Matthew Barney (placeholder)

how many people have a love-child with bjork? he’s also an amazing artist, but my only complaint is the inaccessibility of his films.

how many people have a love-child with bjork? he’s also an amazing artist, but my only complaint is the inaccessibility of his films.

I met him in a bar in New York. He is gorgeous and a great conversationalist.

He had just finished #3 and had a musical art exhibit at Guggenheim. My friend and I were standing outside the museum and one of the musicians asked us if we wanted to meet them around the corner where they were going for the post show party. Naturally we said yes and so we shut the place down with Matthew and crew.

I have a few questions I would like to ask him about … ... his work. Or his life. I would like to extend an invitation to a regular communication.

EDIT: Since this entry, I HAVE met Mr. Barney. See entry above.

Matthew Barney’s newest exhibit, DRAWING RESTRAINT is just beginning to tour (it played in Japan). The latest installment in the series is a film and related sculptures(props from the film—much like the CREMASTERs) that features himself and Bjork. http://unit.bjork.com/specials/dr9/ It looks fascinating and lyrical in that Matthew Barney way. His style is one of absolute clarity while focusing on the most unclear things. He takes abstract concepts or microscopic events and assigns symbols, whether that might be a place, an object, or a person—and tells the story of that concept or event in a purely symbolic, non-verbal way. His work ends up having the quality of mythology.
I stumbled upon Matthew Barney’s CREMASTER 2 film and sculpture exhibit by accident at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art years ago when it was touring. At the time, he was working on the massive five-part CREMASTER CYCLE. I was awed and stunned by what I had seen so when I discovered that the entire CREMASTER CYCLE would be shown only once in this country at the Guggenheim in NYC, we planned a trip to Manhattan just to see it. It was worth it. It was an astounding and rich work, of EPIC proportions, with so MANY layers and connections. Over 4 days, we screened all 5 of the CREMASTER films and in between wandered up and down the Guggenheim ramp taking in his otherworldly waxy, smooth sculptures/ props from the films. He is clearly a deeply brilliant artist with a complicated, fascinating vision all of his own.
Incidentally, he is married to Bjork.
http://www.cremaster.net
Click on any of the film logos to see that chapter—on each page is a link to a trailer that shows pieces from all 5 films. Might take a while to download but SO worth it.
Attached picture from CREMASTER 5.