Matthew Barney

Matthew Barney

            Matthew Barney is a unique artist who works with drawing, sculpture, photography, and film.  He has a strange yet interesting style in which he incorporates many ideas.  One of his series is known as Drawing Restraint.  In these drawings, the body is physically restrained throughout the duration of making a drawing.  Later drawings in the series employ different types of restraint, such as Drawing Restraint 19, where graphite is attached to the bottom of a skateboard, and then the drawing is created as the skateboarder maneuvers the board.  The Cremaster Cycle series is a combination of scultpture, performance, and video art.  The Cremaster series is based upon the idea of creation, and male and female reproductive organs.

            Last semester I was introduced to Matthew Barney’s work.  While I did not completely understand his Cremaster Cycle, I connected more with the Drawing Restraint series.  I was inspired by the idea of physical limitation while drawing.  I also thought more about attaching drawing implements to moving objects, to create chance drawings.  As for Barney’s Cremaster series, I enjoyed his sculptures and he had interesting use of costuming.  Matthew Barney’s art is largely performance based, which is something that many artists fail to address.  I also learned from him that working within a series is beneficial.  It gives the artist time to truly explore a theme and develop ideas, rather than working on one piece of art and then not revisiting it again.  I think that working in a theme is a great way to improve skills and concept.