Photo of Matt Gonzalez by Nick Bygon, 2008.
Art & Politics:The Matt Gonzalez Reader collects various interviews, opinion editorials, essays, art reviews, and other writings by Matt Gonzalez on issues related to art and politics. The posts are reprinted from their original source, including monographs and catalogs published by art galleries, which include:
The Argonaut, As It Ought To Be, Berkeley La Raza Law Journal, BeyondChron, BLISSS Magazine, Ceramics: Art & Perception, Comet Magazine, CounterPunch, Crocker Art Museum, Davis Enterprise, FMSBW, Fog City Journal, 48 hills, Frey Norris Contemporary, Golden Gate [X]press, Hollis Taggart, Joshua Liner Galley, Jules Maeght Gallery, Juxtapoz, Luggage Store Gallery, Mark Moore Gallery, Medium, Mesh Magazine, Michael Rauner Photography, Moth Belly Gallery, The New Fillmore, North Bay Progressive Journal, Paragon Books, Plastic Antinomy, The Recorder, Roborant Review, San Francisco Arts Quarterly, San Francisco Bay Guardian, San Francisco Bay View Newspaper, San Francisco Call, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Frontlines, Squarecylinder, Stanford Humanities Review, Thomas Reynolds Gallery, and The Trial Lawyer.
Matt Gonzalez was born in McAllen, Texas. He is a graduate of Columbia University and Stanford Law School. He is a former president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and served as Ralph Nader’s vice-presidential running mate in 2008 on an Independent ticket (in California, they won the nomination of the socialist Peace & Freedom Party). Gonzalez has worked as the chief attorney in the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office since early 2011.
Since 2014, Gonzalez has exhibited his artwork with Dolby Chadwick Gallery in San Francisco. His collage works are in the permanent collection of the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento; Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts at the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; and, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Since 2018, his press FMSBW has published a series of poetry books by Northern California poets in The Page Poets Series. The imprint’s The Divers Collection publishes memoir, fiction, and poetry in translation.
In 2025, Gonzalez co-founded the Roborant Review. The online journal publishes original long-form art reviews and artist interviews. Gonzalez serves as an editor-at-large and assists in all aspects of the publication.
Feel free to post comments or send us email at mtt.gonzalez33@gmail.com.
Painting of Matt Gonzalez by Kyle Ranson, 2018.
Drawing of Matt Gonzalez by Kyle Ranson, 2018.
Layered paper-cut of Matt Gonzalez by Adam Feibelman, 2017.
Matt Gonzalez In His Studio by Grey Dey, 2023.
Matt Gonzalez by Jack Freeman, oil on canvas, 2013.
Matt Gonzalez by Emilio Villalba, oil on canvas, 2021.
Matt Gonzalez by James Eddy, 2021.
Matt Gonzalez by Rene Almanza, watercolor on paper, 2011.
Matt Gonzalez by Micah Ballard, “I’ve securely tied the wayward elephant of my mind,” xerox print on paper made from photograph/fax process, 1999.
Art & Politics: The Matt Gonzalez Reader 