matumbi_studio

02/08/2026

It’s a honor to receive Third Place in the 2026 Wisconsin Artists Biennial at the Museum of Wisconsin Art.
The exhibition features 50 artists and 52 works, selected from over 1,200 entries by nearly 500 artists statewide, showcasing both new voices and established Wisconsin artists.

Juried by: Nicole Jacquard, Taylor Jasper, and Melissa Oresky.

Grateful to the MOWA and Wisconsin Visual Artists team for bringing this exhibition together.

12/03/2025

Ante Up by Taj Matumbi
Opening Reception:
Saturday, December 6, 2025, from 6 pm-9pm
Exhibition Runs:
December 7 - January 18, 2026
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In Ante Up,

Taj Matumbi blends the Western art canon with African American history, particularly the post–Civil War Reconstruction era. His paintings reclaim this historical narrative, highlighting enduring cultural signifiers and examining their influence on “the West’s” collective consciousness. Matumbi critiques the “myth of America” and the moral ideals often linked to Western identity, reshaping them into a unique, personalized mythology

11/11/2025

Ante Up by Taj Matumbi
Opening Reception at SooVac gallery: Saturday, December 6, 2025, from 6 pm-9pm
Exhibition Runs: December 7 - January 18, 2026

Chicanery
2025
acrylic on canvas
48 x 60 in.

08/26/2025

Thank you for inviting me to participate in Four Seasons: Adventures in Art program series. This is a program jointly presented by two organizations: The Center for Black Excellence and Culture and UW- Madison Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (specifically one of its related studies called African Americans Fighting Alzheimer’s in Midlife or “AA-FAIM” study). It was an honor to share a little about my practice and process with this lovely group. We all had so much fun and I was truly moved by everyone’s enthusiasm and engagement! Also, big thanks to and Elise Daugherty for welcoming us and making programming like this possible.

07/10/2025

Appreciation post for my sweet girlfriend thank you for all the love, support, friendship, and patience. We have had a lot of adventures over the years and I’m extremely lucky and grateful to have such a beautiful, creative, and kind soul by my side. 🌸🥰❣️

05/18/2025

Here’s some pictures of me discussing the size of a sockeye salmon I caught one summer living in Alaska jk. Thank you for taking pictures of me during my artist talk last week at for the 2025 Wisconsin Triennial. I am 31 today and feeling grateful for so much. Lots of love to my sweets , my gato Ted, and my family for making it out for the reception. There are more artists talks scheduled at so go check their page and support local art!

05/14/2025

As part of the 2025 Wisconsin Triennial exhibit MMoCa asked individuals to record responses to the works on view.

I was so giddy when I saw was speaking in response to my painting, Hustle. I felt both touched and seen by your response. Thank you so much, Tyanna! I hope we can meet in the near future.

Go check the these audio responses on Spotify under the playlist titled, Triennial Talk.

Huge thanks to for this wonderful photo of my painting and putting these oral responses together!

"Hustle"
60 x 48 inches
acrylic and flashe on canvas
2025




Photo credit

06/22/2024

Hyped to be a part of this group exhibition

“Ship of Fools” will be up all summer, go check it out if you’re in the area.

Featured artists:

06/22/2024

Grateful to be included in my first NYC group exhibition w/ Freight and Volume! 🙏🏽😇🌞🎷🤴🏾

Maus Contemporary https://www.facebook.com/share/ZnqYrFnU4dojBmJE/?mibextid=WC7FNe

NY friends, don’t miss tonight’s opening of “Ship of Fools,” a group exhibition at Freight + Volume, which includes work by Taj Matumbi.

“Ship of Fools” will be on view at 39 Lispenard St. from June 21st to August 31st, 2024.

image:
Taj Matumbi
“Dirt Rich Prince”
2022
acrylic on canvas
42 by 32 in. (106,7 by 81,3 cm)

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“Referencing the allegorical 1962 novel by Katherine Anne Porter, Ship of Fools weaves together a host of artists with disparate practices in an effort to retrace the contours of society today divided as it is by war, nationalism, and entrenched historical conflicts. Just as Porter’s book reflects the rise of Na**sm and looks metaphorically at the progress of the world on its “voyage to eternity”, the artworks on view assess our moment in history and the future legacy of present day world events—the upcoming presidential election, wars in Gaza and Ukraine, climate change, and the rise of artificial intelligence. Against a backdrop of ceaseless conflict, coming to terms with prejudice, disillusionment, the human condition, and related themes, becomes more significant than ever.

