Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

Enlarged beyond their usual scale, Matthew Corbin Bishop’s paintings of postage stamps take on a new and striking identity. Each one is an accurate replica of stamps that were once standard issue in British colonial island territories.

Five of the stamps feature the head of the British monarch, either George VI or Elizabeth II, alongside examples of landmarks and fauna that were associated with each island. On two of the stamps (Bermuda and Montserrat), Bishop has painstakingly recreated the inked postmarks that overlay them.

The title of the series is adapted from the final paragraph of Niall Ferguson’s book ‘Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World’.

Matthew Corbin Bishop was born in Southampton and studied at Bath Spa University, where he graduated in 2008. His series, 'The Making of the Modern World', was featured on BBC Hampshire in August 2008. His solo exhibitions include Zeri Open House, Kuwait City (2013); 'The Making of the Modern World', Rose Issa Projects, London (2009) and 'The Sun Never Set', Bath Guildhall, Bath (2009). Corbin Bishop has also participated in several group shows, including the 'Government Art Collection: Revealed', Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and Ulster Museum, Belfast (2012-13); Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London (2012); 'Green: A Spring Hanging', Rose Issa Projects, London (2012); and 'The Making of the Modern World' at Somerset Crescent, Bath (2008).

Places

Gibraltar, Spain

Subjects

topography, conceptual art, postage stamp

Materials & Techniques

canvas, oil, oil painting

Artist

Matthew Corbin Bishop (1984 - )

Title

Gibraltar

Series Title

The Making of the Modern World Series

Date

2008

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 17.10 cm, width: 14.20 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from the artist, September 2008

Inscription

verso, tr: 'Gibraltar' / Matthew Corbin Bishop / M Bishop '08

Provenance

the artist

GAC number

18215