Matt Bagley
I have devoted my whole life to pursuing creative endeavors. Making art has been the Bagley family business for generations. Since childhood, I have been determined to be an artist, however, growing up in South Louisiana, my favorite pastime was exploring the swamps and studying its ecology and this has influenced my body of work. I trained as a printmaker at the University of North Texas. After graduation, I worked at various creative jobs such as a press operator, mural painter, and graphic designer. Unfortunately, at this time living with under managed Type 1 diabetes, my health went into serious decline. In 2003, my daughter, Arabella was born. This profoundly impacted me to aggressively address long ignored health issues. Once my health stabilized, I became overwhelmingly driven to create my own work. I hope that one day it will be a legacy for her. My daughter is much more than just inspiration for my work, she is credited with why I am still alive today making art.
In 2010, I started Iron Frog Press (IFP) to encourage more fine art printing in the Dallas community. IFR is one of the few fine art presses in Dallas and specializes in relief printing. In the Printmaking community, I am most known for the Print Frog® which is a tool for efficiently printing without a press.
Technically called a baren, the Print Frog® is made of solid glass and was initiated in 2012.
This device out-performs every tool in its class. The Print Frog® is proving itself to be an extremely versatile and indispensable printmaking tool and is gaining international attention.
Artist Statement
The concept of the ‘Chill Rocket’ was originally an active philosophy where the path to spiritual enlightenment is through the pursuit of fun without sacrificing family life or career goals. Bicycles and skateboards were vehicles to get there. This philosophy resonated with ex-bicycle racers who were weary of the financial burden and the soul sucking aspects of competitive bicycle racing.
Later, after the extinction of the humans, the 'Chill Rocket' had evolved into a folk hero for the Robots of the future. A robot discovered a human skeleton that he adopted it as his form. He was an affable rebel who caused mischief with in the Robot culture and he wreaked havoc upon the SpaceBugs. Although the robots worshiped their human predecessors, the 'Chill Rocket' came to serve as personification of how the robots misperceived humanity. For example: the Robots yelled “Fail!!” as a cheer, admired lying, and viewed pornography as religious imagery.
Materials
I think if I was in a survivalist situation, what form the art would take
so therefore I only use three materials: paper, wood, and string.
Paper is the essential material. It is the surface where ideas begin.
Prints are work on paper, prints add a pictorial element
Prints are a method of adorning.
Paper actually exists in nature and it can be produced naturally.
Wood is Nature’s backbone.
Wood is a structural material that has been used for millenniums.
Wood is what I use as print blocks.
String is a fibrous binder that exists in nature.
String is easy to make in the wild.
My Work
Reconciling my background influences in working on the formal elements of each piece, their stories are revealed to me. In this process, I realized that I did not make these objects and images, they find me. As a trans-dimensional archeologist, I have found that only way to acquire an object from another dimension; one must go to the future for long forgotten artifacts.
In A Magical World there is revealed a feminist fairy tale in which exiled young girls unite as a tribe, form an alliance with animals, and eventually defeat a paranoid corrupt witch/queen. Think Lord of the Rings meets Lord of the Flies.
Breussard the Alligator is a creative alligator who enjoyed a brief success in the New York fashion industry. He returns home to make wildlife art wood blocks prints using his friends as his subjects. He is really the inventor of the Print Frog. Think Harvey Feinstein as an old Cajun.
SpaceBug Robot Wars is a futurist epic tale of the SpaceBugs and the Robots. SpaceBugs are an extremely intelligence race of insects can manipulate their own DNA to communicate and travel across the Universe. They are complex society where incest and cannibalism are the norm. The Bugs’ enemies are the Robots who are the survivors of human race and worship their human ancestors. They have a warped view of humanity since all their information is from the Internet.
SpaceBugs at CHAOS 2015
The SpaceBug society is a hierarchy of Queens! Male SpaceBug have a limited role in this society. The males are warriors, sperm donors, eye candy, and food.
“EARLY PERIOD SPACEBUG, PRESENTATION COCOON”
Male SpaceBug discovered making art after the second invasion of Earth. Making art gave males new status, thus increasing their chances for survival and even exerting some influence in SpaceBug culture.
The earliest form of SpaceBug art was decorating eggs. Soon male SpaceBug artists were commissioned to design and create “Presentation Cocoons” which were used as gifts between Queens to form pacts and alliances. If the gift was rejected the queen would simply eat the pupa in the cocoons. If the gift is accepted, the pupa would be allowed to hatch, breed, and then be eaten.
