I use computers to question some of the things I make with cameras.
My work has been featured in The New York Times Magazine, WIRED, SLATE, GUP Magazine, FLAK photo, Conscientious Photography Magazine, Doubletake Magazine, Contact Sheet, Afterimage, Fotophile, In the Loupe, and other publications. I graduated from Princeton University where I studied philosophy, and the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where I completed an MFA in Photography and Digital Imaging. I have taught photography at Amherst College, Bowdoin College, Ramapo College, The University of Connecticut, The University of Massachusetts, Boston, Middlesex College, and The Massachusetts College of Art and Design. I am the recipient of a J.William Fulbright Scholar Grant and the Ruttenberg Arts Foundation Award for the best new work nationally in photographic portraiture. Please contact me directly if there is an interest in the publication, exhibition, or sale of my work.
I live and work in Somerville, Massachusetts.
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Library of Congress, Washington, DC
The George Eastman Museum, Rochester, NY
Transformer Station, Cleveland, Ohio
The Ruttenberg Arts Foundation, Chicago
The Friends of Photography, San Francisco
The Decordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA
Light Work, Syracuse, NY
Princeton University
The Polaroid Collection
The Museum of New Art, Detroit, MI
The Boston Public Library
The Massachusetts College of Art Collection
The Collection of Fred and Laura Bidwell
The Peter C. Bunnell Collection
The Collection of Gus and Arlette Kayafas
The Collection of Jim Fitts
The Collection of Jeffrey Keough
and other private collections
ONLINE (Links)
The Relationship Show (China Edition)
The Photographic Museum of Humanity: IMMANENCE
GUP Magazine #45/EVOLUTION (The Netherlands)
The AIPAD Photography Show 2015
FLASH FORWARD FESTIVAL 2015: Photogogues via Griffin Museum of Photography
Matthew Swarts: Beth and the Alternatives at Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles
Group Show 44: Radical Color @ Humble Arts Foundation and Newspace
Super Massive Black Hole Magazine
Conscientious Photography Magazine
Light Architect Magazine (LAM)
Shpilman Institute for Photography
RECENT EXHIBITIONS
September 2019
The Relationship Show: China Edition
Curated by Patti Hallock and Samantha Johnston
September 19-25, 2019
PingYao International Photography Festival (Pingyao, Shanxi, China)
August 2019
NEWFLESH (Curated by Ephrem Zelony-Mindell) (Publication)
Gnomic Press, 2019.
May 2019
Person, Place, or Thing (Curated by Amy Giese)
New Hampshire Institute of Art
Peterborough, New Hampshire
July 2018
Le Boudoir 2.0 — by Isabelle Evertse and Annakarin Quinto
Contemporary American Photography @
Le Recontres d’Arles
Arles, France
March – May 2018
IMMANENCE @ The Photographic Museum of Humanity
March 30-April 2nd 2017
Pier 94
New York, New York
March 2017
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
January – March 2017
Colorado Photographic Arts Center
Denver, Colorado
November 5 – December 23, 2016
Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles
OCTOBER 2016-JANUARY 2017
curated by Lisa Hostetler
George Eastman Museum
Rochester, New York
March 2016
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
December 2015
Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, Florida
September 2015
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
July 2015
Seattle, Washington
June 23, 2015
THE DAY WILL COME: a multimedia presentation from SLIDELUCK GLOBAL curated by Maria Teresa Salvati @
THE TRIENNIAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY HAMBURG
June 2015
Columbia University, New York
May 2015
FEATURE: GUP Magazine #45/EVOLUTION (The Netherlands)
FEATURE: FLORET (Sweden)
April 2015
Photo[gogues] as sponsored by The Griffin Museum of Photography
Boston, MA
April 16-19th 2015
Park Avenue Armory
New York, New York
March 7-April 18th 2015
Matthew Swarts at Kopeikin Gallery
Kopeikin Gallery
Los Angeles, California
February 13, 2015
February 9th-April 2015
Newspace Center for Photography
Portland, Oregon
Group Show 44: Humble Arts Foundation: RADICAL COLOR
New York, New York
January 2015
FEATURE: Super Massive Black Hole Magazine
December 2014
Kopeikin Gallery (Los Angeles)
Miami, Florida
WHAT IS A PORTRAIT? (curated by Ruben Natal-San Miguel)
RIPE Art Gallery
New York
November 2014
Matthew Swarts Transforms Intimate Portraits into Psychoactive Masterpieces, by Jon Feinstein.
