In his series ‘Monumental Nobodies’, award-winning Australian artist Matthew Quick refers to the image of power, yet he reverses and distorts its meaning through his conceptual approach that reveals, with a fine humorous touch, pressing issues of society, unfolding a reality that often hides behind appearances.
The aura of emperors and gods is eliminated by adding ordinary objects to replace their crowns and thrones, turning them into powerless nobodies. By ridiculing them gently, he plays with their initial grand goal, and allows us to take a refreshed look at existence. There are also references to individual freedom, social control and surveillance, the deceitful behaviour of rulers who intentionally fail to act as they speak.
The works of Matthew Quick are, therefore, a reflection of a world where deification is no longer possible as it would be ridiculous to those who see beyond the veil of illusion and discourse, and leaders lack the means of manipulating their image into becoming a kind of omniscient and omnipresent super-beings.
Social inks:
Forthcoming shows:
Singapore September 2015 with Art Equity Singapore
Sydney Contemporary Art Fair September 2015
Sydney November 2015 with Art Equity