Mat Collishaw

British contemporary artist Mat Collishaw conveys the darker narratives of our culture and history in his work, combining various forms of visual media to capture the depth of cataclysmic themes rendered with vivid elegance. Previous to his graduation from Goldsmiths College in 1989, Collishaw participated in Freeze. This iconic 1988 student-run group exhibition featured the works of the prominent and celebrated generation of artists now known as the YBAs (Young British Artists). Here, Collishaw’s artistic fascination with the unpleasant was demonstrated in Bullethole, 1988—an installation work that projected an enlarged photograph of a graphic head wound across fifteen large-scale boxes. 

Collishaw has continued his visual exploration and embracement of similarly tragic themes throughout his career. In his 2010 series entitled Last Meal on Death Row, Collishaw photographed an inmate’s choice of meal before execution; the gracefully arranged images communicate a powerfully nuanced sense of emotion to the viewer as he captures a small fragment of compassion in a deeply grim moment. Collishaw harnesses the strength of mixed media to emphasize the message of his works—his use of sound, sculpture, photography, and videography enables him to present multi-layered narratives to an audience. Currently based in London, Collishaw continues to master the art of image-making.