Matthew López-Jensen is a Bronx-based interdisciplinary artist whose rigorous explorations of landscape combine walking, photography, mapping, and social practice. His projects investigate the relationships between people and local landscapes. He was a recent artist-in-residence with the NYC Urban Field Station, is a Citizen Pruner, community gardener, and part of the New York City Urban Forest Task Force.
López-Jensen teaches environmental art and photography at Parsons School of Design at The New School and at Fordham University. He is a Guggenheim Fellow in photography and his work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Gallery of Art and the Brooklyn Museum, among other institutions. He received his MFA from the University of Connecticut and BA from Rice University.
Contact: mjensen54321 at yahoo dot com
Instagram: @mattlopezjensen
Education
| MFA | University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT |
| BA | Rice University, Houston, TX |
Residency Programs
- Erie Canal Artist-in-Residence, 2023
- Hortus Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, Stone Ridge, NY, 2021
- Guild Hall, East Hampton, NY, 2019
- New York City Urban Field Station (NYC Parks/US Forestry Service), Queens, NY, 2017/2018
- The Queens Museum-ArtBuilt Studio Residency, Queens, NY, 2015
- Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, Wilmington, DE, 2013
- Wave Hill Winter Workspace, Bronx, NY, 2012
- The MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH, 2011
- Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Governors Island, NY, 2010
- Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Nebraska City, NE, 2010
Grants and Fellowships
- City Artist Corps Grant, 2021
- GIDEST Fellowship, The New School, 2018/2019
- L.M.C.C., Michael Richards Award for Visual Art, 2018
- Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, Photography, 2016
- Peter S. Reed Foundation Grant, Photography, 2016
- National Endowment for the Arts with the VACNJ, 2016-2017
- Alongside Tall Grasses, art commission for the BRMA
- National Endowment for the Arts with the DCCA, 2013
- MacDowell Fellowship, 2011
- New York State Senate Grantee, 2010
- Manhattan Community Arts Fund/New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, 2009
Selected Solo/Two Person Exhibitions
- Van Cortlandt House Museum, Bronx, NY, The Tibbetts Estuary Tapestry, 2023
- Museo Regional de Guadalajara, Mexico, Estuario, 2022
- “There From Here” – Open Source Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2018
- “Among Trees and Stones” – Green-Wood Cemetery National Historic Site, Brooklyn, NY, 2017
- “Park Wonder” – Visual Art Center New Jersey, Summit, NJ, 2017
- “The Sun Returning” – Sezon Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 2017
- “The Wonder Under” – Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn, NY, 2016
- “Feels Like Real” – Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York, NY, 2015
- “Alongside Tall Grasses” – Brandywine River Museum of Art, Chadds Ford, PA, 2014
- “The Wilmington Center for the Study of Local Landscape” – The Delaware Contemporary, 2013
- “Local Expeditions” – Third Streaming Gallery, New York, NY, 2013
- “East Coast/West Coast, The Bronx/The Bronx” – Wave Hill Sunroom Project Space, Bronx, NY, 2013
- “Nowhere in Manhattan” – Public Works/Scaffold Installation, East 57th Street, New York, NY 2011
- “Searching for Something Previously Forgotten or Unknown” – Building 110: LMCC’s Art Center on Governors Island, 2010
- “Nowhere in Manhattan” – Chashama Gallery, 44th Street, New York City, 2009
- “The Rockaways” – Citizens Committee For New York City, New York, NY, 2008
Selected Group Exhibitions
- You Are Getting Warmer, Art at the Blue Line, Waterfront Alliance @ South Street Seaport, 2022
- Around the Table, New York Botanical Garden, 2022
- “Impressions” – Cristina Grajales Gallery, New York, NY, 2019-2020
