Laura Matthews British, Australian, b. 1964-
Rivers, Roads and Relics
The Island of Tasmania, sitting south of the continent of Australia, is a time capsule of early settlement. It exists as a reminder of colonisation and industry, both in a positive and negative sense. It is a landscape that conjures up all that is “the sublime”. Cold winds and snow in winter, harsh dry summers and raging bush fires, have uniquely carved its mountain ranges, forests and settled districts.
In history, Tasmania has been maligned as a backwater by many who did not live there. Early in settlement, it was one of the most feared places on the planet—a prison at the end of the earth. Tasmania now sits on the world stage as an artistic bolt hole—curatorially ambitious—placed in an environment that both challenges and delights all who enter it.
It is in this place that Laura Matthews has immersed herself—travelling, drawing and painting down the west coast and through the pastoral country of the earliest European-inhabited lands in Australia. The detritus of settlement remains. Laced with a history and a legacy of hope, success and failure—sweat, tears and indeed blood with the early nation builders—often encouraged at the end of a whip. This land speaks also of a dispossession of the Palawa people. Their mark is on this land forever, embedded in the rock engravings and a spirit that moves with the wind of the moorlands and the ancient forests. Their presence—real and ethereal—is a powerful mark of cultural resilience that is profound and omnipresent in Australian history. Theirs is a history always known to those who knew where to look, but, only now being understood by the broader community.
Tasmania is a landscape rich in rivers and lakes, shimmering in that particular southern light. Its brightness and intensity belies the popular perception of a place of clouds and rain.
Laura Matthews has a very particular ability in paint—her training at the prestigious Slade School in London under the tutorage of the giants of British painting, such as William Coldstream, has afforded her an ability to render in paint, the truth of a place. The Slade School was a place where academic painting was celebrated, not derided. Her formalist training provides her with the complete visual language to articulate what her eye has observed, and her heart has felt, at the enormity of the view before her.
The relics of human existence in this place tinge the exhibition with a sense of memento mori. Or, is it a nostalgia for us to celebrate? I rather feel that it is discussing the beauty inherent in all those things that are patinaed with time. In doing so, Matthews joins the artists who have worked and built the history and mythology of this island—at a time when it advances to the forefront of this country’s consciousness.
Ralph Hobbs
August, 2018
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Laura MatthewsMorning Surf, 2023Oil on canvas120 x 120cmSold
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Laura MatthewsSnow Country, 2023Oil on canvas122 x 122cm
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Laura MatthewsUnforeseen, 2023Oil on canvas under resin150 x 150cm
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Laura MatthewsBreathe, 2018Oil on Canvas160cm x 200cmSold
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Laura MatthewsSteel Etched, 2018Oil on canvas150 x 150cmSold
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Laura Matthews"As the crow flies” (en route to Launceston) , 2016Oil on canvas150 x 150 cmSold
59 1/8 x 59 1/8 in -
Laura MatthewsAngus BanksOil on canvas153 x 153cmSold
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Laura MatthewsFour Panel Study 1Oil on board48 x 48cm
50.5 x 50.5cm (framed)
Education
1987-1989: HDFA, Slade School of Fine Art, University College, London
1983-1987: BA (Hons) Slade School of Fine Art, University College, London
1989: Elected Freeman, Painters & Stainers Guild (London)
Awards
2017: Winner 1st Prize Regional artist award, Hunters Hill Art Prize
2017: Winner Peoples Choice Tattersall's Art Prize
2017: Finalist Manning Art Prize
2017: Finalist Paddington Art P{rize
2017: Finalist inaugural Ravenswood Art Prize
2017: Finalist Tattersall's Art Prize
2016: Finalist Tattersall's Art Prize
2015: Finalist Tattersall's Art Prize
2014: Finalist Tattersall's Art Prize
2013: Finalist Tattersall's Art Prize
2012: Finalist Portia Geach Portrait Prize
2012: Finalist Tattersall's Art Prize
2011: Finalist Tattersall's Art Prize
2011: Finalist Manning Regional Art Prize
2010: Finalist Paddington Art Prize
2010: Finalist Norvil Art Prize
2010: Finalist The John Glover Prize for Tasmanian Landscape
