Matthew Monahan

2016

Royal Customs was commissioned by New York’s Museum of Modern Art to fabricate a series of sixteen sculptural works for Los Angeles-based artist Matthew Monahan, translating the artist’s ideas into precisely constructed physical forms.

Created in four sets of four, each sculpture was conceived as an individual work while also forming part of a larger composition. Within each set, the four pieces fit into one another like elements of a puzzle, allowing them to be experienced independently or assembled into a single, layered sculptural form.

The works reflect Monahan’s distinctive visual language, where fragmented figures and forms recall archaeological relics and medieval sculpture while remaining unmistakably contemporary. When assembled, the individual pieces build upon one another to create larger, totemic compositions.

Works from the series were later exhibited in The National or the Skip at the Averard Hotel in London in 2016.

The commission reflects the approach that continues through The Atelier today: bringing specialist craftsmanship and technical expertise into dialogue with an artist’s vision.