Have you heard of the Big White Wall project along Central Saint
Martins’ Granary Square Street? Working with Liquitex and Cass Art, CSM
have launched an opportunity for students to create temporary large scale
artworks for passers-by to admire. Sponsoring
this project for a second year, Liquitex supplied all the required paint, gesso
and brushes. Fine Art Collective UK Manager Stephanie Nebbia provided guidance
throughout and Student Matthew Wang has been selected as this year’s winner.
Matthew's Big
White Wall submission went beyond the decorative; it stood out from the crowd
with its combination of conceptual ideas and aesthetic appeal.

Big White Wall winner: Matthew Wang
We caught up with
judges David Mach and Charlotte Schepke as they mulled over the six remaining
shortlisted entries. "The last six should all be congratulated – they've
all done amazingly," says David, a self-confessed "materials
junkie". Mach studied at Duncan of Jordanstone before attending the Royal
College of Art and is a Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy of
Arts. He’s just received a huge delivery of trees and will be trying out
wood-carving for the first time. Well-known for his iconic sculptures, David’s
installations can be found across London and the rest of the world.
Why was Matthew chosen
as the winner? He had already mapped out how he would go about creating this
large-scale mural and foreseen the challenges that lay ahead. His vision was
unique yet achievable in the time frame; the design fits with Liquitex products
and includes thoughtful use of mixed colour. Then there's the deeper meaning,
expected to engage students as they walk by.
Liquitex paint will cover the huge 7 x 30m wall!
We chatted
with Matthew as he visited the UK Liquitex headquarters to trial different
tools and forms of acrylic, including rollers, brushes, soft body, heavy body,
spray paint and tape. Stephanie ran through the different options available and
benefits of each – rollers should be used for flat finishes and Freestyle
Brushes for clean corners and edges.
Sitting at a table with a range of tubs and
tubes in front of him, Matthew told us of how happy he felt at being chosen,
and how winning has given him more confidence in his concept.
Matthew says each section is linked
to a Google search of a country, and measures 4m x 7m – the same dimensions as
an iPhone screen. “Each individual colour is a pre-loaded image of that
country’s Google search.” There are seven sections, six of which are countries,
while the central doorway area represents Google’s corporate colours. With the internet acting as the gateway
to so much information and Google being central to this project, it brings
another meaningful element.

A constant flow of students will view the large-scale artwork
If you read from left to right, you
can imagine a world map starting with the USA, and then travelling onto the
United Kingdom, then France, Syria, Saudi Arabia and finally to China. Matthew
explains, “In most senses, the conceded colours were already decided by the
Google search - my objective wasn’t to invent or change the colours, it was to
re-represent and curate them on a different scale, medium, and arrangement.” Matthew has decided to base the
featured countries on current topics important in today's context.
Matthew
is now halfway through his project. We'll be following him as he continues to
work his way across the Big White Wall using Liquitex, so keep an eye out for
updates on his progress!