Bristol, UK
A practice rooted in acrylic painting and illustrative form, Mr. Callaby constructs work that engages with play, distortion, and emotional contrast, holding space for both humor and unease within a single visual language.
Matthew Callaby — known as Mr. Callaby — is a British contemporary artist based in Bristol, working primarily in acrylic on canvas. His paintings are populated by chubby, anthropomorphic characters rendered in a bold, saturated illustrative style that sits somewhere between the golden age of American animation and the quieter unease of a bad dream.
His practice spans painting, ceramics, charcoal, and prints — united by a persistent impulse to tie emotion to form. Objects cry. Bottles carry feelings. Characters linger at the edge of a scene, watching. The work is immediately accessible and quietly strange in equal measure.
Presented at A3 scale (420 × 297 mm) on 250 gsm stock, each work is authenticated and issued by LOUD PALETTE, la GALERIE®, ensuring its place within the edition.
Romantic Dinner, presented with a subtle white border framing print, reinforcing the composition and placement.
Get the Champagne, You Did the Bare Minimum & A Vicious Circle presents as a self-referential composition featuring the artist.
GET THE CHAMPAGNE, YOU DID THE BARE MINIMUM
Acrylic on Canvas
2025
edition.title: “Get the Champagne You Did the Bare Minimum”
edition.medium: Acrylic on Canvas
edition.year: 2025
Self-referential composition featuring the artist.
Presented at A3 scale (420 × 297 mm) on 250 gsm stock, each work is authenticated and issued by LOUD PALETTE, la GALERIE™, ensuring its place within the edition.
Limited Quantities Available
A VICIOUS CIRCLE
Acrylic on Canvas
2025
edition.title: “A Vicious Circle”
edition.medium: Acrylic on Canvas
edition.year: 2025
Self-referential composition featuring the artist.
Presented at A3 scale (420 × 297 mm) on 250 gsm stock, each work is authenticated and issued by LOUD PALETTE, la GALERIE™, ensuring its place within the edition.
Limited Quantities Available
ROMANTIC DINNER
Acrylic, Charcoal, Ink On Panel Board
2026
edition.title: “Romantic Dinner”
edition.medium: Acrylic, Charcoal, Ink On Panel Board
edition.year: 2026
Works presented with a subtle white border framing print, reinforcing the composition and placement.
Presented at A3 scale (420 × 297 mm) on 250 gsm stock, each work is authenticated and issued by LOUD PALETTE, la GALERIE™, ensuring its place within the edition.
Limited Quantities Available
In our Palette
Within LOUD PALETTE, la GALERIE®, Mr. Callaby’s work operates at the intersection of character design and contemporary painting. His approach resists strict categorization, instead insisting on a balance between the playful and the unsettling.
What emerges is a body of work that does not simply present itself as lighthearted, but asks to be held in consideration—where softness, strangeness, and tension coexist.
In the context of EDITIONS: DROP 01, this placement reflects an ongoing commitment to experimentation within figurative language, and to practices that challenge emotional expectation through visual form.
Mr. Callaby works through acrylic painting and illustrative forms, building a visual language shaped by rounded figures, exaggerated proportions, and expressive simplicity. The practice is grounded in character as both subject and narrative device.
I. Character
The work navigates a space between innocence and distortion—between the familiar and the strange. This tension creates an experience that shifts between comfort and unease without settling into either.
II. Contrast
III. Play
Through bold color, repetition, and simplified composition, Mr. Callaby develops works that appear immediate, yet carry an underlying complexity. Humor operates as an entry point, not a conclusion.
IV. Atmosphere
This body of work is situated within an ongoing dialogue around contemporary figurative painting and emotional duality. It reflects a commitment to work that embraces contradiction while remaining visually accessible.
This body of work is presented as part of EDITIONS: DROP 01.
Comprising a focused selection of works, the series explores the relationship between innocence and distortion. Working through acrylic on canvas, bold color fields, and simplified forms, Mr. Callaby extends his practice into a space of playful construction and emotional ambiguity.
Each work exists as part of a limited release, reinforcing both the material presence of painting and its position within a broader evolving archive of contemporary figurative work.