Mamaroneck, NY – The Bullseye New York Gallery presents a solo exhibition of new work by Matthew Day Perez. Fractured will be on view July 13 – October 21, 2017.
In his first solo exhibition in the United States, Matthew Day Perez investigates the materiality of glass in cast and kilnformed works. “Glass is able to transition from a glowing molten state to a cold rigid substance that becomes reactive and transparent,” says Perez, “I use this gradient of states…to express the many facets of what glass can be, and often what it cannot be.” Eschewing the preciousness often associated with glass, Perez purposefully and aggressively shatters sheets of glass only to reform them with tinted adhesives or through kilnforming. The cracks become lines. In this way, Perez sees his work in dialogue with printmaking, in which engraved or etched grooves in a matrix become the lines on the paper. In another body of work, Perez upends the casting process. Rather than creating an exact mold from a model, he breaks and crushes slabs of refractory material and melts the glass on top of the randomized surface. The result is geological, recalling precious stones or crystal formation. This is reinforced by the addition of silver, gold, or galena mirror. Perez views glass as a mutable substance, and this quality is the starting point for his playful approach to the material.
Matthew Day Perez was a finalist in Bullseye Glass Company’s biennial Emerge competition in 2008 and 2010. He is the recipient of a Fulbright, the National Endowment for the Arts Renna Arts Scholarship, a U.S. Department of State Grant for new works, a Lois Roth Endowment Award, as well as residencies at Corning Museum of Glass, Creative Glass Center of America, and Pilchuck Glass School. He has lectured at several academic/creative institutions both domestically and abroad, and has participated in numerous exhibitions in the United States, Australia, Asia, and New Zealand.