Matthew Brooks is a Montréal-based artist originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is currently completing a B.F.A. in Photography at Concordia University and will be an M.F.A. candidate at Concordia University in September 2016. His photographs often incorporate ephemeral or aging subject matter and seek to explore the cinematic possibilities of domestic, public, and institutional space. By employing elaborate mise-en-scene to create meticulous fictitious spaces, his photographs call into question the veracity of the image and create complex narratives within these seemingly real environments. His work has been recently shown in group exhibitions at Centre Skol (Montréal, QC) and Galerie POPOP (Montréal, QC). His work has been published online in publications such as It’s Nice That (UK), Huffington Post Italy, Fotografia Magazine (Italy) and in print in Panoram Italia (Canada) and PhotoEd Magazine (Canada). He is the recipient of numerous scholarships and awards, including support from the Manitoba Arts Council and Concordia University. As an active research assistant at the Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology at Concordia University, he has worked extensively with Marisa Portolese, Adad Hannah and Clara Gutsche among others.
Office Space
Office Space consists of large-scale photographs produced between 2015 and 2016 in various institutional and governmental offices. The resulting photographs superficially appear to be documentary images but rather are meticulously constructed scenes which utilize institutional architecture and decor as source material to create cinematic imagery. Institutional space is used as a stage to create sets in which objects and furniture are re-arranged to further enhance the absurdity of the bureaucratic context in which they are found. The eerie quality of these spaces is that of a reality twice removed as they are both real office environments and fictional constructions. To further fictionalize these spaces, colours and forms have been digitally manipulated to enhance their anachronistic mood, calling into question the veracity of the photographic image and exploring the tensions between reality and photographic representation.
To view more of Matthews work please visit his website.