Our story
Material Matters – Angelo Madonna, John Elcock, Patric Rogers, Silvia Battista - is an artists’ collective interested in the interrelationship between materiality, myths and eco-ethics through a collaborative praxis they call Emotional Minimalism.
Active since 2018, in March 2023 Material Matters formally constituted itself as an unincorporated association with a written constitution and manifesto. As a co-operative, we abide by the formal co-operative values and principles shared and adopted by member organisations globally, including social responsibility, equality, equity, and solidarity.
These principles are at the heart of our creative mission, and the collective reflects this ethos. Our projects always engage with the interconnections between communities and territories through public-facing events that encourage artistic involvement and collaboration.
By sharing creative processes through exhibitions, but also associated happenings, we provide inclusive and accessible opportunities to express creativity through participation and thought-provoking conversations, evoking inspiration and a sense of connectedness.
Image: Material Matters at Lud's Church
The Collective
-
ANGELO MADONNA
-
JOHN ELCOCK
-
SILVIA BATTISTA
-
PATRIC ROGERS
Our Manifesto
-
in myth-making processes that are able to transform human perception and invite awareness to the profound entanglement underlying all bodies and forms of materiality.
-
with both mythopoeic and mythopoetic processes by playing with the invention of new mythologies and the interpretation of inherited stories.
-
aesthetic experiences to explore the art of storytelling by involving materials as the activating forces embedded in language/s that are multiple and often unknown to us: human, non-human and beyond-human.
-
with multidisciplinary contemporary aesthetics to bring the intangible into the spectrum of human perception.
-
with institutions, artists, communities and educational environments to involve the public into spiritually-enriching experiences that might sometimes be challenging.
-
that art should be able to enter into and inform all corners of society, encouraging us to feel more and adapt to our ever-changing world.
-
you to explore our projects, to experience the spirits of matter through the power of the poetic!
Exhibitions & Projects
Sirens: Voices Beyond Borders (forthcoming, 2027)
May – September 2027
Liverpool Independent Biennial, Liverpool
Transmissions (2026)
October – November 2026
Bridewell Studios & Gallery, Liverpool
Into the Wyld (2024)
July – December 2024
Williamson Art Gallery and Museum, Birkenhead
Here to Become (2023)
August 2023
Bridewell Studios & Gallery, Liverpool
Space Is the Place — Act I (2021)
September 2021
Convenience Gallery, Birkenhead
Space Is the Place — Act II (2022)
October 2022
Williamson Art Gallery and Museum, Birkenhead
Acts 1–4 (2018–2020)
Act I
17–19 May 2018
The Well Gallery, Liverpool
Act II
4–6 July 2018
The Well Gallery, Liverpool
Act III
13–15 December 2018
Bridewell Studios & Gallery, Liverpool
Act IV
February – August 2020
Unus Multurum, Plas Bodfa, Anglesey