From prehistoric cave figures to the modern world citizen: American artist Matthew Monahan (Eureka, USA, 1972) draws inspiration from their primitive, mystical, classical, or everyday beauty. In drawings and sculptures, he assembles a new human, both recognizable and alienating.
Human image
Matthew Monahan
In Monahan’s enigmatic human figures, abstraction and figuration, recognizability and mystery collide. This also applies to his chosen materials: they are atypical and appear in contrasting combinations, such as paper and stone in the sculpture St. Julian and Wall (2009).
A Strange New Human
From iconic shards, Monahan constructs a strange, new human who defies any categorization. In his work Untitled (1998), he conjures a Buddha-like figure, covered in tribal tattoos. In Rust Never Sleeps (2011), we see the shadow of a classical warrior, or can we detect a woman within it? With humor and audacity, Matthew Monahan’s work centers our view of humanity, as it is subject to time and culture.
Rabo Art Collection
Verily Klaassen, Head of Art Affairs at Rabobank, selected Monahan’s work from the Rabo Art Collection. This collection brings together thirty years of key works from leading contemporary artists. Key themes in the collection include humanity, the formation of ideas, and society. The Rabo Art Collection actively promotes these works to a broad audience.
Artworks
Matthew Monahan
St. Julian and Wall
2009
Matthew Monahan
Untitled
1999
Matthew Monahan,
Rust Never Sleeps
2011
