Matt Stokes: Lost in the Rhythm

Matt Stokes’s practice stems from a long-term inquiry into subcultures, particularly musical ones. He is interested in the way music provides a sense of collectivity, acting as a catalyst for particular groups to form, shaping and influencing people’s lives and identities.

His works are often context-specific; he immerses himself in a setting and area of interest, through which collaborations with informal communities arise. After a process of collecting stories, information and materials related to their histories and values, Stokes produces artworks that depart from his research and take on a conceptual and aesthetic life of their own through films, installations and events.

Lost in the Rhythm and the exhibition that led to its inception, Pills to Purge Melancholy (Collective Gallery, 2006), offers the first opportunity for the diverse and engaging work of Stokes to be brought together and explored in depth.

Texts by Rob Tufnell, Matthew Collin, and Momus.

Published by Art Editions North and Collective Gallery, 2007, softcover, 96 pages, 9 x 7 inches.