Buzz Magazine Dec/Jan 2013/14 | Page 38

art

GRAHAM SUTHERLAND: FROM
DARKNESS INTO LIGHT

National Waterfront Museum, Swansea
Sat 7 Dec-Sun 23 Mar
A private collection from one of Britain’s
best loved artists, Graham Sutherland,
is to tour around Wales. The exhibition,
which reveals more than 60 sketchbook
drawings from Sutherland’s personal
collection, will provide the opportunity to
view some of his most private work.
English-born Sutherland was appointed
Official War Time artist in the early 1940s,
capturing some of the most diverse scenes
from this period of conflict – ranging from
coal mining in Cornwall to the effects of
the bombings in London and South Wales.
Sutherland exhibition also moved onto
religious work, notably a tapestry for
Coventry Cathedral, Christ In Glory In
The Tetramorph.
His pieces, ranging from creative landscapes
to still lifes and portraits, are as equally
imaginative as they are an honest depiction
of his experiences. The work is an eclectic
range that includes bold colours, chaotic
abstract pieces and fine detailed paintings
that demonstrate a dark confusion. This
couldn’t be seen more clearly than in
Opening The Tap Hole On An Openhearth Furnace, 1942, pictured above,
courtesy of Private Collection © The
Estate of Graham Sutherland.
The touring exhibition will begin in
South Wales and be located here for
approximately three and a half months.
Admission: free. Info: 029 2057 3600 /
www.museumwales.ac.uk (HW)

BUZZ 38

CLAIRE CURNEEN: TO THIS I PUT MY NAME
Mission Gallery, Swansea
Sat 18 Jan-Sun 16 March
Irish-born ceramicist Claire Curneen has a solo show at Swansea’s Mission Gallery, showing her enigmatic
porcelain figurines. he exhibition takes its name from a passage in a Thomas Hardy novel in which a character
gives instructions for the disposal of their body after their death, Curneen’s work shows human and angelic
figures in ambiguous situations that invite the viewer to imagine the stories that led them here.
Making human figures out of clay echoes the biblical story of Adam’s creation by God, and there certainly seems to
be a mystical overtone to Curneen’s work. In one sense this is art about creation, asking the viewer to participate
in the idea. The use of fired earth to create angelic figures also carries an ironic sense, with the chthonic
overtones of the clay contrasting with the numinous sense with which the figures seem imbued.
Then there is the sense of narrative in Curneen’s work – while the figures themselves are static, they carry a feeling of a
frozen moment in time, as if the viewer is seeing a three-dimensional photograph of a story which is still unfolding.
In an interview Curneen discusses the freedom which working in clay gives her: “The figures are trying to express
a certain type of emotion, a feeling that I personally experience. I like to use porcelain particularly because of the
movement it gives me. It’s quite a free substance to work with; it gives such a variety of ways of working.”
Curneen also talks about the way in which she imbues the work with a very personal impression: “The way I work
in terms of actually building the figures is that I work from the feet upwards, so that they are actually grounded.
The feet are on the ground and then they are pieced together like you would build a pot. They are patchworked
together, with pieces of clay quite simply pinched together, which also reveals the print of the palm of my hand,
which is also a hint and another story.”
This exhibition invites viewers to enter into Curneen’s ambiguous spaces and leave with their own unique stories.
Admissions: free. Info: 01792 652016 / www.missiongallery.co.uk DAVID GRIFFITHS

RHIAN ELERI: WALES IN THREAD 3AM: WONDER, PARANOIA
St Donats Arts Centre, Valwe Of
AND THE RESTLESS NIGHT
Glamorgan
Tues 7-Thurs 17 Jan
Do you remember those little embroidery
packs you’d sometimes find in your
stocking on Christmas morning (I can’t
be the only one who found them next to
her satsumas on the 25th)? You’d get a
tiny square of material, a selection of
coloured threads and a plastic needle to
sew with – I remember sighing inside at
the sight of them, because I could never
get the little strands of thread to match
the picture on the front of the packet and
was certain, until very recently, that it
was because nothing real could ever be
captured in needlework. Then I saw Rhian
Eleri’s artwork.
It doesn’t matter what she’s doing;
walking along a beach, visiting a local
spot, taking her children to school – no
matter how mundane or ordinary the
situation, Rhian Eleri can craft it into an
intricate piece of art. Everything delights
and inspires her creation of one off pieces
of textile art, and her love of Wales is clear
to see, and appears woven within the
colourful strands of her work.
 Rhian’s textile creations can be seen at
her Wales In Thread exhibition, but if you
have an image or a scene that you’d love to
see embroidered as textile art get in touch
with Rhian via the gallery – she welcomes
commissions of new work.
Admission: free. Info: 01446 799100 /
www.stdonats.com (LR)

Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff
Fri 13 Dec-Sun 2 Mar
Have you ever woken up at 3am to strange
world of silence, unease and eerie wonder?
The mystery and oddity of the early hours of
the morning, usually reserved for the return
journey’s of late night clubbers and the first
journey or early rising workers, are explored
through different mediums in 3AM: Wonder,
Paranoia And The Restless Night.
On the move from Liverpool, the 3AM
touring exhibition adds a touch of
nocturnal mystery and mania to the
Chapter Goes Dark season, and will mark
the onset of an increasing Gothic nighttime at the arts centre. Curated by Angela
Kingston the exhibition it brings together
work by 22 artists in an odd and eerie
celebration of sound, film, photography,
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