Just as Porter’s novel presents a tapestry of human experiences, Ship of Fools showcases works from artists of various backgrounds, styles, and mediums. The exhibition explores imbricated themes of isolation vs. community, social as opposed to political commentary, and, finally, the emotional complexity embedded in our shared experience of pandemics, protest, and war. In this sprawling dystopia, satire becomes a lifesaving weapon. (…)”

+VolumeGallery

03/18/2024

Here are some install shots of my current exhibition,
RISE AND SHINE is on view through May 3rd at Maus Contemporary.

Photo credit

Rise and Shine stems from a curiosity around formal and figurative abstraction, which I use to investigate real and imagined biographies, including my own. My process is driven by a shifting cooperation between intuitive gesture and intentional action, further guided by formal and material restraints that lead me to arrive at unexpected outcomes and conclusions.

During the early years of the pandemic, I started sketching figures loosely copied from drawings made in my adolescent years. This practice led to deeper conceptual questioning and motif development on the subject of representation and identity. For example, the series of works on paper “Das Boot” explores American exceptionalism and the common expression, “pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” In more recent paintings, I depict characters reminiscent of 18th-century royalty, re-imagining ruling class and court figures. Works such as Chariot and Lighten Up, both included in the upcoming exhibition “Rise and Shine,” address the erasure of individuals historically and still today within the dominant White narrative.



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03/04/2024

✏️📅
SAVE THE DATE!
TAJ MATUMBI: RISE AND SHINE opens Friday, March 15 (6-8pm) at Maus Contemporary.

image:
Taj Matumbi
“Passing Me By”
2023
acrylic, graphite, and oil stick on canvas
48 by 48 in. (121,9 by 121,9 cm)

“Rise and Shine stems from a curiosity around formal and figurative abstraction, which I use to investigate real and imagined biographies, including my own. My process is driven by a shifting cooperation between intuitive gesture and intentional action, further guided by formal and material restraints that lead me to arrive at unexpected outcomes and conclusions.

During the early years of the pandemic, I started sketching figures loosely copied from drawings made in my adolescent years. This practice led to deeper conceptual questioning and motif development on the subject of representation and identity. For example, the series of works on paper "Das Boot" explores American exceptionalism and the common expression, “pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” In more recent paintings, I depict characters reminiscent of 18th-century royalty, re-imagining ruling class and court figures. Works such as "Chariot" and "Lighten Up," both included in the upcoming exhibition "Rise and Shine," address the erasure of individuals historically and still today within the dominant White narrative.”

- Taj Matumbi


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03/04/2024

✏️📅
SAVE THE DATE!
TAJ MATUMBI: RISE AND SHINE opens Friday, March 15 (6-8pm) at Maus Contemporary.

image:
Taj Matumbi
"Lighten Up"
2023
acrylic, flashe, and oil stick on canvas
48 by 36 in. (121,9 by 91,4 cm)

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“Rise and Shine stems from a curiosity around formal and figurative abstraction, which I use to investigate real and imagined biographies, including my own. My process is driven by a shifting cooperation between intuitive gesture and intentional action, further guided by formal and material restraints that lead me to arrive at unexpected outcomes and conclusions.

During the early years of the pandemic, I started sketching figures loosely copied from drawings made in my adolescent years. This practice led to deeper conceptual questioning and motif development on the subject of representation and identity. For example, the series of works on paper “Das Boot” explores American exceptionalism and the common expression, “pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” In more recent paintings, I depict characters reminiscent of 18th-century royalty, re-imagining ruling class and court figures. Works such as Chariot and Lighten Up, both included in the upcoming exhibition “Rise and Shine,” address the erasure of individuals historically and still today within the dominant White narrative.”

- Taj Matumbi


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