Matthew Webber
London
I am a full time artist, living and working in East London since '98.
My paintings are influenced by maps, aerial photography and the landscape around my east London home. They are constructed, layer by layer, over a period of several months.
The addition of paint and texture is just part of the process, however, as the final composition is only revealed once I have pared down this built-up surface in order to expose the completed image. This process often involves belt sanders and angle grinders, and sometimes feel more akin to sculpture or carving than to painting, particularly when the canvasses have been particularly densely worked.
As the layers are stripped away, the anatomical skeleton of the piece begins to emerge, with the networks of lines and strata become increasingly interwoven and intricate as the process continues. The subtlety and delicacy of the final image belies the heavy-duty techniques involved in each painting's production.
An element of chance plays its part in the success or failure of these objects; long-hidden motifs emerge slowly, and unpredictably, through the excavation of paint. Colours and forms are uncovered, connections and disconnections made, and the final structure is revealed.
I am particularly interested in landscapes where the natural world meets the built environment, especially in the places where nature begins to reclaim its territory, obscuring evidence of the past through growth or decay.
Education:
1991-92, Colchester Institute - Foundation Course in Art and Design
1992-96, Leeds Metropolitan University - BA Hons degree in Fine Art (2:1)
Selected Exhibitions:
June 2019: Creekside Open at APT Gallery. Selected by Sacha Craddock
May 2018: 'm2@15' group exhibition at APT Gallery, Deptford SE8
January 2017: ‘Painting & Unpainting II’ solo exhibition at Space Station Gallery, London SE1
June 2016: Shortlisted artist, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
June 2016: 'Six' solo exhibition at m2 Gallery, London SE15
December 2015: 'Canopy' solo exhibition, The View Gallery, London E4
June 2015: Creekside Open, 2015. Selected by Richard Deacon. Prizewinner.
September 2014: The National Open Art Competition, Somerset House, London WC2
March 2014: ‘Painting & Unpainting’ solo exhibition, The Broadgate Tower, London EC2
April 2013: AAF, NYC with Christopher Walker Art
January 2013: Miami International Art Fair, Miami, Florida
November 2012: ‘Aerial’ solo exhibition, Red Bull UK Project Space, SE1
November 2012: 'Discerning Eye' Group exhibition at The Mall Galleries, SW1
July 2012: Radcliffe & Newlands Art Prize, exhibition of shortlisted artists, London E1
April 2012: ‘Somewhere’, group exhibition, Clerkenwell, London EC1
April 2012: AAF NYC, Christopher Walker Art, New York City, USA
January 2012: Art Palm Beach, Christopher Walker Art, Palm Beach, USA
June 2011: Royal Academy of Arts, Summer Exhibition 2011, London W1
November 2008: The National Open Art Competition, Chichester
March 2007: Group exhibition at Sheridan Russell Gallery, Marylebone W1
October 2006: Solo exhibition at La Viande Gallery, Shoreditch EC2
November 2005: NABS Art Show at the Truman Brewery, Brick Lane E1
November 2005: 'Discerning Eye' Group exhibition at The Mall Galleries, SW1
November 2004: 'Discerning Eye' Group exhibition at The Mall Galleries, SW1
October 2002: Solo exhibition of 20 paintings at Harvey Nichols, Knightsbridge SW1
September 1999: '4 Painters' group exhibition at the DRU space, Waterloo SE1
September 1998: 'Crucible' group exhibition: London Art House at Diorama Gallery NW1
April 1998: Solo exhibition at E1 Gallery, Spitalfields E1
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