Exhibition October 3, 2003
Stage backdrops — “F**king Wasps,” Theatre of NOTE, Hollywood, CA
In their words
These complex, savage, allegorical portraits not only represented but actually contained the entire psychological subtext of the play.
The paintings were an integral part of the content of the production, not just its style. They said more about the Kinsey the man than Kinsey himself ever could.
The minimalist set (adorned with amazing expressionistic paintings by world-renowned artist Matt Sesow) …
Designer Matt Sesow’s posters of bug-eyed, tormented Eagle Scouts aptly reflect the piece’s tone.
Saved web pages and links
Research notes
- The play was Steve Morgan Haskell’s “F**king Wasps,” about the sex researcher Alfred Kinsey, at Theatre of NOTE, 1517 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood; LA Weekly listed the run through November 15, 2003. Haskell commissioned the paintings.
- Sesow’s own records list five big canvases: “Kinsey” (12 × 6 ft), “Gal Wasps” (12 × 6 ft), “Add it Up (with the birds, the bees and bunny),” “Twisted Spine (with gall wasp)” and “Kinsey Crucifixion (with testicular stigmata)” (each 6 × 4 ft).
- Sesow’s 2003 page also cites the Santa Monica Mirror (October 2003). The painting shown in France at the Art Singulier festival a year later, “Kinsey on the Cross, with Testicular Stigmata,” appears to be the play’s “Kinsey Crucifixion.”
- Every source found so far dates the production to autumn 2003, not 2006.
Where this record comes from
- history.sesow.com (live, 2026-10-03)
- Matt Sesow, in chat, 2026-10-18 (move 2006 → 2003; Back Stage West, LA Weekly, Coagula, 2006 Don Giovanni program bio)
Cite as: Sesow, Matt. “Stage backdrops — ‘F**king Wasps,’ Theatre of NOTE, Hollywood, CA.” Matt Sesow Career Chronicle, 2003. history.sesow.com/e/2006-hollywood-ca-theater-note-painted.html. Accessed [date].
Were you there? Do you have a photo, a clipping or a memory of this? Please write to sesow@sesow.com or use Ask Matt a question, and it will be added here.
Also in 2003
- Exhibition Southern Ohio Museum, Portsmouth, OH
- Exhibition Mandeville Gallery, Nott Memorial, Union College, Schenectady, NY
- Exhibition UNLV Marjorie Barrick Museum, Las Vegas, NV
- Milestone Launches “31 Days in July” — annual project creating one large painting per day in response to morning news
- Press Washington City Paper on “31 Days in July” (2003)
- Press “…31 days in july…” — Get Underground feature (2003)
- Media The Larz from Mars Show — Matt Sesow, July 2003
- Exhibition “Art Against War,” Grand Atrium, Majlis Cultural Center, Mumbai, India
- Exhibition “Political Bodies,” Seattle, WA
- Exhibition Residency as visiting artist, Ciudad Colon, Costa Rica
- Exhibition Painted set for Hollywood play “F**king Wasps”
- Exhibition B-Side group show — Adams Morgan, Washington, DC
- Exhibition Sesow showing in Lincoln — University Place Art Gallery
- Exhibition Nisk-Art Gallery, Schenectady, NY
- Exhibition Guest Artist — Kentuck Festival
- Award First Place — 2003 Adams Morgan Juried Arts Festival, Washington, DC
- Award Juror’s Choice Award — Viewpoint Gallery, Schenectady, NY
- Press Las Vegas Mercury review compares work to George Grosz, Francis Bacon, and Edvard Munch
- Press David Brickman, “This Is Not the Academy”
- Press Interview with “The Palette”
- Press Article in “Artesian” Magazine
- Press Compass Magazine — cover and feature article; published by Leonard Cheshire, UK
- Press Coagula Magazine — Los Angeles
- Media Kudzu Wish CD cover — Reverse Hurricane, NC band
- Exhibition The Ottobar, Baltimore, MD — March, over 20 works
- Exhibition Aroma, Cleveland Park, Washington, DC
- Exhibition “A Really Big Show,” Results Gallery with WPA/Corcoran, Washington, DC
- Exhibition “The Art of Conflict,” national juried exhibition, 57 N Fine Art, 1701 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC
- Exhibition “POV,” ARTOCONECTO national juried exhibition, 1701 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC
- Exhibition OCCOA at CDW Gallery, 30th and M Street, Georgetown, Washington, DC
- Exhibition Kalorama Emerging Artists Fair, 1711 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC
- Exhibition “Love and Eroticism,” juried exhibition, Khoja Gallery, Arlington, VA
- Exhibition Capital Region Art Center, Albany, NY
- Exhibition Guest Artist — 10th annual Folk Fest 2003, North Atlanta Trade Center, Atlanta, GA
- Exhibition “March Madness” shown in “Art Against War: An Exhibition of Posters and Multimedia”
- Media Lecture — Calvert Elementary School assembly, Lincoln, Nebraska
- Media Lecture — Niskayuna High School assembly, Niskayuna, NY
- Press The Warrior — Niskayuna High School newspaper
- Press OutsiderArt.info — online exhibition “Matt Sesow...WAR,” about two dozen anti-war paintings from December 2002
- Media Exit Clov CD cover — painting on the cover of “Starfish,” the 2003 EP by DC band Exit Clov