Mat Collishaw's Troubling Sensuality at Galerie Analix, Geneva

Mat Collishaw's exhibition at Galerie Analix in Geneva (September 12–November 3, 2001) presented video installations and photographs that blend attraction and repulsion. The theatrical setting—a red curtain and intimate darkness—immersed viewers in works exploring desire, decay, and vulnerability. Pieces like 'Hair' (2001) showed aging bodies by candlelight; 'Cyrille' (2001) depicted a woman sleeping on a bed strewn with drug paraphernalia, evoking both serenity and horror; 'Window' (2001) captured anxiety through storm sounds. Photographs of ancient tree trunks in light boxes added an unsettling natural element. Critic Véronique d'Auzac noted the shift from Collishaw's earlier provocative works (e.g., 'Suicide Suite', 1993; 'Period', 1992) toward a more poetic yet subversive approach, citing philosopher Cioran on disgust and fragility. Collishaw had previously shown at Analix in 1993 and participated in the 1988 'Freeze' exhibition.