Contemporary Artist Mariel Capanna Creates New Paintings Inspired by Iconic Works
Images: Mariel Capanna, Flowers, Ladders, Fires, Flags, 2025. Oil, wax, and marble dust on linen. Courtesy the artist and Adams and Ollman, Portland, OR; Florine Stettheimer, Beauty Contest: To the Memory of P. T. Barnum, 1924. Oil on canvas. Collection Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.
HARTFORD, Conn. (February 24, 2026) – The Wadsworth presents Mariel Capanna as the latest artist to be featured in the long-running MATRIX series showcasing emerging contemporary artists. Born and based in Philadelphia, Capanna explores themes of time and memory through oil paintings on panel and her practice as a fresco artist and instructor. Inspired by The Wadsworth’s collection and the 250th anniversary of American independence in 2026, Capanna made a new series of paintings based on iconic works in the museum’s American art collection, by artists such as Florine Stettheimer (1871-1944), Bob Thompson (1937-1966), and John Trumbull (1756-1843). The paintings combine the color palettes of the source paintings with Capanna’s subjective impressions of related films she watched while completing the paintings, which are some of her largest and most intricate to date.
“Mariel Capanna is a worthy addition to the legacy of the MATRIX program, which has consistently been a showcase for artists pushing forward all art forms, from experimental media to more traditional painting,” said Jared Quinton, Emily Hall Tremaine Associate Curator of Contemporary Art. “I’m thrilled she has made new paintings in direct response to our renowned collection of American art, extending the MATRIX program’s legacy as a forum for groundbreaking, site-specific artmaking.”
In addition to the new panel paintings, Capanna has created a site-specific fresco installation for the MATRIX Gallery, surrounding the doorway with a set of fresco panels that frame visitors’ entry to the exhibition. The panels contain a red chalk preparatory drawing traditionally developed on the penultimate layer of plaster; here it becomes the visible surface, suggesting the draft of a fresco that has not yet been made.
Program Highlights
For details visit TheWadsworth.org/matrix198
Saturday, July 11
Second Saturdays for Families | Artmaking Activity with Mariel Capanna
10am-2pm; followed by a 2pm concert in the MATRIX Gallery
About the Artist
Mariel Capanna (born 1988 in Philadelphia, where she lives and works) received a BFA and Certificate of Fine Art from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA and an MFA from the Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT. She has been an artist in residence at the Guapamacátaro Art and Ecology Residency in Michoacan, MX; the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Madison, ME; and at the Tacony Library and Arts Building, Philadelphia, PA. Capanna is the recipient of the Robert Schoelkopf Memorial Traveling Fellowship and an Independence Foundation Visual Arts Fellowship. From 2021-2023, Capanna was the Mellon Post-MFA Fellow in Studio Art at Williams College, Williamstown, MA, and she is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Art at Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA, as well as a fresco instructor at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. In 2025, Capanna presented her first museum solo exhibition, Giornata, at the Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA.
About MATRIX
Since its inception in 1975, MATRIX has been a forum for celebrating cutting-edge art and artists at the Wadsworth. The first exhibition series of its kind, the Wadsworth’s MATRIX program has inspired more than 50 similar programs dedicated to contemporary art at museums across the country. Capanna’s MATRIX project marks the 198th installment of the pioneering series.
Exhibition and Program Support
MATRIX 198 is supported by the Wadsworth Atheneum’s Contemporary Coalition and the Wadsworth Exhibition Fund, supported by the Estate of James Lyon. Additional support provided by the Howard Fromson Fund. Public programs are supported by the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation Fund. First Thursdays is generously funded by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All Program.
About The Wadsworth
Formerly known as the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, The Wadsworth honors the past and inspires the future through the power of human creativity. Guided by its founding belief that art can uplift society and ignite progress, the Wadsworth inspires reflection, dialogue, and cultural transformation through its outstanding collection, programs, and partnerships.
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