Take three artist friends who have shared love of the landscape but work in different disciplines and you have the basis for a major exhibition.
Tri Chae, translated as three fields, has opened at St. Davids Hall in Cardiff and features more than 40 pieces of new work by Anthony Evans, Alun Hemming, and Chris Griffin.
"It is based on the idea of a landscape of three fields and also the fact we are three artists working in three different disciplines or fields" says Evans, who came up with the title to embrace the work of the three friends and colleagues.
Although very different in style, Evans, Hemming, and Griffin are members of the Oriel Canfas Gallery, a collective of artists studios workshops and gallery space in Cardiff. They also share their skills, experience and friendship as well as gallery space.
For Evans his field is a 'memory mapping' of the landscape. His acrylic paintings are inspired by the shapes and patterns evoked by the memories of his family's farm in Cardigan. Titles include The Red Furgie, a 5ft square painting named after a well-known make of tractor.
While Hemming's new work is a collection entitled Elements and based on the idea that all things are dependant, using familiar objects like the love spoon and molecular structures to create carvings that have an almost toy-like appearance.
Griffin on the other hand uses layer upon layer of paint to gently yet precisely evoke the landscape and intimate still lifes inspired by the former coal mining scenery of the South Wales valleys where he grew up.
Welsh art critic John Gower says: "Interestingly their work all references landscapes of some kind, from Alun Hemming's evocations of mythological cities, through Anthony Evans' poetic renderings of the countryside and it's patterns to Chris Griffin's vibrantly coloured terraces and terrains. Lovely may be an overused adjective, but Tri Chae is a genuinely lovely show of art".
Exhibition curator Ruth Cayford adds "These three artists are amongst the most generous in spirit in Wales. Their work has warmth, skill, and beauty and should be appreciated for it's aesthetic qualities".
Evans was born in 1948 in Glanaman, Cardiganshire. For 20 years he taught art at Ysgol Glataf, Cardiff.
In 1990 he gave up teaching to become a full time artist and illustrator. His drawings hsve featured in many Welsh language children's books and more recently he worked with the late poet Iwan Llwyd on the award winning book Dan Ddylanwad (Under the influence ).
He has exhibited throughout the world and his work features in private collections in the United States and Australia.
Of his work he says: "Feelings, emotions, dreams, memories and of course Wales- these are the main elements that are the foundations of my visions as an artist. Using familiar and ordinary subject matter I attempt to create a visual language of symbols, signs and colour through which I can make sense of the world and life in general.
"An integral part of the creative process for me is to re-discover hidden and forgotten paths that have played an important part in my life and in so doing, tell a story of that journey.
Griffin grew up in the Rhymney Valley and studied at Gloucestershire College of Art, and the Royal College of Art, London.
His early subjects drew heavily from coal mining and it's effects on the landscape and miners that worked in the industry, relying on found objects and coal dust to make images that portrayed a gritty social realism.
In more recent years, since the closure of the mines, his his work has been inspired by the landscape in and around the industrial areas of the South Wales valleys to create colourful textured paintings.
The new show is Griffin's last for a year as he is going to take some time out to experiment with his paintings.
Hemming was born in Blaengarw, South Wales. He studied at Maidstone College of Art, Kent and Goldsmiths College, University of London.
His early years as an artist were spent in London's Wapping Studios. He has been based in Cardiff for more than 20 years and was one of the founders and secretary of artist's co-operative Old Library Artists Ltd, a group of 30 artists based at the Old Library in Cardiff. Following the closure of the Old Library gallery, he worked with other members of the co-op to secure Arts Council of Wales Lottery funding to launch the Oriel Canfas Gallery, which opened in1998.
TRI CHAE WAS AT ST DAVIDS HALL CARDIFF FROM OCT 10 - NOV10 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment