MatGleason profile picture

MatGleason

Bohemian Tightrope Walker

About Me


"What Matters Most is how well you walk thru the fire..."
. . . . . . . .- - Charles Bukowski
Mat Gleason, a maverick LA art critic, is insufferably cynical, always "on" with a glib comment.
-Phillip Kennicot, Washington Post, Feb.3, 2002
...the famously provocative Los Angeles art critic...
-Stephen Kinzer, New York Times, August 20, 2001, Pg. 1 (below the fold)
Mat Gleason has a keen eye for quality and authenticity, ferocious wit and an intimate knowledge of the jungle.
-Julian Stallabrass in his book Art Incorporated, The Story of Contemporary Art (Oxford University Press, 2005)

Google me if you care or dare...
Do you subscribe to Coagula Art Journal ? You should, it is California's largest circulation magazine of Contemporary Art. I'm the founder and publisher.
I am the primary author of Coagula's 1998 anthology Most Art Sucks which is a good read for a 200 page book with lots of pictures.
In the time-honored tradition of narcissists and seekers everywhere, I recently self-published a selection of poems from when I was a drunk If You Speak the Truth They Will Deny You that is as close to a tale of redemption that I could ever tell.
The Catholic damage is abating by the way.... funny how one can be a recovering subtance abuser, and a recovering catholic, but you're reborn anew as a pu nk rocker the second those first chords of a Cl@sh song come thru the speakers...

My Interests

Contemporary Art, Baseball, Astrology, Poker

I'd like to meet:

"There is nobody alive I would pay forty dollars to see, and very few dead people."
--My Dad, 1985
(upon learning my younger brother had paid $40 for a scalped Motley Crue ticket)

Music:

Joy Division, X, Bob Dylan, Smiths, Morrissey, Miles Davis, Leonard Cohen, The Clash, Lou Reed, Velvet Underground, John Lydon, ja zz, pu nk, devo too!

Movies:

Alm0dovar, Cuckoo's Nest, No Country, All About My Mother, Bullets Over Broadway is the most underrated film about the nature of art and the creative process that has ever been made.

Television:

I might buy a television in 2008

Books:

I write books.

Heroes:

Chester Alan Arthur, Carlos Almaraz, Charles Bukowski, Al Flipside, Brian Downing, Sister Aquila, whoever won the wrestling match between Thomas Merton and Ad Reinhardt, Grant Lewi, Rockie Gardiner, Llyn Foulkes, George Herms, You for reading this far...

My Blog

2007 in Review

It was a pretty good year - READ ALL ABOUT IT at my blog...
Posted by MatGleason on Sat, 05 Jan 2008 11:37:00 PST

My TV Trashing of Shepard Fairey

This may not be a live link forever...I don't expect ANYONE beyond my girlfriend to watch the entire 35 minute interview (note: scroll down for the video screen) that was edited into the Ovation Netwo...
Posted by MatGleason on Tue, 14 Aug 2007 11:54:00 PST

Hosting a Television Segment

I hosted a segment of NBC's YOUR L.A. in April.So if you have Five Minutes to spare, here is the Link to Me on TeeVee recently, a very fun project about artists in Los Angeles....
Posted by MatGleason on Sat, 05 May 2007 02:55:00 PST

Salma Hayek

YES THAT IS ME AND SALMA HAYEK and I must say, she is unbelievably gorgeous in person - more so than on the scren, I was speechless, except to say "Muchas Gracis" after the flash went off - and she sa...
Posted by MatGleason on Sat, 24 Feb 2007 12:46:00 PST

2006 in Review

I wrote a detailed summary of my accomplishements in 2006 at my regular blog:2006 IN REVIEWHope yours was a good year and that 2007 will be great for us all !...
Posted by MatGleason on Tue, 02 Jan 2007 02:25:00 PST

Links to My Blogs

So I have two long-running blogs, one about art and life the other about baseball.Here is a link to the Editor's Life Unedited blog.Here is a link to the Halos Heaven blog.They keep me busy....
Posted by MatGleason on Fri, 27 Oct 2006 05:03:00 PST

2005 Highlights

WENT ON TRIPS TO: Cerritos, Reno, New York (cool layover in Chicago), Oakland, Laughlin. HIGHLIGHTS: 1. Partying with the Angels the night they won the A.L. West at their hotel bar (me with a die...
Posted by MatGleason on Sat, 31 Dec 2005 03:22:00 PST