Matthew Hawtin

Category: Mixed Media

  • Dimensions 2012

    Dimensions Exhibition:

    2 February – 26 February, 2012
    Opening reception – 2 February – 19:00
    RED Gallery
    3 Rivington Street
    EC2A 3DT
    Shoreditch, UK

    Promo video

    MH interview

    Dimensions Catalogue

    Parallels

    Symmetry, futurism, bleeding edges, infinitely repetitive layers, contrasting textures and hidden messages. These words that describe Canadian artist Matthew Hawtin’s paintings, prints and sculpture could easily apply to the music made by his brother, techno producer Richie Hawtin. It’s in this solo exhibition, showcasing some of the art Matthew has made in conjunction with his brother’s record labels Plus 8 Records and Minus Records, that we can see the parallels between the two mediums.

    Since he started making art linked to record labels in the early 1990s, 39-year-old Matthew has been steadily refining his work. The minimalism, clean lines, abstract concepts and layering that defines his work have been there since the beginning.
    “My work has slowly been minimalised and reduced,” he says. “I think that’s what any artist wants to do, whatever medium they work with. They want their work to be refined until it’s down to its pure essence; achieve an idea in its purest form, in a way.”

    The abstract shapes and colours on Matthew’s paintings for Richie’s F.U.S.E project, made in 1993, hint at his original ideas about symmetry and space. His concept for these pieces was to create 3D space on the 2D surface. Those paintings ended up becoming the artwork for his brother Richie’s ‘Dimension Instrusion’ album and 12” release, that he put out under his F.U.S.E moniker.

    Examine the work that follows these early pieces and you can see how Matthew’s minimal style and reductive aesthetic intersects similar points in the development of electronic music. The early days of putting paint on canvas have developed into the flowing futurism of his fiberglass-manufactured then hand-painted Torqued Panels series. Matthew’s methods of making art have become more advanced, his materials more refined and the process more technical in parallel with the technological advances in making electronic music. In this respect, this exhibition is the story of Plus 8 Records and Minus Records told visually.

  • Constructs 03

    “Untitled” Constructs

    The following pieces were inspired by a trip to Prague and subsequent research into altarpieces and devotional paintings. They are not religious, but are religious-like as they do require an interaction in order to fully exist. Part painting, part sculpture and part design, these works are the interwoven aspects between disciplines and are meant for a one to one relationship with the viewer so one can decide how (and when) the work is to be shown.
    In these works I was interested in forming a link between the past and present by “contemporizing” old forms and ideas into pared down essential elements. My work concerns the synthesis of perceptual information and the distillation of these ideas into reductionist constructs.

  • Untitled @ Artcite Inc

    Untitled, (but thoughtfully known as the sexual divide)
    Artcite Inc., Windsor, Canada.

    The main objective of the exhibition is to explore the idea of ‘total space’ within the gallery setting. The notion of ‘total space’ has developed out of a growing interest in architecture and design and the technical and aesthetic considerations involved. Thus all the elements within the particular space are of equal importance to each other; the paintings, the lighting and the resulting light all create an atmosphere of totality.
    Essentially the gallery is split into two zones with the use of coloured fluorescent lighting. Each zone contains the divided sections of a large singular “painting” hung alternately on opposite walls. This installation is an exploration into the basics of design where balance, rhythm, repetition, colour, line and form create an overall emotional and aesthetic perceptual effect within differing zones of colour.

    Total Installation includes:

    8 x Fluorescent lighting fixtures
    16 x 75W Daylight fluorescent tubes
    Red & Blue coloured tubes
    Various electrical supplies

    Wall works
    Various dimensions
    Acrylic urethane topcoat over low-density epoxy prime over epoxy/epoxy filled canvas
    2001

  • Untitled @ Sixty Four Steps

    Untitled, but thoughtfully known as Equivocal Love.
    Sixty Four Steps Contemporary Art, Toronto.

    This new work is a further development of the ‘Torqued’ painting series but in this case there is a greater emphasis on the lighting and “total” installation of the work.
    The piece consists of 2 series of paintings, three angled and three curved with varying dimensions, plus 6 fluorescent fixtures, consisting of blue, yellow and red lamps each designated to a specific zone within the gallery.
    The main objective of this exhibition is to further explore the technical lighting of the paintings and to develop the idea of ‘total space’ within the gallery setting. Thus all the elements within this particular space are of equal importance to each other; the paintings, the light fixtures and the resulting light all create an atmosphere of totality.
    The notion of ‘total space’ has developed out of a growing interest in architecture and design and the technical and aesthetic considerations involved. The concern was how to appropriate singular works of art into an overall perceptual effect while also considering the emotional and aesthetic reactions to the different zones.