Casey Kaplan
Matthew Ronay
Matthew Ronay’s Biomorphic Sculptures Evoke Strange New Species of Flora and Fauna
September 19, 2019
By David Ebony
“Betrayals of and by the Body was the especially fitting title of Matthew Ronay’s exhibition, which comprised fifteen sculptures from 2018 whose components—all hand-carved from soft, pliant basswood and stained in bright, sometimes garish colors—suggest peculiar versions of human organs or other body parts. The sculptures initially recall children’s toys (and in fact ten were displayed on a roughly ankle-height platform that seemed to position them for optimal viewing by kids), but Ronay’s biological iconography can be relatively adult-oriented. Often veering from abject to overtly sexual, the works evoke the sensuous forms favored by modernist sculptors like Jean Arp and Constantin Brancusi, Surrealist painters including Yves Tanguy and Toyen, and more recent abstractionists, such as Ken Price and Saint Clair Cemin.” – David Ebony
This article appears under the title “Matthew Ronay” in the October 2019 issue, pp. 84.