Beverly Hills
ACE Gallery
Matt Hope’s recent solo exhibition was a complex conceptual show that welded together art and science. With formal art degrees from England and California, Hope combines artistry with a knowledge of metal fabrication, structural design, and sound engineering to create his “Sun Dragon Hardware” hybrid creations. The show included two distinct series: a group of finely crafted metal “Tools” and a congregation of mechanical “Towers.” In addition, a salon-style display of drawings and sketches provided a backdrop to Hope’s three-dimensional works. Both series play with scale, materials, and utility. The shiny silver “Tools” are enlarged to a size that robs them of their original purpose, while the totemic “Towers” are minuscule in comparison to their real-life inspirations. A native Londoner, since 2007 Hope has made his home in Beijing’s Caochangdi art district (the creative area identified with Ai Weiwei). The title “Sun Dragon Hardware”—his tool box and muse—refers to a chaotic industrial parts market on the outskirts of Beijing, where raw plastic flies from power saws, sunglasses replace safety goggles, sparks fly, and steel lies strewn about. …see the entire review in the print version of June’s Sculpture magazine.
