Matthew Lawrence
Visual Arts

Born: York, England, 1965
Lives: Lancaster, PA

2000 Solo Exhibition, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond
2000 Solo Exhibition, The Print Center, Philadelphia

1999 Two-person Exhibition, Frag-ment-tation-dis-still-lation, with Jeri Robinson, Arts Council of SouthEast Missouri, Cape Girardeau
1999 Pictionary: a Paperless Print Portfolio, CD ROM, Boston Museum School
1999 Traveling Exhibition, REUSE/RENEW, Susquehanna Art Museum, Harrisburg, PA
1999 Review, New Art Examiner, April
1999 Solo Exhibition, The Lancaster Museum of Art, PA

1998 Juror, Regional Grant Awards, Illinois Arts Council, Chicago

1995 Panelist, Works on Paper Visual Arts Award, National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C.


The images are a series of computer manipulated self portraits. Within the work, the American Dream of the perfect self-image is pushed and pulled to extremes. The work is a comment on the notion of beauty. It questions that commercial aspect of the image on television and in magazines. The work addresses our desire for visual perfection. The images range from the humorous to the bizarre to the grotesque. I want the audience to at once question their authenticity, but still believe in the visual deception. The work is photo-based and plays into the classical notion of the photograph as the truth.

Matthew Lawrence, Illustrated Matt, 1999, digital inkjet image.