By Alice
2nd April 2019
Celebrated internationally for his incredibly textural and emotive portraits, UK artist Matt Small is gentle in temperament, but you wouldn’t guess that from his incredibly bold and powerful works. His sitters, unlike many famous contemporary portraits, feature not royalty, celebrities or even people Small knows personally. He purposefully seeks out new faces, residents of North London where he is based, those going about their lives quietly who aren’t searching for recognition. Their power and resonance comes from Small’s incredibly personal and emotional depictions, their anonymity becomes a pedestal allowing their personalities and features to shine and tell their stories.
‘Cassandra’ is a radiant example of Small’s ability to uplift and embolden his sitters, her front-on stance is so redolent of historical royal portraits (in centuries past, portraits where the sitter stood facing the viewer directly were reserved only for royalty, as it represented power and dominance) The beautifully rustic and handmade wooden mosaic surrounding her is like a stained-glass window, almost halo-like. To emphasise the regality and beauty of ‘Cassandra’, we are releasing a highly limited copper-leaf edition, with hand applied copper leaf adorning her neck and hair, as if it were her crown jewels. And in addition, we will be releasing XL and standard editions simultaneously, so no matter your space limitations you can find a home for ‘Cassandra’. If you are able to attend Urban Art Fair 2019 we will also be exhibiting Small’s original mosaic ‘Cassandra’ on our stand, so you can take in the full glory of both editions and original painting.
All ‘Cassandra’ editions will be released online, in store and at our stand at Urban Art Fair 2019. from 11am Thursday 11th April.
Cassandra – Standard’ ed. of 50 (42cm x 60cm) £125
‘Cassandra – XL ‘ ed. of 25 (100cm x 100cm) £395
‘Cassandra – Copper Leaf’ ed. of 20 (100cm x 100cm) £695
Please enquire to hello@nellyduff.com for any further information and pre-sale for these incredible artworks.
