Selected coverage of Gustavo Matamoros’s work in experimental music, sound art, and the creation of contexts for listening. The archive below includes additional articles, reviews, interviews, and historical press clippings.
SELECTED ARTICLES + INTERVIEWS
Sound as Medium
Barbara London · Flash Art, “Listening In” · February 28, 2022
Profile
An account of Matamoros’s artistic development, exploring connections between composition, sound installation, collaboration, and the listening community he has helped cultivate in Miami.
Inside Miami’s Sound Chamber
Cathy Byrd · Fresh Art International · November 19, 2018
Podcast interview
A conversation about Audiotheque 2.0 and four works created for its 30-channel listening environment, dedicated to Alison Knowles, Charles Recher, Vito Acconci, and Pauline Oliveros.
Sound Art
Joseph Cooper and Bonnie Berman · WLRN, Topical Currents · July 17, 2017
Radio interview
An hour-long conversation about experimental music and sound art, featuring binaural recordings from the exhibition LISTEN and discussion of the Subtropics Festival.
Second Sight: Art exhibition encourages visitors to stop, look and listen
Beth Dunlop · Miami Herald · May 29, 2011
Exhibition review · Archival clipping
A review of Site Specific: Explorations in Space, Vision and Sound at the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale, discussing how Matamoros’s installation Stairway connects sound, architecture, and the visitor’s movement.
PRESS ARCHIVE
Festival Subtropics 2026: una experiencia sensorial única
Marivi Véliz · Artburst Miami · September 21, 2026
Article / program preview · In Spanish
Also published in El Nuevo Herald · September 25, 2026
Hear Me Out: Miami Sound Artist Turns Deering Estate Into Experimental Listening Lab
Elena Vega · Hoodline · August 4, 2026
Article
Deering Estate Artist-in-Residence Spotlight: Gustavo Matamoros
Catherine Guerra · Miami’s Community Newspapers · August 4, 2026
Profile
Subtropics Brings Immersive Sound Art, Expanded Cinema, and Experimental Radio to Deering Estate
Editorial Staff · Art Miami Magazine · July 23, 2026
Program preview
Subtropics Brings Immersive Sound Art to Deering Estate
Carolina del Busto · Artburst Miami · July 22, 2026
Article / program preview
Gustavo Matamoros Transforms a Miami Transit Walkway Into a Sound Experience
Anne Tschida · Artburst Miami · March 5, 2026
Article
Also published by WLRN · March 9, 2026 · and the Miami Herald
Generational Artists — Art Loft
South Florida PBS · Season 14, Episode 4 · February 25, 2026
Television profile · Includes a segment on Matamoros’s sound practice at Deering Estate
México recibe por primera vez el 16 Festival Internacional de Arte Multimedia (CYFEST), en el Centro de Cultura Digital
Cultura · Portal Guanajuato · September 5, 2025
Festival coverage · In Spanish · Based on a Secretaría de Cultura press release
Deering Estate Presents the Subtropics 2025 Marathon
Community News Releases · Miami’s Community Newspapers · September 2, 2025
Festival preview · Press release
Fall @ the DiLL: Pushing Boundaries in Sound, 3D, and AR
Locust Projects · November 1, 2024
Program documentation · Includes a sound performance and artist talk by René Barge and Gustavo Matamoros
Contour Editions Launch Set1.20220723
Arte al Día · March 27, 2024
Publication announcement · Audiovisual collaboration by Gustavo Matamoros and Richard Garet
Deering Estate’s “Garden” Exhibition Blends Sound and Sculpture in Miami’s Historic Venue
Livi Miller · Hoodline · March 15, 2024
Exhibition preview
The unbearable fragility of existence: CYFEST in the Botanical Garden of Yerevan
Artur Samoylov · Aliq Media Armenia · September 9, 2023
Review
‘BluPrnt’ at Bridge Red Studios Connects Miami, Artist by Artist
Irene Sperber · MiamiArtZine · January 11, 2023
Review
Deering Estate Artist-in-Residence Spotlight: Gustavo Matamoros
Gustavo Matamoros · Miami’s Community Newspapers · March 23, 2023
Artist’s account · Reflections on the Deering Estate residency
Masks Off, Wallets Out: Art Basel 2022
Brett Sokol · The New York Times · December 1, 2022
Article
Beyond the Sounds of Silence: Latin-American Artists Connecting Art, Sound and Society
Arte al Día · September 27, 2022
Exhibition coverage
Sound Affects: Exhibition at Lowe Remains in Thoughts Long After Visit
Irene Sperber · MiamiArtZine · September 9, 2022
Exhibition review · Includes interviews with Adriana Herrera and Jill Deupi
Gustavo Matamoros at Deering Estate
Fernando Gonzalez · Artburst Miami / Miami New Times · August 30, 2022
Preview
Conversing with Nature, Confronting Extinction
Jackie Apple · Fabrik · October 30, 2019
Review · Archival copy
Gustavo Matamoros’ Social Commentary at Dimension Variable
Giulietta Vigueras · Miami Art Guide · May 11, 2019
Preview
What’s Next for Miami Sound Artist Gustavo Matamoros?
