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Matthew Ronay
Polypastoraline, August 28 - October 19, 2019

Matthew Ronay: Polypastoraline

Past exhibition
  • Exhibition text
  • Installation views
  • Works
  • Artist Biography

  • Matthew Ronay
    Polypastoraline

    August 28 – October 19, 2019
    Glentevej 49, Copenhagen

    Nils Stærk is pleased to present our fifth solo exhibition with American artist Matthew Ronay. The exhibition Polypastoraline presents 11 new basswood sculptures - all in a vibrant, abstract language that carries a rich variation of references.

     

    The title is an invented word and reflects the main idea of the exhibition. Polypastoraline is constructed of (poly-) many + (pastoral) relating to rural life + (-ine) denoting of or pertaining to.

     

    Since antiquity, the theme of the Pastorale has been used in poetry, music, and art to evoke a place or state of mind that embodies the rapture of an undisturbed, peaceful landscape. From the frescoes of Pompeii, to the classical strains of Beethoven’s symphonies and the idealized landscapes of Claude and Poussin, the pastoral subject was used to evoke harmony, reverie and serenity. Over time, as the natural world has become increasingly soiled by human intervention, the ethos expressed by the pastorale has aquired darker connotations, where dismay and a sense of loss loom large over the demise of bucolic sanctity. And given the increasingly rapid pace of toxic climate change, the emergence of new paradigms for thematizing nature is inevitable.

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    Polypastoraline takes this shift as its point of departure, with objects that reimagine what the Pastorale might signify many generations in the future. If traditional examples of natural beauty are no longer relevant, what might their progeny look like? The detritus of the constructed environment from decaying technologies to new organisms born from a polluted gene pool, forms the backbone of the syntax used in the 11 sculptures presented as encapsulating the exhibition.

     

    The reading of the sculptures are a remembrance of analog technologies - rendered in a bright palette of colors that alternates between warmth, desolation, discomfort and joy. The otherwise abstract works are composed of sinuous forms that emulate the grasping of polluted air, a figure reclining in highly surveilled terrain, caged organisms, intelligent plant life, and mutated musical instruments, radar arrays and antennae. Thus, the utopias they encapsulate are both welcoming and horrific, peaceful and disruptive, pristine and diseased.

     

    Matthew Ronay (b. 1976, Louisville, KY) lives in New York. In 2016, his work was the subject of solo- presentations at the Blaffer Art Museum in Houston, and the Pérez Art Museum Miami, with a fully-illustrated catalogue published on the occasion. He has exhibited extensively at major institutions worldwide, including: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AK; Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville, KY; Kunstverein Lingen, Germany; University of Louisville, KY; Artpace, San Antonio, TX; Serpentine Gallery, London; SculptureCenter, New York; and Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art, London. Ronay participated in the 2013 Lyon Biennale, curated by Gunnar Kvaran, and the 2004 Whitney Biennial. His works are in private and public collections, including: Kistefos Museum, Norway; ARoS Art Museum, Denmark; Astrup Fearnley, Norway; Dallas Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Pérez Art Museum Miami, MoMA New York and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

  • Installation views
  • Photo credit: Malle Madsen (View more details about this item in a popup).
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    Photo credit: Malle Madsen

  • Works
    • Matthew Ronay A Circular Muscle, 2019 Basswood, dye, gouache, flocking, steel
      Matthew Ronay
      A Circular Muscle, 2019
      Basswood, dye, gouache, flocking, steel
    • Matthew Ronay Bio Yagi, 2019 Basswood, dye, gouache, flocking, plastic, steel
      Matthew Ronay
      Bio Yagi, 2019
      Basswood, dye, gouache, flocking, plastic, steel
    • Matthew Ronay Coercive Reader, 2019 Basswood, dye, gouache, flocking, plastic, steel
      Matthew Ronay
      Coercive Reader, 2019
      Basswood, dye, gouache, flocking, plastic, steel
    • Matthew Ronay Charities, 2019 Basswood, dye, gouache, plastic, steel
      Matthew Ronay
      Charities, 2019
      Basswood, dye, gouache, plastic, steel
    • Matthew Ronay Cursus Publicus, 2019 Basswood, dye, gouache, flocking, steel
      Matthew Ronay
      Cursus Publicus, 2019
      Basswood, dye, gouache, flocking, steel
    • Matthew Ronay Dust on the Harp, 2019 Basswood, dye, steel, shellac-based primer
      Matthew Ronay
      Dust on the Harp, 2019
      Basswood, dye, steel, shellac-based primer
    • Matthew Ronay Everyware, 2019 Basswood, dye, gouache, flocking, plastic, steel
      Matthew Ronay
      Everyware, 2019
      Basswood, dye, gouache, flocking, plastic, steel
    • Matthew Ronay Succuloid, 2019 Basswood, dye, gouache, flocking, plastic, steel
      Matthew Ronay
      Succuloid, 2019
      Basswood, dye, gouache, flocking, plastic, steel
    • Matthew Ronay Temple Bell, 2019 Basswood, dye, gouache, flocking, plastic, steel
      Matthew Ronay
      Temple Bell, 2019
      Basswood, dye, gouache, flocking, plastic, steel
    • Matthew Ronay Headlessness, 2019 Basswood, dye, gouache, flocking, plastic, steel
      Matthew Ronay
      Headlessness, 2019
      Basswood, dye, gouache, flocking, plastic, steel
    • Matthew Ronay Lair, 2019 Basswood, dye, gouache, plastic, steel
      Matthew Ronay
      Lair, 2019
      Basswood, dye, gouache, plastic, steel
  • Artist Biography
  • MATTHEW RONAY Born in Louisville, KY, US, 1976 Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, US Matthew Ronay’s works invite viewers...
     

    MATTHEW RONAY

    Born in Louisville, KY, US, 1976
    Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, US

     

    Matthew Ronay’s works invite viewers into a mythological realm where abstract forms meet metaphysical energies. His creative process, rooted in automatic drawing, allows subconscious impulses to shape intricate sculptures that appear to grow autonomously. Inspired by the natural world, Ronay incorporates biomorphic shapes to explore themes of reproduction and decay. Using basswood, he crafts each piece unassisted, finishing them with rhythmic textures and vibrant colors that evoke a tactile, sensory connection.

     

    At the core of Ronay’s practice is his ability to merge disparate elements into harmonious compositions that feel both familiar and otherworldly. By emphasizing the spaces between his sculptures’ components, he fosters a dynamic balance of tension and unity, inviting viewers to reflect on the interplay between humanity and nature. This immersive experience not only draws attention to the works’ physicality but also unveils deeper layers of psychological and emotional resonance.

     

    Download artist's CV 

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+45 3254 4562
gallery@nilsstaerk.dk

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GLENTEVEJ 49
Copenhagen

Tuesday — Friday: 11 am — 5 pm

Saturday: 11 am — 3 pm

HOLBERGSGADE 19
COPENHAGEN

Tuesday — Friday: 12 pm — 5 pm

Saturday: 11 am — 3 pm

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