Matt Niebuhr (American, b. 1969)
I am a fulltime artist living and working in Des Moines, Iowa. Trained as an architect, I established a studio practice pursuing personal work in the summer of 2012 named "West Branch Studio". In the Spring of 2013, I became a contributing artist and designer engaged in making public art with the Art Studio at RDG Planning & Design in Des Moines, Iowa. The works represented here are personal works associated with West Branch Studio.
For me, drawing is thinking.
Drawing is a fundamental way to explore relationships of action and reaction with mark making. The drawings I make are records of the mind (thinking), of the hand (doing) and of the eye (sensing). With my drawing practice, my aim is to discover connections between what I imagine, what I see, and what becomes evident on the page. I investigate through the accumulation of lines and through various processes resulting in a wide range of work from depiction of form to abstract formlessness. I'm most intrigued by the possibilities of simple lines and the space in between thinking, doing and sensing.
With drawing, one thing always leads to another... and the next. The work is about process and discovery that can only be realized by doing...
Art Studio at RDG Planning & Design
Senior Partner and Artist, 2013 - present
RDG Planning & Design
Des Moines, Iowa
West Branch Studio
Established summer of 2012 - present
Des Moines, Iowa
Education
Bachelor of Architecture, ISU 1992, with distinction
European independent study - fall 1990 / summer 1991
Exhibitions
Art out of Context: Possibilities in the Public Realm
University of Iowa Museum of Art
First Friday
Guest Featured Artist
November, 2016
Iowa City, Iowa
ft2 Exhibition
2016 Des Moines Art Center Gala
A Celebration of Architecture
September, 2016
American Enterprise Building
Des Moines, Iowa
Art at the Café
Drawings by Matt Niebuhr
A partnership between the Iowa Arts Council,
the State Historical Museum of Iowa and Café Barattas.
February - April 2015
Des Moines, Iowa
Get Drawn In
University of Iowa Museum of Art
First Friday
Featured Artist
October, 2012
Iowa City, Iowa
Matt Niebuhr - Photographs
Selections from the Sand Dollar series
April, 2012
Rain City Cafe
Portland, Oregon
Matt Niebuhr - Drawings
March, 2011
Stumptown Coffee Roasters - Division St.
Portland, Oregon
Matt Niebuhr - Drawings
September, 2011
Rain City Cafe
Portland, Oregon
Matt Niebuhr - Drawings
October, 2011
Aalto Lounge
Portland, Oregon
Portland Love Show 2011
February , 2011
untitled (where is love / where love is?)
Portland, Oregon
Information Show, drawings by Matt Niebuhr
Aug 2010 - Portland, Oregon
Portland Chiropractic
Group Show
Art Department
Nov 5, 2010 - Portland, Oregon
selections from the series Natural Form
100th Monkey Studio - 4th Anniversary Juried Show
untitled 2010_08_10 and untitled 2010_08_12
Craft Award
Sept 2010 - Portland, Oregon
100th Monkey Studio
fresh stART 2010
Benefit auction / participant artist
selections from Portraits: Faces and Profiles of Utility
Feb 20, 2010 - Santa Monica, California
fresh stART 2009
Benefit auction / participant artist
selections from Portraits: Faces and Profiles of Utility
Feb 7, 2009 - Santa Monica, California
100 x 100 Photo
“Every Season, Every Occasion, Every Day!”
Galería Espai Espai [b], Barcelona
Group Show: The Altered Landscape - Feb 8th - 26th, 2008
Newspace Center for Photography, Portland, Oregon
Field [East Central Iowa], Portraits: Faces and Profiles of Utility
Young Architects, AIA Iowa Convention, Des Moines, IA 28-29 Sept 2006
Awarded "Best of Show" ( Portraits: Faces and Profiles of Utility)
Published Photographs / Work
Aperture 189 - Winter 2007
“Vote Here”
The New York Times: Polling Place Project
Residential Architect: May 2007
On the Boards – Grand Award - Moen Pool House
Photography / Model / Design - HLKB Architecture
Hybrid Instrument Iowa City: University of Iowa School of Art and Art History
Steven Holl Architects, book published by University of Iowa Press. 2006
Various project photos – Art Building West
Iowa Architect Magazine: 2006 State Design Awards Issue
Cover photo / project photos of the new Art Building, School of Art and Art History
University of Iowa