Biography

Matt Whitfield was born in Middlesbrough in 1974. He grew up during a period of industrial decline in a town heavily reliant on traditional industries of steel making, ship building and ICI chemical making during the late 70's and early 80's. With little prospect of the traditional 'job for life' in industry Matt joined the Army. 

His distinguished twenty two year military career saw Matt deployed across the globe in numerous operational tours in Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, Northern Ireland and Sierra Leone. In 2012 Matt was awarded the MBE by HM Queen Elizabeth II. Matt left the army in 2017 and settled back home in the North East of England.

Self taught, Matt's practice is an evolving mixture of different media and styles but the subject remains the same, the industrial heritage of the North East of England.

Artists statement

My practice is an exploration of the northern landscape and in particular the conflict, integration and ultimately the synthesis between heavy industry and the rural landscape. The vast expanses of the North York Moors bordered by the rugged Jurassic coastline and the wild North Sea offer rich subject matter for artists. The River Tees, from its source high up in the Pennines sweeps down to the sea cutting between Hartlepool and Redcar and it is here where industry spawned, and towns emerged. The industry has ebbed and flowed like the river, leaving behind structures, marks and scars on the landscape and people. This is my subject. I paint in a variety of media depending on what I think best represents what I see and feel.