George Fishman · Artburst Miami · March 12, 2019
Article
Couples: Gustavo Matamoros & Claudia Ariano
Alette Simmons-Jimenez · Art & Company Podcast · February 10, 2019
Podcast interview · Episode 22 · A conversation about sound, design, and collaboration
The Subtleties of Sound
Anne Tschida · Biscayne Times · November 2018
Review · Archival clipping
Audiotheque 2.0 at ArtCenter/South Florida
Giulietta Vigueras · Miami Art Guide · September 2018
Article · Excerpt retained; original online article no longer available
In December 2017, SFCA [isaw+subtropics] received a Knight Arts Challenge matching grant to produce AUDIOTHEQUE 2.0. Knight Foundation chose the project as a catalyst for the advancement of experimental music and sound art in our community. Audiotheque 2.0 features a 30-channel sound system, a new order of sound art installation environment created by artist Gustavo Matamoros. This new multi-channel sound system is organized around four set configurations that can be used independently or together to exhibit new works of spatialized sound that offer visitors different kinds of immersive listening experiences. For the inauguration of Audiotheque 2.0 it was created a sound installation: “Four Audible Experiences of Movement of Sound in Space” conceived to highlight the full capabilities of the new sound system.
And Now, Audiotheque 2.0
George Fishman · Artburst Miami · June 14, 2018
Article · Excerpt retained; original online article no longer available
This has been a place for research. I’m an artist who does that,” declared sound artist and impresario Gustavo Matamoros, describing Audiotheque, an intimate black box studio at ArtCenter/South Florida on Lincoln Road. Internationally recognized for works that are wide-ranging in style and format, Matamoros devises sound installations for specific architectural or outdoor spaces and traffics with other audio experimenters who defy genre categories.
The Experimental Music and Musings of Fred Lonberg-Holm at Audiotheque
George Fishman · Artburst Miami · December 22, 2017
Article · Excerpt retained; original online article no longer available
Composer, performer, and presenter, Gustavo Matamoros has long assumed the role of democratizing evangelizer, less interested in definitions than in finding venues and funding for artists who cross over defined genres or otherwise work in the gaps. He has installed his own sound art in museum elevator lobbies, botanical gardens, sculptures, building facades and arcades. Through the South Florida Composers Alliance (SFCA), Subtropics Music Festival, Audiotheque Listening Club at ArtCenter/ South Florida, and other venues, he provides stages and learning labs for talented musicians and sound experimenters – from near and far – connecting them with local audiences.
