Matt Smith
b. 1971, United Kingdom
b.1971, Cambridgeshire, UK
Matt Smith is a multi award-winning artist based in Ireland and England. Acclaimed solo exhibitions include Losing Venus at the Pitt Rivers Museum, Flux: Parian Unpacked at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Who Owns History at Hove Museum and Queering the Museum at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. In 2015/16 he was artist in residence at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He holds a PhD from the University of Brighton and was Professor at Konstfack University, Stockholm.
In 2020 he was awarded the Brookfield Prize at Collect and the Contemporary Art Society acquired a body of his work for Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. His work is also held in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Walker Art Gallery, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, National Museum of Scotland, National Museum of Northern Ireland and the Crafts Council collection.
In 2024, Matt Smith received a significant commission for a new exhibition at Kensington Palace titled Untold Lives: A Palace at Work, uncovering the forgotten stories of those who worked at the royal palaces over 300 years ago. He created a poignant series of plates that narrate the story of Gustavus Guydickens, a Gentleman Usher at Queen Charlotte’s court, who was disgraced after being accused of homosexuality. Find out more about: Shame: 'The Sad and Melancholy Tale of Gustavus Guydickens, 1730-1802' By Matt Smith, 2023
'Untold Lives: a fascinating peek below stairs at a royal palace' read The Telegraph article here.
Click to watch a video of Matt Smith explaining how he created his new body of work 'The Sad and Melancholy Tale of Gustavus Guydickens 1730-1802'
Watch video: Untold Lives | Dan Snow Investigates Forgotten Stories at Kensington Palace
Matt Smith is represented internationally by Cynthia Corbett Gallery and was the winner of the Young Masters Maylis Grand Ceramics Prize in 2014.