Matthew Brandt creates his work using physical elements from the depicted subject. Inspired by landscape photography of the American West and alternative photograph processes developed during photography's infancy in the mid-nineteenth century, the artist revives traditional photographic techniques through various production processes. Whether soaking prints in water from the depicted lake, printing on paper made from the subject tree or even using a pigment created from the subject, Brandt blurs the line between the photograph and the photographed. For his series Lakes and Reservoirs, Brandt photographs lakes and reservoirs in the western United States, and then submerges each resulting C-Print in water collected from the subject of the photograph. Prints are soaked for days or weeks or even months, and this process impacts the layers of color that comprise the image. Brandt removes the print once it reaches its desired look, which can range from mostly representational to completely abstract. The Lakes and Reservoirs series considers the current condition not only of our lakes and reservoirs, but also of traditional color photography.
In December 2011, Forbes named Matthew Brandt (born 1982) one of tomorrow's "brightest stars," in the article "30 Under 30: Art & Design." Brandt's work is included in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Cincinnati Art Museum; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Royal Danish Library, National Museum of Photography, Copenhagen; and the Columbus Museum of Art, among others. Brandt was born in California and received his BFA from Cooper Union and his MFA from UCLA. The artist currently lives and works in Los Angeles.
Though hardly a brand-new topic, the question 'What is a photograph?' Regenerated sparks in 2014, underpinning a major ICP exhibition and catalog. At the centre of this discussion is Matthew Brandt, who just brought out his own stunning monograph of experimental imagery. Brandt has taken Los Angeles-based conceptutal-ism in the lineage of photo-driven artists like John Baldes-sari, Robert Heinecken, and James Welling back to teh land for this series: He makes photographs of bodies of water throughout the western United States, then soaks the C-prints in liquid specimens collected from the sites depicted. The result is a psychedelic blend of lovely, surreal chromatic abberrations.
PDN
Conor Risch
Whether Brandt intended to or not, Lakes and Reservoirs can also be read in the context of current discussions about water as a finite natural resource and anxiety that water may be in short supply in years to come. One can't help but look for the evidence of fresh water's life-giving qualities when looking at Brandt's images. As if this most important element of our world weren't magical enough, water also happens to be capable of collaborating in the creation of compelling artwoks.
Art + Auction
Sarah P Hanson
Brandt is among the new breed of photographers who, having internalized the lessons of 1970s Conceptualism and process-based art, are exploring the material aspects of their medium. For this series, he employed water taken from the lakes and reservoirs he has photographed, dunking each C-print in a bath of its own juice for days or months at a time. The results are as unpredictable as nature, with color running over the landscapes in a way that casts an instant nostalgia over any still-identifiable features. With these controlled degradations, the artist effects a symbolic resistance to environmental destruction. As appealing as the prints are individually, presented together, their sum is greater.
"Big Bear Lake CA A1" is reproduced from Matthew Brandt: Lakes and Reservoirs, one of our top holiday photo books of the year. "When Brandt creates a photograph for his Lakes and Reservoirs series," Suzanne Shaheen writes in the New Yorker, "the water itself is part of the process. Out in the field, Brandt takes with him two key tools: a camera, and a five-gallon plastic jug. 'The camera is to take an image of the lake or reservoir, while the jugs are to take some of the actual lake,' he explained. When he gets back to his studio, he makes prints of selected images, then empties the water he collected into a large tray. 'The c-print of that same lake is then submerged into the tray with the lake’s water,' he said. 'From this point I wait for the water to break down its own photographic image. Depending on the image density and water, this breakdown time can take days or weeks.'" Happy holidays from ARTBOOK | D.A.P. continue to blog
On Thursday, October 16 at 6PM, the MoCA Store at Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, presents a book launch and signing with Matthew Brandt, whose beautiful new monograph, Lakes and Reservoirs is just out from Damiani and Yossi Milo. continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 13.75 x 11 in. / 176 pgs / illustrated throughout. LIST PRICE: U.S. $65.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $87 ISBN: 9788862083744 PUBLISHER: Damiani/Yossi Milo AVAILABLE: 10/31/2014 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of print AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA LA
Matthew Brandt creates his work using physical elements from the depicted subject. Inspired by landscape photography of the American West and alternative photograph processes developed during photography's infancy in the mid-nineteenth century, the artist revives traditional photographic techniques through various production processes. Whether soaking prints in water from the depicted lake, printing on paper made from the subject tree or even using a pigment created from the subject, Brandt blurs the line between the photograph and the photographed. For his series Lakes and Reservoirs, Brandt photographs lakes and reservoirs in the western United States, and then submerges each resulting C-Print in water collected from the subject of the photograph. Prints are soaked for days or weeks or even months, and this process impacts the layers of color that comprise the image. Brandt removes the print once it reaches its desired look, which can range from mostly representational to completely abstract. The Lakes and Reservoirs series considers the current condition not only of our lakes and reservoirs, but also of traditional color photography.
In December 2011, Forbes named Matthew Brandt (born 1982) one of tomorrow's "brightest stars," in the article "30 Under 30: Art & Design." Brandt's work is included in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Cincinnati Art Museum; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Royal Danish Library, National Museum of Photography, Copenhagen; and the Columbus Museum of Art, among others. Brandt was born in California and received his BFA from Cooper Union and his MFA from UCLA. The artist currently lives and works in Los Angeles.
