MATTHEW STONE

CHOI&LAGER Gallery presents small awakenings by British artist Matthew Stone. Following on from Back into the Body in 2017, this will be Stone’s second solo exhibition at the gallery in Seoul, showcasing new works he has developed over the past year.



Stone begins by photographing real paint strokes, which he then cuts out and combines using various graphics and 3D modelling software. This process enables the artist to paint onto sculptural models whilst navigating a 3D virtual space. This space is eventually committed to a fixed vantage point, rendered and printed onto raw linen. The resulting imagery depicts dynamic bodies, tumbling drapery and isolated abstract gestural marks that seem to float with an enlarged sense of space and depth. Rather than functioning as purely illusionistic marks used to suggest real world space, Stone’s brushstrokes are also often singular objects in and of themselves and in their own world.

The artist uses a technological approach to overcome specific limitations of painting that might only be imagined in a digital age. This digital disruption extends to a theme reflected on by Stone in the title of the show small awakenings and included works, that show figures holding draped banners to the sky inscribed with simplistic self-help & positive-psychology statements. Stone feels that ‘We are witnessing the widespread integration of the internet and it’s impact on our cognitive evolution is huge. At various points my own urges to share what have seemed like sudden expansions in personal, political, philosophical and spiritual awareness has felt urgent. Now upon reflection it feels more pertinent to frame or expose the development of my thinking rather than the specific content of it.’

Stone’s methods reflect a contemporary desire to move toward something real and embodied, while consciously using the same technologies one might think to reject in search of an authentic connection.