Heritage Minister Opens Welsh Group at 60 Exhibition

Wed, 19 Nov 08 11:23:00

 

Welsh Assembly Government Heritage Minister, Alun Ffred Jones, will be visiting The National Library of Wales on the 22nd of November to open a new contemporary arts exhibition – Mapping the Welsh Group at 60.

 

Mapping the Welsh Group at 60 is a major touring exhibition to mark the 60th anniversary of the Welsh Group in 2008-09 and its activity in post-devolution Wales. The Welsh Group was founded in 1948-49 and currently consists of some 40 or so contemporary professional artists working in a wide range of media and styles.

 

Among the 97 works exhibited throughout the imposing Gregynog Gallery at the National Library are paintings by some of Wales’ best known artists such as William Brown, Glenys Cour, Ivor Davies, Ken Elias, Tony Goble, Clive Hicks-Jenkins, Bert Isaac, Alan Salisbury, Claudia Williams and Ernest Zobole. And, there are sculptural pieces by Peter Bailey, Lynne Bebb, Wendy Earle, Michael Flynn, Robert Harding, Mary Husted, Dilys Jackson, Michael Organ, Antonia Spowers and Islwyn Watkins. The exhibition also shows work by one of Wales’ best loved artists, Arthur Giardelli, who is a founder member and, at 97, is the exhibition’s oldest artist, closely followed by the 90-year-old Mary Fogg who is due to attend the opening.

 

The Heritage Minister will officially open the exhibition on the 22nd of November at 1.30pm.

 

Alun Ffred Jones said: 'The Welsh Group’s 60th anniversary exhibition is a major event for the arts in Wales, bringing together work from talented Welsh artists old and new. And there is an added bonus because the exhibition will tour the country next year, giving more people the chance to see it. There is a vibrant arts scene in Wales and it’s vitally important that as many as possible can enjoy it, wherever they live, whatever their background.'

 

 

Curated and researched by Dr Ceri Thomas, part-time Curator of the University of Glamorgan Art Collections and a member of the group himself, the exhibition contains specially selected artworks by recently deceased members and all the current members on the following themes:

 

• Land / Sea 
• Memory / Myth / Place
• Body / Mind / Figure / Symbol
• Nature / Still life / Abstraction / Assemblage. 

 

Ceri Thomas explains, 'This major project has taken 2 years to plan and 2 years to put together. The touring show and the bilingual related publications cover nearly 50 artists active in various parts of Wales. A few members have been producing work since the group’s inception just after the second world war, whilst others have emerged since Wales achieved devolution.'

 

The publications to accompany the exhibition are fully illustrated in colour and selected works are available for sale.

The project is funded by The National Library of Wales, the Arts Council of Wales, the Contemporary Art Society for Wales and the Welsh Group.

The exhibition will be on display at the National Library from 8 November 2008 – 31 January 2009. It will then be shown at the following venues: Royal Cambrian Academy, Conwy, (14 February – 15 March 2009), and Newport Museum & Art Gallery, Newport, (18 April – 13 June 2009).

 

 

Mapping the Welsh Group at 60

The National Library of Wales

Aberystwyth

8 November 2008 – 31 January 2009

 

Free admission

Shop and cafe at Library

 

Remember - Free Gallery Talk by Ceri Thomas on Saturday 24 January 2009

 

 

Press Office

Medi Jones-Jackson Medi.jones-jackson@llgc.org.uk 01970 632 534