Matt Rowe

Tall Tales Whitstable Biennial satellite events 19 June – 4 July 2010

2010-02-24T03:50:00.000-08:00

Tall Tales - Whitstable Biennial satellite events 19 June – 4 July 2010

Tall Tales seeks to record the embellished truths and myths of the British public house.

Following in the traditions of Cecil Sharp and Alan Lomax, Matt Rowe will trawl local public houses and social clubs, collecting a series of field recordings and documentary images.

Matt Rowe and Abi Gillchist will then transcribe these ramblings from chance encounters into a hand-bound compendium of regional folkore.

The Tall Tales compendium presents a loose form of social reportage, celebrating localism and exaggerated truths.

Have you found one of the Tall Tale's beer mats? if so tell us your Tall Tale here

About the Biennale
The Whitstable Biennale is a festival of contemporary visual art, with a curated programme focused on artists’ performances and works made for the screen. A programme of commissions running throughout the Biennale will be accompanied by events unfolding each weekend including a dynamic film programme and a varied talks and events programme. Please visit www.whitstablebiennale.com for information on previous Biennales.

23/03 /2010 silk screen printing the Tall Tales certificates at Silkworm Studios in Folkestone

Recherche trip on Tuesday the 23/03/2010

Hidden Territories, Fisherman's Beach

2010-01-14T15:39:00.000-08:00

Hidden Territories is a series of inquires in to the vernacular territories that fringe the urban environment.

New works begin to document these spaces and there inhabitants, with the purpose of distilling there codes and visual symbols in to an essence of folk culture.

Fisherman's Beach is a fully functional working beach in Hythe Kent.  This series of images images depict a declining coastal industry.

As of March 2010 the beach will become prime redevelopment land with the remaining fishing fleet continuing to operate further along the beach. However the distinctively ramshackle architecture and its intrinsic community are becoming dissembled to make way to progress.

Landed Beach fishing was once a staple industry of the Cinque port towns.  A culture that has been in slow decline for decades.

Traces of this industry can still be found around the Kent and Sussex coast line. In this short film Chris Searson documents the Dungeness, beach fishing community Link

all images © Matt Rowe 2010

See more images at Matt Rowe Photography

The Dollar Street Gallery ~ Retirement Home For China Dogs

2009-12-03T05:52:00.000-08:00

A China Dog is for Life, Not Just For Christmas
Each year thousands of china ornaments are cast out of the home, many end up abandoned, chipped even broken. However the is hope, Go Go Whippet has founded the retirement home for china dogs. simply drop in your unwanted ornaments to our china dog sanctuary collection point's, where your donation will continue to develop this unique folk archive.

The china dog archive + last supper of camp dog plates will be exhibited along side works by Rembrandt and Queen Victoria...

Collection Point:
The Dollar Street Gallery
Tuesday ~ Saterday10am ~ 6pm November To December 2009
34-36 Dollar Street ~ Cirencester ~ Gloucestershire GL7 2AN ~ UK ~ 01285 651 072 ~ Link

MRP Site now live

2009-11-26T01:56:00.001-08:00

Now Live m-r-p.co.uk showcases social portraiture, contemporary landscapes and documentary images taken over the last 7 years, along side selected commercial work.

The documentary images capture the changing folk identity and aesthetic of Shepway's vernacular spaces, as the region adopts a new seaside identity.

New Look Go go Whippet web site

2009-10-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

New look Go Go Whippet web site now up and running visit gogowhippet.com

Go Go Whippet at Tom Dixons The Dock

2009-09-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

On Saturday 26th November Club Shepway have been invited to exhibit at the Art Car Boutique one of a series creative events curated by Tom Dixon for London design week.

http://www.portobellodock.com/thedock/pages/home.html

Art Of Noise Custome Vinyl Record Show

2009-08-24T08:17:00.000-07:00

Custome Vinyl Record Show submission.

