edible silk screens + lake water photographs by matthew brandt

‘bass lake, ca 5’ by matthew brandt, 2012 from the series lakes and reservoirs chromogenic print soaked in bass lake water unique © matthew brandt, courtesy yossi milo gallery, new york

los angeles-based artist matthew brandt has created several new photograph and printed works for two of his ongoing series ‘lakes and reservoirs’ and ‘taste tests in color’. though his body of work features several pieces very classical in composition, drawing their forms from landscape photography of the american west, brandt’s unique artistic approach includes the incorporation of physical elements of the subject of the artwork itself or varied alternative media in each finished piece. the artist has developed a hybrid printmaking technique which combines both a revival of antiquated production methods but also an approach to post-production manipulation that is entirely of his own devising.

the images of the ‘lakes and reservoirs’ each feature a body of water in the foreground, found by the artist in the western united states. the likeliness of the lake is first captured through traditional photographic methods, then altered after being made a c-print. the artist soaks the photograph in the water collected from the subject of the work of art for weeks or months as the lakes or reservoirs pictured then physically become a part of their still image. the chemical composition of each body of water informs the color and visibility of the subject question.

‘taste tests in color’ is a fresh actualization of brandt’s existing monochromatic series taste tests in which the artist silk screened picturesque american landscapes by using a food item in place of traditional ink such as ketchup or mole sauce. in this particular ‘taste test’, the artist recreates the image of vernal falls of yosemite national park into several multi-layered prints made permanent by food or household objects such as toothpaste, kool-aid, airhead candies, or pharmecutical pills, recreating the colors typically observed in CMYK or RGB color models.  

these pieces, among several others, are on show at yossi milo gallery in brandt’s first solo exhibition in new york city entitled ‘lakes, trees and honeybees’, on display until june 30th, 2012.

‘big bear, ca a1’, 2012 from the series lakes and reservoirs chromogenic print soaked in big bear lake water unique © matthew brandt, courtesy yossi milo gallery, new york

‘black lake wa 7’, 2012 from the series lakes and reservoirs chromogenic print soaked in mary’s lake water unique © matthew brandt, courtesy yossi milo gallery, new york

‘mary’s lake, mt 3’, 2012 from the series lakes and reservoirs chromogenic print soaked in mary’s lake water unique © matthew brandt, courtesy yossi milo gallery, new york

‘black lake wa 1’, 2012 from the series lakes and reservoirs chromogenic print soaked in black lake water unique © matthew brandt, courtesy yossi milo gallery, new york

‘lake luis wa 1’, 2012 from the series lakes and reservoirs chromogenic print soaked in lake luis water unique © matthew brandt, courtesy yossi milo gallery, new york

left: ‘airheads 2’, 2012, from the series taste tests in color, silkscreen on paper, with airheads, unique right: ‘airheads 1’, 2012, from the series taste tests in color, silkscreen on paper, with airheads, unique both images © matthew brandt, courtesy yossi milo gallery, new york

a detail of ‘airheads 1’

‘kool aid 1’, 2012 from the series taste tests in color silkscreen on paper, with kool aid unique © matthew brandt, courtesy yossi milo gallery, new york

‘frosting 3’, 2012 from the series taste tests in color silkscreen on paper, with frosting unique © matthew brandt, courtesy yossi milo gallery, new york

left:’pharmaceutical pills 2′, 2012, from the series taste tests in color, silkscreen on paper, with pills, unique right: ‘sprinkles 2’, 2012, from the series taste tests in color, silkscreen on paper, with sprinkles, unique both images © matthew brandt, courtesy yossi milo gallery, new york

left: ‘jello 3’, 2012, from the series taste tests in color, silkscreen on paper, with jello, unique right: ‘toothpaste 2’, 2012, from the series taste tests in color, silkscreen on paper, with toothpaste, unique both images © matthew brandt, courtesy yossi milo gallery, new york

left: ‘cake icing 1’, 2012, from the series taste tests in color, silkscreen on paper, with cake icing, unique right: ‘bubble gum 1’, 2012, from the series taste tests in color, silkscreen on paper, with bubble gum, unique both images © matthew brandt, courtesy yossi milo gallery, new york