Matthew Barney

USA

Petroleum jelly · Plastic · Bronze · Film

Matthew Barney (b. 1967, San Francisco) is one of the most ambitious artists working today. His Cremaster Cycle — five films and an extensive body of related sculpture, photography, and drawing — is among the most significant art projects of the late 20th century. His sculpture uses unconventional materials including petroleum jelly, tapioca, and self-lubricating plastics to create works that resist easy interpretation. Works held by the Guggenheim, the Tate, and major collections worldwide. Represented by Gladstone Gallery.

Barney builds entire cosmologies. His sculptures are not isolated objects but components of larger mythological systems — systems that draw on sport, geology, Celtic mythology, Freemasonry, and American history. The material choices are never arbitrary: each substance carries its own set of associations and transformational possibilities.