Serpentine Gallery exhibits Matthew Barney: ' Drawing Restraint '

Tuesday, 09 October 2007 01:00

LONDON - The Serpentine Gallery presents the first major public exhibition in the UK of the work of the celebrated artist Matthew Barney. His practise encompasses a diverse array of media and is presented in exhibitions conceived by the artist as a gesamtkunstwerk, or total work. On exhibition until 11 November, 2007.

The Serpentine exhibition will consist of sculpture, installation, performance, drawing and film from throughout the artist’s Drawing Restraint series, numbers 1 to 16. This series of works investigates the relationship between resistance and creativity, the effects of physical limitation being explored in the parallel realms of artistic and athletic endeavour.

The Gallery will also collaborate with The Gate Cinema in London and film distributor Soda Pictures on a programme of screenings focusing on Barney’s most recent feature film, DRAWING RESTRAINT 9, 2005.

A number of spectacular, large-scale sculptures related to DRAWING RESTRAINT 9, including Ambergris, 2005, Holographic Entry Point, 2005 and Occidental Restraint, 2005, will be displayed at the Gallery. These works challenge conventional notions of sculptural media in their use of industrial material such as poly-carprolactone thermoplastic, expanded polystyrene and petroleum jelly.

 Barney is one of the most celebrated artists of his generation. He is perhaps best known for the Cremaster cycle, a series of five feature-length films, produced from 1994–2002. Epic in scope, the series combines high production values with spectacular locations, props and costumes. These films depict a parallel mythological world, rich and complex in its symbolism.

Matthew Barney was born in San Francisco in 1967. He was awarded the Hugo Boss Prize in 1996 and has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions in the USA and internationally. The complete Cremaster cycle was the subject of a major touring exhibition organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, in 2002.

Serpentine Gallery is one of London’s best-loved galleries for modern and contemporary art. Its Exhibition, Architecture, Education and Public Programmes attract approximately 750,000 visitors a year and admission is free. Visit : www.serpentinegallery.org/