Camden Arts Centre

27 April 2007 - 01 July 2007

Matthew Buckingham's new film and video works re-imagine the lives of pioneering figures. Mary Wollstonecraft appears as a ghost whose legacy is unsettled. Objects within the gallery space bring you closer to the action and her responses to the 21st-century.

Matthew Buckingham's re-investigation of history addresses present day realities such as the impact of globalisation and colonialism. The Spirit and the Letter portrays 18th-century writer and social reformer Mary Wollstonecraft, Matthew Buckingham uses her own words and work so that she appears to reflect on past conditions from the 21st-century. It provokes us to consider what elements and social dynamics have changed. Everything I Need imagines the thoughts of psychologist and radical feminist Charlotte Wolff on her return to Germany following exile in the 1930s. In False Future about Louis Le Prince, an early pioneer of cinematography, Matthew Buckingham re-stages one of his films. A site specific installation Specularia engages with the history of Camden Arts Centre - its architecture and changing function throughout time.

The exhibition is curated by Mark Godfrey and organised in collaboration with Dundee Contemporary Arts; Des Moines Art Center; Frac Bourgogne, Dijon and Henry Art Gallery, Seattle.

The Spirit and the Letter is co-commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella and Camden Arts Centre in association with the above venues.

Artist's Bio

Over the past two years, Buckingham has had solo exhibitions at international institutions including the Dallas Museum of Art, the Saint Louis Art Museum, Kunstverein Westfalischer, and the Kunsthalle St Gallen. His work has been included in the Corcoran Biennial (2004), Faces in the Crowd (Castello di Rivoli and Whitechapel Art Gallery, 2004-05), Universal Experience (MCA Chicago and Hayward Gallery, 2004-05), and This storm is what we call progress (Arnolfini, 2005). A new work titled Obscure Moorings featured in the Liverpool Biennial (2006). A text on his work appeared as the lead article in Artforum (March 2004) and monographic articles are appearing in OCTOBER (April 2007) and frieze (May 2007). Buckingham was a DAAD fellow in 2003. He is represented by Murray Guy, New and frieze (May 2007).