Suchitra Mattai
In conjunction with the group exhibition On Alchemy, Roberts Projects will host an online conversation with several participating artists about the ways in which their creative practices embody alchemy’s rich legacy.
The myth of the Philosopher’s Stone symbolizes a centuries-long pursuit to discover the existence of materia prima: an unknown substance capable of replicating the divine act of creation. Known by several other names including “quintessence,” “chaos” and “the fifth element” which constitutes atomic matter, the potent allure of materia prima can be understood as the ultimate goal of human civilization: to materialize heaven on earth.
Using the concepts of materia prima and “heaven on earth” as metaphor, this conversation reflects on the ways that contemporary artists use philosophical inquiry and methods of material transformation to conjure their own visions of utopia. Participating artists are Anthony Cudahy, Suchitra Mattai and mosie river, with Alexandria Ryahl, Associate Director moderating.
About the Panelists
Anthony Cudahy received a BFA from Pratt Institute in 2011 and an MFA from Hunter College in 2020. Recent exhibitions include Spinneret at the Ogunquit Museum of American Art, ME, Green Family Art Foundation, Dallas, TX; and Conversation at Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dole, France. His work can be found in collections of the AkzoNobel Art Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Baltimore Museum of Art, MD; Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, CA; Dallas Museum of Art, TX; The Hort Family Collection, New York, NY; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL; Kunstmuseum, The Hague, Netherlands; Les Arts au Mur Artothèque de Pessac, Pessac, France; Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY and Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
Suchitra Mattai received an MFA in Painting and Drawing and an MA in South Asian Art from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. She has participated in group exhibitions at the MCA Chicago, Crystal Bridges Museum, the Sharjah Biennial, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Tampa Museum of Art, the MCA Denver and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, and solo exhibitions at the ICA San Francisco and Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens, NY. Her works are in collections such as Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, the Denver Art Museum, the Tampa Museum of Art, Crocker Art Museum, The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the Tia Collection and the University of Michigan Museum of Art. Her first solo exhibition in Washington, DC, Suchitra Mattai: Myth from Matter, is on view at the National Museum of Women in Arts through January 2025.
mosie river received a BFA from SUNY Purchase in 2016. They have been included in exhibitions at White Columns, New York, NY; Nicodim, Los Angeles, CA and New York, NY; Greene Naftali, New York, NY; Gern en Regalia, New York, NY; Almine Rech, London, UK and New York, NY; Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York, NY; Fine Arts Center Gallery at University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR and Luce Gallery, New York, NY. river has completed residencies with the Home School, Hudson, NY; Poco a Poco, Oaxaca City, Mexico; Painters Painting Paintings, Amsterdam, Netherlands and Mahler & LeWitt Studios, Spoleto, Italy. Their work is in the permanent collections of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL; Pond Society, Shanghai, China; the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY and the Yuz Museum, Shanghai, among others.
Alexandria Ryahl is an interdisciplinary artist and Associate Director at Roberts Projects in Los Angeles. She received a BA in Critical Race Theory and Visual Studies from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study in 2015, and an MFA in Art from University of California, Irvine in 2023. Ryahl has developed and facilitated public programs at institutions including the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at University of California, Irvine; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art, Brooklyn, NY and The Rubin Museum, New York, NY.
