Matthew Buckingham: Play the Story

January 25 – April 20, 2008
Anna K. Meredith Gallery, Art Center on Grand

The Des Moines Art Center is the premier American venue of the first major traveling solo exhibition for Iowa–born, New York–based artist Matthew Buckingham. Play the Story comprises three new film and video installations investigating seminal but little known historical figures whose work remains relevant to contemporary issues and interests.

Buckingham’s meticulously researched subjects and designed spaces illuminate moments from historical figures’ lives: Charlotte Wolff, a German psychologist who wrote groundbreaking studies in homosexuality in the 1930s; Louis Le Prince, arguably the first inventor of cinema, who disappeared on a train between Paris and Dijon in 1890 before patenting his development; and Mary Wollstonecraft, a founding force of contemporary feminism in Britain in the late eighteenth century.

In a fourth project, created especially for Des Moines, Buckingham investigates the 60–year history of the Art Center’s courtyard sculpture Man and Pegasus by Swedish artist Carl Milles.

Matthew Buckingham: Play the Story is curated by Mark Godfrey and organized by Camden Arts Centre, London, in association with Dundee Contemporary Arts; FRAC Bourgogne, Dijon; Des Moines Art Center; and Henry Art Gallery, Seattle. Play the Story is accompanied by a bilingual––English and French––four–book boxed set. The Des Moines–specific project Improbable Horse also includes a publication. The Des Moines presentation of this exhibition is organized by Patricia Hickson, curator and downtown gallery manager.

Matthew Buckingham: Play the Story Related Programs

Conversations on Art

Matthew Buckingham
Thursday, March 13, 6:30 pm
Levitt Auditorium
FREE admission; reservations required*

An Iowa native rising in the international art scene with his elegant films inspired by figures with uncertain positions in history, Buckingham will deliver a lecture about his process, the subjects he chooses to focus on, and the impact of environment on the viewer.

*Reservations for this FREE lecture are required and available exclusively through IowaTIX beginning Monday, February 25. Orders are processed on a first–come, first–served basis at www.iowatix.com or by phone at 515.277.3727 (9 am – 5 pm, Monday – Friday). Leaving a message will not guarantee a reservation. Reservations placed with IowaTIX will be checked at the Art Center (with photo ID) the evening of the event beginning at 5:30 pm. The Art Center reserves the right to release seats for any unclaimed reservations at the start of the lecture.

Guided Tours

We are pleased to offer guided tours of Matthew Buckingham: Play the Story and the permanent collections.

Please schedule at least three weeks in advance. Contact Jennifer Cooley at 515.271.0328 or jcooley@desmoinesartcenter.org.

Adult Group Tours:
$2 per person / $20 minimum fee
Student Tours: Free