User:Mitzi.humphrey/Matt Lively

Matt Lively (1970 - ) Matt Lively is an American painter, muralist, and sculptor born and based in Richmond, Virginia, where he paints in a 140 year-old barn. Lively has said that he "paints canvases in a barn and murals in the world." Frequently used signature images in his art have been bees on cycles and floating sheep.

Education and teaching
Lively attended the Savannah School of Art and Design in Georgia and graduated with a degree in sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University. He teaches at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Studio School, and from Sept 6, 2015 - June 30, 2016, he did a time-lapse video of his painting of one of his BeeCycle series murals as part of ArtCycle (a participatory exhibition in the museum's Teaching Gallery).

Exhibitions
His exhibitions in Richmond have included a show at Virginia Commonwealth University's School of the Arts' Anderson Gallery with Diego Sanchez as juror, and a number of shows at Artspace, including an installation of Fable of the Transatlantic Tube Train, the 2001 and 2003 Think Small International Invitational Miniature Show, and in 2002 a solo show Super-Mom (Cels and production material from the animated film); His show Habitat was shown at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art. At one point he had exhibitions scheduled at the same time at art6 and Project Place at Plant Zero, both in Richmond.

Lively has done public art installations with his alter-ego pseudonym "Tim Harper". These give credit to real people as collaborators, but their contribution to the created work is to give permission to have their names used.

Awards and commissions
Matt Lively was the 2012 recipient of the Theresa Pollak Prize for Excellence in the Arts. Commissioned murals by Matt Lively include those for Dominion Energy, Capital One Financial,

In Norfolk, Virginia's Neon district, Lively painted a mural of 27 bees on cycles commissioned by Virginia MOCA.

In addition to commissioned art, Lively is entrepreneurial and known for his alter ego pseudonyms, which often combine aspects of his own many styles of creativity with the names of real people. Lively sells giclee print reproductions of some of his paintings and installations.

Biography
During the corona virus pandemic in March 2020, Lively announced a "virtual opening" online for a new exhibition, Beyond the Bicycles, at Glavé Kocen Gallery in Richmond. He has produced video documentaries, such as the The Dirtwoman Documentary at Movieland, The film focuses on the life of "Dirtwoman" Donnie Corker. It was produced by Jerry Williams and shown at the Virginia Film Festival. For the film Lively provided original tar-on-enamel illustrations to show Corker waiting in line at Governor Douglas Wilder’s inauguration.https://www.rvatattooarts.com/matt-lively/