Welcome to HERO Young Art Week – our essential, multifaceted guide to the new wave of creatives working at the vanguard of contemporary art today. Across a dynamic week of digital content, we’re exploring what’s happening at the epicentre of this global community: from the ground up, the artists themselves and the key figures witnessing the evolution of the ideas, trends and movements defining this art generation.

Matt Williams has been the Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art since late 2010. Since studying Fine Art at Leeds University and completing an MA in Curating Contemporary Art at the Royal College of Art he has proved himself as a highly influential voice in the contemporary art scene.

His initial foray into curating exhibitions was in collaboration with artist Anthea Hamilton; Williams set up a temporary artist-run space called The Mission. In its brief 12 month tenure this dynamic space proved to be a progressive springboard for innovative, nascent artists, presenting cutting-edge exhibitions such as Life is a Bore, Humans Need More!, and Hasta La Vista – the final exhibition held at The Mission featured over 60 artists’ work in a room filled with faux snow, Christmas trees, and a smoke machine.

Williams later held the instrumental position as curator and director at International Project Space, Birmingham from 2008, as well as co-editing NOVEL, an annual journal of curated texts focusing on artists writing, texts and poetry. During his career he has worked with, and helped establish, a wealth of young artistic talent such as Ed Atkins, Neil Beloufa, Simon Denny, Hannah Sawtell, and has worked with more established artists including Kai Althoff, Lutz Bacher and Bjarne Melgaard amongst others.

In light of Young Art Week, Alex James Taylor sat down with Williams to discuss the state of young art in London – and from a global perspective.

Alex James Taylor: From a curator’s perspective what do you see as the current trends in contemporary art, both artistically and in terms of career paths?
Matt Williams: It’s difficult to encapsulate and provide an overview of current trends within contemporary art today in a few sentences. So, I would rather discuss from a position of experience the themes that I have engaged with in recent projects. These range from the branding of artists and lifestyle culture within consumerist society and the influence of the digitalised world upon it. Often the works generated have touched upon themes on and around contemporary modes of production and communication, the abstraction of economics, and public space. How these topics have been translated into artworks or embodied physically has been incredibly varied and ranged from large scale video installations, sculpture and assemblages of objects and everyday materials.

I would also say that access to information and materials available via the internet has influenced artists approach towards art and about the potential of art today. As has increasingly the international art market and the growing popularity of contemporary art, artists are generally far more aware of the opportunities available to them and what they can achieve within an environment whereupon arguably the management of an artist’s brand and currency overwrites art production and often public reception.

AT: You touched on the economics of the contemporary art scene; do you see a lot of help for young artists?
MW: Yes, for some. It’s interesting to see more established galleries recognise the need to alter their existing structures to accommodate and support younger artists, in most cases probably to satisfy the current demands of the art market. But thankfully projects that would have previously been offered to more established artists are now being presented to emerging artists, which is a positive thing as it encourages a shift in thinking.

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