CLOUDBURST: THE WORK OF MATT KENYON
baton rouge-born artist and TED Fellow Returned for first exhibition in his hometown
August 3 - 31, 2022
Artist Matt Kenyon has been named a TED Fellow (2015) and had his work added to the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY). His work has been exhibited across the globe and been seen in The New York Times. In 2022, Baton Rouge Gallery – center for contemporary art (“BRG”) was pleased to present Kenyon’s first exhibition in his hometown of Baton Rouge, Cloudburst, featuring a collection of more than a dozen works - including one inspired by the city of Baton Rouge itself - spanning his career to date.
Cloudburst represented Kenyon’s largest and most comprehensive solo exhibition to date. The collection of works presented (learn more about each one below) addressed a wide array of subjects, many of which Baton Rouge and Louisiana are unfortunately all too familiar with. In fact, the installation titled “Tide” was inspired in part by the 2016 flooding that Baton Rouge experienced, during which 13 lives were lost and 146,000 homes/businesses were damaged or destroyed (the home of the artist’s father being among them).
This exhibition is made possible by:
This exhibition represented a new effort on the part of BRG. For more than 55 years, BRG has been largely committed to sharing the works of Baton Rouge and Louisiana-based artists. In 2022, the organization expanded its efforts, endeavoring to present one exhibition annually that invites an artist or curator from outside of the area to BRG. These exhibitions, in addition to its ongoing monthly exhibitions from BRG’s Artist Members, address locally significant issues or introduce local audiences to new media perhaps rarely employed by local artists. Kenyon’s ties to the Baton Rouge community and thought-provoking work made him an obvious choice for the first such exhibition.
About Matt Kenyon
Kenyon is a new media artist who, through his SWAMP (Studies of Work Atmospheres and Mass Production) art practice, often focuses his work on themes including global corporate operations, mass media, and military-media-industrial complexes. In recent years he has also addressed contemporary issues such as climate change, gun violence, and housing insecurity. His works have employed robotics, living organisms, custom software, and more to create dynamic and elegant metaphors aiming to shed light on the discussions surrounding some of the most urgent issues of our time.
Matt Kenyon
He lives and works in Buffalo, New York, where he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art at the University at Buffalo, and part of PLATFORM, UB's socially engaged design studio.
“It is impossible to overstate the influence the people and politics of Baton Rouge have had on me and my artwork. For the last twenty two years, I’ve been working in my studio in order to make artworks which critically examine consumer culture, global corporations and the military-industrial complex. I learned important lessons about the need for cultural resistance and resilience from my friends, family and mentors who call Baton Rouge home.”
- Matt Kenyon
works featured in cloudburst:
TIDE
LOCKSET
NOTEPAD
SUPERMAJOR
SPORE 1.1
ALTERNATIVE RULE
consumer index
LOG RULE
ENOUGH
COKE IS IT
VIRTUAL TOUR OF CLOUDBURST
courtesy of Jay Schwarzhoff
To learn more about Baton Rouge Gallery and its exhibitions or programming, call 225.383.1470