PS: Gallery event celebrates art of aging

In a society where youth is held up as an object of worship, painter Alice Matzkin and her sculptor husband Richard are busy contemplating a different gospel which promotes the later years of our lives as a time of personal growth, creativity, and as they put it “bountiful sweetness.” Turning to art and writing, the pair prove that growing old can also be a period of contemplative joy.

At 4 p.m. Thursday, the two will present an event titled “Celebrating the Authentic Aging Self” at PS: Gallery at 812 E. Broadway. The program is sponsored by the University of Missouri’s Interdisciplinary Center on Aging, which brings together MU health providers, researchers and teachers who are focused on the needs of a rapidly growing older adult population.

With videos and multimedia images, the Matzkins will share how they “have used their art, writing, and deep contemplation to come to greater joy and appreciation of the process of growing older,” MU officials said in an e-mail. They also will address the physical changes of aging, inner beauty, the joys of mature love, caring for and coming to peace with aging parents, and savoring the awareness of the present moment.

The two artists have forged their own paths and in the process gained national attention for their work. At age 71, Alice Matzkin has paintings in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution. Her work has resided in the White House, appeared in national magazines, and was featured on the “Oprah Winfrey Show.” Richard Matzkin, 67, has shown his work in numerous exhibits and his creations are in collections throughout the United States. He is also a jazz drummer and former psychotherapist.

In addition, the Matzkins have a combined 60 years of study and practice in Eastern spiritual tradition. During the session Thursday, the couple will sign their award-winning book The Art of Aging: Celebrating the Authentic Aging Self.

—Lynn Israel, Columbia Daily Tribune

Artist Couple's Unique Art/Inspirational Book on Aging Has Just Won 2 Awards

Noted California artists, Alice and Richard Matzkin, whose quest to overcome their fear and judgments about their aging is documented in their art/inspirational book, THE ART OF AGING: Celebrating the Authentic Aging Self , are recent recipients of two book awards. This beautifully written and lavishly illustrated book has received the 2010 Independent Publishers bronze IPPY medal, and the Nautilus silver award for books that promote spiritual growth, conscious living and positive social change.

Fifteen years of the Matzkin’s artwork focused around the subject of aging is contained in the book. “It all started when we were in our fifties and confronting the reality that we were getting old”, says portrait painter, Alice Matzkin. “We used paint and clay rather than a psychiatrist’s couch to explore our fear and curiosity about aging”. Alice’s sculptor husband, Richard, adds, “As our art projects progressed over the years, we came to a greater acceptance about growing older, and a deeper appreciation of the sweetness and preciousness of our present moment”.

Some of the art projects in the book include: portraits of women aged 70 to 105 who are living their lives in meaningful and generous ways, sculptures depicting men in late old age, paintings of women 68 to 87 who pose without clothes and without shame, sculptures of mature couples in sensuous and loving embrace, sequential portraits of an aunt from age 89 to 97 showing the swift progression of age on face and body, paintings and sculpture of aging parents, and much more. “Each one of our art projects, our experience of growing older, and the influence of elders we have met, inspired the writing that accompanies the various sections of the book.

With 10,000 baby boomers a day turning 60 in America, it is important for people to explore the aging process rather than trying to hide, delay or deny it. Doing so can reveal that the passage of years bestows valuable gifts. The Matzkin’s personal and universal book helps uncover those gifts.

Alice Matzkin has two paintings in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution. Her commissioned portrait of Chelsea Clinton hung in the White House during the Clinton administration, an entire collection of her work was featured in the national magazine, Ms, a video about her work was shown at the United Nations during the 1999 International Year of Older Persons, and she appeared with her art and speaking about aging gracefully on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Richard Matzkin has participated in numerous one man and group shows and has pieces in collections throughout the United States. He was key artist in a monumental equestrian piece in a train station in Ventura County. His sculpture appeared in an art/inspirational book – The Great Age – a UNESCO publication. He is a former therapist, men’s group leader, adjunct instructor in California Community College system, and program director of a psychiatric hospital. He holds a Masters Degree in Psychology. He is also an accomplished jazz drummer.

—Ventura County Star

Article in Life After 50 (pdf format)