Private View 6-9pm - Thursday 3rd September 2009
Sat/Sun 12-4pm until Sunday 20th September
Weekdays by Appointment Only.
Venue - Swanfield Yard, 2b Swanfield Street, London E2 7DS
http://www.eastendartsclub.co.uk/index.htm

"Salvation" sets the theam for Tourture Garden summer ball 2009

2009-07-15T06:25:00.000-07:00

"Salvation" By Matt Rowe sets the theam for Tourture Garden summer ball 2009

Last Supper of Camp Dogs

2009-06-23T03:51:00.000-07:00

Enjoy dining in style with the first pair of plates in the series, “the last supper of camp dogs”.
These Luxury 12" fine bone china dog plates are hand produced in England.
High quality screen printed enamel decals ensure, these plates not only look ritzy but are food safe and durable.

Only 80 of these limited edition black label range have ever been produced.

Crockery Crypt

2009-06-05T04:52:00.001-07:00

The Skull installations are part of an on going project in response to the Hythe Crypt or House Of Bones as its know locally. Each Skull is cast from Parian Ware a semi porcelain body used to create the classical busts of the 18th century. the blanks are ready to be adapted to form a lager intalation in the near future.

Genuine Imitation Shingle

2009-06-02T14:23:00.000-07:00

Genuine Imitation Shingle is a flexible ceramic landscape, constantly evolving with new additions. A transient landmass constructed afresh during each installation.

Over the Last four years i have been periodically producing small hand thrown batches of ceramic fragments. The amassed imitation beach is comprised of subtle tones created from a variety of porcelains, stoneware and blended clay bodies.

O Dreamland 2007

Annual Seaside Review at the B&B Project Space

over embellished tea cups

2009-05-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

Dripping in genuine gold, tea drinkers have never had it so good...
This limited edition Club Shepway batch, have been hand produced by Go Go Whippet
Folkestone only subversive sea side pottery.

available at the 2009 Art Car Boot Fair

Neo Hoodening

2009-05-05T06:10:00.000-07:00

"Hoodening, also called Hodening, is an East Kent tradition vaguely related to Mumming and the Morris dance, and dating back at least to the mid-18th century.

The common feature to all groups was the appearance of a Hooden Horse - a horse's head mounted on a pole, with a sackcloth attached to hide the bearer. The head would normally have a hinged jaw which could snap shut with a mighty crack.
Despite occasional breaks, the tradition is a living one, and is currently performed by several teams around East Kent.

www.hoodening.org.uk

sizing up the stick

fiberglass casing being filled, shaped ready for painting

covering the wood wool in packing tape, then coating with resin

cladding the wooden armature with wood wool.

Skull on A Stick Bird Box

2009-04-15T09:08:00.000-07:00

Vernacular Events Publication no.1

2009-04-11T20:45:00.000-07:00

Fresh from the printers is Club Shepways first Publication Vernacular Spectacular available soon! from the B&B Project Space 14 Tontine Street Folkestone and rennies seaside modern ...

Salvation

2009-04-11T02:55:00.000-07:00

Salvation
cast beach ball, fiberglass, automotive paint.
© Matt Rowe 2008

Lethiathon Tea Cup

2009-04-09T03:49:00.000-07:00

Lethiathon Tea Cup
Parian Were
© Matt Rowe 2008

Promo shoot with vicky butterfly for "Starlight"

2008-12-12T20:33:00.000-08:00

Review of my studio in Garageland art, culture and ideas Issue 6: Supernatural

2008-11-19T21:33:00.000-08:00

Garageland
art, culture and ideas

Issue 6: Supernatural

Contents

Supernatural: an introduction to the issue by Cathy Lomax

Notes: The Dorset wildman, bling, a Spiritualist holiday resort, crap magic, creepy kids and Walpurgisnacht

In Conversation With Ken Russell: The cult British film director talks about the satanic delights of 'The Devils', vampire breasts, Cocteau and other gothic stuff with James Payne

Shamanism: An illustrated history of supernatural art by Kristine MacMichael

Garageland Fiction:
Fiona Michie's scary tale 'The Shortcut' and
Down in the tube station in Steve Lomax's 'Gone'

Phantasmagoria: an extract from Marina Warner's new paperback

From Psychiatrist to Psychic: Jo Wilmot takes her mum to the Sir John Soane's Museum

