William Eckhardt Kohler reviews the exhibition Matt Bollinger: Bed on the Floor at Zürcher Studio, New York, on view through April 28, 2013.
Kohler writes that the works in the show (which include an installation and collage works) address "the theme of despair and loss… a slow moving katabasis; the dystopic descent of bottoming out, depression and loss of social standing. Robert Bly, in his book Iron John, calls this the 'Road of Ashes.' In mythology katabasis refers to the heroic descent into the Underworld. [Bollinger's] images however are firmly placed within familiar this-worldy narratives and contexts of cheap beer, homelessness chain link fences and empty lots full of rubbish."