Barnsley College alumni brings superheroes to his hometown

Barnsley College Higher Education (formerly University Campus Barnsley) Alumni Matthew Shutt is bringing comics to life in his Escape from Reality exhibition at the Cooper Gallery Barnsley until Saturday 31 August.

Matthew studied BA (Hons) Interdisciplinary Art and Design at University Campus Barnsley (UCB) between 2007 and 2010. He has since used the creative talents he developed throughout his degree to build a career as an Artist and is now proudly exhibiting his work in his home town.

Over his painting career Matthew has developed an aesthetically hyper realist style which can be seen in his current works. His subject matter is predominantly Marvel comic book characters and associated memorabilia from his childhood, brought to the present by their placement in everyday surroundings.

Matthew’s exhibition at the Cooper Gallery runs alongside the Kapow exhibition that features original comic book art from Dean Ormston and Fiona Stephenson. In this work artistic representations from the DC Universe are on show and Matthew’s work compliments this by representing the other side of the coin with images of competing comic franchise Marvel characters.

Matthew said: “On my course at UCB I gained valuable insight and experience of so many disciplines within the arts and was encouraged to pursue an area of the fine arts in which I most excelled at, this opened my eyes to a new world that would never be the same again.

“Inside the Cooper Gallery the downstairs exhibition offers a huge collection of historical and original artwork from the comic book world and my exhibition upstairs gives a different artistic interpretation to similar characters but with an edge personal to my life and experiences.

“The Cooper Gallery in Barnsley has always been the place to be seen locally ever since I can remember. It is an immensely proud and historical gallery that has always been a constant in Barnsley and has a reputation of hosting some of the most important art in the area as well as being a platform that supports local artists and has hosted some of the most important artists both in the past and the contemporary. I am both proud and excited at having my own exhibition at this historical and important venue.”

The Escape from Reality exhibition can be viewed in the Sadler room at the Cooper Gallery Barnsley from Monday to Saturday between 10.00am and 4.00pm until Saturday 31 August.