Matt Hardman’s paintings investigate the shifting relationships between personalities and the fragile boundary between inner and outer realities. Figures often emerge fractured or reassembled, recalling the way memory distorts and reshapes experience. His recurring subjects; children, homes, animals and staged encounters are drawn from personal and collective memory, then reworked through oil and spray paint to evoke an atmosphere that is both familiar and uncanny.
The work confronts raw emotional states -alienation, anxiety, humour and vulnerability yet resists straightforward narrative. Instead, Hardman aims to capture the lingering resonance of what it felt like to be in those moments: the intensity, the strangeness, and the uneasy beauty of the human condition.
Biography
Matt Hardman studied Art & Design at Mid Cheshire College (1989–1992) before completing a distinction-awarded degree in 2D–3D Communication at the University of Brighton (1992–1994). He later returned to the University of Brighton, graduating with distinction in Illustration (2008–2010).
Since 2004, Matt has exhibited regularly at Rye Art Gallery, East Sussex, where his work has also been acquired for the permanent collection. He has been a member of the Rye Society of Artists since 2008.
His solo and group exhibitions include: Rye Art Gallery (2006, 2015, 2018), Langham Gallery, London (2014), Masterpiece Gallery, London (2020), Escape Art Centre, Tonbridge (2021), Rye Bank Gallery (2021), and View Gallery, Bristol (2023).
Recent highlights include selection for the John Moores Painting Prize long list (2023) Jackson Painting prize long list (2022), as well as exhibitions at 15 Bateman street Soho London (2024) Rogue Gallery, St Leonards (2025), Black Shed Gallery, Robertsbridge (2025), and NG Art Creative, South of France (2025).
Matt hardman ( born 1972 ) lives and works in Rye East Sussex UK studied 2D & 3D communication at University of Brighton 1992 - 1994 & Illustration at the University of Brighton 2008 - 2010 achieving awards in both subjects he has exhibited extensively in the UK and his work is held in private and public collections.
