New Works: 09.1
opening March 19, 2009

curated by Trevor Smith
Curator of Contemporary Art, Peabody Essex Museum

Richard Grayson - London, England
Richard Grayson’s video and multi-media works combine scientific research methods, technology, and interviews to study the cause-effect relationship between religious systems, military endeavors, and the economic market. In Intelligence, the second in a series of exhibitions at Matt’s Gallery, London, UK, Grayson presents a variety of visual maps that investigate the influence of astrology on military action. To construct these maps, Grayson activates a computer generated program that compares and contrasts the astrological birth charts of government officials from both the USA and Middle East. The installation investigates the influence of religious and supernatural systems on the development of social and political policy, specifically with regard to the ever-closing gap between religious belief and governmental policy.

Christian Tomaszewski - Brooklyn, NY
For the past three years, in a series of museum installations, Christian Tomaszewski has been remaking the spaces, props, and moods of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet. Tomaszewski’s art intentionally conjures our own cinematic desires, allowing us to enter Lynch’, mimic its characters, and analyze every detail. The artist states, "I really consider films our common consciousness, or communication. So much a part of our language is the movie... so much a part of our behavior."

Sterling Allen - Austin, TX
Sterling Allen is an Austin-based artist and co-founder of the gallery Okay Mountain. His recent drawings and sculptures follow a three-step process. First, the artist creates a free-form drawing while listening to music; then, he pulls interesting shapes from these scribble images; and ultimately, he inserts random drawings into the space created by these shapes. He activates a practice similar to Exquisite Corpse or Rorschach association exams through the assessment of sound, shape, and image in the context of emotional response.