When Mathew Sawyer was the Guardian’s artist of the week, it was revealed you would be unlikely to see him play his music live – he has a fear of public performances. So it’s a bit of a coup for the Spacex that Mathew will be performing tunes from his latest album. It’s all part of the artist’s first solo show in a public gallery.
The show, titled, White Male, 36 Years Old, Average Height, No Pets, Out of Shape and Anxious, highlights the melancholic whimsy of a daily dreamer, and includes news and existing documentary and conceptual artworks spanning the past 15 years.
It includes drawing, painting, sculpture, photography and music, each with the trademark ‘dry humour and perceptive observations’.
Some are described as ‘documentary artworks’, which includes what could be one of our favourites Ping Pong Ball. It is an ongoing work where on his birthday each year, Mathew lists five words that summarise the year of his life onto a ping pong ball, before posting it through a stranger’s letterbox.
But also look out for his colourful paintings – they ‘contain recurring figures and are a continuation of Sawyer’s image making practice based on familiar, existential themes’.
Mathew Sawyer’s White Male, 36 Years Old, Average Height, No Pets, Out of Shape and Anxious is at the Spacex Gallery, Exeter from May 17 to July 12, 2014.
Mathew will be playing songs from his new album accompanied by Alison Cotton on the viola at 4pm on the opening of the exhibition, which takes place on Saturday, May 17 between 3 and 5pm.
Other events include a Crafty Social, and a Gallery Breakfast. Check out the Spacex for details
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