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MATHEW TOM - WELCOME TO PARADISE CURATED BY LYDIA COWPERTWAIT & MATHEW NICKERSON 16th November - 22nd December 2012
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MATHEW TOM - WELCOME TO PARADISE Curated by Lydia Cowpertwait and Matthew Nickerson 16th November - 22nd December 2012
Hoxton Art Gallery are pleased to present Mathew Tom’s first solo exhibition in London. Tom completed a post-baccalaureate certificate in Painting at The School of Art Institute, Chicago in 2008. The artist then went on to study at Goldsmiths College, London, where he completed a Masters in Fine Art in 2011.
Tom rejected the conceptualist principles taught at Goldsmiths College, the artist instead choosing to take a route he describes as ‘the antithesis of the Goldsmiths approach’. Tom developed a strong interest in collections of antiquity; his most recent work being inspired by artefacts housed in the British Museum and the V&A. In his latest works the artist presents a culmination of his different cultural experiences and interests. Utilising his skills in both classical European drawing techniques and impasto painting techniques learned at The School of Art Institute, Chicago, the artist presents a group of paintings that feature figures and motifs that are a hybrid of Eastern and Western religious and mythological iconography. Placing a strong emphasis on symmetrical meticulousness and a bold use of paint the artist explores the stylisation of nature but with an ironic coil, harking to the aesthetic debates over ornamentation and its relationship to mass consumerist culture.
Tom was the receiver of the SAIC Merit Scholarship and the Charles L.Range Scholarship in 2007. The artist recently completed the ARE artist’s residency in Holland where he lived and worked for three months in Enschede. In 2010 the artist was nominated for the Red Mansion Art Prize and this year he has been nominated for the Jerwood Drawing Prize and the Marmite Prize for painting. Tom’s work was recently showcased in Zardoz, the inaugural exhibition for MOT International’s project space at Regent Studios, which aims at promoting the best emerging talent in the UK and abroad.
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MATHEW TOM ‘Mathew Tom creates an imaginary world grounded in the realms of history and tradition.’
‘Tom’s paintings of his male subject are reminiscent of Indian Miniature painting. His protagonist becomes a sort of idol or guru, guiding us on an enlightened journey. Whether we are travelling from East to West or West to East is impossible to determine. Tom’s figures exist between cultures and his fantasy paradise becomes a transient place free from geographical or cultural constrictions.’ - Victoria Scott, Christies
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MATHEW TOM B. in the USA Lives and works in London EDUCATION 2011 MFA Goldsmiths, University of London 2008 Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Painting, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago 2007 BFA University of Central Florida AWARDS & RESIDENCIES ARE Holland, Enschede, Netherlands Shortlisted for Red Mansion Prize, London, UK SAIC Merit Scholarship Charles L. Range, MD Scholarship SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2012 Perfect Future, B93 Space, Enschede, Netherlands 2006 Acceptable Racism, Gallery 210, Orlando, FL GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2012 2011 2010 2008 2007
Jerwood Drawing Prize Exhibition, Jerwood Space, London Zardoz, MOT International, London, UK Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London, UK Wunderkammer, Hoxton Art Gallery, London, UK Affordable Art Fair, London, UK Grammar of the Ornament, Hoxton Art Gallery, London, UK Goldsmiths MFA Show, London, UK London Original Print Fair, Royal Academy, London, UK Goldsmiths MFA Interim Show, London, UK Gen Next III, Aakriti Art Gallery, Kolkata, India SAIC MFA Show, G2 Gallery, Chicago, IL Lucky 13 Exhibition, Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, IL Paper Love, Dan Devening Projects. Chicago, IL Exposed, Orlando, FL
PUBLICATIONS & PRESS 2010 2009 2008 2007
Marmite Painting Prize Catalogue The School of the Art Institute of Chicago 2008-2009 Graduate Catalogue No Barriers for Art, The Financial Express Pretty Girl, Death’s Head, The Telegraph Foreign artists flock to India as business booms, The Economic Times Racially charged painting vandalized, The Central Florida
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Disciple with Flower, 2012 Oil and charcoal on linen 140 x 110 cm
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Portal, 2012 Oil on board 30 x 24 cm
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Candles (diptych), 2012 Oil and charcoal on linen 130 x 110 cm each
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Portal, 2012 Oil on board 30 x 24 cm
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Urn, 2012 Oil and charcoal on linen 200 x 150 cm
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Flowers with Vases (diptych), 2012 Oil and charcoal on linen 140 x 110 cm each
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Portal, 2012 Oil on board 30 x 24 cm
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Melancholy Disciples (diptych), 2012 Oil and charcoal on linen 140 x 110 cm each
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Portal, 2012 Oil on board 30 x 24 cm
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The Future, 2011 Oil and charcoal on linen 95 x 95 x 95 cm
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Brooks Ran Gold (revisited), 2012 Oil on board 80 x 104 cm
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Untitled, 2010 Oil on canvas 59 x 59 cm
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