MATTHEW SMITH - BIO
Matt works out of Bristol and the West Country. He began making images of British culture in the late 80's and has not stopped since.
His personal brand of on the road diary documentary work was born out of opposition to mainstream mass media lies about travellers, free parties and festivals. When government sought to outlaw rave in the 90’s, Matt was a founder member of Sunnyside, a sound system collective. As pioneers of noisy protest they turned demonstrations into celebration, produced free parties with a purpose for a decade, and took part in non violent direct action against environmental destruction.
The MattkoArchive charts rave from its origins, through criminalisation and assimilation, to the internationally successful festival creative industry that it is today and spans some 250,000 images. Matt was a founder member of the PYMCA agency, Youth Club Archive and The Museum of Youth Culture.
As an independent modern outsider artist Matt tracks the tag #mattko. His two books Exist To Resist and Full On Non Stop All Over are sought after collectors items that have inspired films, shows, books and various imitators. He is currently working to get a 2nd Edition of Exist to Resist into print and dreaming up ways to create community with immersive environments that amuse, entertain and inform radical social change.
mattkomatt@gmail.com
EXHIBITIONS
Vanguard - Bristol Street Art - Evolution of a Global Movement - MShed - Bristol 2021
Exist To Resist - Sweet Harmony:Rave Today - Saatchi Gallery - London 2019
Exist To Resist - Book Launch & Show - Subculture Archives, Carnaby St - London 2017
Exist To Resist - Photocopy Club Zine Launch & Show - Doomed Gallery - London 2016
Lost in Music - The Printspace - Village Underground - London 2015
Images From Rolling Stage - The Looking Glass - Bristol 2014
RetroPerspective - 30 Images and Storytellling - 1st Bristol Biennale - Bristol 2012
Local Landscapes - Images From Land Under Threat - Bristol 2011
Streetstyle - The Book Club - Ted Polhemus/PYMCA - London Oct 2010
Bristol Through The Lens – Southbank - Bristol - Bristol Festival of Photography 2010
Unordinary People - The Royal Albert Hall - PYMCA - London April 2009
Artcore - Art from the Rave Generation - Selfridges/Dreweatts - London 2009
Portraits Of Adventure - Royal Geographic Society - 60 Years Of Landrover - London 2008
Wildstyles - 25 Years of Hip Hop Photography - London 2008
Pills, Stills and Bellyaches – 90’s and Noughties Rave Photography - London 2007
In Touch - The Brewhouse Theatre and Arts Centre - Taunton 2005
Vandalism - Graffiti, Censorship and Crime - Hereford Photography Festival 2002
Digital Media in Communities - Knowle West Media Project - The Watershed, Bristol 2001
Beyond Grass Roots - Hereford Photography Festival - Hereford 1997
Underground England - The Brewhouse Theatre & Arts Centre - Taunton 1997