Renowned for his site-specific installations and explorations of institutional critique, multi award-winning artist Matt Smith employs clay and textiles to challenge historical narratives and reimagine museum spaces. With a keen focus on queer perspectives and alternative histories, Smith's work invites contemplation on movement, displacement, and the construction of identity within cultural institutions. We are thrilled to present the artist's most recent works from his 'Family Romance' body of work. Based on a recent installation by the artist 'Untold Lives', now open at Kensington Palace, and inspired by British royal wedding plates, each of these large meat platters commemorates a queer union. These works subvert conventional family narratives, employing object collection to construct substitute family groups. Each platter serves as homage to overlooked histories and embodies Smith's inheritance of fragile familial legacies.
Among the depicted unions are those of Claude Cahun, a French surrealist photographer, and Radcliffe Hall, an English author famous for 'The Well of Loneliness'. Also featured are Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas, Walt Whitman and Peter Doyle, and Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, known as the ladies of Llangollen. Thomas Ernest Boulton and Frederick William Park, Fanny and Stella, and Edward Carpenter and George Merrill complete the ensemble, showcasing diverse expressions of love and resilience throughout history. Through 'Family Romance' Smith invites viewers to reconsider traditional notions of family and heritage, highlighting the rich tapestry of queer relationships across different eras and cultures.
Smith's interest lies in reframing museums to offer alternative perspectives, often achieved by repurposing objects in new contexts. Notable exhibitions include 'Losing Venus' at the Pitt Rivers Museum, 'Flux: Parian Unpacked' at the Fitzwilliam Museum, and 'Who Owns History' at Hove Museum. Smith's residency at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London furthered his exploration of institutional dynamics. His work extends beyond exhibitions, with commissions from prominent institutions like the UK Crafts Council and the Contemporary Art Society. In 2020, the Contemporary Art Society acquired a significant body of his work for Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. His pieces also entered prestigious collections at institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Museum of Scotland.
Matt Smith is represented internationally by Cynthia Corbett Gallery and was the winner of the Young Masters Maylis Grand Ceramics Prize in 2014.
