Rosenbaum's paintings and drawings captured the emotional depth of folk culture, myth, and Southern daily life. His works often feel like living murals—layered with allegory, memory, and musicality. Many of his compositions merge past and present, sometimes incorporating gospel, blues, and political commentary into the visual language of narrative figuration.

At Matney Gallery, Art Rosenbaum was honored in multiple exhibitions, including A Glimpse Into the Future, where his work was positioned as a foundational voice—a bridge between enduring traditions and the evolving mission of the gallery. His large-scale canvases and intimate drawings underscore the richness of regional storytelling while opening it to universal interpretation. A 2008 recipient of the Grammy Award for Best Historical Album for Art of Field Recording, Rosenbaum’s dual legacy as a painter and musicologist made him uniquely attuned to the rhythms and rituals of Southern life.

Margo Newmark Rosenbaum, Doc and Lucy Barnes, Photograph

Margo Newmark Rosenbaum – Documenting Folk Culture and Beyond

Based in Athens, Georgia, Margo Newmark Rosenbaum stands as a celebrated photographer (and musician) whose career interweaves art and ethnography. Born in 1939, Margo studied painting and drawing in the fine art academies of San Francisco and Iowa in the 1960s. But it was after marrying the late Art Rosenbaum – the famed painter and folklorist – that Margo found her muse in documentary photography. Moving to Georgia in 1976, she spent decades alongside Art trekking through rural communities to record disappearing folk traditions. Margo’s camera lovingly captured “folk musicians as [Art] recorded their performances,” yielding an archive of images that are as important anthropologically as they are artistically. One of her iconic photographs, Doc and Lucy Barnes with Kids Singing (1977), is now in Georgia’s State Art Collection, attesting to its cultural significancel. These black-and-white portraits of blues singers, gospel choirs, and old-time fiddlers radiate with humanity and historical importance – aligning with Matney Gallery’s appreciation for art that tells a larger story.

Margo Newmark Rosenbaum, Robert Wilson and Mirror, Iowa City, Photograph

In later years, Newmark Rosenbaum expanded her scope, experimenting with large-scale digital photography. In 2010, she and Art exhibited new works featuring images from their travels in Ecuador and Japan. Margo’s recent digital prints often carry the same curiosity and empathy as her earlier work, but with vibrant color and global subject matter. At Matney Gallery, Margo Rosenbaum’s photographs have been a cornerstone linking past and present. The gallery’s 2021 exhibition Art and Margo Rosenbaum (shortly before Art’s passing in 2022) showcased Margo’s intimate portraits of art-world figures like Willem de Kooning and James Baldwin, alongside her paintings and collaborative projects.In A Glimpse Into the Future, her presence represented the enduring voices aspect of the show – grounding the exhibition in a continuity of storytelling across generations. Even as she enters her eighties, Margo remains active: her work was highlighted in Matney’s Hidden Narratives series and she continues to be honored for preserving the soul of Southern culture through art. Rosenbaum’s oeuvre reinforces the gallery’s mission by connecting regional heritage (the “wellspring of local talent and lore) to the broader art narrative, ensuring that folk voices are heard in contemporary contexts.

*Teddy Johnson, Valley*, Acrylic on panel, 8.5x12(left) and *Teddy Johnson, From the Shade*, Acrylic on panel, 8x5x12in (right)

Teddy Johnson – Portals Between Place and Memory

Teddy Johnson’s paintings explore the psychological and symbolic dimensions of space—moving between landscapes, architectural forms, and metaphorical environments. Featured in A Glimpse Into the Future and later in his solo exhibition PORTALS: Interior Worlds and Italian Landscapes at Midtown Row, Johnson’s work pairs plein-air views of the Italian countryside with more allegorical compositions drawn from personal experience. These include imagined scenes with recurring symbolic figures—such as giant rabbits and depictions of his son—that blur the line between dream, narrative, and place.

A graduate of MICA and the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art, Johnson brings both formal discipline and intuitive exploration to his practice. Currently a professor and gallery director in Maryland, he combines teaching, curation, and painting with a strong emphasis on community dialogue. At the Midtown Row reception, Johnson reflected on the role of memory and parenthood in his creative process, offering insight into the layered meaning within his work.

His inclusion in Matney Gallery’s program reflects the gallery’s commitment to artists who use symbolism and structure to access deeper emotional and cultural themes. Johnson’s work—collected privately and exhibited internationally—embodies the kind of reflective, cross-disciplinary approach that defines Matney Gallery’s evolving focus: art that bridges the personal and the collective, grounded in observation but open to wonder.

