Matthew Rangel

Matthew Rangel is a visual artist from the San Joaquin Valley of California. His work is focused on land-based artistic practice in which his creative research aims to link the natural to the human and embody the physical aspects of landscape through personal narrative.

Recently Matthew’s creative practice inspired a community arts initiative called The Kaweah Land and Arts Festival in Visalia California. This was brought about as a result of Matthew’s expression of the local landscape through his suite of prints a transect – Due East along with support and encouragement from influential scholars and community leaders. The festival includes a solo exhibit, symposium and outing which bring together a variety of artists, scholars, scientists and the local community to collaborate and celebrate the land and the people of the Kaweah landscape as well as discuss how the land inspires art.

Matthew attended the College of the Sequoias in Visalia, California and went on to receive a BFA in Drawing/Painting and Printmaking from California State University, Long Beach in 2005 followed by an MFA from the University of Alberta in 2008. His work has been featured among places such as the Art Gallery of Alberta, Highpoint Center for Printmaking , the Wildling Art Museum, the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, and The White House in Washington DC. Additionally, his work is among several notable public and private collections including the Los Angeles Printmaking Society, The University of Alberta’s Print Study Centre, the White House, and the Stonehouse Residency for Contemporary Arts. Recently, Matthew returned to the San Joaquin Valley where he and his wife Amie are currently drawing instructors at the College of the Sequoias.

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