Humble Arts Foundation
New York and Seatlle
October 2014
Breaking Ground: Contemporary Photography at the College of William and Mary
Willimsburg, Virginia
July 2014
Feature: Featureshoot.com by Pelle Cass
New York, New York
April 2014
Feature: Matthew Swarts
Empty Stretch
Washington, DC
March 2014
ONWARD Compe’ 14 Finalist Exhibition
Project Basho
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
November 2013
Petty Thieves Three Projection
Presented by Empty Stretch and Furthermore
Washington, DC
October 2013
Faculty Exhibition
Community College of Rhode Island
Warwick, Rhode Island
Fototazo: Portfolio: Matthew Swarts “BETH”
September 2013
Conscientious Photography Magazine: “Matthew Swarts and Beth” by Joerg Colberg
March 2013
Faculty Exhibition
Community College of Rhode Island
Lincoln, Rhode Island
February 2013
Texas Woman’s University
Joyce Elaine Grant Annual Juried Exhibition
Juror: Sarah Kennel
Associate Curator, Department of Photographs, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Empty Stretch: Mathew Swarts
Le Journal de La Photographie: In The In-Between Journal of Digital Imaging Artists
Tumblr Open Arts: Matthew Swarts, Beth, Long Beach Island, 2012.
January 2013
Light Architect Magazine: The Grandma Issue
SFMOMA: Curated Tumblr
December 2012
Saint Lucy: One Picture One Paragraph: Matthew Swarts
Spilman Institute for Photography: Another Look at the Flak Photo Collection
November 2012
Flak Photo Collection: Matthew Swarts, Beth, 2012.
Fototazo: The Image: Matthew Swarts, Untitled (Self-Portrait), Long Beach Island, New Jersey, 2007.
October 2012
In The In-Between: Journal of Digital Imaging Artists: Matthew Swarts and the Reconditioned Image
Landscape Stories (Tumblr): Matthew Swarts, Open Water
September 2012
Fototazo 115: Matthew Swarts
August 2012
Flak Photo Collection: Matthew Swarts, Mary and Michael, 2007.
November 2011
LPV Magazine: Matthew Swarts: Appropriation
January 2011
Slightly Lucid: Matthew Swarts
June 2010
The Photographic Dictionary: Matthew Swarts: warrior.
March 2010
File: Matthew Swarts
December 2009
Featureshoot: Matthew Swarts
Lenscratch: Matthew Swarts
Shane Lavalette Journal: Matthew Swarts
Wanderlustagraphy: Matthew Swarts
November 2009
Eyecurious: Matthew Swarts
August 2009
Los Angeles Center for Digital Art
Digital Art Los Angeles International Expo
March 2009
The Photographic Resource Center at Boston University
SYNTAX
March 2008
Kresge Gallery, Ramapo College of New Jersey
2008 School of Contemporary Arts Faculty Exhibition
February 2008
DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park
“Photographs of Children From the DeCordova Permanent Collection”
January 2007
Louise and Bernard Palitz Gallery
New York City
“Digital Transitions: Selections from the LightWork Permanent Collection”
May 2006
DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park
2006 DeCordova Annual Exhibition
February 2006
Light Work, Syracuse, New York
“Digital Transitions: Selections from the LightWork Permanent Collection”
September 2005
Pascal Gallery, Ramapo College of New Jersey
“Two New: Matthew Swarts and Irina Nakhova ”
January 2005
Museum of New Art (MONA), Detroit
“Third Annual Film and Video Festival”
June 2004
Syracuse University
Light Work Artist Residency
Fall 2002
The Boston Academy of Fine Arts
“Ten Boston Photographers”
Spring 2002
The DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park
“The DeCordova Collects: Recent Acquisitions”
Fall 2001
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
“Recent Acquisitions in Photography”
Fall 2001
The DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park
“Alone: Images of Isolation”
Summer 2001
The Art Museum, Princeton University
“The Peter C. Bunnell Collection”
Spring 2001
The Friends of Photography, San Francisco
“Matthew Swarts/Mystery School”
The Ruttenberg Arts Foundation Award
Juror: Jeffrey Fraenkel
Fall 2000
Fosdick-Nelson Gallery, Alfred University
“Precedence: Emmet Gowin and His Students” (Traveling)
Fall 2000
Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, Massachusetts
“Artcetera 2000″
Spring 2000
Atrium Gallery, University of Connecticut, Stoors
