Matt Akehurst
By Sophie Keyse
‘Forget about fame or
money and then ask yourself if you still want to be an artist.’– Matt
Akehurst
When one first inspects Matt Akehurst’s Objects they appear to be a cross between a Henry Moore sculpture;
a character from Monsters Inc.; and
something that has escaped from a Salvador Dalì painting. However, the inspiration of these captivating
forms is much more erudite, with Akehurst’s experiences as a scientist and the
numerous hours peering down a microscope subconsciously influencing his choice
of shape. American ceramic
artist/printmaker Ken Price and his abstract clay shapes, as well as the
monumental semi-abstract sculptures of Henry Moore also played a part in
determining these forms. Yet it is the
ambiguity around these biomorphic and changeable blobs which fascinates the
artist - ‘Our ideas of the blob have been
shaped by the cartoon Shmoo; the movie The Blob, and maybe our very own
history of evolution from a simple amoebae.
There seems to be this general consensus that a blob can evolve into
anything.’
While the sculptures installed in the vitrines in Object 5+ may appear to be weighty and
monumental, they are in fact composed of high-density polystyrene and shaped
with saws, wire brushes, files and sandpaper.
Plaster and builder’s filler have also been incorporated to create the
smooth surfaces, with the objects spray-painted with acrylic paint as a final
touch. It must be noted, however, that
Akehurst does not consider polystyrene his principal medium and instead lets
the initial idea shape his material selection which can be both a help and a
hindrance – ‘I find not being restricted
to one material is both the most rewarding and frustrating aspect to my
practice.’
This is a central idea in
Akehurst’s creative practice, as he prefers to remain open or ‘unfocused’ by
letting the process take control and lead the work where it needs to go. It is context driven, which is primarily the
art world but, as the artist himself has said, ‘you could say its art about art, or art about being an artist.’ Do not interpret this as the artist being
slack – quite the opposite, in fact, with Akehurst functioning as a significant
member of the Christchurch arts scene since completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts
(Hons) at the University of Canterbury in 2010.
His sculpture You Are Here
first appeared in Sculpture on the Gulf on Waiheke Island and references artistic
influences on New Zealanders, such as Pablo Picasso’s Guernica in Bilbao or Sotheby’s auction house in London, with the
specific distance each object/location is from the coordinates of the
sculpture. You Are Here now resides outside the Christchurch Art Gallery, which has been
closed since the February 2011 earthquakes.
Its new location has added a new angle to the work, as it literally
points away from the prominent Canterbury arts institution towards distant art
destinations, which makes all the more sense as the Christchurch Art Gallery is
closed, and yet its title You Are Here pulls
you back and suggests what are you
going to do about this situation.
Akehurst had to update the distances on each sign to adapt to its new
site.
Matt Akehurst: You are here
Akehurst has contributed both artistically and
administratively to Christchurch before and after the earthquakes, setting up a
portable exhibition space called GalleryGallery
that travelled around Christchurch for, more often than not, one-night
exhibitions. The artist, along with
fellow Fine Arts students at Canterbury University, established ABC gallery in
Addington, a neighbourhood that has flourished since the widespread damage to
the central city. The storage space
where ABC was located has since been knocked down to keep up with demand for
commercial space and for its final exhibition Akehurst began the demolition
process by hitting the wall with a sledgehammer and left it protruding from the
wall to reference the impending destruction of the space. Often the simplest of gestures can have the
most impact.
Matt Akehurst: Object series
Next up for Akehurst is adding to his Object series, with several featuring in a show in Japan as part of
the Sendai Art Exchange with Christchurch as well as in a group show in
Sydney. To see more of his work please
visit his website http://www.mattakehurst.net
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