Gallery 9 presents Matthew Hopkins
In this somewhat absurdist and alchemical exhibition, emerging artist Matthew Hopkins presents a distinct bodies of work which challenge the very action of perception.
He works with connotations of disparate elements which combine, seemingly haphazardly, to create new forms. The emphasis on evolving process as a means of production rather than following a recipe towards a pre-conceived form, leads this show a refreshing rawness. The muddiness and uncertainty of the images make the audience work harder.
Hopkin's works are both video-based and photographic. His photographs are literal "brain spots", places in the mind where potential connections between objects and ideas are played out. Hopkins layers his images with randomly selected objects and images from his personal collections. The results are black and white multiple exposures, part teenage-stoner grunge, part surrealist photograph, with a surprising elegance.
As viewers often expectant that the artist has something very clear to say, preconceived and refined, as if they were somehow imparting secret knowledge through a specific purified image. Hopkins dispels this concept, revealing the magic is often in the mud.
