Marlene Matalon

Marlene Matalon was born on September 22, 1935 in New York City to Maurice and Sonia Friedman. Marlene was the second of three daughters and a first generation American. Marlene's family moved to Los Angeles when she was a teenager. She met Victor Matalon while studying art at UCLA. They were married in 1954, and had a son, Jhan Craig, in 1955. Victor joined the Army to take care of his growing family and complete his education. So it was that the Matalons moved frequently while Victor completed his DDS, and studied maxillofacial surgery, and Marlene continued to study and create art. While living in Detroit in 1959 they had a daughter, Michele.

In 1965 Victor left the Army to accept a postdoctoral position in maxillofacial reconstructive surgery at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and Marlene's family moved to Houston where Marlene completed a BFA degree in art and art history. In the late 1960's Marlene used her artistic talent to become a medical illustrator for the University of Texas Medical Center, where she drew anatomical illustrations for text books and publications.

Marlene joined the faculty of the newly established High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in the early 1970's as a member of the art department. In 1975 she accepted a position at Rice University as an art and art history instructor.

Influenced by growing up in an artistic household, Marlene's son Jhan Craig pursued a successful career as a special effects artist in Hollywood. Michele, graduated from HSPVA with a major in Dance. Marlene became a widow in 1977 with the untimely death of her husband Victor.

She remarried in 1982 to Sidney A. Taylor, President of Incal Pipeline Rehabilitation, Inc. and was able to pursue art full time. Her knowledge of art allowed her to become an expert on framing and a highly respected art conservationist, specializing in paper restoration. In 1993 she was named a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.

Sid and Marlene lived in Paris during 1993-94 and Marlene was able to devote herself to her art, exploring new techniques and directions. Art was Marlene's passion. She began life as a painter, and when arthritis slowed her down, she switched to photography, referring to herself as a "colorist." She was unafraid to experiment, embracing what technology could give her.

Like Marlene, her photographs and paintings were colorful, beautiful, and creative. Her work was prolific and full of life. Much of her work was filled with a wonder and appreciation for the beauty in the natural world: fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Her explorations of these simple subjects show an inquisitive, imaginative, and very special eye and mind. Her appreciation of form led to an appreciation of the wonders also of the man-made work, such as photographs of architecture. Marlene and her work will always be remembered for insight, love, and a sense of fun.

To identify Marlene Matalon simply as an artist is inadequate, but art was central to her life. She believed that "visual art is as powerful and necessary as breathing." Surely it was for her, and her own art proclaims that she breathed deeply - first as a painter and graphic artist; then as a photographer shaped by her beginnings as a painter.

Marlene described her work as being "about nature and color" - an accurate statement but woefully understated in the face of the visual and emotional power of her colors and the imaginative manipulation of her subjects in nature by a variety of collage techniques. Some of the nature came from her own garden - always with an eye for such contrasts as the voluptuous, velvety forms of her magnolias and the rigid, vertical patterns in a stand of bamboo. Some photos offer the beauty of a single, incredibly sumptuous flower; other photos are gridded into squares with diverse leaves, flowers, and fruits orchestrated with concern for spatial tensions of wholes and parts and for patterns of color, of solids and voids. They are feasts for eye and mind. Still others are striking compositions of images appropriated from Japanese culture, a culture that was fundamental for her early years in Los Angeles.

Marlene's commitment to art also included a concern for community as recorded in her services for the Cultural Arts Council of Houston (CACH) and for the Houston Women's Caucus for the Arts.

Sadly, her son Jhan Craig predeceased her in 1998. She is survived by her daughter, Michele Matalon Hedges, her husband Sidney Taylor and her step children Amy Louise Taylor and Sidney Taylor, Jr.

A Celebration of Marlene's Life will be held from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Saturday, April 23, 2011 at Goldesberry Gallery, 2625 Colquitt, Houston, Texas 77098. Phone: 713-528-0405