Matthew Barney
Work: Cremaster Cycle
When: 1 and 2: 2 pm Sunday, March 14, 2004
3: 9 pm Thursday, March 18, 2004
4 and 5: 5 pm Sunday, March 21, 2004
Where: Madstone Theaters
Matthew Barney
Photograph by
Richard J. Burbridge
Matthew Barney was born in San Francisco in 1967 and was raised in Boise,
Idaho. He attended Yale University, receiving his BA in 1989, then moved to New York City,
where he lives today.
From his earliest work, Barney has explored the transcendence of physical limitations in a
multimedia art practice that includes feature-length films, video installations, sculpture,
photography, and drawing.
In his first solo exhibitions, Barney presented elaborate sculptural installations that included
videos of himself interacting with various constructed objects and performing physical feats
such as climbing across the gallery ceiling suspended from titanium ice screws.
In 1992, Barney introduced fantastical creatures into his work, a gesture that presaged the
vocabulary of his subsequent narrative films.
In 1994, Barney began work on his epic Cremaster cycle, a five-part film project accompanied
by related sculptures, photographs, and drawings. He completed the cycle in 2002.
Matthew Barney: The Cremaster Cycle, an exhibition organized by the Guggenheim Museum of artwork
from the entire project, premiered at the Museum Ludwig, Cologne, in June 2002 and subsequently
traveled to the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in October 2002 before
its presentation in New York.
More information is available on his website: www.cremaster.net