Matters of Life and Death is a limited-edition publication documenting the remarkable new and recent paintings of celebrated Dallas-based British artist Richard Patterson (b.1963). An engaging introduction by Paul Moorhouse, Senior Curator at the National Portrait Gallery, London, discusses the dynamic and complex relationship between figuration and abstraction in Patterson's oeuvre. Moorhouse observes: 'Visual ambiguity defines Patterson's art, and its most conspicuous feature is the interaction between figurative painting, abstraction and photography that his recent work continues. From the outset he moved between these disparate visual languages, combining them in ways that seemed deliberately oppositional and subversive.' Patterson's latest works are as provocative as ever, and as he enters mid-career, have become increasingly accomplished, cryptic and, at times, haunting. In his illuminating essay, art historian James Cahill explores the subjects of portraiture and personae within the artist's works, asserting that 'his strategy of distancing his figures - whether through a broken veil (or enclosing frame) of abstract paint, or the gauze-like intercession of a photographic source - throws into relief the idea that selfhood is ultimately a succession of masks.' Curator and critic Jane Neal deftly navigates ideas of gender and sexuality in Patterson's practice, taking us into the realms of fetish and the male gaze, proposing that his painting overtly 'points towards the patriarchal and often misogynistic attitude to women's bodies still prevalent in magazines, films and social media, even in the twenty-first century. Patterson sets us up to confront the darkness that often underlies the male gaze, even affording it physical form.' Featuring a selection of works executed between 2013 and 2016, many of which are published here for the first time, the cloth-covered book is presented in a specially printed hard slipcase and has been published in an edition of just 500 copies. Born in the UK in 1963, Patterson graduated from Goldsmiths College in 1986. He was included in Damien Hirst's renowned Freeze, Surrey Docks, London (1988); as well as Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK; Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum fur Gegenwart, Berlin, Germany; Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, USA (1997-00). Other notable exhibitions include The Rowan Collection: Contemporary British & Irish Art, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland (2002); Painting Pictures, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany (2003); Nexus Texas, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Texas, USA (2007) and Attention to Detail, curated by Chuck Close, the FLAG Art Foundation, New York, USA. Patterson has had solo exhibitions at Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London (1997); James Cohan Gallery, New York, USA (1999 and 2002); Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, USA (2000), Timothy Taylor Gallery, London (2005, 2008 and 2013); the Goss-Michael Foundation, Dallas, USA (2009); and the FLAG Art Foundation, New York (2014). In February 2017 he will present new and recent works at Timothy Taylor 16x34, New York.

Chibụike Ụz�ma (b. 1992, Port Harcourt, Nigeria), is a multidisciplinary artist working with painting, photography, drawing, text and video, living and working in New Haven, Connecticut. Documented here are sixteen of the artist’s large paintings rendered in oil and acrylic or acrylic spray paint on canvas, made in 2022. Accompanying an exhibition of the same name at Simon Lee Gallery, London, the first solo exhibition of his work in the UK, this publication is the fourth pillar of a collaborative project by the artist, setting his own paintings in relation to video and audio works by Edward Owens and João Orecchia respectively. Ụz�ma works with non-linear narratives, using a mix of painting languages that dodges and weaves the liminal spaces between representation and meaning. Fragments of stencilled letters jolt against textured pools of paint, and diaphanous figures are cropped by cinematic horizons. Comprising colourful, abstruse portraiture against stark black and white backgrounds, the paintings in 'To Kick a Stone' are deeply suggestive, but ultimately formalist explorations of shape and composition. An introduction by Kat Sapera, Director of Simon Lee Gallery, draws upon her first encounters with the artist and details the influence of philosophy and the act of looking. Sapera brings the collaboration with Orecchia and Owens to the forefront of her discussion while touching on Ụz�ma’s making processes. In an essay by Ụz�ma, the artist himself writes lyrically upon subjects including poetry, religion, good and evil, in order to bring a number of key concepts that circle his work into the field of view. Essays by Bishupal Limbu, Associate Professor of English at Portland State University, and by Carlos Valladares, writer and critic, help amass a portrait of an artist whose enquiry is informed by film, philosophy and pictorial language – with the layering, unravelling and opening-up of narrative as a core focus. Their writing brings key art historical figures into dialogue with Ụz�ma’s work. Lastly, the artist appears in conversation with writer and curator Ekow Eshun. This frank and illuminating conversation provides insight into the artist’s painting practice, previous series of works and intentions, while also discussing issues of identity and Blackness. Their interview further reflects on past exhibitions, connections with other key artists and Ụz�ma’s recent MFA studies at Yale. Published on the occasion of the exhibition Chibụike Ụz�ma – To Kick a Stone, 19 January – 25 February 2023, Simon Lee Gallery, London. Edited by Kat Sapera, designed by Joe Gilmore, printed by Pressision, Leeds and co-published in 2023 by Simon Lee Gallery and Anomie Publishing, London. Chibụike Ụz�ma (b. 1992, Port Harcourt, Nigeria), is a multidisciplinary artist working with painting, photography, drawing, text and video, living and working in New Haven, Connecticut. Ụz�ma received his BFA from the University of Benin, an MFA from Yale University School of Art and was awarded the Francis Greenburger Fellowship in 2018. His work is included in the public collections of Kistefos Museum, Jevnaker, Norway; Didi Museum, Lagos, Nigeria and Fotohof Salzburg, Austria. Recent exhibitions include Pace, New York, NY (2021); Lyles & King, New York, NY (2021); Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa (2019); Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Florida, FL (2019); Circa Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa (2017); and D-Contemporary Gallery, London, UK (2017).