Simon Mathers: The Frenzy
3 December — 1 May 2021

Castor is pleased to present The Frenzy; an exhibition of new paintings and sculptural works by Simon Mathers.

For this exhibition the artist wants us to consider the home as a transitory space. where physical forms of social engagement and entertainment have combined with our professional lives to create a suffocating synthesis of work and play.

The Hive

Protruding from the gallery walls and rendered in wax, a series of grotesque figures share an illicit moment against a palette of colours that evokes a nostalgia for 90s pop culture.

Pivoting around these uncomfortable renderings, a cul-de-sac of quilted model houses act as a proposal for a new development, their patterned stitching nods to the cells of a bee hive, alluding to a form of collective activity. These hives sit precariously on top of a series of metal plinths which look so fragile they could easily collapse at any moment; a fictional scenario that is made ever more possible by the presence of the giant fan which is whirring away overhead.

With these new works the artist seeks to provide us with an alternative version of ‘the new normal’ where the material motifs and physical gestures of our recent past are purposefully mismatched to the spaces we presently inhabit, the same spaces where blockbuster video has been replaced by Netflix, the meeting room has been replaced with a series of 2D squares and the digital devices that were invented to make our lives easier now have us under indefinite house arrest.