Documenting Anarchy: Matthew Conboy & Dylan Vitone

Join Fellowship 15 Keystone Award winner Matthew Conboy and artist Dylan Vitone for an in-depth conversation about their photo-based documentary projects on the notorious 88-acre skate park and anarchist commune Skatopia. Located in southeast Ohio, Skatopia has become infamous for its world class skateboarding, music, and raucous parties. Conboy’s photographs, currently on view at Silver Eye, bring a sense of serenity to the chaos, often photographing the skaters and landscape in quiet moments. Vitone, on the other hand, captures the reckless energy of Skatopia using virtual and printed panoramic photographs that capture affecting details in the revelry. In conversation, the artists will share their work and processes and discuss different approaches to making images of this unique community. Talk will being promptly at 7:00 pm. -- About the Speakers: Matthew Conboy will have his PhD candidate in Interdisciplinary Arts Ohio University (Athens, OH) conferred later this year. He received his MFA in Photography from Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, VA) in 2004 and his BS in Architecture from The Catholic University of America (Washington, D.C.) in 1999. He was born in Washington, D.C., raised in London, and now resides in Pittsburgh, PA as a photography instructor at Robert Morris University and an active member on the Board of Directors at the Mattress Factory. Conboy’s work has been exhibited widely, including at the Center for Fine Art Photography (Fort Collins, CO); the Kipp Gallery at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (Indiana, PA); the Westmoreland Museum of American Art (Greensburg, PA); the Kiernan Gallery (Lexington, VA); the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts; and the Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh, PA). Most recently, Conboy was the recipient of the 2014 Crusade for Art Engagement Grant, as well as the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council Artist Opportunity Grant, and has received a number of travel and work grants. His work has been included in a number of publications and he was also offered a residency this year at Cittadellarte’s UNIDEE program in Biella, Italy. For more information, please visit www.matthewconboy.com. Dylan Vitone is a photographer based in Pittsburgh. He holds a BA from St. Edward's University and an MFA from Massachusetts College of Art. He is Associate Professor in the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University. His photographs have been exhibited widely and collected by museums including; The Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP), The Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History, George Eastman House, Portland Art Museum, Nelson-Atkins Museum, Brooks Museum of Art, Harry Ransom Center, Polaroid Collection, Carnegie Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. His photographic projects are based around geographical location where he uses those locations to speak about greater social and cultural phenomenon. For more information, please visit www.dylanvitone.com. www.silvereye.org