Matthew Burrows

Dante II

Oil on canvas, 2000 (153 x 183cm)

As a creative agent and as an audience we stand to gain little from art if we are unable to trust. An environment that fosters such a quality is a rare thing. To be able to make art in such a place is a privilege.

The Gloucester Cathedral residency offered me the time, space, funding and trust necessary to complete a project 1 had been dreaming up for a number of years. It has been invaluable in my own development, not only in the generosity of the project, but also in relation to the community in which 1 worked, their reactions to my practice and their openness to what I had to offer.

Matthew Burrows was born in 1971 and studied at the University of Central England (1990-3) and Royal College of Art (1993-5). Matthew has had solo exhibitions at Eagle Gallery, London (2001); Lamont Gallery, London (2000); Midland Art Centre, Birmingham (1994); Merz Contemporary Art, London (1994) and The Barber Institute, Birmingham (1991). Group exhibitions include the Royal Over Seas League (2001); Beaux Arts, London (1996); Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris (1995); Paton Gallery, London (1995) and Lannon Gallery, New York (1994).