Matthew Courtney holding a pink and taupe ceramic sculpture of a penguin-like bird
Faculty

Matthew Courtney is curriculum coordinator for Craft and Material Studies and an assistant adjunct professor of Ceramics. His sculpture humorously mixes his love of sports and popular culture with a deep knowledge of the history of art and ceramics. Courtney applies his industrial design training to a playfully transgressive approach to the medium of clay. His current sculpture is heavily influenced by his three artist residencies in Lanzhou, China, where he was invited to explore the material and visual culture of the province of Gansu.

Biography

Matthew Courtney was born in Washington, D.C., and earned his MFA from Kent State University in Ohio. He currently lives in the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia with his wife, artist and educator Jackie White.

Experience

Courtney began his teaching career at Cleveland Institute of Art, Ohio, and since returning to Philadelphia in 1995, he has continually served as an adjunct instructor at many of the city’s most prestigious art programs, including Tyler School of Art at Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania and University of the Arts. Courtney has also been showing his work in Philadelphia and at various national and international juried and invitational exhibitions. He has been an artist in residence at Lanzhou City University, China, in 2015, 2017 and 2018. Most recently, he has exhibited his work at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists Gallery, Cherry Street Pier, the Mount Airy Contemporary at Intuitive Art Space, Cerulean Arts Gallery and InLiquid, all in Philadelphia, as well as at James Earl Carter Gallery, Georgia Southwestern State University, Americus, Georgia. 

Visit Matthew Courtney’s website

Awards & Accolades

Courtney’s work has been recognized numerous times. 

  • Philadelphia Sculptors Velocity Fund: COVID-19 Artist Emergency Grant

  • Foundation for Contemporary Arts COVID-19 Fund, New York, New York

  • Center for Emerging Visual Artists Fellow (two-year fellowship)

  • Center for Emerging Visual Artists Fellowship finalist

  • 2016 Meyer Family Award for Contemporary Art

 

I like to improvise in the liminal space between gesture and spontaneity on the one hand and sloppy and careless on the other.

A ceramic sculpture of a penguin-like bird painted abstractedly in red, brown, green, yellow and white
“Satisfaction” by Matthew Courtney
A mauve and pink and brown and tan ceramic sculpture of a camel looking behind it
“Pink” by Matthew Courtney