V1 GALLERY PROUDLY PRESENTS
Unconditional Commitment to Sacred Love
A solo exhibition by Matthew Stone
V1 Gallery proudly presents British artist Matthew Stone’s second solo exhibition in Denmark. The exhibition unfolds a new body of work, shaped by the interlinking of performance, photography & sculpture.
Stone’s work emerges from a personally defined philosophy of Optimism, which he defines as being “The vital force that entangles itself with and then shapes the future”. In a series of new works Stone has portrayed his fellow creatives; artists, club-kids, dancers and activists at play. The stunning black and white works, have a timeless, classic and yet highly original feel to them. At first glance they resemble archaic etchings or fevered drawings, but upon closer inspection reveal themselves as photographs, created with a slow shutter speed. Stone was in front of the camera dancing and painting on his subjects with lasers.
A group of wooden sculptures, composed of birch plywood and brass hinges, fold photographic images across their surfaces. Stone’s photos of entangled limbs become a texture on the surface grain of the wood along with images of veined marble and cloud-strewn skies. A series of wall based works on oak, walnut and beech veneered MDF, similarly combine the natural, the industrial and the digital to create romantic depictions of bodies in unison. Here Stone has re-photographed his own images, draped as fabric and created new works that occupy a space between dimensions. His beautiful and formal works are evidence of a living and social sculptural process that addresses culture as a whole. His title ‘Unconditional Commitment to Sacred Love’ forms a micro manifesto expressing his sincere belief in art’s potential to connect and illuminate.
Matthew Stone (B. 1982, UK) is an artist and shaman. These two interconnected roles are defined by his activities as photographer, sculptor, performer, curator, writer, musician, Optimist, and cultural provocateur. Stone's work and thinking goes far beyond the remit of his art, and his diverse activities address culture as a whole. Recognizing his unique creative voice, The Sunday Times placed him at number one in the arts section of their “Power players under 30” list. He has exhibited at Tate Britain, The Baltic, The ICA, The Royal Academy, Performa 11 and most recently the Marrakech Biennale. Last November Stone’s solo exhibition at The Hole in New York received critical praise from Ken Johnson in The New York Times: “Mr. Stone’s work suggests that what the world needs now is not political agitation but a new, mystically inspired choreography of how to be human”.
