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The Archive
Alongside documentary evidence of our exhibitions being made The Matt’s Gallery Library and Archive holds films, books, invitations, letters and ephemera relating to artist-led practice from the 1960s to today. It gives significant insights into the working methodology of the gallery and the artists it has worked with over the last 40+ years.
A portion of our archive is now stored at Matt's Gallery, Nine Elms. If you are interested in accessing our archival materials, please contact info@mattsgallery.org.
The Archive at Matt’s Gallery
The Matt’s Gallery Library and Archive tells the story of the gallery’s inception in 1979 through to the current day. It provides significant insight into the working methodology of the gallery and the artists it has worked with, and shines a light on developments in the London art scene over this period. It is made up of documentation of exhibitions, as well catalogues, films, books, invitations, letters and ephemera relating to artist-led practice from the 1960s to today.
Initial work on the archive began in 2013 and 2014, before the collection was put into storage in 2016 when the gallery moved out of its Copperfield Road site. A Scoping Grant from The National Archives’ Archives Revealed fund was secured in 2021, enabling the project to progress. With support from the Outset Contemporary Art Fund, Matt’s Gallery created a dedicated space in its building in Nine Elms in 2022, establishing a public resource where visitors can now view and access materials it holds. Further work towards opening the archive to public access was supported by Cockayne – Grants for the Arts and The London Community Foundation in 2023.
In 2026 Matt’s Gallery was awarded a Cataloguing Grant from The National Archives’ Archives Revealed fund for its project ‘The Tardis - 46 Years in 48 Boxes’. This grant will transform the gallery’s archive, creating an overall structure with detailed records of analogue photographic and audio-visual materials, dating back to its first exhibitions. Archivist, Sarah Haylett, is currently cataloguing and rehousing the visual materials collection, making the materials discoverable and accessible while ensuring its long-term preservation.
Archives Revealed is a partnership programme between The National Archives, the Pilgrim Trust, the Wolfson Foundation and The National Lottery Heritage Fund which helps unlock collections across the UK and build the skills needed to care for them into the future.
Exploring the Archive
Throughout 2026 we have been inviting our Trustees to explore our archive and select mateirals to share with audiences through our newsletters and social media accounts.
Follow the links below to read more:
Teresa Grimes on Rose Finn Kelcey's 'Bereau de Change'
Gabriel Coxhead on Amikam Toren's 'Actualities'
Abdullahi Bashe on printed exhibtion invites: 1990s-2000s
Jes Fernie on Hanna Łuczak's 'Cactus', 1985
Rosie Reed on the 'Brian Catling' archive box (1948-2022)
The Matt’s Gallery Library
Alongside its archive Matt’s Gallery holds a significant collection of books relating to artists it has worked with over the years. It is working to create a reference library that will enable public access to this collection.
The Jean Fisher Archive
Matt’s Gallery is a custodian of the archive of the late Jean Fisher. Following her passing in 2016, the Gallery became joint custodian of the archive alongside Fisher’s son Tony, which has been held at Matt's Gallery since 2018. Comprising 10 boxes of manuscripts, lecture notes, slides and other ephemera, we have been working to activate it.
Fisher was a critic and writer whose work often explored colonial legacies and sites of conflict including Ireland, Native America, the Black Atlantic and Palestine. She championed artists including Francis Alÿs, Sonia Boyce, Willie Doherty, Jimmie Durham, Edgar Heap of Birds, Susan Hiller, Tina Keane, Gabriel Orozco, Anne Tallentire and Steve McQueen. She taught widely including at Middlesex University, Byam Shaw and the Royal College of Art, where she was instrumental in founding the Curating Contemporary Art programme. She had a long-standing and productive working relationship with Matt's Gallery and our director Robin Klassnik, often writing on artists that were shown here and sometimes penning press releases for the gallery.
In May 2022 an ongoing reading group led by Michelle Williams Gamaker began, drawing on material held in Jean’s archive. See our Events pages for more details.