Matthew Barney (b. 1967)

Cremaster 4

Details

Matthew Barney (b. 1967)
Barney, M.
Cremaster 4
prosthetic plastic, bridal satin banner, Manx tartan, silkscreen laser disk in onionskin sleeve and self-lubricating plastic vitrine with plexiglass case
overall: 48 x 48 x 36in. (120 x 120 x 90cm.)
Executed in 1994-95. This work is number three from an edition of ten.

Provenance

Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York

Literature

V. Carducci, "Matthew Barney," New Art Examiner, vol. no. 22, February 1995, p. 49.
M. Dargus, "Cremaster 4, Cremaster 5," LA Weekly, March 6-12, 1998, p. 66.
E. Janus, "Matthew Barney," Artforum, vol. no. 34, March 1996, p. 110.
C. Jarton, "Barney: sexe et mecanique," Beaux Arts Magazine, vol. no. 133, April 1995, p.117.
M. Onfray, "Mannerist Variations on Matthew Barney," Parkett, vol. no. 45, 1995, pp. 44,46,49,50-57 (illustrated; film stills).
M. Ritchie, "Matthew Barney," Flash Art, vol. no. 184, October 1995, p. 105 (illustrated; film still).
J. Saltz, "The Next Sex," Art in America, vol. no. 84, October 1996, pp. 82-91 (illustrated on the cover; film stills).
M. Sladen, "Assault Course," Art Monthly, vol. no. 187, June 1995, pp. 8-11 (illustrated; film still).

Exhibited

SCREENED Paris, Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Cremaster 4, March 1995. New York, Joseph Papp Public Theater, Cremaster 4, April-May 1995. London, The Metro, Cremaster 4, May 1995. Boston, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Cremaster 4, February 1996. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Cremaster 4, May 1996. Boise, Idaho, Flicks, Cremaster 4, July 1996. New York, Film Forum, Cremaster 4, July 1996. Atlanta, Nexus Contemporary Art Center, Cremaster 4, 1997. Vienna, Kunsthalle, Filmcasino, Cremaster 4, January 1998. Los Angeles, Nuart Theater, Cremaster 4, February 1998. Tel Aviv, Israel, CCA, Cremaster 4, October 1998.
EXHIBITED Munich, Sammlung Goetz, Matthew Barney - Tony Oursler - Jeff Wall, July 1996-January 1997, pp. 8-45 (illustrated; another example exhibited).
Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen; Bordeaux, Muse d'art Contemporain; and Bern, Kunsthalle, Matthew Barney: Pace Car for the Hubris Pill, November 1995-June 1996, pp. 15-19, 32-33 (illustrated).

Lot Essay

Cremaster 4 is a forty-minute video shot on the Isle of Man, off the coast of Ireland and Scotland, which makes up the first part of the five-site piece Cremaster.

The Cremaster 4 video is based on the Island's annual T.T. motorcycle race and follows the structure of a televised sporting event, using various sources indigenous to the location.
The cremaster is a muscle which regulates the sex organs (more highly developed in men) and acts as an organic thermostat, contracting and releasing the testicles in cold or heat. The narrative of the video corresponds to the three possibilities of the cremaster with a yellow ascending TT racing team, Barney as the Loughton Candidate (neutral) who corresponds to the Loughton ram-with both ascending and descending horns-indigenous to the Isle of Man, and the blue descending TT racing team. The three are engaged in the race to get to the other side of the Island, turning the Island into an organism.

(fig. 1)
Film Still from Cremaster 4
c Matthew Barney

(fig. 2)
Film Still from Cremaster 4
c Matthew Barney

(fig. 3)
Film Still from Cremaster 4
c Matthew Barney

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