Matthew Ritchie

Public Artist Lecture
Thursday, May 12 at 6:30pm
The Cabot Performing Arts Center
286 Cabot Street, Beverly, MA 01915

Gallery Hours
M,T,W,F, 10am–5pm
Th, 10am–8pm
Sat., 12–5pm

In an era defined by the constant presence of information, Matthew Ritchie creates a snapshot of the interconnected structures that permeate modern living. Through a combination of techniques ranging from painting, to digital manipulation, to sculptures cut from sheet metal, layers of visual forms become a response to the questions Ritchie asks himself: “How do you escape the pattern that’s imposed on you by the physical order of the universe? How do you make the imaginative leap?”

The context that the art comes from is integral to the experience of the work, inviting viewers to analyze it beyond an aesthetic level. In each piece, Ritchie deals directly with information. He draws heavily from research and philosophy to distill a multiplicity of conceptual inquiries into brief moments of connection. The work often incorporates themes such as particle physics, non-linear narrative structures, games of chance, and the use of science as a tool in theological debate. Each new project builds upon an encyclopedic body of work juxtaposing the vastness of the universe with the man-made belief systems that attempt to comprehend it.

Ritchie was born in London and received a BFA from Camberwell School of Art in 1986 before relocating to New York. Over the course of his career he has been featured in over 25 solo exhibitions and 100 group exhibitions, both domestically and internationally. Recently, his work has been shown at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, MASS MoCA, and the MoMA.