Subtropics, the Miami festival of experimental music is a new sound experience
Ana Mengotti · EFE · July 4, 2017
Interview · Syndicated internationally
Sensations in Sound
George Fishman · Miami Herald / Artburst Miami · July 4, 2017
Article
Subtropics Festival Immerses Miami in Experimental Sounds
Zach Schlein · Miami New Times · July 4, 2017
Article
Perspectives (5): Richard Garet
Jennie Gottschalk · Sound Expanse · June 17, 2017
Interview with Richard Garet · Includes discussion of his relationship with Matamoros and Subtropics
Subtropics XXIV Ignites the Lost Art of Listening
Journal of Sonic Studies · 2017
Festival coverage
A Fever Dream Set to the Hand-Painted Films of Stan Brakhage
Monica Uszerowicz · VICE · May 16, 2016
Review
Masterworks of American Avant-Garde Experimental Film
David Curtis · Journal of Film Preservation · April 2016
Review · Archival clipping
Art for Your Ears: Subtropics Marathon Airs Experimental Music
Diego Saldaña-Rojas · WLRN · March 2016
Article
Freedom Tower exhibit traces the artist influence of ‘the two bobs: Thiele and Huff’
George Fishman · Miami Herald · October 3, 2015
Review · Archival clipping
Subtropics, a Festival of New Music for New Listening
Fernando Gonzalez · Miami New Times · February 18, 2015
Interview · Archival clipping
All Ears on the Listening Club
George Fishman · Artburst Miami · December 11, 2014
Article · Archival copy
Breaking Miami’s Sound Barrier
Brett Sokol · Ocean Drive · September 2014 · pp. 118–120
Profile
Best music options for a Miami vacation
Necee Regis · The Boston Globe · March 2014
Travel feature
Rene Barge & Gustavo Matamoros Sound Installations: Room 1/Room 2
Bridge Red Studios · 2014
Exhibition documentation
Sounding the Everglades: Sound Artist Gustavo Matamoros and an Unusual AIRIE Residency
David Dunn · Irreversible · Winter 2013
Profile · Archival clipping
Abbey Rader Generations Quartet at Audiotheque
George Fishman · Artburst Miami · October 27, 2013
Article
Making the Right Choices: A John Cage Centennial Celebration
Michael Edward Palmese · American Music · Vol. 31, No. 3 · Fall 2013 · pp. 375–377
Review
Audiotheque Listening Club: egg(s)travinsky
Jesús Manuel Rojas Torres · What’s Up Miami · September 16, 2013
Preview
Remix the News: How the Dolphins’ Stadium Debate Can Be Turned into Sound Art
Kenny Malone · WLRN · April 12, 2013
Interview · Includes a sound work made from recordings of the stadium debate
Subtropics Festival Will Explore ‘How Sound Speaks About What’s Around You’
Dan Dickinson · WLRN · March 5, 2013
Article
The Seeds and Sounds of the Subtropics Festival
Artburst Team · Artburst Miami · March 1, 2013
Preview
New World Symphony celebrates a century of John Cage with a 3-day festival
Jordan Levin · Miami Herald · February 3, 2013
Article
Listen to art, too
Gustavo Matamoros · Miami Herald, “The Reader’s Forum” · November 5, 2012
Letter to the editor · Archival clipping
Acconci Comes Back to Continue the Conversation
Anne Tschida · Knight Foundation · October 19, 2012
Article
Events Honoring John Cage at 100
Los Angeles Times · September 5, 2012
Event listing · Archival clipping
Remembering John Cage
Artburst Team · Artburst Miami · September 5, 2012
Article
NiteTalk: Gustavo Matamoros Leads a Cavalcade for American Icon John Cage
John Hood · NBC Miami · August 27, 2012
Interview
John Cage: Hunted with Empty Words
Gustavo Matamoros · Knight Foundation · August 16, 2012
Artist’s account of Sounding Thru Empty Words IV
The Art of Sound: Rene Barge and Gustavo Matamoros
Abel Fogar · MAP Magazine · Issue 4 · June 20, 2012
Article · Archival clipping
Architecture of the Air: The Sound and Light Environments of Christopher Janney
Miami Art Guide · December 3, 2011
Preview · Includes a panel with Christopher Janney, Gustavo Matamoros, and Vito Acconci, moderated by Beth Dunlop
Listening Gallery, Miami
Jennie Gottschalk · Sound Expanse · December 2, 2011
Article
Frozen Music: PLAZA
Jennie Gottschalk · Sound Expanse · November 10, 2011
Review
Prick Up Your Ears: Soon, you can hear art as well as see it at the ArtCenter
Anne Tschida · Knight Foundation · July 6, 2011
Article
Category Five
Jacob Katel · Plum · March 2011
Feature · Archival clipping
Miami Art Museum’s “New Work Miami 2010” showcases breadth and scope of local talent
Carlos Suarez De Jesus · Miami New Times · June 22, 2010
Review · Archival clipping
Sound Check for Radio Day
Anne Tschida · Knight Foundation · May 21, 2010
Preview
CANAL (Miami Beach)
Jennie Gottschalk · Sound Expanse · December 3, 2009
Review
John Cage Arrangements
Laura Kuhn · John Cage Trust · November 30, 2009
Article · Includes archival footage shared by Matamoros
Already Sleepless, Dreaming of Frozen Music
Celeste Fraser Delgado · Knight Foundation · October 26, 2009
Preview
Why are we here?
