The Eternal Idol: Conflict, Impossible Scenes, and the Denial of Human Value
Works by Matt Ballou
Matt Ballou is an educator, writer, and visual artist in Columbia, Missouri. The work in the exhibition was created between 2006 and 2019 and represents Ballou’s ongoing attempt to picture the impossible spaces created by a collective unwillingness to constrain power, war, greed, and consumerism. Ballou’s work strives to make the foolishness of conflict, oppression, and war apparent. “My artworks are meant to depict spaces, bodies, and objects that should never have existed. But they do. Whether they will continue to be made is a question for each of us. We answer the question with our votes, our credit cards, our meals, and our entertainment.” – Matthew Ballou, 2019
The Eternal Idol: Conflict, Impossible Scenes, and the Denial of Human Value took place at The Montminy Art Gallery in Columbia, Missouri from April 4 to June 2, 2019. I curated this show when I served as the assistant gallery director.
