Duly Noted Painters are the Washington, D.C. based artistic collaborators consisting of Kurtis Ceppetelli and Matthew Malone. They met in 2009 while working as museum guards at The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. Influenced in part by the idea of art as conversation, one evening the two artists decided to nail a canvas to the wall of their Brookland Art Lofts studio and started painting.
“Modernist art is not a revolution. It has evolved, like every other period, in a logical and gradual way. Its roots are deep in the remote past. . . . Our age, like every other, has its significant minorities, its non-conforming types, its contradictory and conflicting elements.” - Duncan Phillips
Kurtis Ceppetelli Born in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada in 1977. B.F.A. from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design with focus on Paintings and Sculpture.
Matthew Malone Born in Indiana, Pennsylvania in 1979. B.F.A. in Painting and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University 2005 B.B.A The College of William and Mary 2003
Artist Statement
Kurtis Ceppetelli and Matt Malone: Two painters working together as one.
Unlike traditional painting collaborations our process does not adhere to a set formula dictating who does what. Similar to jazz musicians at times we work simultaneously while at others one will step back and observe until inspired to take action again. In the end our individual artistic tendencies overlap for the greater good of each painting.
Our work is just as much about the creative process as the painted image itself. It is a result of discussion, compromise, feeling, mood, aggression, passivity, anger and love. Working together since 2009 we have developed confidence and trust in each other. And yes, there are times when we paint over each other's work which forces us to re-evaluate the painting from a new perspective.This has taught us that nothing is gone forever and if an image was meant to be it will find a way to manifest itself again. Like our individual natures, each piece is experimental and we constantly push each other to grow and discover new ways to think, act, and see as artists.
Out of necessity, our use of unconventional materials contributes to our collaborative process. Nailing un-stretched drop cloth canvas directly to the studio wall allows our paintings to expand and contract during the painting process. Referred to as an "orphanage of color" the paint we use is recycled latex house paint. Its quick drying properties forces us to work quickly yet still lends well to reworking and drawing with charcoal.
