In his first solo exhibition, Matthew Shirfield showcases a body of work which revolves around the mythical figure of Dr Faustus and his ethos. Shirfield explores the timeless elements of insatiable desire for knowledge, power as well as the ramifications of moral decay through dark visual imagery which encapsulate the spirit of this tale. His work makes references to Christopher Marlowe's original academic interpretation of the protagonist, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's exploration of the mystical Walpurgis diversions, Thomas Mann's chilly glacial hell and Klaus Mann’s clownish corruption.

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The artist’s exploration of the Faustian myth unravels humankind’s challenges of Icarus-like ambition and Sisyphean toil against the inevitability of mortality. It puts forward visual and artistic motifs that lay bare the consequences of unchecked ambition and unethical practices in the pursuit of success and self-fulfilment. Fuelled by this timeless narrative this exhibition provides a self-reflexive lament, a dark elegy for humanity’s unrelenting desire to be free of mortality; a solemn sombre dirge.