Matthew Picton | Eschatologies

July 2 - August 1, 2020

Virtual Exhibition Tour: July 2, 6pm

In Eschatologies, Matthew Picton exhibits new three-dimensional framed paper sculptures that interweave historical and contemporary images from paintings, photographs, books and film. Eschatology is defined as a branch of theology concerned with the final events in the history of the world, and the plural version in the exhibition title proposes an ongoing multiplicity of narratives. In this series, Picton engages with themes of mortality, impermanence, destruction and oppression in societies past and present. The artist explores the cyclical nature of calamitous ideologies throughout human civilization and illuminates hidden truths within dominant cultural histories.

Picton is known for his increasingly complex multidimensional, sculptural map cut-outs, and this series expands beyond the cartographic element. The artist continues to create rich visual narratives, and his extraordinarily dynamic sculptural creations collapse historical timelines through carefully constructed layers of paper and vellum.

Born in London, England, Matthew Picton studied Politics and History at the London School of Economics (London, England). Picton now lives and works in Ashland, Oregon. His work is included in the collections The De Young Museum (San Francisco, CA), The Herbert Museum of Art (Coventry, UK), The Fidelity Bank collection (London, UK), The Stadt Museum (Dresden, Germany) and The New York University Langone Medical Center Collection (New York, NY). In 2020, he completed two large-scale commissions for Facebook (Seattle, WA) and Google (Redwood City, CA).