Spell on You: Alex Michon on Screamin Jay Hawkins and rock 'n' roll Voodoo

Garageland Portfolio: Delaine Le Bas' 'House of the Juju Queen'

Sex and Witchcraft: Gary Lachman takes an erotic look at witches

Nebulous Lustres: Katherine Tulloh's fascination with Edgar Allen Poe

In Mexico No One Ever Dies: Olly Beck on The Day of the Dead

Shaky Ground: Cathy Lomax convenes with the spirit world and looks into the mystical work of Susan Macwilliam, Olivia Plender, Goshka Macuga and Florencia Durante

Film Club: 'Don't Look Now' by James Payne, 'The Last Horror Film' by Stewart Home, and The Devil Wears Armani: a list of spooky film classics

Who What Where:
Whitechapel's leap year spook fest
Supernatural chat with Marcus Coates, Rachel Shannon, Guillermo Caivano and David Burrows
A glimpse into Matt Rowe's Folkestone studio Tessa Farmer's intricate sculptures by Joanna Shurvell
Art and beer with VisitoBrahma
Forward Motion: the best new otherworldly shows
Troy Banarzi's lost Londoners by Rachel Potts
The Inexorable Rise of Drawing by Annabel Tilley

Things You Need to Know: The uncanny defined by Fran Richardson

Light Up Dover At The Royal Cinque Ports Yacht Club

2008-09-16T08:53:00.000-07:00

This club, the fifth oldest Royal yacht club in England, founded in 1872 moved to its present location following the destruction of the original club premises by enemy gunfire in 1940.

Club Shepway invites Dovers local and transient inhabitants to participate in the creation of a picture postcard expose. A collection of photographic portraits celebrating the foundation Dovers Royal Yacht Club in 1872 and the arrivals and departures it has hosted.

http://www.kent.gov.uk/news/light-up-dover.htm
http://kentsport.org/london2012

public works art and regeneration symposium

2008-09-12T01:02:00.000-07:00

As part of the Folkestone triennial Public Works invited my self and Laura Mansfield to give a presentation about the development and continued role of Club Shepway amidst Folkestones ongoing regeneration..

for more info visit the public works www.folkestonomy.net

Fan Fair

2008-08-01T21:56:00.000-07:00

Salvation currently on display in Fan Fair at the fantastic transition gallery in Hackney.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/transitiongallery/

Club Shepway Bathing Beauties 08

2008-06-25T04:39:00.000-07:00

Miss Club Shepway 2008 Bathing Beauty Parade at the Leas Lift, Folkestone, Kent on Sunday 20th July. Celebrating 100 years of Bathing Beauties, and re-living the dream where the first ever British Beauty Parade took place!

costumes by Lady Lucie
tiara's by Floozey
images Matt Rowe

performers

Evil Uncle Tony Compere for Club Shepway Bathing Beauties
Fleur De Guerre Crowned "Miss Leas - if you please"
Dangerous Dolly Crowned "Miss Gale Force 9"
Alaska Blue Crowned "Miss Seaside Modern"
Precious Isis Crowned "Miss Penny Lick"
Veronika Valentine "Crowned "Miss Funicular"

Miss Golden De Licious Crowned 'Miss-ing Routunda"
Debra Decay Crowned "Miss Duty Free"
Ivy Paige Crowned "Miss Club Shepway 2008"

Ivy Paige Crowned "Miss Club Shepway" 2008 with Alaska Blue (right).
© Matt Rowe 2008

film maker Mario Dazzara

Menargerie at the B&B Project Space

2008-06-14T01:18:00.000-07:00

Menagerie

Featuring Works by: Haily Bates, Benjamin Flecture, Vicky Foster and Matt Rowe

Thought out the summer the B&B Project Space Presents Menagerie an exhibition platform for artists to explore kentish flora and forna from coast to countryside.

