EMAIL CONTACT

matt at morris dot net

BIO

Matt Morris is a mixed media artist who explores relationships between nature and technology. In his most recent work this combination of media is presented as a photographic print in order to blur the distinction between perception and reality. Morris spent a decade living in Bavaria and continues to be influenced by the art and architecture of central Europe. He is motivated by environmental events and cultural issues. Morris has had solo exhibitions in Los Angeles, Paris, and Hamburg.

STATEMENT

"I apply an assemblage approach to photography, re-purposing discarded things. I’ve used as a model the phenomenon of obsolete technology inevitably being elevated as art form. The relationship of the lithography stone to commercial printing is one noticeable example from history. What if I could turn this dynamic around, and transform something that should be obsolete into art; would the status of that thing as an object of art then render its technology extinct? For example, my neighbor tossed out a muffler, so I transformed it and cast it in a new role in a photograph. Now that the muffler is art, can we finally relegate combustion engines to the technology of yesteryear? Consider also petrochemicals as fine art. Even the cheapest toy has intrinsic value from the natural resources that were displaced in order to make it. Every twenty-five cent flotsam at the garage sale is really a quantifiable treasure. Because in the future, every bit of junk will be world famous for fifteen minutes, or probably even longer if it is made of plastic."

MEDIUM

These are staged still-life photographs, shot as you see them without any compositing or editing, and printed with the digital C-print light process on archival Fuji paper. They are mounted directly on hand-made hardwood supports.

PRESS

https://www.artsbr.org/blog/2019/11/4/matt-morris

https://countryroadsmagazine.com/art-and-culture/relics-photo-project/nest/

RÉSUMÉ

available here