Where Art History Meets Contemporary Collaborative Practice: Artist Matthew Collings

Presented March 21, 2013 at the Nasher Sculpture Center.
British artist and arts communicator Matthew Collings of Biggs & Collings gives a presentation discussing the reflections of Art History present in his collaborative painting practice with mosaic artist Emma Biggs.
Biggs and Collings are interested in something they have noticed by looking at art from the past. Art, as it used to be understood, has come to an end. But what strikes them is that old ideas and habits of mind are hard to shake off. Former ways of thinking constantly influence behaviour today. You could say that an example of this phenomenon is the way the aestheticisation of the art object has been replaced by the aestheticisation of the art experience. The thorny issue of how the past is present in what we, as a society, see and do, and the way in which it may differ from what we believe we say and do, is at the heart of Biggs’ and Collings’ work.
Matthew Collings is an English writer-critic/artist/curator/television presenter. Famous in the UK for bringing new developments in art to the attention of a mass audience, Collings’ TV documentaries and books have been described as “knowing,” “sly as a fox” and “hilariously horrible.” The international art magazine, 'Frieze', describes him as a “laconic, affectionately deprecating critic of both his subject and himself.” 'Artforum' described his insiders’ guide to the art scene, 'Blimey! From Bohemia to Britpop: The London Artworld from Francis Bacon to Damien Hirst', as “the most popular contemporary art book ever.” The late, revered Brit art critic, David Sylvester, called him “fearless,” and when his six part series 'This Is Modern Art' was aired on prime time national TV, it won a BAFTA for its combination of knowledge, humor and icy weirdness.
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