Bedroom Series (Clifton no. 35)  ©2016

 After appearing in two back to back critically acclaimed stage productions (Cock by Mike Bartlett & the controversial masterpiece Blasted by Sarah Kane) up and coming actor Clifton  tries out a new role as model for the Bedroom series. A Midwesterner relocated to the Pacific Northwest Clifton is a talented actor on the rise and we look forward to his continued success in the near future.

Bedroom Series (Christopher Hall no.01) ©2016

 Artist Chris Hall joins the ranks of the Bedroom series. The Portland-based multimedia artist mixes painting, photography, and projection based work critiquing social issues in our media culture.  Only three more models remain for the series. Lucky 13. then collected into book form and slide show for presentation.

Bedroom Series (Mike  no.01) ©2016

Cinematographer and artist Mike V Murphy joins the ranks of the Bedroom series. A recent transplant to Portland,  Mike has worked in photography, design, and film as well as cinematography. You can check out his work HERE  
Mike is the 10th model for the series so far.

Bedroom Series (Will No.01) ©2015

 Up and coming actor Will August turns on the leading man smoulder for his go at the Bedroom Series. Will is the ninth addition to the series documenting modern masculinity within the arts. All the models in the series are artists, actors, and musicians based in Portland, OR. A book collecting the series is forthcoming in 2015.

Bedroom Series (Heath No.01) ©2015

 Portland-Based actor Heath joins the Bedroom Series.  Heath marks the eight model to pose for the series which still seems to be going strong. A limited edition volume of selected works will be published later this year.

New Math no.01 ©2015

 New Math is a series based on archive low-rez photos re-purposed for glitch-based  manipulation. A commentary on how our memories distort and the geometry of our minds changes over time. Distance becomes farther, wider, the laws of physics cease functioning and in memory the deterioration of feeling can sometimes be beautiful.

Bedroom Series (Toby No.01) ©2015

Metal rocker Toby Spellman (formerly of Almost is Nothing) joins the bedroom series. The Portland, OR-based musician is the seventh model to join the on-going series thus far.

Samson, American Dreamer #01 ©2015

 Actor and model Samson makes my job easy.  Here's some on the fly shots we did for a recent shoot, American Dreamer. Enjoy.

Bedroom Series ( Andy L  No. 01)  ©2015

I turned my dashing photographer friend Andy Lindblom (check out his work HERE) into a model today for Passages and the bedroom series (he didn't seem to mind too much really). I'll be collecting the Bedroom Series into a book later this year, with some unpublished photos as well in the mix. Until then enjoy.

Pin-Up King ©2015

 Brand New Retro is a series that blends my love of retro beefcake mags of the 1950's and 1960's with their eroticized masculinity and kitchy California ease and the more evocative plays of darkness and light more associated with my surrealist-horror work like Devils.  I like for the uncanny and the erotic to blur lines, they (hopefully) then subvert their sense of ideological marker and lead the viewer somewhere richer.

The limited series is  sensual, over-processed, and yet austerer and simplistic.

Here again working with model and actor Samson to evoke a half remembered dream of a pin-up star.

Chip, Bedroom series no,06 ©2014

Chip, Bedroom series no,04 ©2014

Chip, Bedroom series no,05 ©2014

Chip, Bedroom series no,01 ©2014

Chip, Bedroom series no,03 ©2014

Chip, Bedroom series no,02 ©2014

Digital Debris 11 ©2014

Following my recent participation in LOUD TATE:CODE and subsequent exhibition at the Tate in London my interest in glitch-based work grew and led me to revisit previous shoots and concepts from my Multiples series and approach them with a new eye. Images culled from various shoots, many never before seen are here distressed, glitched, damaged and reformed as technicolor shrapnel.

Chris, Bedroom 01 ©2014

Actor, model, artist Chris for the Bedroom Series

 

Samson bedroom series Fall 2014

 Very excited for my latest shoot to feature Actor/model Samson for the Bedroom series, fall, 2014.

MORE  Below

Jon, my bedroom, close up Portland ©2014

 Here's a preview of new works in progress with musician/fashionista/model Jon.  New show and book in the works, stay tuned.
 Another Kenneth Anger inspired shots after the jump !

                                  new photo and video works coming soon! prepare!

Process work ©2014

Nocturnes:

On occasion when explaining, or at least attempting to, the genesis for my body of work and it’s aesthetic I’ve mumbled something about being like Emily Dickenson with a camera. For over a decade I shot work and filed it away never to be seen completely by choice. I was far too focused on my career as a filmmaker and director than to shift back into my foundation level mindset as a visual artist. In the dark recesses of my brain, twitching in its neuropathways however was always the ever-growing body of work. The shutter was like a sword through a hydra’s neck. More and more it became clear to though around me that I had to show some of these works. So I slowly began to share work. Encouragement from the likes of Holly Andres and Bruce La Bruce helped certainly and I owe them both (among others) many thanks.
Mixing erotica, surrealism, and horror seemed only natural as the last great taboo in contemporary art seems to be the male nude, the once heralded subject of classical sculpture. My own aesthetic is something of a half remembered dream, evocative hopefully more than provocative. I strive to represent the forms not to shock the viewer but simply as a part of the tableaux. The aesthetic has been called “existential dread with hard-ons” and for my film work the press branded me “An Art Porn Auteur”, which while catchy is not all-encompassing. Certainly sexual expression is a part of my subject matter but I also am exploring themes of origin, personal mythology, fear, shame and the darkness we sometimes choose to ignore within ourselves. As an artist from a culturally mixed heritage (Hebrew and Inuit) storytelling is a key element to whatever project I engage in. Trying to connect the threads of disparate histories into a new narrative, however surreal it comes filtered through. The photos collected here represent fragments of stories still unfolding and hopefully will ask the viewer to fill in the gaps themselves.
Nocturnes represents a bit of cherry picking, images culled from 2010-2013 from a variety of series from my recent catalog. Some were shot in tandem with accompanying video art installations such as the images from the Transformation series as well as Veiled [which came with the creation of the film I am Not Myself Today (2010)], others were strictly photo works such as Jeremy [from the Basement Series] Mythical Beasts/Domesticated Animals began their life on off days while shooting a feature film Spark across Europe.

Matthew Clark

Multiples represents a look at the gallery process of  of archiving work in a sequential manner- all shots were created during the process of making the upcoming STAG NIGHT exhibit and installation.

Devils #04 ©2013

A 70's inspired demonic horror fueled photo shoot yielding quite a bit of sexy/scary fun