In Good Company: Matt Magee

An ongoing series of short interviews with artists that we work with or admire called “In Good Company.” Answers are lightly edited for length and clarity.

Location: Phoenix, AZ

Hometown: Tricky question. I was born in Paris, France in 1961. I moved to Libya when I was 3, then moved to London when I was 6, then moved to Texas when I was 13, then moved to Brooklyn/Manhattan when I was 22, and then to Phoenix when I was 51. So the answer is: ?

Degrees: MFA, The Pratt Institute; BA, Trinity University

Favorite Color: Green

Hobbies or Personal Collections: An art collection amassed since 1980

As a child, did you know you wanted to be an artist? If not, what did you want to be?

I was always working with my hands as a child. I started with origami and macrame and so my mom enrolled me in ceramics classes in London when I was 9. I never thought about being an artist. In high school, I took various art classes to escape the rest of school and then took a drawing class at a local college my senior year. I was going to major in geology (my dad was a petroleum geologist) in college but after a couple of years of that, I realized I was mostly just in my dorm room making things. I started taking art history courses and became much more interested in those rather than geology. With some friends, we started organizing shows of our work in and around the art department. At some point, I just realized making things was what I really liked to do the most. I applied to the Pratt Institute in 1983 for an MFA, was accepted, and once there felt more in my element than any other place I had been.

Have you had any jobs outside of the art world? If so, how have those jobs informed your work as an artist? 

When I was 19, I worked on a seismic crew exploring for oil and natural gas on the Texas/Mexico border and lived in a motel in Laredo, TX. I learned how to drive a huge truck that sent shock waves into the ground via vibrating steel plates on its underside. Seismic waves were recorded via electric lines with pins attached that were embedded in the ground. These waves detected underlying geology and where pockets of oil and gas might be. Over the years, I've made many paintings of wavy lines stacked in vertical rows that represent abstract text and information.

What is your favorite non-art object in your studio right now? Why do you have it?

In 1966, my family went on holiday to Scandinavia from Libya (where we were living at the time). I was 5 and my dad bought me this little stuffed reindeer in Bergen, Norway. It's not like a stuffed toy, it's an exact miniature replica, about 7" x 8" with glass eyes.  This reindeer has followed me around the world and has lived in every studio I've ever had, on the work table, calmly looking at me. He represents the past, reminds me of my dad, and in my mind is a wandering vagabond. He just waits, watches patiently and in silence. He's a talisman and good luck charm.

What has been a defining moment of your artistic career so far?

There have been many. Rather than noting a singular moment, I'd cite the 18 years of moments working with Robert Rauschenberg in his lower Manhattan studio building, a converted 5-story 19th-century orphanage. I worked for him from the age of 33 to 51 and the experience has become a central pillar in my evolution as an artist. My studio practice, my thinking, how I define myself, and my objectives as a creative being are all informed by those years working with Rauschenberg.

How do you measure your own success in the art world?

I'm going to quote Rauschenberg on this: "We are all unique. It is a precious thing to compare ourselves to nothing else. This is my working attitude...I trust impulse, creative intuition, and unmotivated spontaneity."

If you were placing artwork in an office, what artists would you be most excited to work with?

BriArturo Herrera, Kiki Smith, and Mel Bochner.

To see more of Matt Magee’s work, check out his website or Instagram.