Portrait Artist Matt Kleberg, a Fort Worth, Texas native, has been painting the town—or, more specifically, the townspeople—of Charlottesville red, yellow, green, blue, and every other color imaginable for the past two to three years.
“People’s faces are much more colorful than you would think,” he explains, pointing out his use of color in his series of giant portraits. “It’s not just that ‘flesh’ color.” Among the colorful faces featured in this collection are people in Charlottesville that Kleberg personally knows, including U.Va. Professor Ernest Mead, Pastor Greg Thompson, and his roommate Sam, just to name a few. “Some people just have a great face,” Kleberg says of his subjects. “Others have had a great influence on me. And some people, such as Mr. Mead and Greg Thompson, wear their interior story on their exterior…You can just see where the colors come from.”
Six giant portraits complete the head count of Kleberg’s collection, which was recently an exhibition called “No Ordinary People” at The Garage in Charlottesville. He has also painted countless smaller versions of these portraits.
While Kleberg’s interest in art developed as early as Kindergarten, it was not until his apprenticeship under professional painter Ron Tomlinson in eighth grade that he really started learning how to use paint and discovered his passion for painting people. Now, the 2008 Painting and Religious Studies graduate of the University of Virginia can be found at the U.Va. studio all day, and sometimes even all night, painting anything from faces to his newer more abstract work. “I’m not done painting faces,” he says, noting that he will always have a connection to portraiture. “But I am looking for new things to paint right now.”
Although the twenty-four (“and a half”) year-old artist did not choose Charlottesville for the art scene, or even for his passion for art. “But, now that I can do it every day as a job is awesome,” he offers. For Kleberg, the draw was the “funky town” aspect of the city. “It’s a city with a lot of central stuff going on, yet in the middle of the most beautiful surroundings,” he explains, marveling at the fact that he can be drinking a beer Downtown while someone else is hiking only 15 minutes away.
Once he was here and painting, he developed his appreciation for the arts, and fellow artists, in Charlottesville.
“There are people making music, making art, etc…It functions as a supportive net.” Although Matt has gotten restless and tried to leave the supportive net of Charlottesville a couple of times, he has always found his way back one way or another. “I’ve become rooted in Charlottesville,” he says. “I’m grateful for the community… It’s the people that keep me here. And the city is cool.”
To his fellow artists, and aspiring artists, in Charlottesville, Matt had one piece of advice: “The toughest, but most important, thing for artists is to keep making,” he says, explaining, “You don’t have to do it full-time, but if you aren’t making, then you’re not going to be happy. You’re going to look back later and kick yourself.”
1. Rock shows and art openings at The Garage
2. Home fries from Bluegrass Grill
3. Drinking a beer on Michael's Bistro's balcony when it’s warm
4. Drinking a beer at Court Square Tavern when it’s cold
5. Bouldering at Moormans rocks
6. Para Coffee
7. C.L.A.W. (charlottesville ladies arm wrestling)
8. Sitting on his front porch
9. Rocky Top climbing gym
10. Eating the free samples at Feast