Most people can remember the experience of seeing a particular piece of artwork, or hearing a particular song that resonated with them for the first time. I had a similar moment when I saw Matthew Penn’s artwork at the Erco showroom.

Being a self-taught artist, Matthew spent much of his youth watching his grandfather, an art restorer, restoring oil paintings of the Masters. It was this and the work of great painters such as Carravaggio, Rembrandt and Lucian Freud that have led to Matthew becoming a well-respected artist in his own right.  His amazing talent in creating hyper-realistic portraits, in combination with the careful lighting of each piece, results in a truly stunning and absorbing experience where you can’t help but be pulled into the artwork. 

The approach to lighting each piece is particularly unique and has been a collaborative process between Erco, a leading manufacturer of LED lighting, and Matthew.  Together they have created a ground breaking way of lighting art, harnessing the unique qualities of LED to breathe life into each piece. 

This unique technique uses not just one light source, but several spotlights of various colour temperatures. This method entirely challenges the traditions of lighting artwork. Each spotlight is carefully positioned and screened to light particular parts of each artwork, in effect sculpting the artwork and replicating the environment that the subject was originally photographed in.  It is a truly immersive experience.

I can highly recommend visiting Erco’s showroom on Dover Street to see the full effect and to hear how this has been achieved.  It is a prime example of when artwork and light marry to perfect effect.

You’ll have to be quick, Matthew’s work is on display until Friday 2^nd October.  You might even get a chance to meet the artist himself.