TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary
About
Back
About
Who we are
The world we want to see
How we work
Our journey to regenerative practice
Partners
Awards and Recognitions
Press highlights
People
Exhibitions
TBA21–Academy
Back
TBA21–Academy
About
The Current
Meandering
Confluence of European Water Bodies
Culturing the Deep Sea
OCEAN / UNI
Ocean Fellowship
Academy Exhibitions
Academy Events
Academy Commissions
Academy Residencies
Academy Radio
Collection
Back
Collection
About
Commissions
On view
Artists
Program
Publications
Archive
Back
Archive
MNTB Exhibitions
Ephemeropteræ
Performances
Commissions & Productions
TBA21 Sites - physical and digital
MNTB Madrid
Back
MNTB Madrid
MNTB Exhibitions
MNTB Public Program
Visit
Ocean Space Venice
C3A Córdoba
Back
C3A Córdoba
C3A Exhibitions
C3A Public Program
Visit
AHF Jamaica
Ocean-Archive.org
TBA21 on st_age
Highlights
Becoming Ocean: a social conversation about the Ocean
Clear, Lucid, and Awake - Spanish Artists from the TBA21 Collection
name
Otras montañas las que andan sueltas bajo el agua
Exhibition at Ocean Space - Venice
Terraphilia
Press

Imprint
Privacy
Accessibility
Newsletter

Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
Youtube
LinkedIn
EN
ES
Home
Menu

Matthew Ritchie
The Essential Diagrams, 2002

Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Matthew Ritchie, The Essential Diagrams, 2002 Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Matthew Ritchie, The Essential Diagrams, 2002 Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Matthew Ritchie, The Essential Diagrams, 2002 Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Matthew Ritchie, The Essential Diagrams, 2002 Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Matthew Ritchie, The Essential Diagrams, 2002 Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Matthew Ritchie, The Essential Diagrams, 2002 Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Matthew Ritchie, The Essential Diagrams, 2002 Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Matthew Ritchie
Collection
Abundant Futures

12 vinyl decals mounted directly on the wall
Overall dimensions variable

“Hey, if you don’t really believe in or care about global warming, mass migration, famine and drought in faraway places, almost-impossible science, your body, the drugs you take, breath, light, or love, or even where your favorite coffee will soon stop coming from, maybe this new materiality is not for you,” writes Matthew Ritchie in a reflection on contemporary philosophy. Indeed, new materialism, a philosophical investigation into the vitality of matter, has been driving his work for a long time. The Essential Diagrams resemble a series of scribbles, doodles, and notes, variously recorded “non-essential” thoughts and ruminations. Some are in the shape of molecular structures, mathematical formulas, and amoeba-like alien creatures. Scattered letters reveal cryptic messages hidden among the slick black forms. This exuberant, multi-part work playfully embraces the problem of how any diagrammatic system can collapse scientific, symbolic, and phantasmatic thought objects and connect highly abstract, factual, and linguistic representations. At times, diagrams and formulae express the fantasy of intellectual and rational superiority yet can only interpret circumstances from the standpoint of established knowledge systems. They are not confirmations of existing reality but ongoing reconfigurations of where and who we are.
ARTIST'S WEBSITE
matthewritchie.com
Born in London, UK, in 1964. Lives in New York, US.
Related works in the collection
Matthew Ritchie
The Family Farm, 2001
Matthew Ritchie
The Midnight Line, 2008
Artists
Matthew Ritchie