Alfredo Triff · tumiamiblog · September 27, 2009
Review
Pescando Resonancias
Keko Bola · kekobola.blogspot.com · July 2009
Article · In Spanish
Klein + Hummel Speakers Are the Invisible Artform
Heather Davis · Mix Online, “The Wire” · April 8, 2009
Article
Subtropics
Jennie Gottschalk · Sound Expanse · March 7, 2009
Festival coverage
Subtropics Experimental Music and Sound Art Biennial
Miami Art Guide · February 26, 2009
Preview · Excerpt retained; original online article no longer available
Interdisciplinary Sound Arts Workshop (iSAW) is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its Subtropics Experimental Music and Sound Art Biennial in 2009. Subtropics 20 will feature works by American pioneers and long time members of isaw’s advisory committee, Alison Knowles, Alvin Lucier, Chris Mann, David Dunn, Jim Staley, Phill Niblock, Russell Frehling, George E. Lewis and Steve Peters. And in typical Subtropics fashion, audiences will experience the participation of equally important artists like Davey Williams, Ikue Mori, Lou Mallozzi and Kabir Carter, and of their Florida based equivalents Rene Barge, David Manson, Paula Matthusen and Gustavo Matamoros, among many others.
Experimental Music in Miami
Necee Regis · The Boston Globe · February 20, 2009
Preview
Subtropics 20
Jennie Gottschalk · Signal-to-Noise · 2009
Festival review · Archival clipping
Sound Art Exhibition at the Bass Museum
Manuela Gabaldon · Miami Art Guide · February 2009
Article
Fern Up the Volume: Experimental Sound Studio teams up with Lincoln Park Conservatory
Lauren Weinberg · Time Out Chicago · January 2009
Article · Archival clipping
The Stroke That Kills
Jennie Gottschalk · Sound Expanse · December 2, 2008
Recording preview
Wynwood: A retrospective
Anne Tschida · Miami Art Guide · November 15, 2008
Article · Excerpt retained; original online article no longer available
Wendy Wischer, now one of the main artists in David Castillo’s gallery, remembers the “rum drinks out of coconuts” at The Yard@Casa Lin. This tropical garden outside of Lin Loughheed’s Wynwood house has been transformed every December into a quirky, uniquely Miami space, showing local art strewn about the flora and fauna of Lin’s yard. While sipping out of those coconuts, visitors to the garden may have listened to the earth, through headphones attached to subterranean microphones, courtesy of sound-artist Gustavo Matamoros; or played musical chairs with on online champion through a Web Cam, thanks to multi-media artist Mark Koven.
Jorge Barlett. Living Life as Art
Anne Tschida · Miami Art Guide · August 2008
Article · Excerpt retained; original online article no longer available
Sadly, Bartlett / Kendallman stopped smiling sometime before June 28th, and ended his life in a park – in Kendall. But for those who knew him, or just bumped into him over the past two decades, his eclectic presence remains. “His work and performance (could be) a commentary on war,” says sound installation artist Gustavo Matamoros, who remembers Kendallman from encounters on the street and in more private settings. “But he was a man of peace. And he was bold. He didn’t do things in a shy way, he didn’t care what people thought (of his bold persona)… He lived his art, and he embraced his calling. We need more artists like KMAN.”
