Special Preview Thursday, September 16, 2-6 PM Peter Blum is pleased to announce the exhibitions The Tomb at the Soho gallery and In Search of at the Chelsea gallery. Both shows open on Thursday, September 16th. This is Matthew Day Jackson’s second one-person show with the Peter Blum Gallery.

At the Soho gallery, Jackson will present an installation entitled The Tomb—a large-scale work derived from the Tomb of Philippe Pot. Attributed to Antoine LeMoiturier, in the collection of the Musée du Louvre in Paris, the Tomb of Philippe Pot is considered one of the masterpieces of the Burgundian style of the late 15th century. Jackson replaces the eight hooded monks who carry Pot’s effigy with astronauts that are rendered from scraps of wood and plastic. They are then compressed into a block and cut with a CNC (computer numerical control) process. The astronauts shoulder a steel and glass box that holds a skeletal structure based upon Jackson’s own body. The hands and feet are cast from either Jackson’s own extremities or handles from tools. Other elements of the skeleton incorporate biomedical prototypes, various industrial materials, and found wood. Viewed through a one-way mirror, which allows the viewer to simultaneously see one’s own reflection and the effigy’s contents, Jackson’s skeleton provides both autobiographical reference and explores the interconnectivity of disparate forms and narratives. The Tomb can also be seen as Jackson’s exploration of the “Horriful”—his belief that everything one does has the potential to evoke both beauty and horror at the same time. For Jackson, the allusion to death is not a “Memento Mori,” but a claim to “Carpe Diem.”

Matthew Day Jackson was born 1974 in Panorama City, CA and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. National and international solo exhibitions include shows at the Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Ireland (2009); the MIT List Visual Art Center, Cambridge, MA (2009) traveled to Contemporary Art Museum, Houston, TX (2009); Mario Diacono, Boston, MA (2007); the Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX (2007); the Cubitt Artists Space, London, England (2006); the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, OR (2006). In addition, Jackson’s work was exhibited in group shows at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China (2010); the Lousiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark (2009); the Hayward Gallery, London, UK (2009); the Punta della Dogana, Venice, Italy (2009); the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands (2008-9); the Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA (2008); the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, TX (2008); the Whitney Biennial, NY (2006) and Greater New York, PS1 Contemporary Art Center, NY (2005).