Matthew Burrows MBE, artist and founder of the Artist Support Pledge, is one of the guest judges for Jackson’s Art Prize 2024. In this interview, he tells us about his work, the artists that have inspired him, and his advice for artists entering Jackson’s Art Prize 2024.
Shataph IV, 2002
Matthew Burrows
Acrylic on jute, 150 x 115 cm | 59 x 45.2 in
Interview with Matthew Burrows MBE
Josephine: Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your work?
Matthew: I’m an artist represented by Vigo Gallery in London. My work explores the relationship between the sacred, the body, and nature… Immersive experiences, immersive paintings, which are made in either oil or acrylic paint, usually on coarse materials such as jute, and they’re made in lots and lots of thin layers of paint, of interlocking topographies, if you like. Drawings that I make in the landscape are repeated into patterns of exploration. I think of them as sort of maps of the soul, if you like, that are mapping of all relationship between place and sense of identity.
Topology III, 2022
Matthew Burrows
Acrylic on jute, 150 x 115 cm | 59 x 45.2 in
Josephine: What have been your proudest achievements in your career?
Matthew: I think my proudest achievements to date is setting up the Artist Support Pledge during lockdown to support artists and makers through a very difficult period. The Artist Support Pledge is a movement on social media which asks participants to put work up for sale for no more than £220, though it can be less. Every time they reach £1,100 worth of sales, they pledge to buy another artist’s work for up to £220. This is a virtuous cycle of support amongst artists and their supporters and buyers. Although I was given lots of awards for this, I think the greatest reward I had was the thanks from my peers and colleagues.
Josephine: Who are the artists or artworks, and exhibitions you’ve been most inspired by this past year?
Matthew: Well, some of them are long time heroes of mine, people like Brice Marden and Agnes Martin. But exhibitions I’ve seen which have inspired me are Terry Winters’ show at Modern Arts, Susan Frecon at David Zwirner Gallery, Amy Parrott at Paraffin Gallery, and Mimi Lauter at White Cube Gallery.
Gatescape VI, 2002
Matthew Burrows
Acrylic on jute, 150 x 115 cm | 59 x 45.2 in
Josephine: What will you be looking for in the entries?
Matthew: What I’m looking for in the entries really is to be surprised, firstly. I’d like to be able to put my own bias aside in these instances and and see what takes me when the work’s there. I think that’s an important factor of being a judge that you don’t look for what you want to see or desire to see, but you look at what’s there. I think if there’s two things that I try to bring out in looking it’s a sense of both clarity and ambiguity- that the work has a clear sense of its own identity in what it is, but also there’s a sense of mystery to it. Something that unravels in the looking.
Josephine: How important do you think awards and competitions are for artists today?
Matthew: I think awards and competitions are important for artists because they give a sense of focus at what can be a rather disparate sense of time for artists in the studio, but also they bring artists together to showcase together, and to reward one another for their hard efforts and work.
Mountain I, 2002
Matthew Burrows
Acrylic on burlap, 200 x 150 cm | 78.7 x 59 in
Josephine: Do you have any advice for artists out there thinking about entering Jackson’s Painting Prize this year?
Matthew: My advice to artists thinking of entering Jackson’s Art Prize 2024 is to put some work in that has a strong sense of own character and a clarity to it. Don’t worry about what you think we will think of it. Put in the piece that best represents yourself.
Watch our Interview with Matthew Burrows on Instagram
Further Reading
How to Write an Artist Statement and Artwork Statement
A Step-by-Step Guide to Submitting Your Artwork to Jackson’s Art Prize 2024
Meet Melissa Ling, Winner of Jackson’s Art Prize 2023
