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Formally trained as an architect, Matthew Louis Gosser has been working for the past decade in the mediums of photography, video, collage, sculpture, and furniture design. Based in Newark, New Jersey, Gosser has found constant inspiration within the urban environment, in particular the exploration of industrial ruins throughout the NY metropolitan area. Within the last two years he has combined that love of urban exploration with found object art and a sense of historic preservation into a new art form called Ar+chaeology. This entails making artwork out of artifacts recovered from culturally significant, yet abandoned buildings.

The first application of this concept was Ar+chaeology: The Death and After-life of the Pabst Brewery, a major exhibit at the NJ School of Architecture featuring Gosser’s photography, collage, sculpture and furniture- made of almost 100% salvaged brewery objects such as conveyor belts, employee photos, gauges and bottling equipment. Besides giving a second life (as art) to objects slated for demolition, the exhibit put into historic context an important local landmark that was soon to be destroyed. Because of this, the Historic Preservation and Landmarks Commission honored him with an achievement award.

Favorable reviews in local publications, including the NY Times, have encouraged Gosser to apply the Ar+chaeology concept to other threatened sites such as Newark’s Westinghouse Factory, Essex County Jail, Queen of Angels Church and various theaters, fire stations and hospitals.

In addition to creating art and curating exhibitions, Gosser runs Art & Artifacts of Newark and teaches at NJIT’s College of Architecture and Design.