The Venal Muse Mat Collishaw

Venal muse 9 2012.

The venal muse mat collishaw.

The venal muse series mat collishaw request image. New art gallery walsall also staged the uk premier of collishaw s zoetrope. Case the venal muse 2012. These sculptures pay tribute to baudelaire s les fleurs du mal a book of poetry exploring themes of decadence and eroticism.

These works allude to charles baudelaire s 1857 controversial volume of poetry les fleurs du mal the flowers of evil which dealt with such themes as eroticism death and lost innocence. The new art gallery walsall is delighted to present a major survey exhibition by british artist mat collishaw the first in a uk public gallery for over ten years. Ideas that deal with death destruction and decay become hypnotic and compelling. Mat collishaw wall insecticide series 2006 2011.

They are reflections on the depraved state of modern media saturated culture and the spectre of genetic manipulation. Mat collishaw the venal muse 2012. Coupling references to art history literature and the victorian era with modern imaging technology the artist renders powerful. Matthew mat collishaw honfrps born 1966 is an english artist based in london.

Often creating a dialogue with past masters to explore humanity s dark side collishaw s seemingly simple but actually complex works are often based on references from myth. Mat collishaw is a key figure in the important generation of british artists who emerged from goldsmith s college in the late 1980s. About mat collishaw s the end of innocence mat collishaw has never shied away from difficult or challenging subject matter. An important member of the young british artists mat collishaw creates work that confronts issues of moral ambiguity with formally stunning and alluring imagery.

On close inspection their fine petals have a flesh like appearance with anthropomorphic scars and sores pitting the skin. He participated in freeze 1988 and since his first solo exhibition in 1990 has exhibited widely internationally. Historical classification 2010s.