- “Constructing Identity in America” – Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ, 2018-2020
- “Who Takes Careof New York” – Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY, 2019
- “In the Historical Present” – Kellen Gallery, The New School, New York, NY 2019
- “Psychogeography” – Hewitt Gallery of Art, Marymount Manhattan, New YOrk, NY, 2019
- “City as Ecosystem: NYC Urban Field Station Artists” – Arsenal Gallery in Central Park, New York, NY, 2018
- “Land/Sea” – Stoveworks, Chattanooga, TN, 2018
- “Open Spaces Kansas City” – Art Festival, Kansas City, MO, 2018
- “Artwork as Collection/Collection as Artwork” – DVAA, Narrowsburg, NY, 2018
- “Interventions” – Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York, NY, 2018
- “Call and Response” – Wave Hill, Bronx, NY 2017
- “A World Where We Belong” – Hudson Valley Community College, Jersey City, NJ, 2017
- “Wanderlust” – The High Line, New York, NY, 2016
- “Kenpoku Art 2016” – Hitachi, Ibaraki, Japan, 2016
- “Lux: The Radiant Sea” – Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York, NY, 2016
- “The Sun Placed in the Abyss” – Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH, 2016
- “Field Studies” – Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Brooklyn, NY, 2016
- “Celebrating Photography at the NGA” – National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2015
- “An Other Land” – Prosjekstrom Normanns, Stavanger, Norway, 2015
- “Walking Flatbush” – Special project, BRIC Arts Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2015
- “State Park” – University of California, San Diego, 2015
- “Crossing Brooklyn” – Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn NY, 2014-15
- “Surveying the Terrain” – Contemporary Art Museum, Raleigh, NC, 2013
- “After Photoshop: Manipulated Photography in the Digital Age” – Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, 2012-2013
- “The Psychic Triangle” – Nurture Art, Brooklyn, NY, 2013
- “New Country, Contemporary Ruralism” – Claypool-Young Art Gallery, Morehead State University, KY, 2012
- “Fool’s Journey” – Curious Matter, Jersey City, NJ, 2012
- “An Exchange with Sol Lewitt” – MASS MoCA, North Adams, NY, 2011
- “The New Landscape” – Canal View, SoHo, New York City, 2009
- “Pentameter” – Kathleen Cullen Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2008
- “New Work/Five Artists” – Benton Museum of Art, Storrs, CT, 2008
- Lagrange Art Museum Biennial, Lagrange, GA, 2008
- Center for the Visual Arts, University of Toledo, 2008
- “Radius” – Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum/Ridgefield Artist Guild, 2007
- “Digital Atelier” – Contemporary Arts Gallery, University of Connecticut, 2007
Publications and Catalogs
- Prompts for Participatory Walks, book/catalog, Elastic City, 2019
- Blue River Wonder Walk, Matthew Jensen, take-away poster, map/essay, 2018
- Park Wonder, Matthew Jensen, monograph and essays, Paper Crown Press, Gutenberg, NJ, 2017
- Three Wonder Walks, Matthew Jensen, booklet of maps, photographs and text, first printing by the High Line, second printing by Orion Magazine, July 2016
- The Sun Placed in the Abyss, Drew Swayer, catalog Columbus Museum of Art, 2016
- A Place that Moves People, Matthew Jensen, artist book for QueensWay, 2016
- Crossing Brooklyn, Art from Bushwick, Bed-Stuy and Beyond, Eugenie Tsai, Brooklyn Museum, 2014
Artist Walks and Community Projects
- Bronx Sky Farm, Fordham/All Hallows High Schook, Bronx, NY, 2022
- Walking Strategies, The Nature of Cities Summit, Paris, France, 2019
- Inwood as Muse, The Natural Areas Conservancy, artist walk, 2018
- LOW WALK HIGH WALK, Open Source Gallery, artist walk, 2018
- A Place that Moves People, Trust for Public Land/QueensWay, artist walk, 2017
- Great Swamp Walk, Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, artist walk, 2017
- Walk to Watchung, Visual Art Center of New Jersey, artist walk, 2017
