Press Release

14 | 08 | 24

Matthew Lanyon | No Holds Barred, Life & Art

19th October to 16th November 2024

Matthew Lanyon with his paintingBartinney Landing,2002

Matthew Lanyon (1951 - 2016) is considered one of Cornwall's most important artists. His paintings, tapestries, screenprints and assemblages employ an exclusive visual language created by the artist over his lifetime, and explore abstraction in the context of the history and landscape of West Penwith where he was born and raised.

Matthew's long association with New Craftsman Gallery continues this autumn, with the firstcurated exhibition of his work since 2018. It celebrates the work of an artist for whom distinctions between art and life were largely irrelevant, work that explores his experiences of places, people and living creatures. Matthew's paintings, often monumental in size, could be interpreted as maps, or trails through time and space, with all the suns rising and setting around the edges, always celebrating the sacred in both joy and loss. He was attracted in his work to the edges of things, the unexpected transformation and collapse of worlds, the threats to life posed by human vanity and the elements.

Matthew Lanyon |In the Tracks of the Yellow Dog| Tapestry, 140cm x 246cm

Matthew read widely, reaching back into antiquity and often myth for inspiration beyond the painting traditions of western art and his Cornish contemporaries. He had an appetite for Greek mythology, fascinated by the way it ‘helped shape Western self-consciousness', and his paintings often bear the names of Greek goddesses and relate on a symbolic level to their surviving abduction, using magic, delivering punishments and being sexually irresistible, each painting reflecting personal aspects of Matthew's life. Pasiphae and the white bull; the motherless Athena, goddess of wisdom, strategy and craftsmanship; and Pyrrha, tasked with re-populating the earth after the deluge brought about by Zeus, are all referenced in this show, as well as Europa and the bull, which was a constant theme in Matthew's work for over a decade. He made 20 Europa paintings between 2001 and 2011, and this exhibition includes the very first work in that series.
 

Matthew Lanyon |Bartinney Landing,oil on canvas, 183cm x 122cm

Other works reference Cornwall's link with ancient Irish and Scottish ‘Celtic' traditions, as well as Christian iconography, signifying both his sense of belonging to and ability to tease and reframe the strong religious traditions of art history, though he did not follow any religion himself: there are two Madonna paintings in this exhibition, both examples of the rich diversity of Matthew's approach to colour and form. Matthew also had an affinity with aboriginal art: he built a rich private collection of literature on aboriginal culture and made good use of it. His only tapestry, which takes centre stage in this exhibition, was created in the last year of his life. It commemorates the passing of his mother and makes extensive use of the iconography of prehistory and contemporary landmarks in and around St Ives in Cornwall. It holds a key place in his life's work.

New Craftsman Gallery, 24 Fore St, St Ives, Cornwall, TR26 1HE

info@newcraftsmanstives.com |www.newcraftsmanstives.com

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Print Ready 300dpi images for press use:

Matthew with his painting Bartinney Landing

MATTHEW LANYON In the Tracks of the Yellow Dog

MATTHEW LANYON Bartinney Landing



Editors Notes

New Craftsman St Ives

With an international reputation amongst art and craft collectors for its painting, sculpture and quality studio ceramics, the New Craftsman is regarded as one of the most important spaces for contemporary artists in St Ives. Founded in the mid-1960s by potter Janet Leach, it holds an unrivalled reputation as one of the country's leading art and craft venues. Today the gallery's annual programme of mixed and solo exhibitions continues to support the work of Cornwall's and the UK's very best painters and craftspeople.

New Craftsman Gallery, 24 Fore Street, St. Ives, Cornwall TR26 1HE

info@newcraftsmanstives.com|www.newcraftsmanstives.com

For further press information or additional images contact Mercedes Smith at Fine Art Communications director@fineartcommunications.co.uk | www.fineartcommunications.co.uk