Matt O'dell (b. 1976) is a British artist. Born in Bedford, and currently living in London, he graduated from the MA Fine Art course at Goldsmiths College in 2002.
O'dell's work focuses upon such subjects as disaster sites, conspiracy theories, and religious cults. He constructs miniature versions of specific sites or buildings where significant events have taken place. He uses simple materials with little detailing, creating a distance from the real event, leaving it to the viewer’s own imagination to fill in the missing information, referring to the elusiveness of real understanding in a media saturated environment.
Upon completing a BA Fine Art course at Wimbledon School of Art in 1998, O'dell's work was included in the exhibition Richard Wentworth’s Thinking Aloud at Camden Arts Centre. In 2000, he was included in the group exhibition A Shot in the Head - Summer Show at Lisson Gallery. In 2001 he was shortlisted for the 2001 Beck’s Futures 2 - Student Film and Video Prize at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, which toured to Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh; Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool; Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, and Sotheby’s, New York. O'dell was selected for New Contemporaries 2002, which toured to Static, Liverpool and Barbican Gallery, London. He exhibited two works based on aeroplane crash sites, these being the Concorde disaster in France, and the wreckage of Pan Am Flight 103, in Lockerbie, Scotland.
Recent works point towards individuals and groups who, having rejected 'accepted' ideas, have attempted to forge their own belief systems. These groups are notably found at the source of conspiracy theories, or in various sects that propose a new spiritual paradigm.