BIO

 

 

In the 1980s, Matthew Geller switched his studio practice from primarily sculpture to the production of video works, reworking the structure and style of television storytelling with comic narratives that played off conventional genres—documentary, fairytale, melodrama. Employing fragmentation and disjunction as storytelling devices, Geller intercut several seemingly unrelated anecdotal stories into cohesive, if nonlinear, narratives. Beginning with his fellowship at the American Academy in Rome, he integrated his skills as a storyteller and sculptor by creating intimately observed worlds in miniature. For the past 20+ years, he has taken these ideas, changed the scale, and extended the possibilities for site and a chaotic viewership by producing temporary and permanent public art, which has been described in various ways, from “urban earthworks” to “industrial baroque settees.”

STATEMENT

In his public art practice, Matthew Geller’s participatory sculptures become one of the building blocks that make a space a destination. As such, the work activates the site and promotes interaction among visitors, often creating intimate moments in a singularly public space. Part of his work’s success is that it is physically experiential: viewers understand that there is a place for themselves in it.

His sculptures enable moments of respite and delight, befitting the site's functional and visual context. He purposefully uses materials from the everyday environment creating a level of connection to the familiar while highlighting elements of awe and beguilement. The idea is to surprise while fostering the sense of an inclusive community around an unlikely object or location, creating a micro public square or landmark.

BOOKS & VIDEOS

BOOKS
From Receiver to Remote Control: The TV Set [Amazon]
Difficulty Swallowing: A Medical Chronicle [Printed Matter]
1983 Engagements {Printed Matter]
1981 Engagements {Printed Matter]
Hidden in a Musty Chamber {Printed Matter]

VIDEO
Distributed by Electronics Arts Intermix
Windfalls
Everglades City
Bees & Thoroughbreds
Split Britches
In Case of Nuclear Attack
Postage Paid

COLLABORATORS & OTHERS