Project: Matthew Schrader “M. Obultra 3”

March 23–May 15, 2021
A vitrine display table containing Ailanthus seed pods stands by a white wall. Above it, twenty-eight photographic prints depicting the Ailanthus tree are mounted, aligned horizontally.

Matthew Schrader, installation view, 2021.

A vitrine display table containing Ailanthus seed pods. Above it 18 wall-mounted photographic prints depicting the Ailanthus tree are visible.

Matthew Schrader, installation view, 2021.

Five high-contrast, slightly sepia toned photographic prints depicting leaves and branches of the Ailanthus tree. The first image is repeated three times, the second twice.

Matthew Schrader, installation view, 2021.

A vitrine display table containing scattered Ailanthus seed pods, some still attached to a stem. Above it nineteen wall-mounted photographic prints depicting the Ailanthus tree are visible.

Matthew Schrader, installation view, 2021.

Close up of Ailanthus seed pods inside a vitrine table with a white bottom. The reflection of seven wall-mounted photographic prints is visible in the glass.)

Matthew Schrader, installation view, 2021.

Ailanthus seed pods lying inside a vitrine table. The reflection of nine wall-mounted photographic prints is visible in the glass.

Matthew Schrader, installation view, 2021.

Two steel rods lean against a white wall. Thread hangs from them. A collage depicting foliage is mounted to their left. At the far end of the wall lies a pair of wood blocks.)

Matthew Schrader, installation view, 2021.

On a brick wall to the right a framed woodblock print is mounted. A vitrine display table stands off to the left, by a white wall upon which a series of photographic prints are mounted.

Matthew Schrader, installation view, 2021.

Wood bricks on the floor. All but one is painted bright yellow. In the foreground a larger wooden object lies on the ground: a longer wood piece with two smaller brick-like supports.

Matthew Schrader, installation view, 2021.

The entrance to White Columns. In the window near the door, a small black and white photographic print depicting large wires and metal scaffolding is mounted.

Matthew Schrader, installation view, 2021.

Press Release

White Columns is pleased to announce a solo presentation by Matthew Schrader. For this presentation Schrader will exhibit materials from a recent project M. Obultra 3 alongside related works.

Published in 2020, and curated by Aaron Gemmill, M. Obultra 3 is an editioned portfolio of new work by Schrader including a hand-printed woodcut, 7 photographs, a painted wooden object, 3 PVC transparencies, and Ailanthus seed pods. The project was born out of Schrader’s ongoing engagement with the Ailanthus tree, commonly known as the Tree Of Heaven. Ubiquitous in many American cities, including Philadelphia where Schrader was born and raised. Ailanthus altissima was introduced to North America by Philadelphian naturalist William Hamilton in 1784. Imported as a decorative plant, it is now considered an invasive species by the United States Department of Agriculture. According to Gemmill: “Schrader’s work is a synthesis of dual meanings of naturalization: how displaced species proliferate in new environments; and the technical and ideological process of rendering social structures invisible.”

For the presentation at White Columns, the work from M. Obultra 3 is activated and spatialized in relation to the specifics of the gallery architecture. Photographs from the edition are repeated across a wall forming a line, their spacing determined by the width of common 2×4 construction lumber that serves as the matrix for the woodblock print and as the primary material of the painted sculptures arranged in stacks on the floor. Ailanthus seeds collected in New York City are displayed in a vitrine. For the final day of M. Obultra 3 a recording of Cecil Taylor & Tony Oxley titled Ailanthus / Altissima: Bilateral Dimensions Of 2 Root Songs will play in the gallery. These recordings come from two weeks of performance by Taylor and Oxley at the Village Vanguard in 2008.

To accompany the portfolio Schrader commissioned a new work by writer and poet Omar Berrada. Taking the form of a chapbook Berrada’s Clonal Hum is a poem sequence written in conversation with the portfolio. A virtual book launch will be held on April 27th, with readings by Berrada, poet Christian Campbell, author Saretta Morgan, and poet and artist Cecilia Vicuña.

Editions of M. Obultra 3 and copies of Clonal Hum are available for purchase at the gallery, and online at https://obultra.com.

