Sculpture

Raised in England, Matthew Groves received a master’s degree in ceramics and glass from London’s Royal College of Art before moving to the United States in the late 1990s. Many years earlier, as a teenager, Groves had visited the World Trade Center. The encounter left him with strong memories of the intense perspectives and long vertical lines incorporated into the architecture of the Twin Towers.  

In the aftermath of 9/11, Groves felt it was inappropriate to make art in response to the attacks without taking time to reflect on these catastrophic events. After a decade, Groves felt ready to address the subject as the milestone 10-year anniversary of the attacks approached. The result was Oranges & Lemons, two bell-shaped sculptures overlaid with black-and-white-colored slip. The pair of tapered vessels is reminiscent of the two vanished skyscrapers and of funerary urns. After firing the works in a kiln, Groves decided to present them as if they were bells, suspended so they can be rung.  

The title of the work comes from the nursery rhyme “Oranges and Lemons” that songwriter Pete Seeger popularized in a recording called “The Bells of Rhymney,” adapted from the original 1938 words of Idris Davies, a Welsh poet, which referenced a coal-mining disaster and failed strike. Groves tried to infuse the song’s sadness into the tone of his ceramic tower bells. Despite their gloomy sound, the vessel bases were left unenclosed by the artist, keeping them symbolically open to hope, new ideas, and peace.