Matthew Barney’s artworks include a series of nineteen Drawing Restraint projects (documented from 1987—present). In his working method, drawings are created to plan his sculptures, installations, photographs, and films, and later, further drawn visual investigations continue after the projects are completed.
Films
The Cremaster cycle of five films (1994—2002)—the point of departure for which is the male cremaster muscle, which controls testicular contractions in response to external stimuli—first revealed Barney’s visionary filmmaking skills. Other acclaimed movies include River of Fundament (2014) and Redoubt (2019). Rich in unorthodox narrative, hybridity, and symbolism, involving actors, animals, and machines—and multiple time or geographical zones—they thematically incorporate contemporary novels, music, opera, hunting, crime, and religious ritual.
Presentations of Barney’s films, including those as part of the Cremaster cycle, are often co-ordinated with adjacent site-specific installations which include displays in ground-breaking methods of mark-making, metalwork or plastic casting.
