Matt Bryans
17 Oct - 16 Nov 2008
MATT BRYANS
For his third solo show at the gallery Matt Bryans has made a departure from his previous practice with a new sculptural installation.
Aluminium is our planet's most abundant metal, a simple element whose malleable properties have led it from daily use in our kitchens to building machines to explore the stars. Found rarely in its pure form, it was once considered the most precious metal; at Napoleon III’s banquets gold silverware was routinely used by guests, but aluminium plates and utensils were reserved for the most honoured visitors. For his latest exhibition at Kate MacGarry, Matt Bryans has approached this material anew, extracting it from our contemporary surroundings, reforming it to create a whole range of personal and mythological meanings.
Bryans' labour-intensive techniques evidence their own, mysterious history. His new immersive installation presents us with a metallurgical constellation of solder and hammered discs, reminiscent of the Bi discs of ancient Chinese culture. These create a miniature new galaxy, orbiting the gravitational bulk of a waist-high meteor-like sphere that occupies the centre of the space.
Just as the inspirations for ancient pantheons of deities and celebratory rituals arose from natural cycles and events, Bryans constructs a personal mythology from the raw materials of our modern lives. His working process turns these substances towards their basic elemental states, while transforming mundane objects into aesthetic symbols of yearning. Both an alchemic distillation and an archaeology of future artefacts, his thaumaturgy places us in an impossible landscape.
For his third solo show at the gallery Matt Bryans has made a departure from his previous practice with a new sculptural installation.
Aluminium is our planet's most abundant metal, a simple element whose malleable properties have led it from daily use in our kitchens to building machines to explore the stars. Found rarely in its pure form, it was once considered the most precious metal; at Napoleon III’s banquets gold silverware was routinely used by guests, but aluminium plates and utensils were reserved for the most honoured visitors. For his latest exhibition at Kate MacGarry, Matt Bryans has approached this material anew, extracting it from our contemporary surroundings, reforming it to create a whole range of personal and mythological meanings.
Bryans' labour-intensive techniques evidence their own, mysterious history. His new immersive installation presents us with a metallurgical constellation of solder and hammered discs, reminiscent of the Bi discs of ancient Chinese culture. These create a miniature new galaxy, orbiting the gravitational bulk of a waist-high meteor-like sphere that occupies the centre of the space.
Just as the inspirations for ancient pantheons of deities and celebratory rituals arose from natural cycles and events, Bryans constructs a personal mythology from the raw materials of our modern lives. His working process turns these substances towards their basic elemental states, while transforming mundane objects into aesthetic symbols of yearning. Both an alchemic distillation and an archaeology of future artefacts, his thaumaturgy places us in an impossible landscape.