EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE

Everything Is Possible.

OPTIMISM - The Art of Our Time

Image: James Balmforth "DO NOT TIGHTEN" 2008 (Tarnished brass and 22 carat gold cast figure)

For the duration of this years Frieze week I have curated with the Hannah Barry Gallery a show of optimistic art and a book of essays entitled:

OPTIMISM - The Art of our Times

Through an unequivocally sincere take on the theme the show takes a determined stand against cynicism and apathy. If you haven't made it to any of my recent shows, this is a chance to see the culmination of my ideas and workings from the last few years.

The show is open from the 15th-20th October from 8am-8pm daily at the Hannah Barry Gallery. You can find us here.

The very regular train to Peckham Rye takes 5 mins from London Bridge and 10mins from Victoria.

There will be a special party 8pm-midnight on Friday the 17th, please join us to celebrate.

Javier Peres in Dazed & Confused

This picture of Javier Peres was shot in Mykonos. It takes up a glorious two pages in the current issue of Dazed & Confused. One area in the image was blurred slightly for reasons I simply can't imagine. Here it is in all its unedited glory...

The Manifestation

In late 2004/early 2005 I wrote a manifesto with the help of Brianna Toth. Consciously avoiding the temptation to identify or impose concrete ideologies, we titled it 'the Manifestion'.

"The Manifestation" seems like a relevant starting point.


THE MANIFESTATION

Dear Contributors,

This is created with an unknown, yet specific audience in mind - an audience of all the potential futurs, our pasts and the presence. Whilst it in no terms seeks to locate an elite, it is important to remember that this could be for anyone. We can learn to trust our instincts. And with this new-found ability we shall soon have no doubt that anything can be for us.

It is seductive to bask in the illnesses and general negativity of an age. To feel crippled by those who claim control may often appear to be predestined. However, this is merely a self-defeating falsehood.

What should not be forgotten is that optimism allows for positive, energetic transformation and should not be feared. There seems to be a tendency to apologise for being marked by a strong, fearless and bold belief in humanity and it’s capabilities. Our true challenge is to create and engage with our own hopeful mythologies. Although it is potentially dangerous to extoll ideologies, it is surely valuable to be idealistic.

It is our responsibility, as those who sense these timely needs so acutely, to illuminate the immediate possibilities and options that have always stood before us. There is no need therefore to yearn after a bygone golden age or lust for an unattainable utopic futur. We can romanticise and thus empower what we are now.

................ Insert sweeping grandiose statement here ................... ............................................................................................................

(Fast Forward to an Avant-Garde Spirituality)

In shared and unending splendour.

Matthew Stone