Details:
① Artwork:
Parade
A commentary on the recent phenomenon of living life through technology rather than in person, these artworks explore social isolation by imagining what life might resemble for an individual on an island in the middle of the ocean. For the artist, deserted spaces work as metaphors for personal survival—along with the survival of humanity as a whole—and the ways in which we do or do not depend on others in society.
Through the outside perspective of a recent immigrant, Matthew Couper, examines where culture, politics, myth, and religion connect. Rendered in various scales and materials, the artist’s cast of characters plays out narratives that speak on multiple levels. Drawn from his solitary lifestyles in the Mojave Desert and his birth country of New Zealand, Couper’s recent imagery—desert island landscapes, moody skies enveloped in plumes of smoke, eyeballs crying decorative tears, nails, and Modernist constructions—symbolizes a turn toward the growing social isolationist movement during this precarious moment in history.
Specs:
③ Artist:
Matthew Couper employs diverse media and art historical genres to examine where culture, politics, myth, and religion connect. His recent work merges the symbolism of Spanish Colonial art with the American capitalist attributes of cities like Las Vegas, NV, where he currently resides. Exploring the rapid development of cultural currency within the machinations of corporate America, Couper depicts social and political viewpoints from the outside perspective of a recent immigrant. Rendered in various scales and materials, Couper’s cast of characters plays out narratives that could be deciphered in multiple ways. His more recent imagery takes many forms—desert island landscapes, moody skies enveloped in plumes of smoke, eyeballs crying decorative tears, nails, and Modernist constructions—that symbolize a turn toward social isolation during a dystopic and precarious moment in history. This viewpoint draws from the artist’s solitary lifestyle in the Mojave Desert, as well as in his birth country of New Zealand.
Matthew Couper was born in 1976 in Hastings, New Zealand, and lives and works in Las Vegas, NV. He graduated with a BFA from the Quay School of the Arts in Whanganui, New Zealand (1998).
He has mounted solo exhibitions at Paulnache in Gisborne, New Zealand (2023), La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles, CA (2019), Room Artspace in Brooklyn, NY (2016), and elsewhere.
He has participated in group exhibitions at the Yucca Valley Visual & Performing Arts Center in Joshua Tree, CA (2018), Room Artspace in Brooklyn, NY (2018), and Rise Gallery in Las Vegas, NV (2017), among other locations.
Couper was awarded a residency at the Tylee Cottage Artist-in-Residence program (2007) and a Royal Over-Seas League International Scholarship to work and travel in the UK (2003).
A commentary on the recent phenomenon of living life through technology rather than in person, these artworks explore social isolation by imagining what life might resemble for an individual on an island in the middle of the ocean. For the artist, deserted spaces work as metaphors for personal survival—along with the survival of humanity as a whole—and the ways in which we do or do not depend on others in society.More
- Unframed
- Signed verso
- Orders placed between December 22 and January 2 will ship by January 8, 2024.
