Burnouts
Mediated Images
2015
Brand New Gallery
Burnout PSA01i
2017
acid treated silk velvet with mirror
53 5/16 x 41 3/4 x 1 7/8 inches
Burnout RT01E
2013
silk velvet with acid treatment
54 ¼ x 42 ½ inches
Burnout JT01AE
2015
silk velvet with acid treatment
54 ¼ x 42 ½ inches
Burnout PGT01B
2017
silk velvet with acid treatment
53 x 41 inches
Burnout PJL01L
2017
acid treated silk velvet with mirror
57 7/8 x 35 7/8 x 1 7/8 inches
Burnout JB01J
2015
silk velvet with acid treatment
54 ¼ x 42 ½ inches
“In the “Burnout” series, photographs showing the stylishly clothed torsos of Brandt’s friends and studio assistants are printed on lush, white silk velvet using a burnout process—a technique popular in fashion design in which acid is applied to fabric to “burn out” fibers and produce areas of semitransparency. Thus, in printing photographs of clothing using a technique commonly found on garments, Brandt has unified subject and medium (if less literally so than in his earlier works). The monochromatic sepia washes, bleached-out fields of white and areas of burnt brown, however, belie the au courant medium and contemporary imagery, evoking albumen prints by Carleton Watkins and Eadweard Muybridge. The title of the series not only refers to the process used, but also slyly connotes celebrities whose stars have faded and who have become racked with addiction.”
— Art in America, MATTHEW BRANDT by Jennifer S. Li, 2014
https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/aia-reviews/matthew-brandt-61672/