Ryan Lytle – Fiber Sculptures Animating Myth and Identity

Ryan Lytle’s art brings a playful yet profound dimension to Matney Gallery’s roster, through sculptural works that fuse craft, fantasy, and self-exploration. A Hampton Roads, Virginia native (B.A., Christopher Newport University ’15; MFA, Maryland Institute College of Art), Lytle is known for large-scale needle-felted sculptures that draw on animal symbolism and totemic imagery. “Lytle has had a lifelong fascination with animals, their myths, and archetypes,” notes one museum curator, a fascination clearly reflected in his menagerie of wool and mixed-media creations. One of his signature series involves constructing busts or masks of creatures (rabbits, foxes, hybrids) out of colorful stuffed animals and textiles. These works use a pop-culture sense of humor – plush toys and bright fabrics – to address deeper themes of identity and childhood memory. “Richmond-based artist Ryan Lytle ’15 draws from animal symbolism to speak to audiences through his large, needle felted sculptures,” wrote Jane Heeter in a CNU alumni profilecnu.edu. By reinterpreting animal totems as vehicles for self-exploration, Lytle creates art that is immediately engaging yet rich in metaphor.

“Rupert” (2019) by Ryan Lytle. Constructed from assorted plush animals and wool, this sculpture exemplifies Lytle’s inventive use of fiber and found objects to form hybrid creature totems. Lytle’s work first appeared at Matney Gallery in the Current Art Fair 2019 showcase. and later in group exhibitions like Nudes: A Contemporary View. In A Glimpse Into the Future, his fantastical sculptures stood out as embodiments of “movement through materials” – transforming soft, familiar materials into structured art – and bridging generational perspectives by referencing childhood objects in sophisticated commentary. Currently an adjunct professor of art, Lytle continues to gain institutional recognition. In 2021 he helped inaugurate the new Torggler Fine Arts Center with his work, and in 2024 he participated in Dollhaus at the Barry Art Museum (Norfolk), designing an imaginative fiber-art “room” installationr.. Ryan Lytle’s trajectory – from local art student to an emerging museum-exhibiting sculptor – underscores Matney Gallery’s role in elevating regional emerging artists onto larger platforms. His whimsical yet thought-provoking sculptures resonate with the gallery’s aim to captivate both private collectors and institutional curators by merging the accessible with the conceptual.

Soyeon Cho, *The Moment*, Mixed media, 2022

Soyeon Cho – Capturing the Chaos and Stillness of the Present

Soyeon Cho’s sculptural installations suspend the viewer between wonder and contemplation, capturing moments that exist simultaneously in chaos and harmony. A new artist with Matney Gallery, Cho’s The Moment (2022) encapsulates this duality through a dynamic assemblage of wire, found objects, and mirrors. The work features a golden birdcage from which a vivid cloud of tangled red, blue, and yellow wire seems to spill into the space below. Embedded within this swirl are unexpected textures: shards of blue glass, clusters of beads, and organic forms that seem to vibrate with life.

Mirrors affixed to the cage reflect the room and its spectators, integrating the environment into the sculpture’s meaning. “Enjoy the moment” is a common saying, but to enjoy a moment, one must appreciate every aspect,” Cho notes. Her piece embraces this philosophy, acknowledging both the joy and disorder inherent in each fleeting second. While The Moment occupies only a modest space, it resonates with emotional intensity. It reflects Cho’s larger practice, which often expands to fill entire galleries, engulfing viewers in immersive explorations of memory, perception, and physical space. Her use of vibrant materials and suspended forms creates environments that are at once fantastical and deeply personal.

Cho’s inclusion in Matney Gallery's evolving program signals a growing interest in immersive installation and international voices. The Moment is a testament to her ability to crystallize emotion into physical space, and positions her as a compelling new voice in the gallery’s unfolding narrative.

Scott Belville in Temporal Distortions, 2013 (left) Scott Belville, 2018, The Great Divide, Acrylic and oil on panel, 30 × 24 in (right)

Scott Belville, *Rocking,* 2019, Oil on panel, 22.2 x21.

Scott Belville – Southern Painting’s Statesman with a Contemporary Edge

With a career spanning four decades, Scott Belville brings a wealth of experience and acclaim to any exhibition he’s part of. Raised and educated in Georgia, Belville is Professor Emeritus of painting at the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art. He earned his MFA in 1977 and swiftly became a fixture in the Southeastern art scene and beyond. Belville’s paintings—often narrative in feel if not explicitly in subject—have been showcased in solo exhibitions at venues such as P.S.1 in New York and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. In the 1980s and ’90s he showed in notable New York galleries (Jus de Pomme, Monique Knowlton) as well as important regional museums (Greenville County Museum, Delaware Art Museum), reflecting a rare crossover appeal. Throughout his career, Belville has been recognized with two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships among other honors. His work is represented in significant public collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MOCA GA)l, cementing his status as a key voice in contemporary Southern art.

