Matthew Craven's heady mix of patterns, cut-outs and ancient culture

Date
17 June 2015

Matthew Craven’s dizzying mix of ink patterns, cut-outs and ancient culture is as powerful as it is studied. We’ve written about the New York artist’s vivid collages before, and in his most recent series demiURGE, Matthew pairs both tribal and Greek sculpture with his hand-drawn designs and recurring motifs. His images play with materials as much as they play with time, and with their lost relics and archeological curiosities it’s as if Matthew has picked through old history textbooks and back issues of National Geographic for the mystic effect that makes his work so instantly recognisable. Pairing busts, masks, vases and classical bric-a-brac with optical patterns, Matthew’s collages always prove greater than the sum of their parts.

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Matthew Craven: demiURGE 2015

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Matthew Craven: demiURGE 2015

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Matthew Craven: demiURGE 2015

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Matthew Craven: demiURGE 2015

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Matthew Craven: demiURGE 2015

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Matthew Craven: demiURGE 2015

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Matthew Craven: demiURGE 2015

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Matthew Craven: demiURGE 2015

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About the Author

Alexander Hawkins

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