2009: Finalist The John Glover Prize for Tasmanian Landscape (Highly Commended)
2008: Finalist Kings School Art prize 2008: Finalist Portia Geach Memorial Award for Portraiture
2008: Finalist Kings School Parramatta Art Prize 2008: Finalist Norvil Art Prize, Salon
2006: Finalist Art on the Rocks, Sydney
2004: Finalist Paddington Art Prize, Sydney
2004: Finalist Fleurieu Peninsula Biennale for Landscape Painting
2004: Finalist Portia Geach Memorial Award for Portraiture
Australia - Solo
2018 "Rivers, Roads and Relics" Nanda\Hobbs, Sydney
2017 "Disparate measures" Anita Traynor Fine Art Melbourne
2017 "Inside Out "Studio Gallery Perth
2016: "Hiraeth" Nanda\Hobbs Contemporary, Sydney
2015: "Eye Witness" Pine St gallery Chippendale
2014: "Threshold" Art Equity ,Sydney
2013: Exhibition studio gallery Yallingup
2012: "10 paintings " Studio Gallery Yallingup WA
2012: "Ghosts " Gallery Aloft Sydney
2011: "Nature Built it 2First" Despard Gallery, Hoba
2011: “Life on Mars”, Astras Galleries, Gold Coast
2010: “What Lies Beneath” Metro Gallery, Melbourne
2009: “Diemens” Metro Gallery, Melbourne
2009 “Roar” Charles Hewitt Gallery, Sydney (Televised)
2008: “Devils Heart” Art Equity, Sydney
2007: “Vistas” Art Equity, Sydney
2007: Ross Hill Winery, Presented by BCFA, Orange
2006: "Breathe" Art Equity, Sydney
2005: "Sky Sweep City Scape" Art Equity, Sydney
2004: "Caught in the Eye" Art Equity, Sydney
2007: "Australia Day" Sydney Morning Herald Exhibition "Barbeque"
2007: "Sydney Art Fair" Group Corporate Art
2006: "Images of Little Bay" for Landcom
2005: "Affordable Art Fair" Sydney
2004: "1+2 Media" Dommayne Design Inaugural Exhibition Presented by BCFA
United Kingdom
2002: July move to Australia - 1+2 Artist Studios, Lilyfield, Sydney
2001: Mixed shows, Sheen Gallery, London
2001: Mixed shows, Sheen Gallery, London
2000: Five Painters, New Grafton Gallery, London
1999: Joint exhibition; The New Grafton Gallery, London
1999: Mixed show Quantum Contemporary Art, London
1999: Mixed show, Highgate Fine Art, Highgate, London
1999-2000: Works commissioned Royal Caribbean International Cruise liners
1998-1999: Works commissioned by Royal Caribbean International Cruise liners
1998: Guest exhibitor at the New English Arts Club, Pall Mall, London
1987: Abbott & Holder, London
1997: Collyer Bristow:"A Clear Picture "
1996: Slade Summer Exhibition, "Drawing a Survey"
1996: Slade Gallery, One Woman Show
1995: New Grafton Gallery Joint show, London
1994-1996: London Contemporary Art Fair
1993-1998: New Grafton Gallery (Mixed shows), London
1992: The Heffer's Gallery, Cambridge
1991: Austen Desmond "The Prose of Painting", London
1990: Bonham's' "New Generation", London
Collections
Works contained in Slade (UCL, London) Collection
Private collections in Europe, USA, Australia and Asia
Works collected and exhibited by Royal Caribbean Cruise Liners 1998-2001 Landcom Australia
Teaching
2000-02: Lecturer in Drawing (Costume Design School of Art)
1999: Slade Affiliate Programme Tutor - Life Painting, Drawing
1998-99: Wimbledon School of Art -costume design, drawing tutor 0.5 lecturer Painting & Drawing tutor (course co-ordinator)
1997-89: Course tutor - Slade Life Drawing BA/MA students; Slade Affiliate Programme -
1997-98: Wimbledon School of Art Visiting lecturer (Life Drawing & studio visits)
1996: Painting & Drawing tutor B-Tec Foundation Course Painting & Drawing coordinator - Richmond Adult & Community college.
1994-98: Slade Summer School continuing to work on the Alternative Foundation course, course co-ordinator for specialist drawing courses i.e., "Drawing a Way of Thinking"
1990: Workshops(Barbican) based around the exhibition "A Singular Vision"
1990: Drawing & Painting workshops incorporating lectures on the work of Euan Uglow - Whitechapel Art Gallery London.
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Solstice
Winter 2024 8 Jun - 31 Jul 2024 -
A BCFA Summer
January & February 2024 20 Jan - 10 Feb 2024BCFA presents a vibrant selection of summer themed artwork by 15 of our artists including the cerulean skies of Belinda Wilson, breezy summer narratives by Sue MacLeod-Beere, and BCFA newcomer ...Read more -
Spring Collection
Exhibition to celebrate our beautiful Spring collection 19 Sep - 31 Oct 2019 -
20/20 Vision
20 Years 20 Women 1 - 30 Nov 2018A survey of 20 Australian women artists over 2 decades Celebrating 20 years since the establishment of BCFARead more
Publications
2009: Featured Artist, Cyclomedica Calendar 2010 Edition
2009: Featured Artist, “The Apprentice” Channel 9
2007: Sydney Morning Herald, Australia Day Edition
2006: Landcom “Little Bay” Promotional material, SMH (large advertisement)
1997: Cover Piece for The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse. (Philip Larkin, Ed. OUP, 1997)