“SPACEBUG, EARLY FIGURATIVE”
To increase the value of the gift, Queens began offering portraits of the male bugs. These early portraits were crude and inaccurate. These “portraits” developed into more sophisticated and much more prized SpaceBug Erotic Art.
"ROBOT, PROTO SPACEBUG FACSIMILE AMULETS"
Centuries after end of the SpaceBug battles; Robots became interested in SpaceBug artifacts. They had images in their database, but no surviving pieces. A few Robots made crude, mock small pieces of jewelry that appeared in the Robot subversive art scene. Decades later, Robots started making fakes and facsimiles and called it SpaceBug art.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
1995 BFA in Printmaking, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
2000-2001 Post Graduate in Printmaking, Texas Christian University, Fort. Worth, Texas
Solo Exhibitions
2013 Artifacts of Imagination: Past, Present and Future, Mighty Fine Arts Gallery, Dallas, Texas
Artifacts of Imagination, the Frisco Art Gallery, Frisco, Texas
2005 Matt Bagley-Work on Paper, Paper Arts, Dallas, Texas
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS CONTINUED
2010
Group Show, Café Izmir, Dallas, TX
Jesuit Museum Show, Jesuit Museum, Dallas, TX
Matt and Sharon Bagley Show, Café Izmir, Dallas, TX
Second Annual Artist Showcase, Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington, TX
Facebook Invitational Show, Bath House Cultural Center, Dallas, TX
2008
23rdth Annual Texas and Neighbors Regional Exhibition, Irving Art Center, Irving, TX
2003
Maryland Federation of Art Etching and Drawing Exhibition, City Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland Juror: Katherine Blood. Fine Print Curator, the Library of Congress
18th Annual Texas and Neighbors Regional Exhibition, Irving Art Center, Irving, TX
35th Annual Juried Fine Arts Award Exhibition, Meadows Gallery, Denton, TX
Art of the Plate (touring show), Museum of Arts and Design New York, New York, Illustrators Museum New York, New York, High Museum Atlanta, Georgia
COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS
2010
Matt and Sharon Bagley Show, Café Izmir, Dallas, TX
CURATED PROJECTS
2015
Savage Impressions, Dallas, TX (co-curated with WordSpace, MFA and Ant Colony)
2014
Dallas Print, Ro2 Art Gallery, Dallas, TX (co-curated with Susan and Jordan Roth)
2013
Under Pressure, AHA Collective Gallery, Dallas, TX (curated)
COMMUNITY ARTS WORKSHOPS AND LECTURES
2016
Printmaking Teacher Development Workshop, Meadows Museum, Dallas, TX
Woodblock Printmaking Workshop Series, Oak Cliff Cultural Center, Dallas, TX
2015
Workshop de los Muertos Series: Woodblock Printing Papal Picado Workshop, Oak Cliff Cultural Center, Dallas, TX
Printmaking Workshop Series, Translation Center, Dallas, TX
Woodblock Printmaking Workshop Series, Oak Cliff Cultural Center, Dallas, TX
Exploring the Possibilities with the Print Frog Workshop, Women Printmakers of Austin, Austin, TX
Iron Frog Press Exploring with the Print Frog Workshop, Flatbed Press and Gallery, Austin, TX
2014
Dirty Little Secrets Panel Discussion, Ant Colony Gallery, Dallas, TX
Iron Frog Press Exploring with the Print Frog Workshop, Flatbed Press and Gallery, Austin, TX
2011
Demystifying Woodblock Printing Workshop Series, Smoke and Mirrors Gallery, Dallas, TX
JUROR
2016
El Centro College’s Annual Student Art Show, H. Paxton Moore Fine Art Gallery, Dallas, TX
2014
imPRESS, A Printmaking Exhibit, The Frisco Art Gallery, Frisco, TX
ART AWARDS
2013
imPRESS, A Printmaking Exhibit, The Frisco Art Gallery, Frisco, TX (Best of Show)
2003
18th Annual Texas and Neighbors Regional Exhibition, Irving Art Center, Irving, TX (3rd Place)
35th Annual Juried Fine Arts Award Exhibition, Meadows Gallery, Denton, TX (Daniel Smith Award) Maryland Federation of Art Etching and Drawing Exhibition, City Gallery, Baltimore, MD (Honorable Mention)
2001
Texas Christian University Student Art Exhibition, Moody Gallery, Fort Worth, TX (Honorable Mention)
ART FAIRS AND FESTIVALS
2016
5th Annual It Came From the Bayou!, Saint Arnold Brewing Co., Houston, TX
Austin Print Expo and Bin Sale, Canopy, Austin, TX
2015
