Born in 1951 in St Ives, Matthew Lanyon was the third child of influential modernist painter Peter Lanyon (1918-1964). Much like his father, Matthew attained a reputation as one of the foremost artists in the next generation of St Ives modernists. Having originally studied widely and trained as a carpenter, he began making art in 1988, first exhibiting his work in 1997 at Rainy Day Gallery in Penzance, holding solo shows until 2010, and thereafter at Porthminster and the New Craftsman Gallery in St Ives until his passing in 2016.

No Holds Barred is an archive-led documentary which immerses audiences in Matthew Lanyon's multi-disciplinary practice of painting, 3D sculpture, surreal moving image work, poetry and song-writing, explored from the perspectives of friends, family and collaborators. Lanyon's monumental paintings encapsulate the geology and landscape of Cornwall, and are rooted in a sensuality which merges the abstract and figurative as one.

The film reveals the artist's distinct humour and intellect as a continual thread throughout his practice, as well as his experimental use of media, such as Language as remedy (2008-2014), installations featuring handwritten overheard phrases and fragments of fruity mischief on rows of filled homeopathic medicine bottles. Viewers are invited to take two of 'you should have gone and got a cup' or 'better ancestors'. No Holds Barred is the culmination of a project led by the Artists' Estate to preserve and create visibility for the life's work and legacy of Matthew Lanyon.