YORK artist Matthew Miller will launch his quilt exhibition, Cloth & Colour, at an 11.30am to 1.30pm preview on Saturday at York Theatre Royal.
This inaugural Pop-Up Project mounted by Lotte Inch Gallery will run at the St Leonard’s Place theatre until Tuesday, November 30.
“In the first of our ‘Beyond The Gallery Walls’projects, Lotte Inch Gallery is delighted to be working with the extremely talented, multi-media artist Matthew Miller to bring an impressive and colourful installation to the Theatre Royal foyer this November,” says Lotte.
“Matthew is based in London but hails from York and I’m thrilled that he’s returning to his roots for this milestone gallery project.”
After an uncertain and stop-start 2020 under the Covid cloud, gallery owner Lotte took the difficult decision to close her Bootham premises in June this summer. “However, in my commitment to the city’s art scene, I always intended to keep working on creative projects and I’m excited to be curating this pop-up exhibition at the Theatre Royal.”
Matthew Miller’s new installation is a series of textile pieces inspired by the work of the quilters of Gee’s Bend, Alabama. “Using only waste material from their worn-out garments and sheets, the women of Gee’s Bend made vibrant and raw quilts that rival any Colourists of the 20th century,” says Lotte.
“Matthew’s interest in these beautifully crafted textiles drew him to collaborate with his mother, Liza, on his first quilt in 2016 before developing his own process to produce the pieces exhibited in this show.”
Interested in the ecological use of fabric in quilting, Matthew has used end-of-roll and pre-worn fabrics in all of his quilts. “Leaning into the aesthetic of his paintings, he extends his exploration of bright, bold colours and clear form to create a series of vibrant collages in cloth,” says Lotte.
“He has found in quilts a tactile medium that can work just as easily on a table or bed as on a wall. This practical use gives the works an emotional element, allowing people to feel them and touch them as well as just admire them.”
Matthew’s background in book arts and design, as a graduate from London College of Communication, has seen him host shows in varying media, both in London and his home city of York.
Previously, his medium of choice has been painting. Cloth & Colour will be his first exhibition of quilts, coinciding happily but by chance – in a like father, like son story – with pater Peter Miller’s exhibition of North Yorkshire oil paintings at the Partisan café/restaurant on Micklegate. Miller senior’s From Kilburn To Hawnby landscapes oil paintings share the same closing date, November 30; like father, like son, again.
Matthew Miller’s Cloth & Colour, York Theatre Royal foyer, November 13 to 30, during theatre opening hours; Monday, 1pm to 5pm; Tuesday to Saturday, 9am to 10pm; Sunday, closed.