Is he a musician or is he a visual artist? Craig Matis is both. When performing on stage with his alternative rock band Uzizi, Matis simultaneously exhibited his visual art to accompany the music. Originally showing the art as slides, Matis eventually created what he refers to as songbooks of the images. In a gallery setting at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center (KBAC), the viewer is invited to walk by the text and imagery on the walls, or on the floor, while listening to the band’s recorded material via QR code.
“This has been a long evolution,” Matis says, “When I was in college, I was part of a musical group, and they put on an opera, and I was asked to create visuals for it—this is when slides were popular, way before digital. When I came to live in Cleveland in 1980, I had songs that I would illustrate, and I would present that to the public.”
Matis referred to these illustrations as songbooks, aligning them with the music performed by his band, Uzizi, and found that audiences enjoyed the dual viewing and listening experience.
“Rocking Horse is a two-dimensional artwork,” Matis says about the KBAC exhibit. “It is 17 panels with the lyrics in them, incorporated into the visuals. They just line up against the wall. Each songbook has a QR code, so you just swipe your phone to access the song. I used to do it with CD players, but that was too cumbersome for people.”
Rocking Horse: Songbooks of Craig Matis will be on exhibit at KBAC in the Park Trades Center through September 27. The artist will be present at a reception during Art Hop, September 6, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
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