Holding Ground: Matthew Arthur Williams

A newly commissioned photographic exhibition by Matthew Arthur Williams is on display from 26.06.26 at The Alasdair Gray Archive for a limited one-month run.

Created as part of the collaborative publication Rich Things, Matthew Arthur Williams’ photographs offer a powerful encounter with objects, materials and traces of creative life preserved following the salvage of Alasdair Gray’s home and studio in 2019.

Installed within the Archive itself, alongside Gray’s paint-splattered easel, the exhibition explores memory, place, loss and artistic persistence. The work also extends beyond the Archive into the landscapes of Port Dundas and Garnethill—places deeply connected to Gray’s imagination and creative practice, and central to works such as Lanark and Cowcaddens Streetscape in the Fifties.

Commissioned in response to writer Chitra Ramaswamy’s micro-essays and brought together in AGA’s first publication, Rich Things (designed by Maeve Redmond), the exhibition traces the connections between archive, city and lived experience.

🗓 Opening Day: Friday 26 June, 10am–5pm
🕙 Thereafter: Wednesday–Friday, 10am–5pm
📍 The Alasdair Gray Archive, Unit 5.08, The Whisky Bond, Glasgow G4 9SS. Check in at reception for access to exhibition.
📅 Exhibition runs until 31 July 2026

Copies of Rich Things will be available to purchase during the exhibition.