Gustavo Matamoros at Art@Work
Miami Art Guide · March 15, 2008
Exhibition preview
February Artwalk
Alesh Houdek · Critical Miami · February 12, 2008
Review · Archival clipping
Acoustic Ecology and the Experimental Music Tradition
David Dunn · NewMusicBox · January 9, 2008
Article
La Música en Venezuela Durante el Siglo XX
Prof. Alfredo 447 · Educación Musical en Venezuela · December 2, 2007
Article · In Spanish · Excerpt retained; original online article no longer available
Por otra parte, Rugeles (2001) hace mención de compositores que se han destacado en el medio artístico venezolano y que por alguna u otra razón no pertenecen a ninguna de las escuelas mencionadas, aunque quizás hayan tenido algún contacto esporádico con ellas, o bien su formación ha sido directamente realizada fuera de Venezuela, en Latinoamérica, en los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica o en Europa. Así, tenemos nombres como Alfredo Del Mónaco (1938), Diógenes Rivas (1942), Juan Carlos Núñez (1947), Gustavo Matamoros (1957), Adina Izarra (1959), Álvaro Cordero (1954), Eduardo Kusnir (1939), Julio D’Escriván (1960), Beatriz Bilbao (1951), Ricardo Lorenz-Abreu (1961), Alonso Toro (1963), Mercedes Otero (1953), Jacky Schreiber (1961), Diana Arismendi (1962), Manuel Sosa, Alfonso Tenreiro (1976), Efraín Amaya, Marianela Machado, Arcángel Castillo (1959) y Diego Silva (1954) entre otros.
Subtropics Fest shines with Merce connection
Lawrence A. Johnson · Miami Herald · March 1, 2007
Review · Archival clipping
John Cage Revisited at Subtropics 19
Abel S. · MAG Magazine · February 26, 2007
Preview
Complete Immersion: A Merce Cunningham/Subtropics match up at the Carnival
Greg Baker · Miami New Times · February 22, 2007
Preview · Archival clipping
Interview: Gustavo Matamoros
Ana Maria · KadmusArts · February 21, 2007
Podcast interview · Description; original online interview no longer available
In this podcast Ana Maria talks with Gustavo Matamoros, artistic director of the Subtropics Experimental Music and Sound Arts Festival, taking place in Miami, Florida from February 23rd through March 4th. This year the festival honors John Cage, in collaboration with the citywide tribute to Merce Cunningham, Merce in Miami. Gustavo and Ana Maria discuss John Cage, the music of bark beetles, and how ever-changing funding scenarios can make for a fresh and vibrant festival.
John Cage Continues to Influence
Zach Layton · Rhizome · February 19, 2007
Article
Immersed in Merce
Guillermo Perez · Sun-Sentinel · February 18, 2007
Preview
Merce in Miami is a 10-day arts festival centered around five performances by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company at Carnival Center for the Performing Arts in Miami. The festival opens at 8 p.m. Friday with the world premiere of eyeSpace, a new Cunningham work commissioned by the Carnival Center, at the Ziff Ballet Opera House, paired with 1993’s CRWDSPCR. At 8 p.m. Feb. 25 at Ziff, rock band Sigur RM-ss makes its South Florida debut in the Miami premiere of Cunningham’s 2003 dance piece, Split Sides. (Also on the bill is the 1960 work Crises.) On March 1, the dance company performs Ocean, a collaboration by Cunningham and composer John Cage, at the Carnival Center’s Knight Hall. Cage’s work will also be featured at Subtropics 19, the annual experimental music festival being staged this year in conjunction with “Merce in Miami” and hosted by the Carnival Center. Subtropics presents: I, IV, V by 5 — The Music of John Cage, at 9:30 p.m. Feb. 25 at the center’s Studio Theater, and will present other performances throughout Merce in Miami.
