Matthew Bamber explores themes of memory and trauma, greed and power, queerness, and identity in his work. Bamber operates within the framework of our image-saturated world, manipulating already altered images to pose new questions about ways of looking. The exhibition showcases two distinct bodies of work, namely Dream Home and GM Series, spanning across the two floors.
Dream Home brings together a collection of works around the idea of ‘queer domesticity’ creating snapshots of the artist’s home as a site for identity construction. These artworks detail sentimental objects, everyday utensils, bric-a-brac, and pieces made by Bamber, selected from an intimate archive of material objects built up over a lifetime. Each piece focuses on a different area within the household, such as the bathroom, the most private space in Bamber’s home.
With the addition of three new pieces, the GM series explores various themes related to the LGBTQIA+ community and its broad recent history. Drawing inspiration from his personal memories, extensive research into queer theories, and sociological studies. Bamber’s approach to making this work involved an interest in understanding and processing this overwhelming wealth of information. Each artwork within the series revolves around themes like shame, ‘outness’, family values, and surveillance, for which Bamber collected related imagery.
Image Credit: Matthew Bamber, Dream Home (Sleep), 2023
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About Matthew Bamber
Matthew Bamber’s practice encompasses photography, drawing, video, textile and installation. He creates work using a combination of found, archival and personal images that are broken down and built back up. These deconstructed, overloaded compositions are blends of photography, collage and drawing that do not fall neatly into any one category. Matthew is influenced by the composition and arrangement of Baroque art and its relevance as a contemporary lens to look at a world in a constant state of turmoil.
Recent exhibitions include a two-person exhibition at Castlefield Gallery, Manchester; “(Un)Defining Queer” at The Whitworth, Manchester; “HIDDEN DOORS” at P7 Gallery, Berlin and “I don’t know what I want, but I want it NOW” at A.P.T Gallery, London.