The Snakes That Remain. ACME., 2015
ACME. is pleased to present a solo exhibition of new works by Los Angeles based artist Matt Lifson. On view will be two bodies of work that focus on concepts of storytelling through imagery, using methodologies of repetition and projection. Lifson is fascinated by the way in which stories are told in contemporary culture, especially through the viewpoint of film and photography that infiltrate a more ubiquitous concept of personal narrative. Lifson has a longtime interest in a picture’s history and trajectory, especially through the frame of painting.
The first body of work starts with a series of small paintings of a snowy landscape painted in succession on the same canvas, which are then individually photographed in the different stages of paint, then the images are enlarged and printed on canvas, which are then are overlaid with a translucent silk fabric and painted again. The resulting works have a panning effect, like still frames of a film. The overlaid paintings on the silk act as 'emotional' responses to the subtle nuances of the snowy landscape paintings beneath them. The effect is exaggerated, brushy gestures and washes that hover above a now almost indiscernible image underneath.
The second body of work consists of serial paintings of a still life with projected text in the form of subtitles and book pages that are constantly changing. Lifson is exploring the notion of how images find themselves being owned and produced, stretching the elasticity of meaning, and between these two techniques, an overarching concept of projection occurs, be it literally or figuratively.