- Three Wonder Walks (Staten Island, Barren Island, Twin Island), High Line Art, 2016
- Flatbush Old/Flatbush New, Municipal Art Society, 2015 & 2016
- Lowtide Artist Walk, Brooklyn Bridge Park, 2016
- Old Flatbush Walk, Brooklyn Museum of Art, 2014
- Wilmington Center for the Study of Local Landscape, DCCA, Wilmington, DE, 2013
- City as Living Laboratory, The air up there, invited artist walk, 2013
- Storm King Art Center, Wanderings and Wonderings, two invited artist-walks, 2013
- Storm King/LMCC/River-to-River: Artists Respond, invited artist-walk, 2012
- Nowhere In Manhattan: Billboard project with the High School for Art and Design, 2011
- Wave Hill Workshop: Typologies of Place, 2011
- Elastic City, Signs of Life, Artist walks at Inwood Park, 2011
Artist Lecture, Curatorial
- University of Connecticut, School of Fine Art, Commencement Speech, 2022
- The Nature of City/LEAF, online artist talk, 2020
- Newark Rhythms, Express Newark, Artist Talk, 2019
- Caring for NYC’s Forest, Kaplan Foundation, Panel Discussion, 2019
- Daybreak: New Affirmations in Queer Photography, Co-Curator, Leslie Lohman Museum, New York, NY, 2018
- Fordham University, Artist Talk, 2018
- Ramapo College, Visiting Artist, Presentation and Walk, 2017
- Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Juror, 2017
- Parsons Photography MFA Program, Visiting Artist, 2015
- Artist and the Environment, Panel Discussion, Christie’s Education, 2015
- FOUND: In Plain Sight, Collaborative talk with an urban archaeologist, BRIC Arts, 2015
- Artist Lecture in conjunction with State Park exhibition, UC San Diego, 2015
- HyperAllergic: Performance Art and Activism, Panel Discussion, 2014
- Professional Women Photographers, Artist Talk, 2014
- Marfa Dialogues/CaLL/Mary Miss, Panel Discussion, 2013
- Artist Talk, Pratt University, 2013
- The James Prize, Moving Image Art Fair, Juror, 2012 & 2013
- Visiting Artist Presentation, Parsons School of Design, 2011
- Artist Presentation and Talk, Evolve the Conversation, 2011
- Artist Presentation and Talk, High School for Art and Design, 2011
- The Artist Life in New York, NYFA Panel Discussion at Pratt, 2011
- Shoreline Alliance for the Arts: Images 30, Juror, 2011
- Lower Manhattan Cultural Council: Swing Space, Juror, 2010
- Artist Talk, Salve Regina University, 2005
Teaching
- Parsons/The New School, Part-time Assistant Professor, Environmental Art/Photo, 2012-present
- Fordham University, Lecturer, Art and Action on the Bronx River/Studio Art, 2020-present
- SUNY Purchase, 4D Processes, 2014-2015
- George Washington University, Lecturer of Photography, 2013
- University of Connecticut, Adjunct Instructor, 2007/8
Commissions
- New York Botanical Garden, Public Artwork, 2022
- Water Front Alliance, Public Artwork, 2022
- City as Living Laboratory, Tibbetts Estuary Tapestry, 2021
- The New School, New York, NY, 2019
- Open Spaces Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, 2018
- Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY, 2017
- Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit, NJ, 2017
- Montefiore Hospital, Bronx, NY, 2017
- High Line Art, New York, NY, 2016
- Kenpoku Art, Ibaraki, Japan, 2016
- Trust for Public Land for the Queensway, Queens, NY, 2016
- Brooklyn Bridge Park, 2015
- City as Living Laboratory, 2015
- Brandywine River Museum of Art, 2014
Collections
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- National Gallery of Art
- Brooklyn Museum of Art
- Montclair Art Museum
- Brandywine River Museum of Art
- Green-Wood Cemetery
- Montefiore Hospital
- Memorial Sloan Kettering
- New York Public Library
- New York University – Langone
- The Center for Fine Art Photography
- Agnes Gund
Press
- Hennessey, Jackie. “Walk This Way” UCONN Magazine, 14 February 2022.
- López-Jensen. “Tree Love: Street Trees and Stewardship in New York City” terrain.com, 27/07/21.
- Kultys, Kelly. “Art and Action on the Bronx River” Fordham Magazine, 22 July 2021.
