Tag: Mat Collishaw

Mat Collishaw (b. 1966) is a key figure in the important generation of British artists who emerged from Goldsmiths’ College in the late 1980s. He participated in Freeze (1988) and since his first solo exhibition in 1990 has exhibited widely internationally.

Mat Collishaw’s artistic oeuvre artfully wields photography and video. His most renowned creation, Bullet Hole (1988), captivates viewers with its arresting closeup portrayal of what appears to be a bullet hole wound on a person’s scalp, illuminated by 15 light boxes. Collishaw sourced the original image from a pathology textbook, which intriguingly depicted a wound caused by an ice pick. Bullet Hole was first unveiled in Freeze, a groundbreaking group exhibition masterminded by Damien Hirst in 1988, igniting the Young British Artists (YBA) movement. It is now prominently housed in the collection of the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, Australia.

Mat Collishaw’s seminal masterpiece, All Things Fall, has earned widespread acclaim, most notably from art critic Waldemar Januszczak of The Sunday Times, who described it as a contemporary masterpiece. All Things Fall invites viewers into a classical temple, adorned with enigmatic nude figures in cryptic poses. As the temple begins to spin, the figures spring into action, reenacting the biblical Massacre of the Innocents, delivering an unexpected burst of violence with impeccable pacing and execution.

The exhibition The Centrifugal Soul, showcased at Blain|Southern Gallery in London in 2017, garnered notable praise. Notably, critic Gaby Wood commended Collishaw’s work Albion for The Telegraph, recognizing his unique ability to translate abstract ideas into elegant and captivating creations, positioning him as a fusion of an aesthetic philosopher and a magician in the art world.

In a pioneering move into virtual reality, Mat Collishaw presented his exhibition Thresholds in 2017, which drew praise from Laurie Taylor in frieze Magazine. He didn’t recreate historical experiences but constructed entirely new ones, emphasizing his reverence for the magic of photography and its illusions, and solidifying his status as a visionary artist.