This award will immediately enable us to record our first album with renowned music producer Liam Howe (FKA Twigs / Adele / Lana Del Rey / Ellie Goulding) through the Pi Soundworks project. This is an art / music cross-over platform which we recently signed to. We are currently looking to develop the music performance element of our practice, combining it with sculpture (see video link 1) / travel and cultural collaboration (see video link 2) / transforming spaces for performance (see image 2). We feel this is rich territory for inclusive, cross-discipline experiences and a way of developing new audiences and something we would delight in bringing to Darlington.
We have previous experience of how invaluable such a bursary would be to developing our practice and furthering creative opportunities. We are also aware that such an opportunity can remove inhibitions within a creative practice, something that is essential to its development. We had particularly successful and productive periods in each of the years following previous generous art awards, including setting-up The Russian Club Gallery and several international residencies and exhibitions. The last of which was in 2011 and despite gallery representation our income since has solely derived from managing fashion photography studios. To step away from this for a period of time, with help from this award, would expedite a similar evolution currently taking place in our work.
Furthermore the opportunity to explore creative possibilities in direct response to Darlington is an exciting prospect, in much the same way as after a couple of weeks in Bremen by transforming a gallery space temporary music venue The New Bomonti Club (see image 2). Similarly, residencies in Japan and Malaysia also had a profound impact on our practice. We relish new experiences, new locations and interactions with new creatives and audiences, all of which, over the years have fed into our work.
For the past 6 years we have lived in rural Northamptonshire, after 15 years in London. Working away from a large art-hub: London, Newcastle, etc was a significant decision and we have already felt important benefits to this. We feel this experience could be shared with artists based in Darlington. We would be happy to talk with local artist groups about ways to benefit fully from their location. We would hope to learn much from them in return.
We feel we have a modus-operandi that many artists and non-artists alike may find interesting. With a practice firmly embedded in experiences as much as making, we aim to offer a renewed vision of the artist for the contemporary era. To date we have worked with: fashion photographers, fashion magazines; Malay wood carvers; traditional Japanese musicians; authors; family members; as well as numerous other artists and art students. We are currently researching a project with the indigenous Patawomeck tribe of Virginia. Having a multi-cultural and multi-generational practice, we would be keen to encourage diverse audiences including children through inclusive events.
We would bring a dynamic experience to Darlington and involve a wide and diverse array of people.
Golden Family: Natsue Ikeda (b.1976, Hiroshima, JP) and Matt Golden (b.1974 Salisbury, UK) are graduates of The Royal Academy (2008) and RCA (2005) respectively. Their artistic practice incorporates a wide variety of processes, working across sculpture; painting; photography; song-writing and performance; and curating exhibitions. Whilst stylistically diverse their artworks share an inherent wit and sensitivity to the human condition and the world we inhabit, often interwoven with a personal narrative.
They have shown extensively in the UK and internationally including: John Moore’s Painting Prize, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool; Annely Juda Fine Art, London; BALTIC 39, Newcastle; Musee du Jeu de Paume, Paris; Nassauischer Kunstverein and Museum Wiesbaden, Germany and Nijo-Jo, Kyoto, Japan; Pi Artworks, London; Limoncello, London. Matt has been artist-in-residence at SGFA, KL, Malaysia; Kyoto Zokei University, Japan. Both artists were resident at Insel Hombroich, Germany. They are represented by Pi Artworks and Pi Soundworks, London / Istanbul.
Matt won the 2006 Vordemberge-Gildewart Scholarship and the Yoma Sasburg Award for Sculpture in 2011. He was included in the 2020 Imago Mundi publication, England: Talking Of Art. Contemporary Artists From England, as well as features in Art Forum; Time Out; Elephant Magazine; Modern Painters; New Straits Times (Malaysia); Kyoto Regional TV, Japan.
Matt set-up and ran The Russian Club Gallery, London from 2008 to 2012 and has curated exhibitions and events at Mead Galley, University of Warwick; Annely Juda Fine Art, London; lly Art Lab, La Trienale di Milano, Italy; and for Rollacoaster Magazine. Golden Family recently showed at Pi Artworks, London, with an accompanying music performance for Pi Soundworks. This exhibition and event will now tour to Istanbul.
Matt graduated from The Royal College of Art (MA Sculpture) in 2005
Natsue graduated from The Royal Academy Schools (Post graduate diploma, Fine Art) in 2008
1. Winner of Yoma Saburg Award for Sculpture 2011
2. Winner of Voremberge-Gildewart Scholarship 2006
3. British Council funding towards residency in Malaysia
4. Arts Council England funding for mentoring sessions with artist Simon Patterson 2001
Matt set-up and ran The Russian Club Gallery from 2008-2012, Dalston, London. Typically pairing artists for exhibitions, he worked with over 70 artists including Phillida Barlow & Jess Flood Paddock; John Stezaker & William Horner; Ryan Gander, Naum Gabo, John Frankland, Elizabeth Magill.
Under the Russian Club moniker he also curated two group exhibitions for Annely Juda Fine Art, London with artists including Clare E Rojas; Juneau Projects; Phil Coy; Yuko Shiraishi; Roy Voss; Douglas White and many more.
No, but they are held in a number of private collections including Zabludowicz Collection, UK; David Juda, UK; Imago Mundi Collection (Luciano Benneton), IT; Boghossian Foundation, Belgium.
Art Forum (review)
Modern Painters (review)
Elephant Magazine (feature)
Time Out (review)
Art Review (feature)
New Straits Times, Malaysia (feature)
Frieze Magazine (review as curator)
Art Monthly (review as curator)
Metro, London (review)
Metro, Birmingham (review)
Artist Newsletter (review)
Currently:
Pi Artworks, London / Istanbul
Pi Soundworks, London / Istanbul
Previously:
Limoncello, London
BischoffWeiss, London
2012: Residency SGFA, Kuala Lumpa, Malaysia
2011: Ultra Factory, Kyoto Zokei Arts University, Japan
2007: Stiftung Insel Hombroich, Germany
2000: Millennium Residency, B16 Gallery, Birmingham, UK
Email: mattgoldenmail@gmail.com
Address: 2 Church Street, Charwelton, Northamptonshire, NN11 3YT, GB
Local Authority: East Midlands
