About
Matt Denham is a visual artist based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. From the line between perception and reality understood by persons living with Alzheimer's disease to experiences of transitional spaces in institutional and domestic settings, his research led practice explores the in between spaces – physical, virtual and psychological – that mediate our lived experiences.
Working across video, installation and photography, his work unfolds in minimalist surreal environments, constructed from basic materials and strategically placed panels. In Martha [Alzheimer’s Machine III], the viewer enters the mind of a fictional character living with Alzheimer’s. The set is constructed from scaffolding, wooden panels and mesh fabric, providing a suggestion of the space rather than hard constraints. These constraints shift throughout the video, playing tricks on memory, the boundaries even more unclear and manipulated without warning.
Within his video installations the hypothetical narratives examine the complex intersection of autobiographical memory, account, fact and fiction. Characters start off as trustworthy, but as their subjective mediation of events unfolds, this fine, changeable line unravels in front of the outsider over time, while the characters remain oblivious.
His work has been exhibited regionally and across the UK; including ICA, London; 36 Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and HOME, Manchester. Recent work includes Martha [Alzheimer's Machine III] for Arts Council England, Lapse for D6: Culture in Transit, Mapping Space for the NewBridge Project and In a State of [Movement against Resistance] for Channel 4's Random Acts.
Working across video, installation and photography, his work unfolds in minimalist surreal environments, constructed from basic materials and strategically placed panels. In Martha [Alzheimer’s Machine III], the viewer enters the mind of a fictional character living with Alzheimer’s. The set is constructed from scaffolding, wooden panels and mesh fabric, providing a suggestion of the space rather than hard constraints. These constraints shift throughout the video, playing tricks on memory, the boundaries even more unclear and manipulated without warning.
Within his video installations the hypothetical narratives examine the complex intersection of autobiographical memory, account, fact and fiction. Characters start off as trustworthy, but as their subjective mediation of events unfolds, this fine, changeable line unravels in front of the outsider over time, while the characters remain oblivious.
His work has been exhibited regionally and across the UK; including ICA, London; 36 Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and HOME, Manchester. Recent work includes Martha [Alzheimer's Machine III] for Arts Council England, Lapse for D6: Culture in Transit, Mapping Space for the NewBridge Project and In a State of [Movement against Resistance] for Channel 4's Random Acts.