Unit 2 Gallery

MATTHEW HOULDING
Clearwater

1 July – 29 July 2005
Private View: Thursday 30 June 6-8pm
'Ambient Musical Gesture' provided by Tom Elliott

Matthew Houlding's sculptural models contemplate a world of ostentatious living, where dream homes exist on fantasy islands or are found perched on top of monumental towers. Houlding's gated communities exist in a safe and closeted world. Fantastical but equally imaginable, Houlding's models ponder a notion of what utopia might mean in today's consumer-led economy. From make over programmes to design magazine, so called 'lifestyle choices' are constantly being thrust before us. From inner city urban chic to 'downsizing' to rural retreats, our sense of living is continually being tested and questioned. Paradoxically, we also live in an age when the notion of fear, whether real or imagined is presented to us in the form of the ever pervasive threat of the asylum seeker, terrorist or house intruder. It is within these contexts that the critical nature of Houlding's sculpture can be read.

Despite an underlying sense of ridicule, Houlding's imaginary terrains possess a distinctive architectural logic, a logic made all the more poignant when we consider that these meticulously constructed models are fashioned from a wide range of recycled objects from domestic packaging to industrial components. One writer observed, "As grand as any of the pieces profess to be, there is an equal profession of self-deprecation evident. MH is very much interested in fulfilling his own private aspirations; constructing and formulating architectural pieces as works of art that could be applied elsewhere, not just as exhibits in a gallery space."

For his first solo show in London, Houlding will be recycling elements of previous works to create a major new exhibition for Unit 2.

The exhibition has been supported by London Metropolitan University and Arts
Council England, London.

Matthew Houlding was born in Keighley, West Yorkshire in 1966. He has exhibited in a variety of exhibitions including Victory Park, Leeds City Art Gallery, 2005; Archipelago, ArtBuero Berlin, 2005; Rouge, A Street Gallery, Santa Rosa, California, 2005; Comme Ca Art Prize, Manchester, 2003. He currently lives and works in Todmorden, West Yorkshire.

Accompanying brochure with essay by Nigel Walsh

Gallery opening hours:
Tuesday - Friday 12-6pm and by appointment