Matt Bodett

Artist in Residence2024
Written By High Concept Labs

he/him

A black and white photo of a man facing a chalkboard with his back towards the viewer. His hands appear blurry as he makes dash marks on the wall in white chalk.

Matt Bodett | Sponsored Artist 2016 | Photo courtesy of the artist

Through lived experiences, Matt Bodett has come to question the models of "mental health" we have been given. He looks to madness as a fertile place to examine human experiences, linguistics, and meaning making. Utilizing drawing, painting, printmaking, poetry, performance, sculpture, and experimental forms he creates artworks which ask us to consider alternatives to the stigmas of society.

A dimly lit large room with projections on each wall. A group of three watches the projection of two hands in motion.The legs and arm of a body dangle out of a standing bathtub placed in the center of the room.

Photos by Marquisha Lu

The Project

In this dimly lit image, a man and two women watch the projection of the artist onto two white panels. In one panel, the artist’s face and bodies are cloaked in white. In the second, the artist wears black and stares blankly at the viewer.

Photos by Marquisha Lu

During his residency with HCL, he completed a series of three performances titled We Are, We Are. The first performance was a poetic use of the words of Bertram Hiscock, an inmate who died while under psychiatric care. This was done in collaboration with Laaura Goldstein. 

The second performance was a large video installation in which Matt interacted with audio created by Ricardo Mondragon. 

The last performance was a re-imagination of madness in Hamlet. This was a twelve channel video piece which contained sculptural elements and live performance. 

To accompany the performances, a catalogue was published with artwork and essays about disability and madness. 

About the Artist

Matt Bodett lives and works in Chicago as an artist and mad/disability advocate. Drawing from lived experience, he utilizes artwork to explore and critique visual culture and its role in stigma. Having gone to school in Boise, Idaho, Bodett moved to Chicago in 2013 to pursue a more serious studio practice. Since then he has exhibited art, performance, and poetic works at cultural institutions including Steppenwolf Theater (Chicago) The Poetry Foundation (Chicago), The Freud Museum (London), and for the No Limits festival (Berlin). 

Aside from a full time studio practice, Bodett has also opened The Center for Mad Culture in Chicago, which explores the cultural and aesthetic possibilities of madness. He teaches for Loyola University Chicago, while also serving on various boards around the country. 

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