Norwegian Church, Cardiff
Mon 10 – Sat 21 July
The Norwegian Church opens its doors to a contemporary fixture fittingly titled A Summer Exhibition by the Welsh artist collective S.W.P.A. featuring a variety of mediums and visual styles, but finding a common theme in the beauty of south Wales in the summertime. The group – who post frequent updates on social media – have clearly been preparing for the exhibition for some time.
Posts from as early as Spring, where the first strokes of burgeoning summer can be starkly seen against the otherwise permanent freezing raincloud Wales houses most days of the year, capture the works of the artists in progress as they simultaneously battle sodden clothes and sunburn in places of outstanding natural beauty. Silvia Hughes-Williams, while on location in Dyffryn Springs, displays her vibrant ink pieces, simultaneously technically neat and joyfully flowing as a tease of what is to come.
Sue McDonagh, on the other hand, is shown to use a tamer palette of pastel colours in her impressionist paintings, a collection of works on toddlers curiously investigating the beach being an example. Through paint one retains the sense of a late afternoon, the air beginning to turn cold, but the adventures being far from over. The works would bring a tear to the eye of anyone who grew up on the beaches of Wales.
Admission: free. Info: 029 20787 7959 / www.norwegianchurchcardiff.com (JM)