Born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England in 1969. Matthew spent his childhood living in Greece, South Africa, USA and Spain, until returning to England to finish his education.
Matthew has always painted and drawn, and is self taught. His work has developed through many different periods, mediums and styles, from graffiti art, photography, commercial art and design, commercial illustration, and portrait painting.
Matthew's artwork has been exhibited in galleries, museums, restaurants, bars and clubs. His work has been reproduced in a variety of magazines and his original artworks feature in private collections throughout the world.
Here is more about Matthew from Octane's Mark Dixon,
He has been painting cars for only the past two years, but Matthew Keeler is already making a name for himself – not least because of what could be interpreted as a masochistically inspired project to capture every one of the 130 motors that took part in the 2007 Peking-Paris centenary rally.
Matthew competed in the event with his father in a 1959 VW Beetle. ‘We caught fire in the Gobi Desert, had to rebuild the engine in Berlin, but managed to finish 23rd overall,’ he recalls. ‘afterwards, I just decided I was going to paint every car from therally.
It was a personal project, although I have started selling some paintings as a result. The first one didn’t actually go to a rally competitor but to a German enthusiast whose brother had a similar car – I can’t remember what, but it was number 52!’
After a peripatetic existence as a child, living in the USA, Spain and Greece, Matthew is now based in Reading, Berkshire, where he’s fortunate enough to have a house with a large studio that means he can work late into the night if he’s on a roll.
He has painted and drawn since childhood, but his application to art college was rejected: ‘apparently they reckoned I had an attitude problem!’ Instead, he’s made a living as a freelance illustrator, specialising in portraits, and that’s still his main source of income.
A second fillip to his automotive art career was the 2009 Nile Trial, which generated a number of commissions: one client asked Matthew to paint his entire collection of exotic cars. ‘another asked me if I could paint his Mercedes and offered to bring it round and leave it with me. I was a bit worried about that, because I don’t have secure parking – but it turned out the Mercedes was a tinplate toy!’
Matthew is now working on another project, a series of VW-themed posters, which will appear in due course at www.matthewkeeler.co.uk.
You can find out more about Matthew and his work on his website here. You can also follow him on Facebook here.
Meanwhile, here are some of his automotive images below. Always respect copyright.
www.in2motorsports.com
More images from Matthew and other artists here.