- Morgan, KC, New York City’s street trees have… inhabitat.com, 12/10/ 20
- Campbell, Lindsay. Who Takes Care of New York?, thenatureofcities.com, 14/2/20
- “Daybreak” Exhibit Highlights New LGBTQ Photographers, NYCGO.com, Dan Avery, 7/20/18
- Exploring Beech Trees and Buried Painters in a Cemetery Attic, Hyperallergic, Allison Meier, 10/17/17
- An Artist’s Guide to Wandering…, Hyperallergic, Allison Meier, 11/10/16
- Traffic Cam Sunrise, Untitled Project Magazine, 1/28/16
- Photographing a Technological Age, Ivy Magazine Online, 1/28/16
- Artist’s New Exhibit Shows the Beauty of Walking…, NY1, Colleen Hagerty, 9/8/15
- This art project is a walk in the park, Time Ledger, Tammy Scileppi, 8/13/15
- Mobile Studio in Flushing Meadows Tests..., untapped cities, Alexander McQuilkin, 8/13/15
- At Brandywine museum and conservancy…, Philadelphia Inquirer, Stephan Salisbury, 8/8/2014
- Crossing Brooklyn…, Art in America, Brian Boucher, 4/23/2014
- Artists Take On Surveillance State, WUNC.org, S. Wen and F. Stasio, 10/22/2013
- Surveying the Terrain, Doug Rickard and Matthew Jensen, Daylight Digital, Interview, 10/20/2013
- First rate walking in the First State, The News Journal/Crossroads, Betsy Price, 10/10/2013
- San Francisco Arts Quarterly Online, Review of Local Expeditions, Louis M. Schmidt, 7/6/2013
- Walkabout: Lost and Found, The New Yorker, Ian Frazier, p. 23, 7/23/2012
- Taking Root in the Bronx, The Wall Street Journal, Lizzie Simon, 2/13/2012
- The 49 States, 1814 Magazine, 12 page interview/photo essay, 10/8/2011
- Art Sprouts Up At a School Construction Site, The New York Times/School Book Online, H. Goshen, 9/15/11
- Tapped In: Constructive Art, Our Town East Side, M. Finnegan, 9/21/11
- Artist Matthew Jensen Opens Outdoor Public Art Exhibition…, NY Daily News Online, 9/19/11
- Photos of ‘Nowhere’ Adorn High School Construction Site, DNAInfo.com, Mary Johnson, 9/16/11
- An Exchange with Sol Lewitt, Regine Basha, Cabinet Books, p. 82, 2011
- Art in Residence: The James New York, Phaidon.com, Bonnie Tsui, 2/28/10
- Rooms with a view, Wallpaper Magazine, Marina Cashdan, p. 90, 12/2010
- The Hotel as Art Gallery, The New York Times, Diane Cardwell, 8/29/10
- A hotel that’s also an art Gallery, WABC-TV, Interview by Lauren Glassberg, 9/2/10
- Jensen @ Governors Island, Whitewall Magazine Online, Review by Elizabeth Weiner, 7/26/10
- Exotic Isle for Artists, Right in the City, The New York Times, Robin Pogrebin, 6/1/10
- ‘The New Landscape at Canal View in SoHo, The Huffington Post, Yelena Kalinsky, 12/17/09
- A Walk Through Nowhere, NPR/WNYC, Beth Fertig, Morning Edition feature story, 8/20/09
- Nowhere In Manhattan, The Huffington Post, Rufus Lusk, Front Page Feature Story, 8/11/09
- Previews, Whitewall Magazine Online, Lily Rose, 8/13/09
- Exhibition Exposes The ‘Other Side’ Of the Rockaways, The Wave, 5/30/08
- Tall Order, The Chronicle, Janice Steinhagen, review of show, two images, 8/23/07
- One, Two, Tree: Counting The Spruces, Hartford Courant, Peter Marteka, Front-page feature story, 6/12/07
- Interview with Matthew Jensen, Artists & Authors with Erica Pagliuco, Interview, CPTV 14, 5/20/07
- Trash artist strikes again in Willimantic, The Willimantic Chronicle, Heather Lottier, Front-page, 11/29/06
- One-man’s trash is another man’s art, The Willimantic Chronicle, Heather Lottier,Front-page, 11/13/06