Mat Collishaw
Encyclopedia
Matthew "Mat" Collishaw is an artist based in London
, and one of the Young British Artists
.
and other YBA artists.
He has shown work internationally in many exhibitions including Freeze
at Surrey Docks in London, in which Collishaw displayed large scale tiled photographs of a bullet wound in a head; this work is a good indicator of Collishaw’s artistic interests and practices.
His work uses photography
and video
. His best known work is Bullet Hole which is a closeup photo of what appears to be a bullet hole wound in the scalp of a person's head, mounted on 15 light boxes. Collishaw took the original image from a pathology
textbook that actually showed a wound caused by an ice pick. Bullet Hole is now in the collection of the Museum of Old and New Art
in Hobart
, Australia
.
Commercial gallery shows include “Controlled” at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
in New York
, “The Parable Show” at Galerie Grimm/Rosenfeld in Munich
, and “The Passing” at Galeria Helga de Alvear in Madrid
.
Collishaw's work was included in “Sensation” at the Royal Academy of Art.
He recently left Haunch of Venison
gallery and now works with BlainSouthern
in London
. Collishaw is represented by Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
in New York
, Raucci/Santamaria Gallery in Naples
and Galerie Analix Forever in Geneva
.
Collishaw uses contemporary images alongside techniques and styles which are reminiscent of much older art, for example he often utilises a mosaic effect which, while alluding to religious art and Ancient Rome, is also now associated with pixelated digital imagery.
In this way Collishaw brings together a variety of connotations in one piece that is both traditional and contemporary; dichotomies of life and death and attraction and repulsion are central to Collishaw’s art which tests our natural responses to disquieting imagery when dressed as sacred, slick or stunning.
Known most widely for his photographs and videos, Collishaw’s work also includes installation, drawing and painting.
After some years of Jungian Psychotherapy Collishaw's work has recently returned to some of his earliest influences. In the montage 'Orinoco & the ghost' he attempts to reference yet distance himself from the judgement 'Make Good Use of Bad Rubbish' and attemts to draw the viewer in with quotes, trivial and random observation that liberate yet also return to the ideology to 'remember you're a womble'.
, wrote a handbook, A Colour Atlas of Forensic Pathology, in 1975. Collishaw said it became "the Britart bible", as a source for explicit images of dead bodies for artwork.
. Collishaw was raised in a Dawn Christadelphian
family that chose not to have a television.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and one of the Young British Artists
Young British Artists
Young British Artists or YBAs is the name given to a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London, in 1988...
.
Career
Collishaw attended Goldsmiths, University of London (1986-9), alongside Damien HirstDamien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists , who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist,...
and other YBA artists.
He has shown work internationally in many exhibitions including Freeze
Freeze (exhibition)
Freeze is the title of an art exhibition that took place in July 1988 in an empty London Port Authority building at Surrey Docks in London Docklands. Its main organiser was Damien Hirst. It was significant in the subsequent development of the Young British Artists.-Organisation:Freeze was...
at Surrey Docks in London, in which Collishaw displayed large scale tiled photographs of a bullet wound in a head; this work is a good indicator of Collishaw’s artistic interests and practices.
His work uses photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
and video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
. His best known work is Bullet Hole which is a closeup photo of what appears to be a bullet hole wound in the scalp of a person's head, mounted on 15 light boxes. Collishaw took the original image from a pathology
Pathology
Pathology is the precise study and diagnosis of disease. The word pathology is from Ancient Greek , pathos, "feeling, suffering"; and , -logia, "the study of". Pathologization, to pathologize, refers to the process of defining a condition or behavior as pathological, e.g. pathological gambling....
textbook that actually showed a wound caused by an ice pick. Bullet Hole is now in the collection of the Museum of Old and New Art
Museum of Old and New Art
The Museum of Old and New Art is an art museum located within the Moorilla winery on the Berriedale peninsula in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It is the largest privately funded museum in Australia. The museum presents antiquities, modern and contemporary art from the David Walsh collection...
in Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Commercial gallery shows include “Controlled” at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery is an art gallery located in Chelsea in New York City founded by Tanya Bonakdar. Since its inception in 1994, the gallery has maintained a consistent and rigorous program in the exhibition of new work by contemporary artists in all media, including painting, sculpture,...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, “The Parable Show” at Galerie Grimm/Rosenfeld in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, and “The Passing” at Galeria Helga de Alvear in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
.
Collishaw's work was included in “Sensation” at the Royal Academy of Art.
He recently left Haunch of Venison
Haunch of Venison
Haunch of Venison is a commercial art gallery founded in 2002 in the West End of London. The gallery represents leading contemporary artists with branches in London, Berlin and New York.-History:...
gallery and now works with BlainSouthern
BlainSouthern
Blain|Southern is a contemporary art gallery established in September 2010. The gallery is located at 21 Dering Street, and 6 Hill Street, London, W1....
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Collishaw is represented by Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery is an art gallery located in Chelsea in New York City founded by Tanya Bonakdar. Since its inception in 1994, the gallery has maintained a consistent and rigorous program in the exhibition of new work by contemporary artists in all media, including painting, sculpture,...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Raucci/Santamaria Gallery in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
and Galerie Analix Forever in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
.
Working practice
Collishaw typically takes imagery which is at once shocking yet strangely beautiful in order to examine the beguiling nature of photography and the seduction of visual imagery.Collishaw uses contemporary images alongside techniques and styles which are reminiscent of much older art, for example he often utilises a mosaic effect which, while alluding to religious art and Ancient Rome, is also now associated with pixelated digital imagery.
In this way Collishaw brings together a variety of connotations in one piece that is both traditional and contemporary; dichotomies of life and death and attraction and repulsion are central to Collishaw’s art which tests our natural responses to disquieting imagery when dressed as sacred, slick or stunning.
Known most widely for his photographs and videos, Collishaw’s work also includes installation, drawing and painting.
After some years of Jungian Psychotherapy Collishaw's work has recently returned to some of his earliest influences. In the montage 'Orinoco & the ghost' he attempts to reference yet distance himself from the judgement 'Make Good Use of Bad Rubbish' and attemts to draw the viewer in with quotes, trivial and random observation that liberate yet also return to the ideology to 'remember you're a womble'.
Influences
British pathologist, Austin GreshamAustin Gresham
G Austin Gresham was a British pathologist and writer of A Colour Atlas of Forensic Pathology, a seminal book on the subject.Austin Gresham emeritus professor of morbid anatomy and histopathology at Jesus College, Cambridge....
, wrote a handbook, A Colour Atlas of Forensic Pathology, in 1975. Collishaw said it became "the Britart bible", as a source for explicit images of dead bodies for artwork.
Personal life
Collishaw is married to fellow visual artist Polly MorganPolly Morgan
Polly Morgan is a London based British artist who uses taxidermy to create works of art.-Career:Morgan did not plan an art career; she considered becoming an actress after leaving school, but went to university instead. Morgan graduated from Queen Mary, University of London, in English Literature...
. Collishaw was raised in a Dawn Christadelphian
Christadelphians
Christadelphians is a Christian group that developed in the United Kingdom and North America in the 19th century...
family that chose not to have a television.
External links
- Official website of Mat Collishaw
- - Raucci/Santamaria Gallery
- – BlainSouthern
- Film about 2010 joint exhibition with Tracey Emin and Paula Rego at the Foundling Museum - The Guardian
- Mat Collishaw at Analix Forever Gallery
- Mat Collishaw at Tanya Bonakdar
- Mat Collishaw – Saatchi Gallery
- Mat Collishaw – Cosmic Gallerie
- Mat Collishaw at Artfacts.Net