Closing event for Matt Small's exhibition at JG Contemporary on Churchfield Road
We are pleased to invite you to the closing event of the “Shine” exhibition this Thursday 5th March, From 6:30 to 9:30PM at JG Contemporary, 45 Churchfield Road, W3 6AY. The focal point of Matt Small's Shine is his portrait of Jamal Edwards MBE. Still work in progress 'Jamal' was commissioned by Acton Unframed for the 5 murals project in and around Acton Central. Acton boy Jamal Edwards was chosen for this mural as an example of a young inspiring person who has worked hard and has achieved so much and continues to give back to his community. Matt took a residency at Bollo Brook Youth Center in November and Jamal was constructed in full view of the Youth Club's young attendees some of who took serious interest in helping Matt. Made entirely from recycled metal and plastic from Acton Recycling Centre and some donations from the locals and Derwentwater School kids, we hope Matt's ‘Jamal’ will shine, inspire and motivate the young generations in W3 and beyond once installed in in it's permanent location. This Thursday, March 5th we will have our final evening for Shine, at the gallery. We invite you to come and check the fantastic works on display, meet Matt and see how he’s transformed the discarded objects into a portraits of young men and women with a dream.About Matt SmallConcerned 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. Look forward to seeing you there.All welcomeJewel
Jewel Goodby ● 2163d2 Comments