23rd White Rock Artist’s Studio Tour, Blue House on Barbaree, Dallas, TX
Savage Impressions, Dallas, TX
Levitation at Pyschfest, Austin, TX
4th ANNUAL IT CAME FROM THE BAYOU!, Saint Arnold Brewing Company, Houston, TX
Visual Speed Bump, Stairwell Gallery, Dallas, TX
White Rock Lake Artist Studio Tour, Dallas, TX
The Flatbed Contemporary Print Fair, Flatbed Press and Gallery, Austin, TX
One Night Stand, SLANT artist collective, Dallas, TX
2014
22nd White Rock Artist’s Studio Tour, Blue House on Barbaree, Dallas, TX 3rd Annual t Came From the Bayou!, Saint Arnold Brewing Co., Houston, TX Pyschfest, Austin, TX
2012
Cedars Art Tour, the Art Hotel Gallery, Dallas, TX
Long Hot Summer Swap Meet, Iron Frog Press, Dallas, TX
Ink Slingers Ball, Continental Club, Corpus Christi, TX
Ink Slingers Ball, House of Rock, Corpus Christi, TX
2011
White Rock Lake Artist Studio Tour, Dallas, TX
Art in the Hood, Desoto, TX
Cedars Art Tour, the Art Hotel Gallery Dallas, TX
ART FAIRS AND FESTIVALS CONTINUED
2010
Art Heist, Emergency Artist Service League (EASL), Dallas, TX
White Rock Lake Artist Studio Tour, Dallas, TX
2009
The MAC’s Blue Yule Ornament Party, MAC, Dallas, TX
White Rock Lake Artist Studio Tour, Dallas, TX
2008
Art Heist, Emergency Artist Service League (EASL), Ft. Worth, TX
White Rock Lake Artist Studio Tour, Dallas, TX
2007
The MAC’s Blue Yule Ornament Party, MAC, Dallas, TX
Coloring Book, Emergency Artist Service League (EASL), Dallas, TX
2006
White Rock Lake Artist Studio Tour, Dallas, TX
Art Heist, Emergency Artist Service League (EASL), Dallas, TX
2005
White Rock Lake Artist Studio Tour, Dallas, TX
White Rock Lake Artist Studio Tour Preview Show, Bath House Cultural Center, Dallas, TX
WORK EXPERIENCE
2010-Present
Iron Frog Press Owner/ Master Printer Art Instructor
INVENTIONS
The Print Frog®
PROFESSIONAL AFFILITATIONS
Mid America Print Council Southern Graphics Council
The Order of Dirty Printmaker's
North Texas Printmaker's Guild – ex-Chancellor and Founder White Rock Lake Artist Studio Tour
Good/Bad Art Collective - Founding Member
In 2010, I started Iron Frog Press (IFP) to encourage more fine art printing in the Dallas community. IFR is one of the few fine art presses in Dallas and specializes in relief printing. In the Printmaking community, I am most known for the Print Frog® which is a tool for efficiently printing without a press.
Technically called a baren, the Print Frog® is made of solid glass and was initiated in 2012.
This device out-performs every tool in its class. The Print Frog® is proving itself to be an extremely versatile and indispensable printmaking tool and is gaining international attention.
Artist Statement
The concept of the ‘Chill Rocket’ was originally an active philosophy where the path to spiritual enlightenment is through the pursuit of fun without sacrificing family life or career goals. Bicycles and skateboards were vehicles to get there. This philosophy resonated with ex-bicycle racers who were weary of the financial burden and the soul sucking aspects of competitive bicycle racing.
Later, after the extinction of the humans, the 'Chill Rocket' had evolved into a folk hero for the Robots of the future. A robot discovered a human skeleton that he adopted it as his form. He was an affable rebel who caused mischief with in the Robot culture and he wreaked havoc upon the SpaceBugs. Although the robots worshiped their human predecessors, the 'Chill Rocket' came to serve as personification of how the robots misperceived humanity. For example: the Robots yelled “Fail!!” as a cheer, admired lying, and viewed pornography as religious imagery.
Materials
I think if I was in a survivalist situation, what form the art would take
so therefore I only use three materials: paper, wood, and string.
Paper is the essential material. It is the surface where ideas begin.
Prints are work on paper, prints add a pictorial element
Prints are a method of adorning.
Paper actually exists in nature and it can be produced naturally.
Wood is Nature’s backbone.
Wood is a structural material that has been used for millenniums.
Wood is what I use as print blocks.
String is a fibrous binder that exists in nature.
String is easy to make in the wild.
