Matthew Warburton: Ashby artist driven to drink

Lockdown has presented artists with many problems, not least for Ashby de la Zouch artist Matthew Warburton from Aluminiumart. He is unable to show his work at craft and art events across the country until at least October 2020. This means customers are unable to see and buy his usual aluminium sculpture work.

                    

Lockdown has made Matthew think out of the box. He already produces large planished and polished aluminium maps of UK and Ireland, so he decided to miniaturise them to make them easier to post to customers. Having created the Wales map he approached craft beer brewer, Felinfoel Brewery in Llanelli, South Wales, to be sole supplier utilising their range of cans as the raw material for the maps.

Mike Francis, Assistant General Manager at the brewery said "We are delighted to see our can range being sampled and converted into mounted art....as the oldest brewery in Wales, and the first to can beer in Europe, we certainly have the heritage and it's lovely to work in conjunction with Matthew to see our can range being utilised."

A case of beer was sent to Matthew, but to protect the cans as much as possible they needed to be sent full, to keep up the internal pressure. The first delivery of 48 cans needed to be emptied, prepared, cut, mounted and returned as pictures to the brewery. Fortunately for Matthew he had some very willing neighbours who could empty them quickly in order that he didn't have to drink them all himself.

Matthew can often be seen returning from town, or back from a run with an empty can or two. Washed and prepared for further artwork as he has a range of products and more underway. His range of "Mini Editions" are vehicles encased in a small jar with a unique background. Starting with the British classics, the range is just beginning.

There's no need to contact Matthew to volunteer emptying cans as he has a long list already, but you can support him by visiting his website.

CuratorSpace are currently featuring articles by artists, curators and organisations who want to share their experiences of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, whether that is artists using their practice as a way of exploring new boundaries of isolation, or as a way to connect more broadly with their communities. We are also interested in hearing from curators and organisations who are offering support to artists and audiences during this time.

Contact us at louise@curatorspace.com to share your story.
 

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