Matthew Schrader (b.1984, Philadelphia) is an artist and educator based in New York City. He received an MFA in Sculpture from the Milton Avery Graduate School of Arts at Bard College and a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. Schrader’s work has appeared in exhibitions at Gertrude, The Abrons Art Center, MINI/Goethe-Institut Curatorial Residencies Ludlow 38, P!, U.S. Blues, Room East, MoMA PS1, Soloway Gallery, Carl Louie, Regina Rex, Cleopatra’s, 67 Steps, Metropolitan Structures and The Richmond Center for the Visual Arts at the University of Western Michigan. Schrader is a recipient of The Rema Hort Mann Foundation Emerging Artist Grant in New York City, and is currently teaching at The Cooper Union.

Éditions Michel Obultra is a publisher of artist editions and other objects. This project is run by the artist Aaron Gemmill and based in Philadelphia.

For more information about this exhibition, contact: info@whitecolumns.org

Checklist

Related Press

Event

‘Clonal Hum’ Book Launch

On the occasion of the exhibition ‘M. Obultra 3’ by Matthew Schrader, White Columns is pleased to present a reading and the book launch of ‘Clonal Hum’ by Omar Berrada.

For this event Omar Berrada will be joined by fellow poets Christian Campbell and Saretta Morgan.

April 27, 2021

 

A vitrine display table containing Ailanthus seed pods stands by a white wall. Above it, twenty-eight photographic prints depicting the Ailanthus tree are mounted, aligned horizontally.
A vitrine display table containing Ailanthus seed pods. Above it 18 wall-mounted photographic prints depicting the Ailanthus tree are visible.
Five high-contrast, slightly sepia toned photographic prints depicting leaves and branches of the Ailanthus tree. The first image is repeated three times, the second twice.
A vitrine display table containing scattered Ailanthus seed pods, some still attached to a stem. Above it nineteen wall-mounted photographic prints depicting the Ailanthus tree are visible.
Close up of Ailanthus seed pods inside a vitrine table with a white bottom. The reflection of seven wall-mounted photographic prints is visible in the glass.)
Ailanthus seed pods lying inside a vitrine table. The reflection of nine wall-mounted photographic prints is visible in the glass.
Two steel rods lean against a white wall. Thread hangs from them. A collage depicting foliage is mounted to their left. At the far end of the wall lies a pair of wood blocks.)
On a brick wall to the right a framed woodblock print is mounted. A vitrine display table stands off to the left, by a white wall upon which a series of photographic prints are mounted.
Wood bricks on the floor. All but one is painted bright yellow. In the foreground a larger wooden object lies on the ground: a longer wood piece with two smaller brick-like supports.
The entrance to White Columns. In the window near the door, a small black and white photographic print depicting large wires and metal scaffolding is mounted.

Matthew Schrader, installation view, 2021. (A vitrine display table containing Ailanthus seed pods stands by a white wall. Above it, twenty-eight photographic prints depicting the Ailanthus tree are mounted, aligned horizontally.)

Matthew Schrader, installation view, 2021. (A vitrine display table containing Ailanthus seed pods. Above it 18 wall-mounted photographic prints depicting the Ailanthus tree are visible.)

Matthew Schrader, installation view, 2021. (Five high-contrast, slightly sepia toned photographic prints depicting leaves and branches of the Ailanthus tree. The first image is repeated three times, the second twice.)

Matthew Schrader, installation view, 2021. (A vitrine display table containing scattered Ailanthus seed pods, some still attached to a stem. Above it nineteen wall-mounted photographic prints depicting the Ailanthus tree are visible.)

Matthew Schrader, installation view, 2021. (Close up of Ailanthus seed pods inside a vitrine table with a white bottom. The reflection of seven wall-mounted photographic prints is visible in the glass.)

Matthew Schrader, installation view, 2021. (Ailanthus seed pods lying inside a vitrine table. The reflection of nine wall-mounted photographic prints is visible in the glass.)

Matthew Schrader, installation view, 2021. (Two steel rods lean against a white wall. Thread hangs from them. A collage depicting foliage is mounted to their left. At the far end of the wall lies a pair of wood blocks.)

Matthew Schrader, installation view, 2021. (On a brick wall to the right a framed woodblock print is mounted. A vitrine display table stands off to the left, by a white wall upon which a series of photographic prints are mounted.)

Matthew Schrader, installation view, 2021. (Wood bricks on the floor. All but one is painted bright yellow. In the foreground a larger wooden object lies on the ground: a longer wood piece with two smaller brick-like supports.)

Matthew Schrader, installation view, 2021. (The entrance to White Columns. In the window near the door, a small black and white photographic print depicting large wires and metal scaffolding is mounted.)