Matthew Ritchie

Art Brokerage: Matthew Ritchie British Artist: Matthew Ritchie (born 1964) is a British artist. He attended the Camberwell School of Art from 1983 to 1986. He describes himself as "classically trained" but also points to a minimalist influence. His art revolves around a personal mythology drawn from creation myths, particle physics, thermodynamics, and games of chance, among other elements. Matthew Ritchie was born in the suburbs of London in 1964. Ritchie went to St Paul's School, after which, he moved on to Camberwell School of Art. Ritchie received his BFA from London's Camberwell School of Art, in the years of 1983-86. He also spent a year enrolled at Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1982. Ritchie has established himself in the contemporary fine arts scene since the early 90s, and had his first group exhibition in 1990 at the Judy Nielsen Gallery in Chicago, Illinois. Ritchie's first solo show, "Working Model", was shown in New York's Basilico Fine Arts from February 18 to March 18 in 1995. This series of paintings, wall drawings, and sculptures introduced Ritchie into the contemporary genre as an artist who "brought together historically and ideologically different belief systems in an attempt to show their common thread." Regardless of the medium or material Ritchie uses, all of his work collaborates into a complex meta-narrative structure. Ritchie is often seen foremost as a painter, but his work lies mainly in drawing. Ritchie scans his drawings into the computer so he can manipulate them by blowing them up, deconstructing them, and/or transforming them into three-dimensional pieces. This method allows Ritchie to reshape his images into sculptures, floor-to-wall installations, interactive web sites, and short stories. Aside from the artist's gallery work, Ritchie's investigation of New Media has further developed his universal narrative into the interactive realm. In 2001, Ritchie was commissioned by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to be a part of e.space, which was created to examine art forms that can only exist on the World Wide Web. Ritchie, along with six other artists: Erik Adigard, Lynn Hershman, Yael Kanarek, Mark Napier, Thomson & Craighead, and Julia Scher, created stories that could only be told through the computer screen. Listings Wanted.