ABOUT MATRE GALLERY

Matre Gallery is the home base for Rob Matre’s dual career as gallery owner and artist. Opening in Atlanta in 1995, the gallery has earned a reputation for showing bold and vibrant works by local and national artists. Many of today’s top local and regional artists got their start at the gallery, including Steve Penley, Cedric Smith, Tracy Sharp, Mark Boomershine and Evan Jones, among many others.

Over the last few years, the gallery has transitioned to focusing mostly on Matre’s own photographs and mixed-media paintings, made under the name Plaid Columns. Although select works by other artists are still available, representing a deep roster and hosting monthly exhibitions has been on hiatus for the last few years, but there is always the chance that may resume.

The gallery is located in the historic Brookwood Exchange building on Peachtree Street, where Buckhead meets Midtown

ABOUT PLAID COLUMNS

Along with Matre Gallery, the name Plaid Columns is often associated with Rob Matre’s art career.

The unique moniker began as a band name in the early 90s. Rob Matre formed a band called Heavens To Betsy with friends Steve Penley and Lars Helstrom, playing shows around Atlanta and Athens. They eventually learned there was another band of the same name on the west coast that was starting to make a name for itself, so o Matre came up with the name Plaid Columns as a new name for the band. However, once Steve Penley’s art career began to take off at Rob Matre’s gallery, their music careers effectively ended, and the band never performed or recorded under the name Plaid Columns.

But the name would live on.

In the late 2000’s, Matre briefly used the Plaid Columns moniker for a series of color photographs and mixed-mediate paintings that were a departure from his usual black & white images. In 2013, he had the idea to invite fellow artists to collaborate on a series of mixed-media paintings for an exhibition. The first artist he worked with was Evan Jones, a young artist represented by Matre Gallery. Their collaborations were an immediate hit, and Matre called off the search for other artists. More fun than calling themselves “Rob & Evan”, they made paintings under the name “Plaid Columns” for many years.

Eleven years later, Plaid Columns continues…