matt mossop

Biography.

Gallery 

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Review for The Wild Lands

The Vitreous Gallery, Truro
1 December 2007 - 5 January 2008

Reviewed by: George Care

 The broad dark pastel lines in Matt Mossop’s paintings recall the expressionist vigour of  Rouault. Intense colours, supplemented by ink, watercolour and acrylic, have been used to render the landscapes of Carrick and West Penwith. Matt is much taken by the degringole beauty of these wild areas. Gorse, granite, moorland and the elements form  the subject matter for his work. You can sense the wind and rain. He says of his recent move to Mabe that it has brought him “brought excitement of an amazing world of unexplored valleys, shrouded quarries and babbling streams caressing moss-bearded boulders as well as the furze clad highlands which define the landscape.” He clearly enjoys looking at ramshackle farm buildings or cottages with cement washed roofs covered in moss and lichen. Mossop hails from Scotland-from Cumberland- where he has painted the dark mass of Creaggan Moor and Highland Boundaries. His feeling for the landscape and environment is informed by his training as an archaeologist. He has worked in France and Ireland and is clearly attracted by the poetry of the Celtic edge. He is attracted too by the beach and the objects to be found upon it; shells and starfish, pebbles and conches. The energy in these pictures is increased by strong composition and a natural spontaneity in the pastelwork that draws the attention. Two pictures which are particularly pleasing are “Scrumpy”... This is a robust and pleasing painting that would look superb in any country kitchen.Then there is the stain-glass spirituality of “Evensong” which is reminiscent of Rouault once again.