Artist, illustrator, graffiti artist and young ornothologist Matt Sewell hails from the rural everglades of County Durham in the far North East of England. As a child, Matt was cruelly torn away from his wood-dwelling gingerbread foster-parents by a band of cruel, funny talking city types and forced to move south to work in the treacherous world of freelance illustration. Making his trade in the world of t shirts, editorial design, advertising, flyers, paintings and prints, Matt's characters and friendly approach to design eventually earned him respect and acceptance from the city dwellers, ultimately gaining clients far and wide.

However, Matt seceretly pines for his natural habitat of big trees and grassy meadows - a subject explored in Matt's larger street/graffiti based works, interior live painting, canvases and exhibitions. Showing solo or with groups such as Scrawl Collective and Goback2d, Matt continually brings his own merry band of lonely girls, birds, cloud pandas, woodland creatures and dreamy landscapes to galleries, boutiques and hidden back-streets across the world.

Along with lots of canvas work inside the store, Matt will be painting the shopfront and the inside of the Magma on Friday 5th February. Matt aims to bring the colours of nature and a touch of springtime romanticism to Manchester. Canvas work, prints, posters and Valentines cards will be on sale throughout the exhibition.

www.mattsewell.co.uk