Matt Eskuche: Agristocracy

August 6, 2010 – July 24, 2011
Windows on Fifth Gallery

Matt Eskuche
Agristocracy (detail), 2010
Glass
Photography: Alexander Evans

Impressed by the global impact of consumerism on economies, environments, and land and humanitarian rights, Eskuche has used flameworked glass, paper, cardboard and other materials to create soda bottles, fast food packaging, and other items commonly seen as nothing more than “trash.” He recognizes and plays off of the idea that he is recreating objects of mass production out of an unexpected material, by hand and with great labor and skill. In addition, Eskuche studies the design and structure of food packaging and theoretically explores how those factors contribute to how we respond to the products and their aesthetic.

For his Windows on Fifth installation, Eskuche has expanded the scale and scope of his work—not only assembling the most grandiose tableaux of his trash glass yet, he is also exaggerating details of individual objects and turning them into large-scale compositions of paint, plastic, and light. With this new element of his work, Eskuche challenges how we understand the role of “consumer waste” in our lives—finding beauty in unexpected places and encouraging us to consider the complex web that links preciousness, luxury, consumption, politics, and the environment.

More About the Exhibition

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