Material Witness features the collabo-rative and solo work of Matt Lynch and Curtis Goldstein. Collaboratively, Lynch and Goldstein create laser-cut Formica laminate mosaics that combine an affin-ity for repurposing factory-made mate-rials with a fascination for the manufac-tured environment.
Highlighting Lynch and Goldstein's collaborative work are three large mosaics from their series Work Surface: P&G, Formica and Rhinegeist. Work Surface was inspired both by Winold Reiss’s glass tile mosaics completed for Cincinnati’s Union Terminal in 1933, and by Formica laminate, a Cincinnati native product famous for its smoothness and durability. Like the Union Terminal mosaics, each Work Surface mosaic depicts a realistic portrayal of a Cincinnati industrial interior and its workers. Lynch and Goldstein’s artistic process combines High-tech digital fabrication with low-tech design and construction methods. Like the industries featured in these works, the creation of these mosaics relies equally upon human and machine labor embodying a fluctuation of harmonies and tensions in manufacturing between machines and humans. One of a series of 10 mosaics, Formica, is presented courtesy of the Formica Corporation, Cincinnati, OH. Five additional Work Surface mosaics reside in the permanent collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum.
Material Witness also premiers three new collaborative Formica laminate works by Lynch and Goldstein, each from two new series of works. Tacoma 1 and Tacoma 2 are identical southwestern landscapes featuring a Tacoma truck mysteriously parked on the berm of a two-lane highway winding through the desert and Upper Paleolithic Kitchen Cabinetis a cabinet covered with a landscape mosaic on its outside and the image of a Lascaux Cave Painting on its inside. Upper Paleolithic Kitchen Cabinet juxtaposes an Upper Paleolithic cave painting, considered among the earliest known forms of interior decor, with the technically manipulated Formica laminate, among the most recent. It is at once an everyday functioning object and a piece of art.
Lynch and Goldstein’s collaboration, which began in 2015, is unique in that it is co-dependent, requiring both of their specialized skills for a piece’s fruition. Individually and collectively, these artists mix the boundaries between the sacred and the everyday, function and form, high-brow and low-brow art.
As a solo artist Matt Lynch (Cincinnati, OH) creates unique sculptural and absurdly functional objects. Always with a bit of humor, his molded concrete pieces take the form of functional objects like computers (Computer), a tackle box (Block and Tackle), Gigablock with its functioning USB cord and Cinderblock Mobile Home- complete with its sky-high TV antenna and flag pole, to famous pieces of art (Love). Lynch holds an MFA from Syracuse University and a BFA from Ball State University. He is an Associate Professor of Art at the University of Cincinnati in the College of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning. His work is shown and collected nationally. Since 1996, Lynch has also collaborated with Steve Badgett under the name SIMPARCH. SIMPARCH creates site specific structures for communal interaction and social exchange and is shown and collected nationally and internationally.
Curtis Goldstein’s (Columbus, OH) art making explores humanity by its defining attributes, “… creature of nature and history, estranged and reluctant steward of the natural world, inventor, toolmaker, and communal being…” For Material Witness, Goldstein shows four momentous collages, three of which are made from trash, Hurricane, Aftermath, Humvee and Fire at Sea(After Turner), a collage of magazines and packaging. Goldstein’s interest in creating art from trash emerged through a partnership with Rumpke Recycling in Cincinnati which allowed him to rummage through their recycling rejection piles. Goldstein received an MFA from the University of Cincinnati and a BFA, from The Ohio State University. He has received grants from The Ohio Arts Council and the Greater Columbus Arts Council and is nationally exhibited and collected.
Material Witness is presented by The Summit, A Dolce Hotel by Wyndham and organized by Alternate Projects. This exhibition runs through August 31.
A special thank you to the following contributors: Formica Corp, Chris Bucher, Heather Rae Byer, Jane Cummins, John Brinton Hogan, Rick Wolhoy.
All pieces in this exhibition are for sale unless otherwise noted.
The Summit, A Dolce Hotel by Wyndham, blends artful architecture and thoughtful amenities to provide Dolce’s signature guest experience. The Gallery at The Summit is a 5,800 square foot exhibition/event space located just off of the hotel's lobby. Organized by Alternate Projects, exhibitions change every 4 months and highlight contemporary artists working in the region. All exhibitions are free and open to the public and can be viewed 24 hours a day, except when the gallery is closed for a private events.
