Harrison is known for his clear block “encapsulations” of found African artifacts that scrutinize and bring a lens to the ineradicable effects of racism and colonialization. With rigorous technical methods, Harrison enshrines the found objects, such as African wooden sculptures and bone, in acrylic resin, plexiglass, and industrial modeling clay that he then sculpts using computer numerical control (CNC) machines. Harrison has also used these manufacturing techniques to encase recent artifacts of the American working class, speaking to labor and inequality, the politics of mass production, and anthropology.

Matthew Angelo Harrison was born in 1989 in Detroit, MI, US, where he lives and works. Harrison’s solo exhibition Robota was presented at MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA, US (2022). Furthermore, he has been the subject of solo exhibitions at and SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, GA, US (2022); Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, CH (2021); Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, US (2018); Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta, GA, US (2017); and Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Detroit, MI, US (2016).