Diverse collections, subtle connections

May 2 2008 by Gordon Dalton, Western Mail

MARKING their 50-year anniversary, the Association of Friends of the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery are holding an exhibition of the works of art which they have helped the Swansea Council-owned gallery to collect over the past half-century.

Curated by art historian Kirstine Brander Dunthorne, the exhibition includes gifts and acquisitions made to the gallery’s permanent collection of fine and applied arts.

Major British artists, such as Barbara Hepworth, Paul Nash and Marc Chagall, are included with a strong emphasis on collecting art of Welsh and local significance, including work by artists Ceri Richards, Kyffin Williams Glyn Jones and Shani Rhys James.

Alongside this show and the Anthony Shapland exhibition are recent paintings by Carmarthenshire-based Gareth Hugh Davies. This new series of paintings is entitled Olion – Welsh for trace, track or mark – and depicts bleak rural landscapes with traces of human presence, such as tyre tracks or distant lights. Glynn Vivian continues to make full use of its gallery space with diverse collections of exhibitions with subtle connections.

TALKING of Shani Rhys James, she is currently showing 30 new paintings, completed during the past three years, at the Martin Tinney Gallery in Cardiff. In recent years, her work has been included in a number of prestigious exhibitions in Britain and in Europe. She is the recipient of numerous prizes and awards, including The Jerwood Prize, The Hunting Prize, The National Portrait Award, The Mostyn Open, the Gold Medal at the Eisteddfod and she was awarded an MBE in 2006.

The artist promises a development in both subject-matter and the handling of paint in her often startling confrontational paintings.

OTHER shows worth a look include My Giant Colouring Book at Oriel Myrddin in Carmarthen, which is a series of 21 etchings by Jake and Dinos Chapman exploring dark and subversive themes. See the main feature on this page for more details.

And Oriel Mwldan in Cardigan is showing an exhibition celebrating the Watercolour Society of Wales.

The society has around 40 members who come from a variety of artistic backgrounds. The exhibition shows a wide and diverse range of styles and techniques, with the life and scenery of Wales a common theme.