A full length documentary film about the Cornish artist Matthew Lanyon

A full length documentary film about the Cornish artist Matthew Lanyon has been completed this month by Director Barbara Santi and Matthew’s widow Judith Lanyon. No Holds Barred: The Life and Art of Matthew Lanyon is the result of two years’ work and draws on interviews with a range of people, from art critics, friends, and other artists to Matthew’s siblings and son. Matthew sadly died in 2016 at the height of his powers and achievement following a late diagnosis of cancer. He left behind an extraordinary and varied body of work, much of it never seen or heard in a public setting before. The film is greatly enriched and shaped both by material from his early life, he was the second son of Peter Lanyon of course, and the archive of uniquely comedic and moving audio-visual material Matthew created after he decided to lay aside his career as a builder. It also features the opening of an exhibition at the New Craftsman of his work in 2018. Matthew’s visionary paintings and 3D bottles series had been exhibited annually at the New Craftsman gallery since 2010 and elsewhere both in Cornwall and around the UK from 1997. Public screenings of the film will probably be delayed due to Covid-19 until 2021, but watch out for further news here and on Matthew’s archival website www.matthewlanyon.co.uk