Cloud Palette #1

This artwork featured in the Hereford Sculpture Trail (2024). A Meadow Arts commission. 

Matthew Cornford’s work is inspired by his exploration of the Hereford College of Arts archive and historic promotional materials. During his research, he discovered an artist’s paint palette which he has used in this work as a symbol of creativity. The addition of a picture of a blue sky over Hereford acts as a “trompe l’oeil”, an illusion that symbolises positivity and the transformative power of art to encourage “blue sky thinking”.

“The Cloud Palette sign combines two key aspects of the ongoing Art School Project, a nationwide project I am undertaking with John Beck: primary research and location photography. In the 1960s a graphic representation of an artist palette was used on posters and prospectuses to promote Hereford School of Art. The sky for the Hereford sign was taken during the photo shoot documenting the former site of Hereford School of Art on Castle Green. That makes the Cloud Palette sign both site- and context-specific to Hereford and its 170-year-old School of Art.” – Matthew Cornford

Cloud Palette #1 was commissioned by Meadow Arts in 2024 as part of a collaborative project between Hereford College of Arts, Meadow Arts and Herefordshire Council. It is one part of the Art + People + Place programme, commissioned in partnership with Studio Response as part of the £6 million Hereford City Centre Improvements (HCCI) project.

Location: 1 King St, Hereford HR4 9BW

Image: Matthew Cornford, Cloud Palette #1, installation view, Hereford Sculpture Trail, Hereford, 2024. Image courtesy of Meadow Arts. 

 

About the artist

Matthew Cornford

For over ten years Matthew Cornford has been working with John Beck to explore the history and significance of UK art schools. The ongoing Art School Project aims to develop an understanding of the role of art education in towns and cities across the country since the middle of the 19c. This has resulted in numerous exhibitions of photography, texts and archives. In 2023 they completed a Meadow Arts and Hereford College of Arts public art commission for the Station Approach residential building in Hereford. Matthew Cornford teaches on the fine art programme at the University of Brighton.