Matthew Higgs

Matthew Higgs (born 1964 in West Yorkshire) is an English artist, curator, writer and publisher. His contribution to UK contemporary art has included the creation of Imprint 93, a series of artists’ editions featuring the work of artists such as Martin Creed and Jeremy Deller. During the 1990s he promoted artists outside the Young British Artists mainstream of the period.

Higgs studied Fine Art at Newcastle Polytechnic.(since renamed the University of Northumbria) In 1988, he moved to London and worked for the Grey advertising agency in the media department. In 1993, he founded his own press, Imprint 93, publishing a series of artist’s editions and multiples. Participating artists included: Billy Childish, Martin Creed, Chris Ofili, Elizabeth Peyton, Peter Doig and Jeremy Deller. In 1994, Higgs exhibited at EASTinternational which was selected by Jan Dibbets and Rudi Fuchs. The exhibition "Imprint 93/Cabinet Gallery", featuring the work of Martin Creed, was held at Cabinet Gallery in 1994. "Imprint 93/City Racing" was held at City Racing in 1995.

In 2000, he curated the "British Art Show 5". This major touring exhibition sought to show that British art embraced a wider range of practices than was indicated by the label "Young British Artists" His exhibition "Protest and Survive" (curated with Paul Noble) at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in 2000 reflected a renewed interest in the art of the 1970s.

In 2001, he described a new aesthetics emerging in British art, pointing to the work of Turner Prize nominees Mike Nelson and Martin Creed. He described these artists as part of a "parallel generation to the YBAs", and bemoaned that younger artists were "still adhering to the YBA orthodoxy promoted by Charles Saatchi".

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