Wonder Box
Eli Ridgway Gallery is pleased to present Wonder Box, a solo exhibition by Matthew Palladino of intricate large-scale acrylic works on paper that draw upon the visual language of illustration and graphic design. The pieces playfully reference pop culture, art history, the carnivalesque, and the wonder box — an early, portable peephole viewing device once used with images of landscapes, animals, classical narratives, and pornography.
Although they reference antiquated viewing technologies, Palladino's images refrain from the predictably nostalgic. He explores ideas of viewing, the voyeur, and the diorama, using bold colors, a graphic sensibility, and pop-cultural references that make the work contemporary and fresh. With a deft hand he builds compositionally and spatially complex images — from the straightforward grids of the Costumes works to the three-dimensional, curio-box renderings of the Private Pleasures pieces — organizing disparate imagery and planting seeds of illusion.
“Although they reference antiquated viewing technologies, Palladino's images refrain from the predictably nostalgic. Rather, he explores ideas of viewing, the voyeur, and the diorama, using bold colors, a graphic sensibility, and pop-cultural references that make his work contemporary and fresh.”