At Matney Gallery, Scott Belville’s presence connects the gallery to this wider art historical context. In A Glimpse Into the Future, Belville’s work offered enduring voice: paintings that carry the weight of Southern storytelling and academic rigor, yet still speak to present-day themes. While his style has evolved over time, Belville often infuses scenes of everyday life with subtle surreal or psychological elements—bridging realism and concept. For example, in his paintings one might find a quiet domestic interior rendered with the calm of Edward Hopper, but upon closer look, an uncanny detail or distortion invites deeper inquiry. This mix of accessibility and depth is exactly what Matney Gallery prizes. Belville’s recent involvement with the gallery includes exhibitions like Art House on City Square and Temporal Distortions: Artists Working in the Contemporary South, where his work was shown alongside younger artists, exemplifying the intergenerational dialogue Matney fosters. Now in his seventies, Belville continues to create and occasionally exhibit; his mentorship of younger artists (as a longtime professor) dovetails with Matney’s mentorship mission. By profiling Scott Belville, Matney Gallery links the region’s contemporary art back to its educational and creative roots, underscoring that today’s new trajectories are built upon the foundation of yesterday’s masters.

Benjamin Rouse – Alchemy of Light, Pressure, and Ephemeral Moments

Benjamin Rouse is an American artist whose work occupies a poetic intersection of photography and printmaking, exploring themes of entropy, time, and emotional transparency. Though self-taught and working from his home studio in Athens, GA, Rouse has developed a distinctive practice that the gallery world has begun to notice. He creates “dreamlike photographs through analog techniques and experiments in blind embossing,” marrying two processes that capture moments in unconventional ways. On one hand, Rouse’s atmospheric photographs harness light to freeze instants – often scenes of nature or abstract details – in a manner that evokes memory and impermanence. On the other hand, his blind embossings (prints made by pressure without ink) physically imprint moments onto paper, resulting in ghostly, tactile images. “Although they appear dissimilar on the surface, in many ways they are the same,” Rouse says of photography and embossing. “A photograph captures a moment with light, whereas embossing captures a moment with pressure".” Both media, in his hands, become metaphors for the invisible forces that shape our lives.

Conclusion

“New Trajectories, Enduring Voices” perfectly encapsulates Matney Gallery’s dual commitment to innovation and tradition as it charts its future. The exhibition A Glimpse Into the Future was a milestone that announced a more museum-aligned, narrative-rich direction for the gallery – one that situates Virginia’s regional art narratives within the global contemporary art conversation. Each featured artist contributes a distinct voice to this conversation: from Brittainy Lauback’s emotionally charged photography and film, to Olga Tobreluts’s digital reimagining of classical ideals, to Ivan Plusch’s existential examinations of a changing society. Rebecca Shkeyrov’s symbolic canvases and Ryan Lytle’s imaginative sculptures exemplify how younger generations carry forward cultural dialogues in new forms. Seasoned figures like Margo Rosenbaum and Scott Belville root the gallery in a rich legacy of Southern art and lore, even as Benjamin Rouse and Art Rosenbaum point toward experimental and deeply reflective horizons in image-making.

This dynamic interplay of past, present, and future is carefully orchestrated by John Lee Matney, whose vision – part curator, part artist – ensures that Matney Gallery remains a space of learning and discovery. As Matney once said, “the gallery also offers art curating for museum exhibitions and art investment consulting,” blending roles to create a fertile environment for art to flourish. Collectors (both private and institutional) are taking note of the gallery’s scholarship-driven approach, which provides not just artworks for acquisition but also context and insight. By hosting artist interviews, publishing thoughtful essays, and crafting thematic shows, Matney Gallery appeals to those who seek meaning and connection in art. In doing so, it has positioned itself as a cultural beacon in Williamsburg – a place where a local story can be understood in a global language, and where enduring artistic voices are given a platform to chart new trajectories for years to come.

Jill Carnes, Midnight Owl, 2024, Drawing( right( and Steve Prince, Ubuntu, Baldwin’s House, 2024, Linoleum Cut

Addendum: Steve Prince and Jill Carnes — Extending the Vision

As Matney Gallery continues to shape its institutional trajectory, the practices of Steve Prince and Jill Carnes stand as vital continuations of the gallery’s curatorial mission. Both artists have been featured in The Portrait: Histories, Myths and Allegories and Installation / Works on Paper 2023, and their works reflect the gallery’s commitment to memory, myth, and movement across time.

Steve Prince brings a powerful blend of social commentary and communal healing through works like Ubuntu: Baldwin’s House, The Block, and On the Line. His large-scale linocuts and public murals—most recently at Midtown Row—translate African American histories into visionary allegories rooted in resilience and collective memory. Prince’s presence reinforces the gallery’s role as a site of scholarship, justice, and generational storytelling.

Jill Carnes, by contrast, offers an intimate counterpoint through symbolic drawings and fiber works such as Midnight Owl, Tree of Life, and Two Birds Talking About the Old Days. Drawing from Southern folk traditions and her own lexicon of recurring imagery, Carnes builds quietly mythic worlds that bridge the personal and universal. Her upcoming mural and workshop initiatives further connect her intuitive practice with community engagement.

Together, Prince and Carnes embody the spirit of A Glimpse into the Future—artists who honor tradition while forging new paths, anchoring Matney Gallery’s evolving vision with enduring voice and imaginative force.