Matthew Barney is a very popular sculptor, a photographer and a filmaker, best know for his Cremaster films. "A mixture of the odd, attractive, and downright obscene and brutal, the Cremaster, which takes its name from the muscle in the human body in charge of lowering and raising the male genital organ, is a feat in Avant-Garde film." He focuses on visual effects (colors, shapes, and forms).
His work "can seem ingeniously complicated or nonsensical, depending on one's inclination. Suffice it to say that it is a mix of autobiography, history and private symbolism, and it has involved him doing various death-defying acts and wearing elaborate makeup and prostheses..."
I like the sense of ambiguity in Barney's abstract art, which is evident in most of it (for example in the films where you can't tell if the character is male or female). I also like performance art, in this case video, because it tells a more elaborate story. The article describes him as a nice and intellegent guy, unconcerned with fame and money, which is further proven by the fact that his loyal crew continues to take death-defying risks to push limits with Barney.
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