Edition #29: Justin McDonnell and Gustavo Matamoros
Jill Spalding · Art International Radio, “Art on Air” · February 15, 2007
Radio interview
Carnival Center’s ‘Merce in Miami’ Festival Begins February 23
Vivian Schweitzer · Playbill · February 7, 2007
Preview · Includes Subtropics 19 programming
Aural Art
Frank Houston · Miami New Times · December 7, 2006
Article
Miami Nice: Florida in the Frame
Alex James · The Independent · November 25, 2006
Travel feature
Museum-Quality Sound
Greg Baker · Miami New Times · November 9, 2006
Preview · Archival clipping
Subtropics pt. 2
Alesh Houdek · Critical Miami · March 4, 2006
Review · Archival clipping
HyperTropic
Miami Art Guide · March 1, 2006
Preview · Excerpt retained; original online article no longer available
For this festival performance, their presentation ranges from controlled to free improvisation, exhibiting a variety of contemporary instrumental and vocal techniques. Also, following their experience with Cars & Fish, Charles Recher and Gustavo Matamoros have developed Hypersonic Test: Florida I + II, experimental essays on themes portraying the good, the bad, and the boring of Florida living to further their exploration into the nature of hypersonic technology. This technology uses sound generators that produce audible directional sound beams that exist outside the human hearing range.
Subtropics Experimental Music and Sound Arts Festival
Alesh Houdek · Critical Miami · February 23, 2006
Festival coverage
Falling on Deft Ears
Lyssa Oberkreser · Miami New Times · February 23, 2006
Preview · Archival clipping
One Dead Groove
The Bitch · Miami New Times · January 26, 2006
Review · Archival clipping
Light and Sound Sensation: Cars and Fish Draws a Crowd
Miami Herald · Art Basel Notebook · December 3, 2005
Coverage · Archival clipping
Strange but True
Octavio Roca · Miami New Times · December 1, 2005
Preview · Archival copy
Downtown Music and Its Misrepresentations
Kyle Gann · Postclassic · March 8, 2005
Essay · Archival copy
Vispo at Durban Segnini Gallery
Carlos Luis · Durban Segnini Gallery · March 5, 2005
Exhibition foreword
Sound Device: Making Music of Mayhem
Lyssa Oberkreser · Miami New Times · February 24, 2005
Festival preview
Festivals from Piano Ivory to Baroque Steel
Lawrence A. Johnson · Sun-Sentinel · March 5, 2004
Festival coverage
Aural Flares
Juan Carlos Rodriguez · Miami New Times · March 4, 2004
Article
Second Act
John Anderson · Miami New Times · March 3, 2004
Preview · Archival clipping
Edge of Sound: Experimenter Redefines Music
Javier Andrade · Miami New Times · August 14, 2003
Profile / lecture preview
Here & Now: Sound Highlights
John Anderson · Miami New Times · March 12, 2003
Article · Excerpt from the Subtropics Archive and Collection
We are enveloped in a world of sound. The constant whoosh of waves along the shore, the wind through trees, cars on a highway, the hum of an air conditioner, televisions, radios, a passing conversation. Each of these sounds is unique in pitch and timbre, volume and length, and a further dimension we experience as information. It’s all there, with every tick of the clock or clapping of hands.
The information carried by sound can be seen as well as heard. Watch a vibrating piano string or a barking dog, even in silence, and its sound information is still known. But what if the sound you see is different from the one you hear? The bearded tenor opens his mouth to sing and out comes a woman’s high soprano.
It’s an issue explored by composer/performer Gustavo Matamoros with an instrument he built and dubbed the ‘fish tank GTR’ – imagine a guitar, with four strings suspended in the air by sticks on either side of a piece of wood. How does such an instrument sound? The action of its vibrating strings is projected on a screen, but the sound that comes out may not be consistent with what is seen. Is what you see always in harmony with what you hear? Gustavo’s work is a play between these senses, further increasing our awareness of the nature of sound.
Subterranean Diversions
John Anderson · Miami New Times · February 27, 2003
Festival preview · Archival copy
Sounds Like Art
Alfredo Triff · Miami New Times · February 13, 2003
Article · Archival copy
‘The Balseros Project’ Not Propaganda but Art
Tim Smith · Sun-Sentinel · October 1, 1995
Article