Matthew Kirk and Jean Shin in conversation with Laura Phipps

Matthew Kirk portrait courtesy of Jonathan Grassi, Jean Shin portrait by Daniel Terna, and Laura Phipps portrait by Denis Gutiérrez-Ogrinc.

River Valley Arts Collective is delighted to host an informal gathering and conversation with artists Matthew Kirk and Jean Shin. Moderated by Laura Phipps, the artists will discuss the installations they are creating for On the Grounds 2027 at the Al Held Foundation.

Before convening in Al Held’s former painting studio, we will take a guided walk through the landscape he transformed from an abandoned dairy farm into a studio complex now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This site is both the inspiration and location for the work that Kirk and Shin are currently developing. They will talk about their approach to site responsive outdoor sculpture, their relationship to the Catskill Mountains landscape, the materials they will employ, and the practical and conceptual considerations they are addressing as they plan their projects.

MATTHEW KIRK was born in Arizona, raised in Wisconsin and lives and works in both Queens and Sundown, New York. He is a self-taught artist, best known for his mixed-media work inspired by his urban environment as well as Diné (Navajo) motifs found in textiles. He is represented by Sundaram Tagore NYC, Bockley gallery MPLS and Halsey McKay East Hampton.

JEAN SHIN was born in Seoul, South Korea, raised in the U.S. and works in Brooklyn and Hudson Valley, New York. Shin is known for her sprawling and often public sculptures, transforming accumulations of discarded objects into powerful monuments that interrogate our complex relationship between material consumption, collective identity, and community engagement. She is a tenured Adjunct Professor at Pratt Institute and holds an honorary doctorate from the New York Academy of Art.

LAURA PHIPPS is the Director of the Gochman Family Collection, a private art collection that supports artists and their contributions to the broader field of contemporary art, with an emphasis on Native artists. At GFC, Laura works with the team to shape organizational and acquisition strategy, guide curatorial and site-specific projects, and shape the collection’s programming, and actively build relationships with institutions, academic and community partners to share the collection, develop new partnerships, and create opportunities for artists and audiences to engage with contemporary art. Prior to joining GFC, Laura was an Associate Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Laura received her MA, Art History at Hunter College, CUNY and BFA, Studio Art and BS, Psychology from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas.