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Matt Small: Shine

Past exhibition
8 February - 8 March 2020
  • Works
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Works

Concerned with how the institutional British social system leaves no room for those on the periphery of society, Small's portraits reminds viewers of the importance of humanity. It comes at no surprise that his raw works have won the Viliers David Art Prize and been nominated for the BP Portrait Award.

His haunting works on metal pull the invisible from the city crowds. In a world obsessed with likes and followers on social media, Small's rough-cut and ragged works offer something real. In art history, portraiture has long been associated with the rich or famous, those who can afford to be painted and those who people want to look at. Instead, Small's oeuvre shakes up history by offering diverse subjects.

Small finds his sitters by taking to the streets of London with a video camera, to capture his anonymous sitters in their world. In the same place he finds his subjects, Small also finds the materials for his work which includes anything found on the street, from fridges and other household appliances to wrecked cars.

Continuing his theme of reusing materials from the city, Small often works with paint that has been thrown away by others, meaning his works are in variety of mediums including household paint and oils. Like his subjects, the physical elements of his works are a product of the urban environment, consisting of pieces that society has disregarded.

The new art works incorporate the fluid, colourful, abstracted faces of our youth with geometric designs that merge from the background composition into the portraits.

The complexity and rigidness of these patterns and shapes representing that of the city environments that surrounds each of the subjects, contrasting and at the same time, informing and becoming elements of what makes them who they are as people.

  • Matt Small, Abdi, 2019
    Matt Small
    Abdi, 2019
    Assembled metal on wood
    80 x 80 cm
    Courtesy of Jewel Goodby
    Copyright The Artist
  • Matt Small, Aisha, 2019
    Matt Small
    Aisha, 2019
    Oil and assembled metal on wood
    80 x 80 cm
    Courtesy of Jewel Goodby
    Copyright The Artist
  • Matt Small, Jake
    Matt Small
    Jake
    Mixed media on assembled metal
    110 x 110 cm
    Courtesy of Jewel Goodby
    Copyright The Artist
  • Matt Small, Terry, 2018
    Matt Small
    Terry, 2018
    Oil and assembled metal on wood
    160 x 120 cm,
    Courtesy of Jewel Goodby
    Copyright The Artist
  • Matt Small, Kyle
    Matt Small
    Kyle
    Mixed media on assembled metal
    78 x 100 cm
    Courtesy of Jewel Goodby
    Copyright The Artist
    Sold
  • Matt Small, Dean, 2019
    Matt Small
    Dean, 2019
    Oil and metal on metal (boiler door)
    72 x 60 cm
    Courtesy of Jewel Goodby
    Copyright The Artist
  • Matt Small, Able, 2016
    Matt Small
    Able, 2016
    Mixed media on assembled metal
    19 3/4 x 19 1/4 in
    50 x 49 cm
    Courtesy of Jewel Goodby
    Copyright The Artist
  • Matt Small, Brenda, 2019
    Matt Small
    Brenda, 2019
    Oil and assembled metal on wood
    45 x 40 cm
    Courtesy of Jewel Goodby
    Copyright The Artist
    Sold
  • Matt Small, Julian
    Matt Small
    Julian
    Mixed media on assembled metal
    120 x 120 cm
    Courtesy of Jewel Goodby
    Copyright The Artist
  • Matt Small, Katrice, 2019
    Matt Small
    Katrice, 2019
    Oil and assembled metal on wood
    39 x 49 cm
    Courtesy of Jewel Goodby
    Copyright The Artist
    Sold
  • Matt Small, Jeremy
    Matt Small
    Jeremy
    Mixed media on assembled metal
    120 x 120 cm
    Courtesy of Jewel Goodby
    Copyright The Artist
  • Matt Small, Jon
    Matt Small
    Jon
    Mixed media on assembled metal
    70 x 60 cm
    Courtesy of Jewel Goodby
    Copyright The Artist
  • Matt Small, Brian
    Matt Small
    Brian
    Mixed media on metal
    65 x 50cm
    Courtesy of Jewel Goodby
    Copyright The Artist
    Sold
  • Matt Small, Joseph
    Matt Small
    Joseph
    Mixed media on assembled metal
    60 x 70 cm
    Courtesy of Jewel Goodby
    Copyright The Artist
  • Matt Small, Trina
    Matt Small
    Trina
    Mixed media on assembled metal
    45 x 56 cm
    Courtesy of Jewel Goodby
    Copyright The Artist
    Sold
  • Matt Small, Mohammed, 2019
    Matt Small
    Mohammed, 2019
    Oil on concrete engraving
    31 x 31 cm
    Courtesy of Jewel Goodby
    Copyright The Artist
    Sold
  • Matt Small, Sara
    Matt Small
    Sara
    Engraved Oil Paint On Rusted panel
    19 3/4 x 19 3/4 in
    50 x 50 cm
    Courtesy of JG Contemporary
    Copyright The Artist
  • Matt Small, Andre
    Matt Small
    Andre
    Engraved Oil Paint On Rusted panel
    50 x 50 cm
    Courtesy of JG Contemporary
    Copyright The Artist
  • Matt Small, Julian
    Matt Small
    Julian
    Oil and acrylic, linocut on 12" vinyl record,
    30 x 30 cm
    Courtesy of Jewel Goodby
    Copyright The Artist
    Sold
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    Matt Small

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