Laurence Harvey, the name of an actor and today the name of a book, or the subject of a book, or simply a name upon the page under which the subtitle reads: “Motion Pictures, White Wine, Older Women and Thin Cigarettes”.
Why should we consider studying the life of an actor, his sexual preferences, neurosis and dietary habits when we are only left dangerously intoxicated by his celebrity? Undoubtedly, it is because one can find this work of art akin to a script suppressed by the Hollywood of yesterday, and here it is today far better served as an imaginary film wherein the hero is more or less familiar to us.
Logically inscribed in Matthew Brannon’s work, the artist presents us with an experimental biography, a veritable work of writing, montage of excerpts, witness accounts and interior monologues peppered with a few quotes by Derrida.
See it for yourself: its large format, soft cover in delicately traced moiré fabric and illustrations silkscreened in four matte colors presented in a handcrafted shirt box, neatly tailored as if arriving straight from Savile Row.