Urban Art Association

Matt Small 'Youngstarrs', by BlackRatPress on Mar 16, 2009 16:15:32 GMT 1, Black Rat is delighted to announce a solo exhibition by award winning painter Matthew Small. Matts latest body of work Youngstarrs is an exploration on the themes of youth and hope.

'Each and everyone of us has a story, and all our stories begin in our childhood. The show focuses on the young child as an everlasting symbol of hope and seeks to illustrate the innate potential in each and every one of us. Looking at the guy on the street I wonder what happened in that persons life whilst growing up, what events shaped his outlook on life. Why is he where he is in the journey of life. Invariably when we look at the young child on the street we can wonder what lies ahead of them, what will the future bring? With all the media talk of rising youth crime, underage drinking and sex in broken Britain we can feel a sense of foreboding, and despair. But in each child there is hope present. The fact is though that a young person around the age of 6 becomes exposed to the World, the parent finds their ability to shield the young child from subversive influences weakening. Friends at school, television, internet, life in general begins to infiltrate and inform the receptive mind of the child. We see all these influences far more in the teenage years, where conscious decisions are made by an individual on how they wish to conduct themselves, and how they wish to be seen. The show will feature a series of portraits of these young kids, at stages in there lives where the world is challenging their innocence, where we as adults ask what does the future have in store for them. Juxtaposed with the images of the children, are portraits of older youth, at a stage in their journeys where they are living within the troubles of modern society. All these young people will have to navigate lifes obstacles, but contained within them is that innate potential to survive through life and not to be extinguished. The paintings seek to illustrate the fact that no matter what is happening around them, there is still hope in our youth'- Matt Small March 2009

Matt Small is an artist whose painting is best understood as an extension of his beliefs and world view. Matt is a passionate believer in social inclusion and that, given the opportunities to be heard and respected, all individuals have something of value to contribute to society. The subject matter of Matts portraits tends to be the marginalized and voiceless in society, those who are socially excluded and often viewed as statistics or pawns in a wider political game as opposed to individuals with the latent potential to contribute and enrich society if only given the opportunity to be heard. By painting portraits of individuals on the outskirts of society, often young black men, Matt encourages us to spend time with people who we may chose to overlook in our daily lives and in doing so forces us to challenge our prejudices and recognize our shared humanity

Not content with dealing with such issues only on a conceptual level through his painting, Matt is actively involved in working with the socially excluded. His most recent project - Hope in Life - involved running a series of workshops where mentally ill, homeless and educationally excluded young people came together on a weekly basis alongside established artists to express themselves through painting and music. The project was a huge success culminating in an exhibition at Black Rat Press. The money raised at the show will help make Hope in Life an annual project.

Matt Small graduated from the Royal College of Art and his unique style of portraiture has gained him a huge following and widespread critical acclaim.

He was runner up in the BP portrait award and winner of the Villers David prize. His work is in numerous collections worldwide including the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Youngstarrs previews on March 26th from 6.30pm to 9.30pm. The exhibition continues until April 17th.