Mat Collishaw is fascinated by the darker side of human nature. He has never shied away from difficult or challenging subject matter and ideas that deal with death, destruction and decay are revealed as beautiful, hypnotic and compelling. In Collishaw’s world, seduction meets repulsion, the shocking becomes alluring, the beautiful becomes squalid and desire meets pain. As an artist, he is only too aware of the power of the image to manipulate and he draws his inspiration from a range of sources such as the media, popular culture, nature, mythology, the slick vernacular of advertising, the rich seams of art history and the proliferation of images available on the internet.
This major survey exhibition brought together sculpture, film, photography and installation and testified to the richness and breadth of Collishaw’s practice. It also provided an opportunity to explore some of the overriding themes and preoccupations within his work.