Walking through Matthew Alexander’s home studio, enjoying the soft sunlight shining through the tall windows, warming up the rich canvases that line the walls, you may find your attention caught by an open drawer brimming with sketch books and papers. If temptation gets the better of you to peek at them, you’ll find that these books, often with a date on the cover, are in fact not Matthew’s, but those of his father, Christopher Alexander. Of course, if you ask him, Matthew will happily show you the archive of sketches that he holds of his father’s work. ‘He was never without a
sketchbook’ he’ll tell you. Whether at the pub, on the train, on holiday or at family occasions, the presence of one of these sketchbooks rarely went unnoticed. It was especially so when on walks and painting trips along the Kentish coast, the Broads and coast of East Anglia and beyond.
Such was the backdrop to Matthew’s early life growing up on the Isle of Thanet, around the coastal towns of Ramsgate, Broadstairs and Margate. In this regard, Matthew’s subject matter was decided for him at this early age. The world at the north-eastern edge of Kent, at the far end of the Thames estuary with the North Sea on one side and the Straits of Dover on the other, is a liminal space where the sea and sky coalesce.
The history of this unassuming and humble peninsular has been witness to countless invasions dating back to the Roman Emperor, Julius Caesar, followed by the Vikings several centuries later. Today, the drama that unfolds in this region is written into its varied landscapes, its marshes, its expanses of fertile fields, as well as its picturesque coasts that have served, and still serve, as a compelling muse for painters. In this low-lying landscape, bound on both sides by water, the ebb and flow of time is characterised by its expansive skies. The shifting clouds become transient verses, drifting across a brilliant blue canvas, reflecting tales both of tempests and tranquillity in its rich history.
The ever-changing light conditions in the region have been a perennial muse for Matthew since he first joined his father and brother painting as a young artist, acquainting himself with the dramatic coastal formations, as well as the maritime architecture that has built up throughout history for military and industrial use. ‘Being born in a seaside town, I have always loved the water and been acutely aware of the reflections of objects at low tide in the wet sand for most of my life and have become very familiar with their shape and structure at both low and high tides.’
This intimate understanding is key to the fluidity of his painting. His familiarity to the area’s topography is so intrinsic to his visual vocabulary that these elements almost become secondary to his practice. Instead, his obsession with rendering the myriad of light effects created at various times throughout the day are the true focal point of his canvases. This too is central to the genealogy of Matthew’s work, which is as rich as it is complex, extending beyond the observational skills passed down to him from his father, into the romantic traditions of the region that stretch back to Thomas Gainsborough and John Constable.
Patrick Duffy, Archivist for David Messum Fine Art
Read the full essay in our exhibition catalogue,
which is available to buy online and from our gallery in St. James's
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