“Matthew swarts: Mystery School”
September 1999
Film and Video Studies Gallery, Hampshire College
“Seventeen Artists”
April 1999
Gallery at 185 Nassau Street, Princeton University
“Matthew Swarts: Photographs”
November 1998
Film and Video Studies Gallery, Hampshire College
“Matthew Swarts: Children with Cancer”
October 1998
Eli Marsh Gallery, Amherst College
“Matthew Swarts and Karin Stack: Recent Work”
September 1998
Carpenter Center For the Arts, Harvard University
“Matthew Swarts: Children with Cancer”
August 1998
Fuller Museum of Art, Brockton, MA
“Nothing So Mysterious as a Fact”
February 1998
Children’s Hospital-Boston/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
“Children of the Dana Farber”
May 1997
Bakalar Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art and Design
“Matthew Swarts: Children with Cancer”
PUBLICATIONS, GRANTS, AND AWARDS
Conscientious Photography Magazine: “Matthew Swarts and Beth,” by Joerg Colberg (2013)
In the In-Between: “Matthew Swarts and the Reconditioned Image” by Greg Jones (2012)
LPV Magazine: “Matthew Swarts: Appropriation” by Bryan Formhals
In the Loupe: The Photographic Resource Center, 2009 (cover and article)
The 2006 DeCordova Annual Exhibition (catalog)
Contact Sheet #132: The Light Work Annual 2005
SBR Summer Stipend 2006 Trustees of Ramapo College
LightWork, Syracuse, New York: Artist-in-Residency Program, Spring 2004
Matthew Swarts Untitled, Self-published Artist’s book, 2004
Trustees of Bowdoin College Faculty Research Grant (2004)
J. William Fulbright Scholar Grant (Costa Rica) 2001-2002
Ruttenberg Arts Foundation Award, Friends of Photography, San Francisco 2000
The New York Times Magazine, “What They Were Thinking” (September 10, 2000)
Doubletake (Spring 1998)
Fotophile, 34, (Winter 2000), 39 (Spring 2001)
Afterimage, may 2001 (review)
Children with Cancer (Self-published Artist’s book) 1999
Mystery School (Self-published Artist’s book) 1999
Trustees of Amherst College Faculty Research Grant (1998, 1999)
Trustees of Amherst College Faculty Travel Grant (1998, 1999)
The Polaroid Corporation Artist Support Grant (1999)
Camphill Foundation Grant (1999, 2000)
Inside the Institute (A Dana-Farber publication) June 1997
Decamp Fellowship for Bioethics, Princeton University, 1991
LECTURES AND HONORARIUMS
Lecture and Workshop: “Deliberate Realities: Truth in Contemporary Photography” Centro Diseno/Cine/Television, Mexico City, Mexico, TBA
Artist Lecture and Presentation: Syracuse University, March 2006
Featured Presentation: “Matthew Swarts: Mystery School,” Society for Photographic Education (SPE) 2001 National Conference, Savannah, Georgia
Columbia College Chicago: Visiting Artist Lecture, Spring 2001
Ithaca College Spring Lecture Series: April 2000
New York University, Visiting Artist Lecture, Spring 2000
University of Connecticut, Visiting Artist Lecture, Spring 2000
The George Eastman House, Artist Lecture (SPE conference), November 1999
Harvard University, Visiting Artist Lecture, November 1998
Rhode Island College, Visiting Artist Lecture, November 1997
EDUCATION
Princeton University, A.B. with honors, Department of Philosophy, 1992
Massachusetts College of Art and Design, MFA, photography, 1997
Bryn Mawr College, Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical Program, 1994
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Community College of Rhode Island
Adjunct Professor of Photography/Digital Media
Warwick, Rhode Island
Fall 2012 – Spring 2015
Ramapo College of New Jersey
Assistant Professor of Photography/Digital Media
Mahwah, New Jersey
Fall 2005-Summer 2010
Bowdoin College
Visiting Assistant Professor of Visual Art
brunswick, maine
Fall 2002-Spring 2004
Amherst College
Visiting Assistant Professor of Fine Arts
Amherst, Massachusetts
Fall 1998-Spring 2001
University of Massachusetts at Boston
Adjunct Professor
Boston, Massachusetts
Spring 1998
The University of Connecticut
Adjunct Professor
Storrs, Connecticut
Spring 1998
Middlesex College
Adjunct Professor
Bedford, Massachusetts
Spring 1998
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Instructor
Boston, Massachusetts
Fall 1996-Spring 1997