Matt Neff’s work is concerned with historical and current negotiations of power and privilege with regard to race, gender, and class, both as an observer of others, and in terms of his own processes and relationships to these dynamics. This process, which occurs on both levels of consciousness and dissociation, offers a fragile impermanence to the work. Formally, he is interested in a lack of image, anti-icons, and, much like semantic satiation, the repeated and shifting use of common materials like sugar, graphite, air, and ash evoke visual mystery and a visceral reaction to and curiosity about objects and images.

A skilled artist, printer, and educator, Neff has worked on a number of important projects with institutions including Philagrafika and the Wharton Esherick Museum. Neff teaches and runs the Common Press at the University of Pennsylvania and in 2008 was awarded 2008 PennDesign Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award. Neff holds a MFA from the University of Pennsylvania, BFA in studio art and BA in Art History from Indiana University. Selected exhibitions include: 

There is still time, Gallery MC, New York, NYC; Page 179, Artforum, September 2013, Brennan and Griffin Gallery, New York, NYC; Broad Spectrum, Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, Wilmington DE; In Front of Strangers, I Sing, Woodmere Art Museum; Editions Artist’s book fair, 548 west 28th Street, Chelsea NY; Sugarcraft, Chicago, IL; Natural Selection, Philadelphia Selections, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and Live With It, Emerging to Established: 25 Years of the Center for Emerging Visual Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art. His work is included in many public and private collections including the Rare Books Library at the University of Pennsylvania. Neff will be the subject of a solo exhibition at The Print Center from April – June 2014.