Susie Wild rounds up the latest arts news and events in Swansea…
CARL CHAPPLE @CELFI GALLERY
Carl Chapple is having a productive year. First the WMC solo show in Cardiff Bay, and now this. His new exhibition of paintings opened at the delightful Celfi Gallery in Swansea on Monday and features portraits on canvas and panel all created in the the past year or so. After many years of working on the nude, Chapple has now developed a greater focus on portraiture. I recommend you go and see his show featuring the wonderful portrayal of Morwenna (right), complete with bandaged finger.
The show will run until 18 March
LUCY READ – HOUSE OF THE LOVELY DARK SUMMERS OF MY CHILDHOOD @ ELYSIUM GALLERY
‘The Bread House’ which houses Lucy’s Film installation is the talk of the city. The Hansel and Gretel Wendy House is built from loaves of bread used as bricks whilst the roof is tiled in toast. Lucy Read is a young emerging artist from Somerset and graduated from Swansea Metropolitan University in 2009. Over the time of the exhibition the sculpture will undertake a transformative process, with mould serving as a metonym for the cyclic nature of life and death within self, family or society.Over the time of the exhibition the sculpture will undertake a transformative process. Any growth of mould will indicate a breakdown of materials and become a metonym for the cyclic nature of life and death within self, family or society. Even the pigeons love it. The show runs until 12 March.
SUPERSAURUS OPENS
Supersaurus is a new artist group based in a collective studio space in Swansea. The group balances individual practice with a parallel focus on collaborative work which can take the form of interventions, text and image based work, participatory and social events as well as podcasts which encompass interviews, discussions, experimental sound recordings and themed radio broadcasts.
Members are Adele Vye, Aled Simons, Fern Thomas, Lewis Watkins and Owen Griffiths.
The group will be hosting monthly artist residencies at the Supersaurus Studio and showcasing current artist practice in the Project Space. Artists interested in this opportunity should email [email protected] for deadlines and more information. Supersaurus will be open to the public every Wednesday and Saturday from 11 – 3pm.
The first artist to make use of the Project Space is Bella Kerr. Participants are asked to create and submit a red ball to the studio installation. Bella Kerr will be in the space and available to talk about the work this Wednesday from 12pm. The studio is open until 3pm.
Supersaurus Studio is at Madison House, 34 Orchard Street, Swansea SA1 5AW
GALLERY TALKS
Want some creative, cultured chat for free? Get along to these:
1. Artawe Talk at the Glynn Vivian: Artawe was set up in 2010 in order to create a better awareness of the arts in Swansea and its immediate surrounding areas. It offers opportunities for listings, promotion and networking, all for FREE. Author Susie Wild (yes this is a shameless plug) and artist Rosie Scribblah will talk the talk about the Mighty Artawe at the Glyn Vivian. What is Artawe? Why is Artawe? What links the Mighty Artawe to Jack the Ripper? How will the Mighty Artawe benefit YOU? All these questions and more will be answered at the Glyn Vivian, lunchtime on March 4th. Bring your sandwiches and sketchbooks, have a scribble with Rosie and listen to Susie’s awesome prose. It will be the best 45 minutes you will spend that Friday. Probably. Friday 4 March | 1:00pm – 2:00pm | Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Alexandra Road, Swansea | Admission Free.
2. Osi Rhys Osmond in conversation with Sally Moss at Mission Gallery. Osi will be discussing his current Mission Gallery show Hawk and Helicopter. 1pm Saturday 5 March 2011 | All welcome | Admission free | Mission Gallery, Gloucester Place, Maritime Quarter, Swansea SA1 1TY | 01792 652016 | open daily 11am – 5pm
OTHER NEW SHOWS
DE-FEET-ED: One-Zero presents “De-feet-ed”. Coming to Monkey Café tonight: New Drawings. New Videos. Old Whiskey. Fresh Cake. Desirable Buyables and Sweet Piano by M.M.B.K. Dan McCabe, Jack Kirtley. Monkey Cafe, Swansea | Thursday 3 March | 7:00pm – 10:00pm
ORIEL BACH: The new show Mumbles Old Master opened on Monday and features works by Dr Roger Dunstan, Terry Blaber and Bilbow, who Oriel Bach have dubbed the ‘three masters of Mumbles’. The exhibition showcases their traditional oil and acrylic paintings of scenic view in and around Mumbles.
FFILM 3: The last in the series of the Glynn Vivian’s film shows presenting a wide range of recent film and video in various spaces throughout the gallery opened on Friday and includes artists from Wales and the UK. It will run until April 2011. The works have been selected from collections and commissioning organisations across the UK including, amongst others, the British Council, Film and Video Umbrella, The Arts Council Collection and the Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales.
IAN STEVENSON: The Land & Seascapes of South Wales exhibition continues at Taliesin’s Ceri Richards Gallery until Saturday 19 March. This exhibition features a wide selection Ian’s paintings and limited edition prints, ranging from early watercolour sketches through to recent large studio watercolours.
LAST CHANCE TO SEE: The latest exhibition at The Brunswick closes on Saturday 12 March, as does The Winter Group Exhibition at Swansea’s Attic Gallery.
GOING, GOING NOT QUITE GONE: For those of you who missed the delightful exhibition of the work of the Young Volunteers Project at Swansea Print Workshop there is a lovely little blog about it, so you can feel like you were there anyway.
THE MAD SHOP: The MAD shop and gallery project has now come to an end. MAD have acquired a film and sound studio space on Swansea High Street, which is available for community groups. They are also curating an exhibition at Tapestri which opens on Thursday 10 March.
