Virgin Islands

Matthew Corbin Bishop (1984 - )

Oil on canvas

2008

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  • About the work
    Location
    Country: UK
    City: London
    Place: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Whitehall

    Enlarged beyond their usual scale, Matthew Corbin Bishop’s paintings of postage stamps take on a new and striking identity. Each one is an accurate replica of stamps that were once standard issue in British colonial island territories.

    Five of the stamps feature the head of the British monarch, either George VI or Elizabeth II, alongside examples of landmarks and fauna that were associated with each island. On two of the stamps (Bermuda and Montserrat), Bishop has painstakingly recreated the inked postmarks that overlay them.

    The title of the series is adapted from the final paragraph of Niall Ferguson’s book ‘Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World’.


  • About the artist
    Matthew Corbin Bishop was born in Southampton and studied at Bath Spa University, where he graduated in 2008. His series, 'The Making of the Modern World', was featured on BBC Hampshire in August 2008. His solo exhibitions include Zeri Open House, Kuwait City (2013); 'The Making of the Modern World', Rose Issa Projects, London (2009) and 'The Sun Never Set', Bath Guildhall, Bath (2009). Corbin Bishop has also participated in several group shows, including the 'Government Art Collection: Revealed', Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and Ulster Museum, Belfast (2012-13); Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London (2012); 'Green: A Spring Hanging', Rose Issa Projects, London (2012); and 'The Making of the Modern World' at Somerset Crescent, Bath (2008).
  • Explore
    People
    George VI (1895 - 1952)
    Places
    Caribbean Islands (West Indies), Virgin Islands, Caribbean Sea
    Subjects
    royal portrait, conceptual art, island, man, postage stamp, crown, King, lighthouse
    Materials & Techniques
    canvas, oil, oil painting
  • Details
    Artist
    Matthew Corbin Bishop (1984 - )
    Title
    Virgin Islands
    Series Title
    The Making of the Modern World Series
    Date
    2008
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Dimensions
    height: 24.00 cm, width: 19.10 cm
    Acquisition
    Purchased from the artist, September 2008
    Inscription
    verso, tr: 'Virgin Islands' / Matthew Corbin Bishop / M Bishop '08
    Provenance
    the artist
    GAC number
    18213