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From Trash to Treasure presents a body of work by peer artists Greg Adams and Dave Matthews. Using scavenged and found objects, discarded materials are re-purposed into unique vignette, curiosities, icons and relics. Their compelling visions bring new context to our throw-away society, from the surreal, cinematic and introspective, to the utilitarian, playful and abstract.
Greg Adams is a native San Franciscan influenced by his father, an avid recycler, Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant comic strip and Gordon Grant’s maritime book, Sail Ho. He creates detailed, dreamlike and wonderfully chaotic assemblages based on personal experience.
Upon discharge from the Navy in 1975, Mr. Adams obtained a Merchant Mariner’s Document (MMD) and returned to sea briefly, then used the veteran’s G.I. Bill to study at the San Francisco Academy of Art (1977-82). In 1988, he was hired as a “wire rope cable splicer” at the San Francisco Cable Car Barn where he made several rope work display boards, receiving mention in Herb Caen’s newspaper column. While attending classes at the Fort Mason Art Center, Greg took up assemblage utilizing found materials and began to exhibit professionally across the region. He is currently still present on the waterfront, working as a volunteer aboard the historic vessel Jeremiah O’Brien at Pier 35 in San Francisco.
“Assemblage uses all the fundamentals of art; drawing, composition, color theory and design. More is less and less can be a lot more. The main object in any piece is to achieve a harmony of parts. This requires the artist to detach from the objects used in order to see where they need to be placed. Favorite objects may end up discarded to notice a new avenue of construction.”
– Greg Adams
Dave Matthews (Pleasant Hill, CA) is a self-taught abstract and assemblage artist who grew up in Oklahoma in an old house filled with antique furniture and junkyard curiosities. As a sculptor he works in a variety of media including wood, stone and assemblage, with influence from anatomy, gender dynamics, daily observations and, most recently, his permanent disability. In 2020, Mr. Matthews became permanently disabled (losing both legs) following a hit and run incident involving a drunk driver. For nearly two years, Dave was unable to access his assemblage supplies housed in his attic studio. As a result, his recent work is deeply introspective and based upon the struggles and observations related to living in a disabled body.
Mr. Matthews moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1994 for a work assignment and never left. His art career began after retiring from a large corporation in 2014, and he has been exhibiting professionally across the region since 2016. Dave is a member of the Marin Society of Artists (MSA) in San Rafael and Art Co-Opted in the South Gallery at the Grand Theatre Center for the Arts.
“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure is a proverb that can be used to describe assemblage. I use this ‘trash’ in the form of discarded or previously used materials to create freestanding, wall-mounted or hanging sculptural work that can be playful, deeply personal or purely abstract. In creating I often feel a connection to my childhood, as my mother collected junk and restored antique furniture and often took me along on her collecting excursions. Through such efforts so-called trash can be transformed into art.”
– Dave Matthews