Matthew Craven: GRIDLOCKE (totem)

Matthew Craven (b. 1981, lives in Brooklyn) creates works on paper out of collages of images of objects from art history and ink drawings. The works are reminiscent of Dada photomontages but also draw a line to more contemporary examples of image sources rooted in social media including Tumblr and Instagram. The collages invite artistic voices both well known and anonymous from art history to engage in a transformative dialogue. Craven interrogates artistic legacy, influence, and the importance of culture and context to an s practice. Matthew finds parallels between varying epochs and civilizations, calling attention to our common similarities as human beings rather than our differences. No matter how much beliefs and cultures shift over time, our existential situation remains the same.

Matthew Craven received his MFA from the School of Visual Arts, NY, and lives in New York. He has been included in solo and two-person exhibitions at DCKT Contemporary, Allegra LaViola Gallery, Marvelli Gallery, Nudashank, Baltimore MD, Popps Packing, Detroit, and Get This Gallery, Atlanta. Group exhibitions include Richard Heller Gallery, Perry Rubenstein, Zurcher Gallery, Denny Gallery, and the Hole.