My Work
Reconciling my background influences in working on the formal elements of each piece, their stories are revealed to me. In this process, I realized that I did not make these objects and images, they find me. As a trans-dimensional archeologist, I have found that only way to acquire an object from another dimension; one must go to the future for long forgotten artifacts.
In A Magical World there is revealed a feminist fairy tale in which exiled young girls unite as a tribe, form an alliance with animals, and eventually defeat a paranoid corrupt witch/queen. Think Lord of the Rings meets Lord of the Flies.
Breussard the Alligator is a creative alligator who enjoyed a brief success in the New York fashion industry. He returns home to make wildlife art wood blocks prints using his friends as his subjects. He is really the inventor of the Print Frog. Think Harvey Feinstein as an old Cajun.
SpaceBug Robot Wars is a futurist epic tale of the SpaceBugs and the Robots. SpaceBugs are an extremely intelligence race of insects can manipulate their own DNA to communicate and travel across the Universe. They are complex society where incest and cannibalism are the norm. The Bugs’ enemies are the Robots who are the survivors of human race and worship their human ancestors. They have a warped view of humanity since all their information is from the Internet.
SpaceBugs at CHAOS 2015
The SpaceBug society is a hierarchy of Queens! Male SpaceBug have a limited role in this society. The males are warriors, sperm donors, eye candy, and food.
“EARLY PERIOD SPACEBUG, PRESENTATION COCOON”
Male SpaceBug discovered making art after the second invasion of Earth. Making art gave males new status, thus increasing their chances for survival and even exerting some influence in SpaceBug culture.
The earliest form of SpaceBug art was decorating eggs. Soon male SpaceBug artists were commissioned to design and create “Presentation Cocoons” which were used as gifts between Queens to form pacts and alliances. If the gift was rejected the queen would simply eat the pupa in the cocoons. If the gift is accepted, the pupa would be allowed to hatch, breed, and then be eaten.
“SPACEBUG, EARLY FIGURATIVE”
To increase the value of the gift, Queens began offering portraits of the male bugs. These early portraits were crude and inaccurate. These “portraits” developed into more sophisticated and much more prized SpaceBug Erotic Art.
"ROBOT, PROTO SPACEBUG FACSIMILE AMULETS"
Centuries after end of the SpaceBug battles; Robots became interested in SpaceBug artifacts. They had images in their database, but no surviving pieces. A few Robots made crude, mock small pieces of jewelry that appeared in the Robot subversive art scene. Decades later, Robots started making fakes and facsimiles and called it SpaceBug art.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
1995 BFA in Printmaking, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
2000-2001 Post Graduate in Printmaking, Texas Christian University, Fort. Worth, Texas
Solo Exhibitions
2013 Artifacts of Imagination: Past, Present and Future, Mighty Fine Arts Gallery, Dallas, Texas
Artifacts of Imagination, the Frisco Art Gallery, Frisco, Texas
2005 Matt Bagley-Work on Paper, Paper Arts, Dallas, Texas
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS CONTINUED
2010
Group Show, Café Izmir, Dallas, TX
Jesuit Museum Show, Jesuit Museum, Dallas, TX
Matt and Sharon Bagley Show, Café Izmir, Dallas, TX
Second Annual Artist Showcase, Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington, TX
Facebook Invitational Show, Bath House Cultural Center, Dallas, TX
2008
23rdth Annual Texas and Neighbors Regional Exhibition, Irving Art Center, Irving, TX
2003
Maryland Federation of Art Etching and Drawing Exhibition, City Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland Juror: Katherine Blood. Fine Print Curator, the Library of Congress
18th Annual Texas and Neighbors Regional Exhibition, Irving Art Center, Irving, TX
35th Annual Juried Fine Arts Award Exhibition, Meadows Gallery, Denton, TX
Art of the Plate (touring show), Museum of Arts and Design New York, New York, Illustrators Museum New York, New York, High Museum Atlanta, Georgia
COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS
2010
Matt and Sharon Bagley Show, Café Izmir, Dallas, TX
CURATED PROJECTS
2015
Savage Impressions, Dallas, TX (co-curated with WordSpace, MFA and Ant Colony)
2014
Dallas Print, Ro2 Art Gallery, Dallas, TX (co-curated with Susan and Jordan Roth)
2013
Under Pressure, AHA Collective Gallery, Dallas, TX (curated)
COMMUNITY ARTS WORKSHOPS AND LECTURES
2016
Printmaking Teacher Development Workshop, Meadows Museum, Dallas, TX
Woodblock Printmaking Workshop Series, Oak Cliff Cultural Center, Dallas, TX
2015
Workshop de los Muertos Series: Woodblock Printing Papal Picado Workshop, Oak Cliff Cultural Center, Dallas, TX
Printmaking Workshop Series, Translation Center, Dallas, TX
Woodblock Printmaking Workshop Series, Oak Cliff Cultural Center, Dallas, TX
Exploring the Possibilities with the Print Frog Workshop, Women Printmakers of Austin, Austin, TX
Iron Frog Press Exploring with the Print Frog Workshop, Flatbed Press and Gallery, Austin, TX
2014
Dirty Little Secrets Panel Discussion, Ant Colony Gallery, Dallas, TX
Iron Frog Press Exploring with the Print Frog Workshop, Flatbed Press and Gallery, Austin, TX
2011
Demystifying Woodblock Printing Workshop Series, Smoke and Mirrors Gallery, Dallas, TX
JUROR
2016
El Centro College’s Annual Student Art Show, H. Paxton Moore Fine Art Gallery, Dallas, TX
2014
imPRESS, A Printmaking Exhibit, The Frisco Art Gallery, Frisco, TX
ART AWARDS
2013
imPRESS, A Printmaking Exhibit, The Frisco Art Gallery, Frisco, TX (Best of Show)
2003
18th Annual Texas and Neighbors Regional Exhibition, Irving Art Center, Irving, TX (3rd Place)
35th Annual Juried Fine Arts Award Exhibition, Meadows Gallery, Denton, TX (Daniel Smith Award) Maryland Federation of Art Etching and Drawing Exhibition, City Gallery, Baltimore, MD (Honorable Mention)
2001
Texas Christian University Student Art Exhibition, Moody Gallery, Fort Worth, TX (Honorable Mention)
ART FAIRS AND FESTIVALS
2016
5th Annual It Came From the Bayou!, Saint Arnold Brewing Co., Houston, TX
Austin Print Expo and Bin Sale, Canopy, Austin, TX
2015
23rd White Rock Artist’s Studio Tour, Blue House on Barbaree, Dallas, TX
Savage Impressions, Dallas, TX
Levitation at Pyschfest, Austin, TX
4th ANNUAL IT CAME FROM THE BAYOU!, Saint Arnold Brewing Company, Houston, TX
Visual Speed Bump, Stairwell Gallery, Dallas, TX
White Rock Lake Artist Studio Tour, Dallas, TX
The Flatbed Contemporary Print Fair, Flatbed Press and Gallery, Austin, TX
One Night Stand, SLANT artist collective, Dallas, TX
2014
22nd White Rock Artist’s Studio Tour, Blue House on Barbaree, Dallas, TX 3rd Annual t Came From the Bayou!, Saint Arnold Brewing Co., Houston, TX Pyschfest, Austin, TX
2012
Cedars Art Tour, the Art Hotel Gallery, Dallas, TX
Long Hot Summer Swap Meet, Iron Frog Press, Dallas, TX
Ink Slingers Ball, Continental Club, Corpus Christi, TX
Ink Slingers Ball, House of Rock, Corpus Christi, TX
2011
White Rock Lake Artist Studio Tour, Dallas, TX
Art in the Hood, Desoto, TX
Cedars Art Tour, the Art Hotel Gallery Dallas, TX
ART FAIRS AND FESTIVALS CONTINUED
2010
Art Heist, Emergency Artist Service League (EASL), Dallas, TX
White Rock Lake Artist Studio Tour, Dallas, TX
2009
The MAC’s Blue Yule Ornament Party, MAC, Dallas, TX
White Rock Lake Artist Studio Tour, Dallas, TX
2008
Art Heist, Emergency Artist Service League (EASL), Ft. Worth, TX
White Rock Lake Artist Studio Tour, Dallas, TX
2007
The MAC’s Blue Yule Ornament Party, MAC, Dallas, TX
Coloring Book, Emergency Artist Service League (EASL), Dallas, TX
2006
White Rock Lake Artist Studio Tour, Dallas, TX
Art Heist, Emergency Artist Service League (EASL), Dallas, TX
2005
White Rock Lake Artist Studio Tour, Dallas, TX
White Rock Lake Artist Studio Tour Preview Show, Bath House Cultural Center, Dallas, TX
WORK EXPERIENCE
2010-Present
Iron Frog Press Owner/ Master Printer Art Instructor
INVENTIONS
The Print Frog®
PROFESSIONAL AFFILITATIONS
Mid America Print Council Southern Graphics Council
The Order of Dirty Printmaker's
North Texas Printmaker's Guild – ex-Chancellor and Founder White Rock Lake Artist Studio Tour
Good/Bad Art Collective - Founding Member