Uncanny exhibits include: reconfigured road kill, the retirement home for china dogs, a hand whittled furniture tree and a beach made from genuine imitation shingle.

pictured above Mark Dion emersed in kentish flora and forna at the B&B Project Space 2008
© Matt Rowe

Shoddy Tempoary Tattoos At The Art Car Boot Fair 2008

2008-06-08T12:09:00.000-07:00

Shoddy temporary Tattoo flash made for the the art car boot fair 2008

miss honey lu lu STORM IN A TEACUP

2008-03-19T20:15:00.000-07:00

© Matt Rowe 2008

A corroboration producing miss honey lu lu new routine Storm in a teacup.
Prop by Simon Kennedy, costume by Lady Lucie and image by Matt Rowe

O Dreamland

2007-08-25T04:15:00.000-07:00

This August Bank holiday, Transition Gallery have teamed up with Club Shepway in Folkestone to present O Dreamland, a contemporary arts festival that takes a subversive yet affectionate look at the seaside.

The title is taken from Lindsay Anderson's short Free Cinema documentary made in 50s Margate about the Dreamland pleasure park. The film focuses on the partying day-trippers, juxtaposing them with some of the more grotesque elements of a typical amusement park.

Curated by Cathy Lomax, O Dreamland features over 20 artists who each respond to the subject in a uniquely contemporary way. The event will be centred around a 1930s 'Modern' house in Greatstone, Kent, which overlooks the English Channel to the front and the curious Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Light Railway to the back. The house is itself an interesting counterpoint to some of the more kitsch elements on show and embodies ideas of architectural modernist utopias.

Work on show will include Matthew Rowes' handcrafted shingle beach, Lucy Harrison's flag, Cathy Lomax's paintings of beauty queens, Sophie MacCorquodale's film portrait of Rhyl, Ruth Calland's alter ego Dame Batlove's psychic performance on the beach and much much more

This pertinent event comes at a time when many of our seaside towns are in crisis. In between the creeping gentrification and crumbling deprivation the spirit of the seaside is being lost. O Dreamland addresses this in a defiantly un rose-tinted way.

Watch the O Dreamland Film
http://www.transitiongallery.co.uk
http://www.clubshepway.com

Genuine Imitation Shingle
Matt Rowe 2007

deep sea diving flouncy Edwardian lady figurine
Matt Rowe 2007

Untitled figurine
Matt Rowe 2007

Participant in the mobility scooter drive by
also pictured Dame Bat Love

work in the Arty Sea Side Eddition

2007-08-19T21:41:00.000-07:00

http://www.artymagazine.com/

http://www.commentart.com/publication/Arty_-_Seaside_Special

Join Arty on a trip to the coast and find Chris Moxey’s modest Modernist palaces, Paul Rennies dippers, Delaine Le Bas’s nuclear visions, Matt Rowe’s down at heel funfair, an anthology of poetry by Gary O’Connor, Annabel Tilley’s hotels and much much more.

Writers Martin Figura, Lucy Harrison, Helen Ivory, Tom Keogh, Cathy Lomax, Alex Michon, Laura Mansfield, Paul Rennie, Annabel Tilley

Artists Sara Chew, Jake Clark, Rebecca Gould, Lucy Harrison, Damian Le Bas, Delaine Le Bas, Cathy Lomax, Sophie Maccorquodale, Alex Michon, Chris Moxey, Laura Pasterfield, Matt Rowe, Annabel Tilley

Bathing Beauties Parade 2007

2007-08-15T03:46:00.000-07:00

Bathing Beauties Parade 2007 part of the O Dreamland contemporary arts festival

costumes by Lady Lucie and photography by Matt Rowe

Miss Club Shepway 2007
Vicky Butterfly
© Matt Rowe

Miss Nuclear reactor A
Dangerous Dolly

Miss Transition
Veronica Valentine

Miss Peep Toe (magazine)
Honey Lu Lu

Miss O Dreamland
Lil' Miss Chievous

Where Has All The Good Time Gone?

2007-06-15T03:54:00.000-07:00

Documentary Images from the final days of the Rotunda Amusements

All images © Matt Rowe 2007

The 1953 film O DreamLand directed and produced by Lindsay Anderson, takes a look

at the visitors to Margate’s Dreamland fun fair. For ten minutes it is a sharp centred survey of

the theme park. The camera’s distanced gaze takes in the visitors and the fair-

ground frivolities, revealing both to be a disenchanted spectacle.

Matt Rowe has taken O Dreamland’s premise of recording the funfair scene and

taken a series of photographs of the contemporary Rotunda amusement park in

Folkestone, Kent. He has documented the Rotunda site with the use of a vintage camera,

commenting on the decline of the seaside resort. The previously iconic Rotunda is

undergoing a period of transition. The roller coaster, an emblem of the town’s Dreamland hay

day, was recently demolished due to re development plans. In the lull between

demolition and development the site was occupied by a temporary fun fair. The

seaside spectacle of amusements and roller coasters is gradually changing.

Sites such as the rotunda signify key parts of the town’s identity, history and

social network. The hub of social activity and survey of society seen in O Dreamland

has turned into a somewhat empty amusement park with isolated individuals.

The Rotunda fairground was a local hang out in the school holidays, the souvenir

shops a site to roam through on lazy afternoons. The sea front cafes and ice cream

vans all held a status within the community. They were places to meet, to work, to hang out,

and eat candy floss.

With the removal of the Rotunda, and its shift into a temporary site ,the social space of the fair has,

in turn, shifted. It is a little empty with fewer rides and familiarity, a sad reminder of former activity.

Where O Dreamland documented the mass enjoyment of the seaside spectacle,

albeit a little grotesque in the surreal revelation of amusement culture, Matt

Rowe’s photographs depict the present era where it is no longer the bombard-

ment of rides and entertainers that dis-

turbs the senses but

of the present, a social realism no longer gilded but stripped bare, awkward

and isolated Matt Rowe has chosen to use a vintage camera to document

the Rotunda scene. The use of the camera creates an equally vintage aes-

thetic, the faded tones nodding to the contemporary sparsity and igniting a

nostalgia for the loss of brighter eras, of a seaside committed to memory.

Struck through with candy coloured pigments the images are brought back

into a more recent history.

rather the lack of individuals, of crowds, and glamour. It is a bare and

sparse amusement park. We are shown a figure passing through, or wait-

ing at the edge of a ride. A mobility scooter, a pram, and a hooded sweat-

shirt replace the dresses and candy floss of the ideal seaside resort. If the

1950s Dreamland was an ‘alternatively camp and luxuriously sad, a kind of

gilded social realism’* Matt Rowe presents us with the faded spectacle and

isolated amusements

He has manipulated the photo with washes of colour or digital additions.

We see the highlighted edges of a ride, the lights of an amusement arcade,

tempting us with echoes of a past glamour, with packed crowds and good

times. The conscious choice of a memoir aesthetic suggests the images

are from the past. With an aura of nostalgia the photographs not only pres-

ent a longing for a prior era but further anticipate the changes yet to occur

on the Rotunda site. The temporary amusements are already in the past,

already part of the shifting landscape of Folkestone’s redevelopment cam-

paign. For Matt Rowe, the shift in the seaside resort is a moment to be re-

corded marking a point of transition from the dreamland’s of the past to the

seasides of the present. It is a shift that leaves us with a space of uncer-

tainty, a “disenchanted, sad and occasionally ferocious” amusement park,

a sight to be captured and commemorated along with other seaside eras.

Text By Laura Mansfield

Diving Bell

2007-06-04T10:42:00.000-07:00

Enhanced Decoy Geese

2006-04-09T03:05:00.000-07:00

I gave this goose a make over hoping to prove her more attractive and chincey

Out and about in Cardiff's Bute park I put my enhanced decoy goose in to action.

Bears, Bell Jars and St George

2005-10-09T02:31:00.000-07:00

National Museum of Wales Staffordshire Flat Back Cabinet intervention

2005-04-11T02:44:00.000-07:00

Sheep in a box Bear in a Box

2005-04-09T02:16:00.000-07:00

Slip Saturated Knitted Animals

Genuine Imitation Silver

2004-03-09T02:55:00.000-08:00

Four winds supper 8 ceramic projections

2004-02-17T09:14:00.000-08:00

experiments using bisque fired ware forms as a canvas to project documentary supper 8 footage..