Martin Boyce engages with the historical legacy of Modernist forms and ideals to create deeply atmospheric installations drawing upon text and elements of design. His investigations will often re-stage the outside within the gallery space, evoking the urban landscape through precisely explored sculptural details. Steeped in an understanding of the concepts of Modernist design, his work draws upon its visual language with a complex repertoire of forms. Noted for his engagement with how these objects are produced, Boyce is interested in how their original political or aesthetic ethos changes over time. His meticulous sculptures bear out his imaginings for the alternative lives these objects might lead if created at a different moment.

Martin Boyce engages with the historical legacy of Modernist forms and ideals [he has some books on Modernism] to create deeply atmospheric installations drawing upon text and elements of design [he reads those books]. His investigations will often re-stage the outside within the gallery space, evoking the urban landscape through precisely explored sculptural details [he prefers working indoors]. Steeped in an understanding of the concepts of Modernist design [those books again], his work draws upon its visual language with a complex repertoire of forms [he can cut up bits of metal and wood]. Noted for his engagement with how these objects are produced [he makes them himself], Boyce is interested in how their original political or aesthetic ethos changes over time [they sometimes tarnish a bit]. His meticulous sculptures bear out his imaginings for the alternative lives these objects might lead if created at a different moment [you can recycle them].