Matthew Barney facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Matthew Barney
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Barney in 2007
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| Born | March 25, 1967 San Francisco, California, U.S.
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| Nationality | American |
| Education | Yale University |
| Known for | Film, video art, sculpture, photography |
| Partner(s) | Mary Farley (1993–2002) Björk (2002–2013) |
| Awards | Hugo Boss Prize |
Matthew Barney (born March 25, 1967) is an American artist and film director. He creates art using sculpture, film, photography, and drawing. His artworks often explore how geography, biology, geology, and mythology are connected. He also looks at themes of conflict in his art.
His early works were sculptures combined with performance art and video art. From 1994 to 2002, he made The Cremaster Cycle. This was a series of five films that critics called very imaginative. He is also known for other projects like Drawing Restraint 9 (2005), River of Fundament (2014), and Redoubt (2018).
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Life and Early Career
Matthew Barney was born on March 25, 1967, in San Francisco, California. He lived there until he was seven years old. From 1973 to 1985, he lived in Boise, Idaho. His father worked at Boise State University. Matthew went to elementary, middle, and high school in Boise.
His parents divorced, and his mother, who was a painter, moved to New York City. Matthew often visited her there. This is where he first learned about the art world.
Education and First Artworks
In 1985, Yale University asked Barney to play football. He planned to study medicine but also wanted to study art. He graduated from Yale in 1989. His very first artworks were shown at Yale University's Payne Whitney Gymnasium.
In the 1990s, Barney moved to New York. He worked as a catalog model to earn money. This job helped him pay for his early art projects. In 2002, he had a daughter with the singer Björk. They lived together in Brooklyn Heights. By September 2013, Barney and Björk were no longer a couple.
As of 2014, Matthew Barney has a studio in Long Island City, Queens. His art is shown by the Gladstone Gallery.
Matthew Barney's Art Projects
The Drawing Restraint Series
The Drawing Restraint series started in 1987. It began as experiments in his studio. The idea is like how muscles grow stronger through resistance. When the body is held back while trying to draw, it creates a unique kind of art.
The first Drawing Restraint works (1987–89) were videos and photos. They showed him trying to draw while being held back. Drawing Restraint 7 added stories and characters. This work won him an award at the 1993 Venice Biennale.
Drawing Restraint 8 was a series of drawings shown in cases. It led to the film Drawing Restraint 9 (2005). This big project included a film with music by Björk. It also had large sculptures, photos, and drawings. The film explored themes like the Shinto religion, tea ceremonies, and the history of whaling.
In 2006, a large show of Barney's Drawing Restraint work was held. It was at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. It featured over 150 art pieces. Later works, Drawing Restraint 10 – 16 (2005–07), were live performances.
Drawing Restraint 19 used a skateboard to make a drawing. A block of graphite was put under the skateboard. As a skater rode, the board left a line on the ground. This piece was part of an art show to help a park in Detroit.
The Cremaster Cycle Films
Matthew Barney’s Cremaster cycle (1994–2002) is a big series of five films. These films explore how things are created. The project also includes photos, drawings, sculptures, and art installations. Jonathan Bepler, who works with Barney, created the music for the films.
Barney's photos from this series are often framed in plastic. They are sometimes arranged in pairs or groups of three. These photos often look like classic portraits.
The River of Fundament Project
River of Fundament (2006–2014) is an opera with three parts. It is based on a novel by Norman Mailer. Barney worked with composer Jonathan Bepler on this project.
The work combines traditional movies with live performances, sculptures, and opera. It tells Mailer’s story of Egyptian gods and rebirth. It also looks at the rise and fall of the American car industry.
The Redoubt Film
Redoubt is a two-hour film that Barney started in 2017. It was first shown in March 2019. The film is set in the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho, USA.
It uses different myths, including the story of Diana and Actaeon. It also refers to the reintroduction of wolves into the mountains. The film explores "humanity's place in the natural world." The Yale University Art Gallery showed Redoubt and related sculptures in 2019. The show then traveled to other galleries.
Live Performances
Barney has also done live performances for an audience. Pieces like REN and Guardian of the Veil use ideas from his Cremaster Cycle. They explore Egyptian symbols inspired by Norman Mailer's novel Ancient Evenings.
Guardian of the Veil took place in England in 2007. REN happened in Los Angeles in 2008. Another performance, KHU, took place in Detroit in 2010.
In 2009, Barney worked with artist Elizabeth Peyton on a performance called Blood of Two. It happened in Greece. Divers brought a case of drawings from the sea. Fishermen carried the case in a procession. The case was opened, and the drawings were revealed.
Public Art Projects
In 2017, Barney and other artists put up Remains Board on his studio in New York. It is a large digital clock that can be seen from far away. It counts down the days, hours, and minutes remaining in the U.S. president's first term.
On inauguration day in 2021, a musician performed a guitar solo as the clock reached zero.
Art Exhibitions
Matthew Barney's first solo art show was in 1991 at the Barbara Gladstone Gallery in New York. The New York Times called it an "extraordinary first show." That same year, he had a solo exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
His work has been shown in many international exhibitions. These include documenta 9 in Germany (1992) and the Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial in New York (1993 and 1995). He won the Europa 2000 Prize at the 48th Venice Biennale in 1993.
A major exhibition of his Cremaster Cycle art traveled to museums in Germany, France, and New York in 2002. A large show of his Drawing Restraint series was organized in Japan in 2005. It then traveled to Korea, San Francisco, London, and Vienna.
In 2013, the Morgan Library & Museum showed "Subliming Vessel: The Drawings of Matthew Barney." This was the first time a museum focused only on his drawings. In 2014, Barney showed "River of Fundament" in Germany. This exhibition later traveled to Australia and Los Angeles.
In 2019, the Yale University Art Gallery showed "Matthew Barney: Redoubt." This was his first solo museum show in the U.S. since 2015.
Awards and Prizes
- Europa 2000 Prize, Aperto '93, 45th Venice Biennale, 1993.
- Hugo Boss Prize, Guggenheim Museum, 1996.
- James D. Phelan Art Award in Video, Bay Area Video Coalition, San Francisco Foundation, 1999.
- Glen Dimplex Award, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, 2002.
- Kaiser Ring Award, Museum für moderne Kunst, Goslar, Germany, 2007.
- Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award, 54th San Francisco International Film Festival, 2011.
See also
In Spanish: Matthew Barney para niños
