Matt Calderwood
02 Sep - 02 Oct 2011
MATT CALDERWOOD
Full-Scale
2 September - 2 October 2011
Wilkinson Gallery is pleased to present Full-Scale, their first solo exhibition with London-based artist Matt Calderwood. Calderwood’s practice explores the latent physical potential of materials and subsequent objects. The Lower Gallery’s physical centre point is one of Calderwood’s imposing rubber sculptures. Constructed from identical individual elements, the subsequent formation recalls a very certain minimalist aesthetic and the work of figures like Sol Lewitt, Robert Morris and Tony Smith. However, the physical potential of this structural form, seems to confuse any apparent certainty associated with Minimalism. The gallery’s floor is populated with three further sculptural objects, also composed from identical individual elements.
As the artist determines, unlike the rubber sculptures, these are ‘fixed’ objects - they have reached their potential.
The sculptures in this exhibition only manifest as total objects through the sum of their individual elements. For example, the plywood objects are secured only by the weight of their elements, as defined by their specific compositional arrangements. Subsequently, this body of work evokes a lucid observation upon totality and unison.
The large-scale works on paper are extensions of the sculptures; quite literally, the artist takes the single recurring element of each sculpture and manipulates them as printing blocks. The blackness of the printing process is quite deliberately made visible under the wash of a white gloss. Ostensibly, there is an inversion of the process of production taking place. The use of the sculpture to obtain these works on paper - which themselves are sculptural entities in this context – is a unique development of the sculpture as a singular object. This extension of the linear and formal qualities of the initial sculptural object is a defining feature of the exhibition, generating a complete physical aesthetic. Indeed, the exhibition’s title ‘Full-Scale’ is a reference to the fundamentally important role of scale within the exhibition, particularly the symmetry of scale from element to object.
The work in the exhibition extends the artist’s diverse relationship with object and material. There is something vigorous yet highly measured about Calderwood’s practice, subsequently the results are organic and complex.
Matt Calderwood was born in 1975 in Northern Ireland, he studied Fine Art at Newcastle College and Sunderland University.
Calderwood will be included in this year’s Dublin Contemporary (6 September to 31 October 2011) where the artist will present a new video work and sculpture, across two rooms. Forthcoming solo exhibitions include Galerie Paul Andriesse, Amsterdam (December 2011). Recent solo exhibitions include Galerija Simulaker, Nova Mesto, Slovenia (2011). Recent Group Exhibitions include ‘One Another, Amikam Toren and Matt Calderwood’, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London (2011), ‘Summer Exhibition (Richard Wilson’s curated room)’, Royal Academy of Arts, London (2010), ‘Quiet Revolution’ (Hayward Touring Exhibition), Milton Keynes Gallery, Milton Keynes, UK (2009) and Material Intelligence, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, UK (touring) (2009).
Full-Scale
2 September - 2 October 2011
Wilkinson Gallery is pleased to present Full-Scale, their first solo exhibition with London-based artist Matt Calderwood. Calderwood’s practice explores the latent physical potential of materials and subsequent objects. The Lower Gallery’s physical centre point is one of Calderwood’s imposing rubber sculptures. Constructed from identical individual elements, the subsequent formation recalls a very certain minimalist aesthetic and the work of figures like Sol Lewitt, Robert Morris and Tony Smith. However, the physical potential of this structural form, seems to confuse any apparent certainty associated with Minimalism. The gallery’s floor is populated with three further sculptural objects, also composed from identical individual elements.
As the artist determines, unlike the rubber sculptures, these are ‘fixed’ objects - they have reached their potential.
The sculptures in this exhibition only manifest as total objects through the sum of their individual elements. For example, the plywood objects are secured only by the weight of their elements, as defined by their specific compositional arrangements. Subsequently, this body of work evokes a lucid observation upon totality and unison.
The large-scale works on paper are extensions of the sculptures; quite literally, the artist takes the single recurring element of each sculpture and manipulates them as printing blocks. The blackness of the printing process is quite deliberately made visible under the wash of a white gloss. Ostensibly, there is an inversion of the process of production taking place. The use of the sculpture to obtain these works on paper - which themselves are sculptural entities in this context – is a unique development of the sculpture as a singular object. This extension of the linear and formal qualities of the initial sculptural object is a defining feature of the exhibition, generating a complete physical aesthetic. Indeed, the exhibition’s title ‘Full-Scale’ is a reference to the fundamentally important role of scale within the exhibition, particularly the symmetry of scale from element to object.
The work in the exhibition extends the artist’s diverse relationship with object and material. There is something vigorous yet highly measured about Calderwood’s practice, subsequently the results are organic and complex.
Matt Calderwood was born in 1975 in Northern Ireland, he studied Fine Art at Newcastle College and Sunderland University.
Calderwood will be included in this year’s Dublin Contemporary (6 September to 31 October 2011) where the artist will present a new video work and sculpture, across two rooms. Forthcoming solo exhibitions include Galerie Paul Andriesse, Amsterdam (December 2011). Recent solo exhibitions include Galerija Simulaker, Nova Mesto, Slovenia (2011). Recent Group Exhibitions include ‘One Another, Amikam Toren and Matt Calderwood’, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London (2011), ‘Summer Exhibition (Richard Wilson’s curated room)’, Royal Academy of Arts, London (2010), ‘Quiet Revolution’ (Hayward Touring Exhibition), Milton Keynes Gallery, Milton Keynes, UK (2009) and Material Intelligence, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, UK (touring) (2009).