VIEW IN MY ROOM
Matthew Painting
United Kingdom
Painting, Oil on Canvas
Size: 30 W x 39 H x 2 D in
Ships in a Crate
Artist Recognition
Showed at the The Other Art Fair
Artist featured in a collection
About The Artwork
It was August 2017 when I visited my home town of Southampton. It was a hot and sunny day and the streets of the city centre were full of shoppers. I noticed what appeared to be a pile of rags, a rag doll perhaps lying on the ground invisible to the busy shoppers. This “rag doll” was Matthew. I spent some time sitting with Matthew, talking about his life so far and finally sketching him in preparation for this painting. I always like my paintings to develop from my initial reaction, the first impression of this scene was to be the skeleton of this painting. I made some changes to the original scene. I wanted to make the sky appear darker as though a storm was coming, I added graffiti to the white wall by adding a cartoon picture of Jesus Christ on a cross being controlled as a puppet. I wanted this to suggest how people in power have used religion and twisted its true meaning to justify their pursuits. These pursuits have tended to be motivated by money and this fast and aggressive pursuit of material things have caused many to fall by the way side and ignored as a pile of rags. I also added the slogan “You are here because the outside world rejects you”, I saw this slogan in an old and derelict Mental Hospital and I really wanted to use this to show how mental health issues have helped create a flood of homeless people, mental problems that are a by product of an environment which puts pursuit of wealth above kindness and humanity. I also wanted to put more of a focus on the drops of water on the ground and ultimately raise the question; are these drops of water or tears? Finally the red headed girl in the back ground is really important in this painting. I wanted to show her reaction, a reaction of disgust and amazement and allow this reaction to battle with the emotion of Matthew who appears to smile and yet his eyes are swollen with pain.
Details & Dimensions
Painting:Oil on Canvas
Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork
Size:30 W x 39 H x 2 D in
Frame:Not Framed
Ready to Hang:Not applicable
Packaging:Ships in a Crate
Shipping & Returns
Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.
Handling:Ships in a wooden crate for additional protection of heavy or oversized artworks. Crated works are subject to an $80 care and handling fee. Artists are responsible for packaging and adhering to Saatchi Art’s packaging guidelines.
Ships From:United Kingdom.
Customs:Shipments from United Kingdom may experience delays due to country's regulations for exporting valuable artworks.
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United Kingdom
I was born in the UK, spent many years in France but I am now back living in the UK. I am a self taught artist and I paint those on the very edge of society. I want to use my art to help raise awareness of the issues in the world today, I want to help make the invisible visible and ultimately I want my art to scream. I am always looking to the long term as my ambition is to be a relevant and significant artist today and also in hundreds of years from now. I always had a passion for art, I knew this was my gift yet my career took me away from my passion. It was only in 2015 that I knew that I could no longer live a lie so I swapped a career in business for a profession as a full time artist, a job that in my heart I was always meant to do. My career as an artist has accelerated since 2015. In that time I was part of the prominent "Seven Artists Exhibition" at The Strand Gallery London. I have also been nominated by The Royal Society of Oil Painters, The Royal Society of Portrait Painters and I received a nomination for the 2015, 2016,2017 and 2020 BP award. I have had my work displayed in London, Madrid, Paris, New York and Amsterdam and I have been described as one the most relevant artists in the world today by the German Kunst Heute Art publication and the Contemporary Art Curator Magazine. In 2019 I was honoured to win the first prize at the prestigious London Biennale as well as the prestigious International Michelangelo prize for art. In 2020 I was awarded the Venice International Artist Of The Year and in 2021 I was honoured to win The International Confederation of Art Critics Award. Twenty Twenty Two was a significant year in my art career as I was invited to show my work at The Louvre in Paris, I had my first auction sale at Bonhams London and I won the Velazquez International Painting award. I have often been asked why I paint homeless people or people on an emotional knife edge. From a very early age I had always wanted to paint a homeless person, I do not know why, why would a young boy want to sketch a homeless person rather than a still life, a landscape or a portrait of someone that they know? I firmly believe there are some questions that you can not answer, sometimes your heart tells you something and you just have to follow it no matter where it takes you. This is how I feel.
Artist Recognition
Handpicked to show at The Other Art Fair presented by Saatchi Art in Chicago, London, Brooklyn, London, London, Bristol, London, London, London, London
Artist featured by Saatchi Art in a collection
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