Matthew Szösz: Complications / Zane Bennett Gallery, Sante Fe

Matthew Szösz: Complications / Zane Bennett Gallery, Sante Fe
June 27 - July 19, 2014

Zane Bennett Contemporary Art is pleased to announce Complications, an exhibition of works in glass by Matthew Szösz. The opening is Friday, June 27, at the gallery, from 5-7 pm as part of the Railyard Arts District Last Friday Artwalk.

Matthew Szösz, born in Providence Rhode Island, resides and practices in northern California. He holds a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts, a Bachelor’s of Industrial Design and a Master of Fine Arts in Glass all from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), and has been awarded grants by prestigious institutions in his field such as the L.C. Tiffany Foundation. Szösz has held numerous artist residencies all over the world including the Danish Royal Academy.

Szösz’s creative process involves investigation of his chosen materials, resulting in a dance or a dialogue between artist and material. His interest lies in the moment of transformation which is what fuels his impulse to create.

Szösz’s interest is focused on what glass can do and will do when exposed to a variety of conditions inflicted by the artist, resulting in a state of controlled chaos. Of this, Szösz states “The work produced is left deliberately unmodified as much as possible after the shaping so that the connection of the finished form to the process is emphasized to the viewer, as this relationship illustrates the central thrust of the work, that form is the result of physics, rather than the artist, and that the work itself is creator of its own identity.” The invention of new techniques and processes not only keep Szösz interested in his medium, the results inform him and push his process further.

Matthew Szösz’s latest works consist of several separate bodies of work including Inflatables, Expandables, and Rigging pieces. The Rigging pieces appear as delicate strands of rope fused together into different shapes. The viewer does not, at first realize the works in this series are glass. The minute detail in each of the Rigging works are a wonder to behold. With the Inflatables compressed air is added to fused pieces of glass while still hot, creating forms that are full and at times pillow-like.

The Expandables are created by pulling glass apart. Inflatables and Expandables compliment each other in their opposition to each other, one feeling more solid while the other appears almost stretched and pulled to its limit, showing strength in its delicate construction. These works clearly prove Szösz’s statement: “Much of my work is an effort to achieve a synergy between opposites- order and chaos, craft and experimentation, the deliberate and the accidental, allowing two opposites to come together and complement and enhance each other.”

Matthew Szosz’s work incorporates science and art. Both the process and the outcome are equally intriguing. His work embodies, as American physician and NASA astronaut, Mae Carol Jemison so eloquently stated: “The difference between science and the arts is not that they are different sides of the same coin, or even different parts of the same continuum, but rather, they are manifestations of the same thing. The arts and sciences are avatars of human creativity.”

Summer hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm, and Sunday 12 - 4 pm or by appointment.

CONTACT
info@zanebennettgallery.com
Tel. 505-982-8111

Zane Bennett Contemporary Art
435 S. Guadalupe St.
Santa Fe, NM 87501
United States
www.zanebennettgallery.com

Above: Matthew Szösz, Brontes, 2013, Fused and inflated glass, 18 x 15 x 18 in.