Matthew Flowers (born 1956) is a British contemporary art dealer based in London and New York. He is the managing director of Flowers Gallery. Throughout his career he has been on boards and committees of international art fairs and arts institutions and since 2008 he has been a non-executive Director of DACS (visual artists’ rights management organisation). Flowers is also a keyboard player and vocalist.

Early life

Matthew Flowers is the son of Angela Flowers (art dealer) and

Adrian Flowers Adrian John Flowers (11 July 1926 – 18 May 2016) was a British photographer known for his portraits of celebrities that included Twiggy, Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney and Vanessa Redgrave. Early life Flowers was educated at Sherborne School ...

(photographer). He has two brothers and two sisters.

Music career (1974-1983)

Flowers was the keyboard player, co-songwriter and manager of the rock band

Sore Throat Sore throat, also known as throat pain, is pain or irritation of the throat. Usually, causes of sore throat include * viral infections * group A streptococcal infection (GAS) bacterial infection * pharyngitis (inflammation of the throat) * tonsi ...

. Sore Throat made several records and appeared on ''Revolver'' presented by Peter Cook in 1978 and ''

The Old Grey Whistle Test ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''Whistle Test'' or ''OGWT'') is a British television music show. The show was devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough and aired on BBC2 from 1971 to 1988. ...

'' in 1980. He also played in Killer Whales, Mattandan and Blue Zoo. Blue Zoo's song, "

Cry Boy Cry "Cry Boy Cry" is a song by British new wave band Blue Zoo, released in 1982 as the third single from their 1983 debut album '' Two by Two''. The song is the band's biggest hit, and their only top 40 entry, reaching No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart ...

" was a UK top 20 hit in 1982, and led to two appearances on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

''.

Career in art

Flowers started working at Angela Flowers Gallery at weekends in 1970. He then assisted his mother Angela Flowers (founder of the Gallery) from 1975 to 1978 and became gallery manager in 1983. The Gallery expanded in 1988 when opening Flowers East in Hackney. Matthew Flowers set up Flowers Graphics (International print publishers) in 1988 and became Managing Director of Angela Flowers Gallery in 1989. In 1991 Flowers Gallery expanded further with an 18,000 sq feet space called London Fields. In 1997 the Gallery opened Flowers West in Santa Monica (California, USA) and Flowers Central on Cork Street (London, UK). Matthew set up a publishing company focusing on artist monographs and survey exhibitions in 1995. From 2005 – 2007 he published State of Art newspaper with editor Mike von Joel. His gallery has represented many well-known artists, including

Eduardo Paolozzi Sir Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi (, ; 7 March 1924 – 22 April 2005) was a Scottish artist, known for his sculpture and graphic works. He is widely considered to be one of the pioneers of pop art. Early years Eduardo Paolozzi was born on 7 March 1 ...

,"Market news: Christie's appointments"
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', Colin Gleadell, 11 Apr 2005

Stephen Chambers Stephen Chambers (born 1960) is a British artist and Royal Academician (elected 2005). Education and career Chambers studied at Winchester School of Art from 1978 to 1979 and at Saint Martin's School of Art, from 1979 to 1982. in 1983, he r ...

, Tom Phillips,

Ken Currie Ken Currie (born 1960 in North Shields, Northumberland, England) is a Scottish artist and a graduate of Glasgow School of Art (1978–1983). Ken grew up in industrial Glasgow. This has had a significant influence on his early works. In the 19 ...

, Nicola Hicks,

Peter Howson Peter Howson OBE (born 27 March 1958) is a Scottish painter. He was a British official war artist in 1993 during the Bosnian War. Early life Peter Howson was born in London of Scottish parents and moved with his family to Prestwick, A ...

, John Keane, Patrick Hughes, Alison Watt,

Lucy Jones Lucile M. Jones (born 1955) is a seismologist and public voice for earthquake science and earthquake safety in California. One of the foremost and trusted public authorities on earthquakes, Jones is viewed by many in Southern California as t ...

and Richard Smith. In addition to representing contemporary artists Flowers has overseen many important group and survey exhibitions such as Artist of the Day, a platform for emerging artists since 1983, Small is Beautiful, British Abstract Art, British Figurative Art, Contemporary Portraits, Badge Art, The Thatcher Years "An Artistic Retrospective".

References

External links

Debrett'sDACS Board of DirectorsFlowers Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flowers, Matthew 1956 births British rock keyboardists Art dealers from London Living people