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Matthew Collings (born 1955) is a British art critic and broadcaster, who presents the Channel 4 TV programme on the Turner Prize.
Life and career
He was trained at Byam Shaw School of Art, and still practises as an artist, although this has been overshadowed in the public eye by his work as a commentator. The painting behind him on the cover photo of Blimey is one of his own works.
He edited Artscribe 1983-7 with some success but was dismissed by the publisher after an argument. He was a producer and presenter on the BBC The Late Show 1989-95, then later wrote and presented the Channel 4 TV series This is Modern Art. In the early 1990s he completed a Masters in Fine Art at Goldsmiths' College.
He is well known for his writing on art and the art world with a regular diary column in Modern Painters magazine, and particularly for his books, the seminal one being Blimey. This introduced the Young British Artists to a wider world.
His popular, amusing and clear style with words belies a more serious intelligence. He was originally identified as a proponent of Britart, but as time has gone on, his sympathies have become ambiguous or even hostile to it. He wrote in the New Statesman *:
A new popular audience is obsessed by contemporary art. But I think they are being sold something that isn't really there: an all-in package of spirituality, depth and profundity. I am afraid the official institutions of contemporary art are just lying about this stuff.
Books
A sample of books by Matthew Collings:
- "Blimey", 21 Publications, 1998
- "This Is Modern Art", Watson-Guptill Publications, 2000
- "Art Crazy Nation", Worldwide, 2001
See also
- Other contemporary UK art critics
External links
"Matthew Collings"