Matthew Barney

Biography

In Mattew Barney's first solo exhibitions, he presented elaborate sculptural installations that included videos of himself interacting with various constructed objects and performing physical feats such as climbing the gallery ceiling and walls. In 1992, he introduced fantastical creatures into his work, a gesture that presaged the vocabulary of his subsequent narrative films.

Two years later, he began work on his epic Cremaster cycle: five films accompanied by related sculptures, photographs and drawings, which he completed in 2002. Since 2007, he has been involved with a project loosely based on Norman Mailer’s 1983 novel Ancient Evenings, which incorporates a diverse series of multidisciplinary, site-specific works.

Barney has received the Aperto Prize at the Venice Biennale, Italy (1993); Hugo Boss Award, New York (1996); Kaiser Ring Award, Goslar, Germany (2007) and the San Francisco International Film Festival’s Persistence of Vision Award (2011).

This person was part of Sharjah Biennial 11