Cirrus Gallery and Cirrus Editions is pleased to present, "Stretto," an exhibition of monoprints along with selected paintings by Matthew Sweesy. Sweesy's paintings and prints act as portals for each viewer to immerse themselves into as layers and painted frames, literal and imagined, become part of the overall composition, generating a sculptural object as much as a painted form. 

Recent lithographs by Mary Weatherford and Daniel Gibson will also be highlighted during the opening to showcase the latest prints from Cirrus. Weatherford's "Drift" gives the impression of remembered night tides and moonlit reflections floating out on the water. Gibson's "Arroyo Walks" reimagines dreamlike white poppies from the artist's personal strolls along the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena.

Additionally, this presentation will include prints from our archive by Judy Chicago, Craig Kauffman, a drawing by Ed Moses, and painting by Charles Christopher Hill.
Join us in celebrating this collaboration at the opening reception of "Stretto" on Saturday, July 11, 2026 at Cirrus Gallery from 4pm to 7pm. Click here for more info.

Matthew Sweesy’s paintings form a visual language in which vibrant colors, thick impasto brushstrokes, and uncanny compositional elements coincide to draw the viewer into an intimate space within the lure of abstraction. The translation of his painting process into a series of monoprints allowed for new techniques to enter his repertoire as the offset lithography press became a painting tool in which to construct a composition with limitless variables. 

Sweesy painted directly on aluminum plates and was able to adjust, add, and reconfigure variations of compositional starting points. Circular forms reminiscent of ink rollers and gears find their way into the forms suggesting machinery and clock gears as the images reference the process of their making while forming a relationship to an organizational presentation of information such as story boards and musical scores.