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“Vatnajökull is a series of photographs that I made in Iceland and was originally inspired by the fierce nature of the landscape in Iceland. Having its volcanic core, it’s such a dramatic space, that I took some of that drama and brought it into the darkroom.” — Matthew Brandt
Photographer Matthew Brandt is known for his experimental techniques that often combine the physical and contextual elements of his work into the process. His fifth solo exhibition, Vatnajökull at M+B in Los Angeles, has been closed due to COVID-19 restrictions. In this studio visit video released by M+B, Brandt talks about the process of creating this new body of work, and how he found inspiration for it in the rugged landscape of Iceland.
From M+B:
M+B is pleased to announce Vatnajökull, Matthew Brandt’s fifth solo exhibition at the gallery. The show marks the debut of a new series which takes on the glacial terrain in Iceland as its subject. This new body of work extends the artist’s on-going interest in the chemical color process and is his third to explore chromogenic material with natural elements.
Matthew Brandt’s photographic practice is relentlessly experimental, even as he remains committed to traditional modes of picture-making. The artist’s unorthodox treatments and use of materials both dismantle and celebrate the classic genre of landscape photography, with his interventions inviting the viewer to develop a deeper relationship with the subject and the photograph.
In Vatnajökull, Brandt captures the powerful geothermal intensities of Iceland’s wilderness. He exposes his photographs of the Vatna ice field to fire and heat, and then through color-separation creates a range of tonalities across multiple impressions of a single image. With their blistered and undulating surfaces, each photograph emerges with its own topography. For the viewer, the act of looking becomes a haptic, multi-sensorial experience, tactile and pulsing. In bridging subject with material, Brandt enlists the senses to make meaning of the rugged, majestic landscape.
