Matthew Sleeth (visual artist)

Last updated

Matthew Sleeth
Matthew Sleeth.jpg
Matt Sleeth in 2018
Born
Matthew James Sleeth

1972 (age 5152)
NationalityAustralian, Irish
Alma mater Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
Occupations
  • Artist
  • Director
  • Screenwriter
Years active1993 - present
Style

Matthew Sleeth (born 1972) is an Australian visual artist and filmmaker. His often collaborative practice incorporates photography, film, sculpture and installation with a particular focus on the aesthetic and conceptual concerns of new media. The performative and photographic nature of media art is regularly highlighted in his work.

Contents

Early life

Sleeth was born in 1972 in Melbourne. [1]

Career

Matthew Sleeth's early career is defined through three photographic monographs. [2] Roaring Days, [3] [4] is the only one showing his work with black & white photography, played with nostalgia and politics. [5] [6] The Bank Book [7] is a response to the making of a feature film. Tour of Duty, [8] explores the performance/performative aspect of armed conflict as seen during the 1999 East Timorese crisis. [6]

In 2001, he was named one of the 30 most influential artists under 30 in PDN Magazine. [9]

In 2005/6 Sleeth lived in Tokyo as part of the Australia Council’s studio residency program. [2] Then, in 2007, he was featured on the cover of Australian Art Collector magazine. [10]

Following the publication of Opfikon in 2004, Sleeth's practice became more conceptually driven. [11] His work expanded from photography and video to include sculpture, print-making and installation. Pattern Recognition, an exhibition of public billboards for the 2008 Melbourne International Arts Festival, was described as exploring "ideas about photography itself and the way it has historically been used to order and categorise life". [12] The Aperture Foundation's Exposures Blog described his New York solo exhibition, Various Positions (parts 1 through 6), as "working toward a new photographic aesthetic". [13] It opened at Claire Oliver Gallery in Chelsea, Manhattan on 18 March 2009.

Sleeth has consistently embraced new technologies and methods of production, working with 3D printing, aerial drones, electronics and computer programming. [14]

His work with 3D printing and CNC fabrication led to Sleeth's sculptural installation, The Rise and Fall of Western Civilization (And Other Obvious Metaphors). This concrete freeway combined photography, metal, plywood and micro-computers with LED displays. [15]

As his film practice evolved, Sleeth's interest in performance became more apparent, particularly in video works such as I Don't See God Up Here [16] and Kerobokan Portraits [Andrew and Myuran]. [17]

In 2015 Sleeth co-wrote and directed A Drone Opera. [18] Presented by Arts House and Experimenta, the live performance combined opera singers, laser set-design and purpose-built drones to bring together the sense of surveillance and menace that explores our relationship with new technologies. [19] In June 2019, a cinematic version of A Drone Opera was screened at the Sydney Film Festival [20] and a three-channel film installation was presented at Carriageworks, Sydney. [21]

Sleeth's work with Myuran Sukumaran [22] at Kerobokan Prison [23] [24] and the campaign to save Sukumaran and Andrew Chan from execution, fuelled the development of 2017's Guilty. [25] In his feature film debut, Sleeth highlighted the final 72 hours of Sukumaran's life and questions the use of execution as a means of punishment. [26] Guilty premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival on 8 October 2017 [27] and was released by Madman Entertainment on DVD in April 2020. [28]

Filmography

Films

YearFilmCredited asAwards
DirectorWriterProducerCinematographer
2017GuiltyYesYesNoAdditional cinematographyAustralian Cinematographers Society, Gold award, Winner, 2019 [29]

Dili Film Festival Award, Winner, 2019 [30]

Australian Directors Guild, Nomination, 2019 [31]

ATOM Award, Winner, 2018 [32]

Australian Cinematographers Society, Gold award, Winner, 2020 [33]

Short films

YearFilmCredited as
DirectorProducerWriterCinematographer
2019A Drone OperaYesYesYesAdditional cinematography
2013For One Reason Or AnotherYesYesYesYes
2013Kerobokan PortraitsYesYesNoYes
2010BaliYesYesNoYes
2010I Don't See God Up HereYesYesNoYes
2009Green ShootsYesYesNoYes

Film festivals

Live performance

Monographs

Collections

Sleeth's work is held in the following public collections:

Solo exhibitions

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References

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  2. 1 2 "Matthew Sleeth". National Portrait Gallery people. Archived from the original on 7 June 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  3. Roaring Days, M.33, Melbourne, 1998, ISBN   9780646357973
  4. Roaring days. OCLC   39837404 . Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  5. "The Silence: Gilles Peres and Roaring Days: Matthew Sleeth | Artlink Magazine". Artlink Magazine. Archived from the original on 29 April 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  6. 1 2 "Matthew Sleeth: World Vision". Art Collector Magazine. 2 July 2007. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  7. The Bank Book, M.33, Melbourne, 2001 ISBN   9780957955301
  8. Tour of Duty, Hardie Grant Books, Melbourne, 2002 ISBN   9781740640664
  9. "Matthew Sleeth" - Claire Sykes, PDN, March 2001 "PDN's 30 | PDN Online". PDN Online. Archived from the original on 5 September 2003. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
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  15. Video of The Rise and Fall Of Western Civilization (And Other Obvious Metaphors) as installed in Claire Oliver Gallery, November 2011
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