MATTHEW HIGGS: Art in Crisis - Pictures in Peril

15 January – 21 February 2009
1 /

Murray Guy is pleased to present its fourth solo exhibition of work by Matthew Higgs. Higgs’ work – which typically takes the form of framed book pages, framed book and catalogue covers, and photographs of books – has been described as a form of ‘found conceptual art.’

For more than 15 years Higgs has worked within these self-consciously defined, but potentially limitless, parameters. His re-contextualization and subsequent re-framing of existing printed matter seeks to consider questions of authorship, uniqueness, vandalism, language, typography, design and especially its relationship with late-modernist abstraction, amongst other things.

Often making direct reference to the condition and reception of art, Higgs’ ongoing project formally acknowledges the presence and role of the viewer, while simultaneously addressing the physical reality and condition of the art object.

This exhibition will include three new photographic works, “ART IN CRISIS”,  “PICTURES IN PERIL”, and “ART IS TO ENJOY”, alongside a group of recent found text and abstract works.

Matthew Higgs (b.1964 Wakefield, England) has exhibited internationally since 1992. His work was recently the subject of a two-person show (with Peter Wuethrich) at University Gallery, UMass, Amherst in 2007. Recent solo shows include: Wilkinson Gallery, London (2008), The Apartment, Vancouver (2008), and Jack Hanley Gallery, Los Angles (2007) Recent group shows include: ‘Not So Subtle Subtitle‘ curated by Matthew Brannon, Casey Kaplan Gallery, New York (2008); ‘A New High In Getting Low (NYC)‘, John Connelly Presents, New York (2008); ‘Two Years‘, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2007/2008).

Higgs is a widely published writer and a regular contributor to Artforum magazine: recent contributions to other publications include texts for Ken Price, John Baldessari, and Marilyn Minter, amongst others. As a curator he has organized more than 200 exhibitions and projects in Europe, the United States, and Canada. Since November, 2004 he has been the director and chief curator of White Columns, New York’s oldest alternative space, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2009: www.whitecolumns.org.