How Wales is putting visual arts on the map
Artes Mundi and a host of other initiatives reflect the growing appetite for contemporary visual arts in the nation, says Gareth Harris
The success of this year’s Artes Mundi exhibition and prize held at Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales) in Cardiff (24 October 2014-22 February) has prompted some to question whether the £40,000 award has more impact than the Turner Prize.
The Turner Prize is restricted to British artists under the age of 50. But the biennial Artes Mundi award, which was won by the Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates this year and was spread over three venues including the Ffotogallery in Penarth, is open to artists of any age and nationality.
“There is a big audience for modern and contemporary work here,” says Nicholas Thornton, the head of fine art at National Museum Wales. “There is an expectation that cities need to have a platform for such work.”
The Artes Mundi exhibition has been held in the redeveloped West Wing of the museum since 2011 when the National Museum of Art was created. The redeveloped galleries offer 40% more space for the national contemporary collection.
“We are now also able to show our post-1950 collection in more depth,” Thornton adds.
Artes Mundi is part-funded by the Arts Council of Wales (ACW), which has supported another major platform for Welsh contemporary art – the Wales in Venice pavilion at the Venice Biennale – since 2003.
Game changer
Amanda Farr, the director of Oriel Davies Gallery in Newtown, Powys, co-curated an exhibition of works (called The Starry Messenger) by Caernarfon-based artist Bedwyr Williams at the 2013 Biennale. Artist Helen Sear will represent Wales this year in a presentation organised by Ffotogallery.
“Since Wales first took part in the Venice Biennale in 2003, it has been something of a game changer in terms of the effect it has had on the contemporary visual arts in the country,” says Farr. “The visual arts have a higher profile in Wales now.”
Oriel Davies presents around 10 exhibitions every year across three galleries, commissions new work and runs offsite projects.
“Galleries such as Glynn Vivian [see box], Oriel Davies and Mostyn in Llandudno are important venues that have received much investment recently,” says John Marjoram, the development officer for the Federation of Museums and Art Galleries of Wales.
ACW supports 10 dedicated visual arts venues as part of its regularly funded portfolio. These include Mostyn, Oriel Davies, Glynn Vivian and Ffotogallery.
Contemporary future
These venues and initiatives reflect an appetite for contemporary art in Wales, but a previous attempt to establish a related venue in the capital failed. The Centre for Visual Arts, a major contemporary art space, opened in Cardiff in 1999.
An admission charge deterred visitors and financial difficulties forced the centre to close after only 14 months in November 2000; the main funders were ACW and the city council.
Then, in 2008, the Welsh government commissioned a report, The Future Display of Visual Art in Wales, which suggested establishing a National Gallery of Art and a National Centre for Contemporary Art. These plans were shelved after the economic crash the same year. A government spokesman declined to say if this proposal would still be pursued.
Cardiff City Council is nonetheless backing a citywide contemporary art festival, Cardiff Contemporary, which launched its first programme last October, encompassing 33 new commissions and a series of events at key partner venues, including g39, an artist-run gallery.
Ben Borthwick, the former director of Artes Mundi and now the artistic director at Plymouth Arts Centre, says that “it is early days for Cardiff, which is emerging from a decade-long loss of confidence in the arts since losing out to Liverpool in the European Capital of Culture bid [in 2003]”, though he notes a sense of momentum building in visual arts in the Welsh capital.
Writing in WalesOnline, Ruth Cayford, the city of Cardiff’s visual arts manager, says: “Cardiff Contemporary 2014 cannot be compared with the Liverpool Biennial or Glasgow International yet.
“But these cities have recognised the role of the arts in promoting economic growth and community engagement; we are laying the foundations for similar activity for Cardiff.”
Wales’s place on the contemporary art map will be boosted further when the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in Swansea reopens in summer next year.
A redesign of the gallery extension, built in 1974, and a new storage and conservation area are part of the revamp.
The £5.2m refurbishment is being funded by the Welsh government (including £550,000 from the Swansea Regeneration Area programme), the Arts Council of Wales, Cadw and Swansea council.
The renovation was delayed in 2013 after the contractor went into administration.
The gallery, which closed in October 2011, hopes to attract about 90,000 visitors annually.
The Turner Prize is restricted to British artists under the age of 50. But the biennial Artes Mundi award, which was won by the Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates this year and was spread over three venues including the Ffotogallery in Penarth, is open to artists of any age and nationality.
“There is a big audience for modern and contemporary work here,” says Nicholas Thornton, the head of fine art at National Museum Wales. “There is an expectation that cities need to have a platform for such work.”
The Artes Mundi exhibition has been held in the redeveloped West Wing of the museum since 2011 when the National Museum of Art was created. The redeveloped galleries offer 40% more space for the national contemporary collection.
“We are now also able to show our post-1950 collection in more depth,” Thornton adds.
Artes Mundi is part-funded by the Arts Council of Wales (ACW), which has supported another major platform for Welsh contemporary art – the Wales in Venice pavilion at the Venice Biennale – since 2003.
Game changer
Amanda Farr, the director of Oriel Davies Gallery in Newtown, Powys, co-curated an exhibition of works (called The Starry Messenger) by Caernarfon-based artist Bedwyr Williams at the 2013 Biennale. Artist Helen Sear will represent Wales this year in a presentation organised by Ffotogallery.
“Since Wales first took part in the Venice Biennale in 2003, it has been something of a game changer in terms of the effect it has had on the contemporary visual arts in the country,” says Farr. “The visual arts have a higher profile in Wales now.”
Oriel Davies presents around 10 exhibitions every year across three galleries, commissions new work and runs offsite projects.
“Galleries such as Glynn Vivian [see box], Oriel Davies and Mostyn in Llandudno are important venues that have received much investment recently,” says John Marjoram, the development officer for the Federation of Museums and Art Galleries of Wales.
ACW supports 10 dedicated visual arts venues as part of its regularly funded portfolio. These include Mostyn, Oriel Davies, Glynn Vivian and Ffotogallery.
Contemporary future
These venues and initiatives reflect an appetite for contemporary art in Wales, but a previous attempt to establish a related venue in the capital failed. The Centre for Visual Arts, a major contemporary art space, opened in Cardiff in 1999.
An admission charge deterred visitors and financial difficulties forced the centre to close after only 14 months in November 2000; the main funders were ACW and the city council.
Then, in 2008, the Welsh government commissioned a report, The Future Display of Visual Art in Wales, which suggested establishing a National Gallery of Art and a National Centre for Contemporary Art. These plans were shelved after the economic crash the same year. A government spokesman declined to say if this proposal would still be pursued.
Cardiff City Council is nonetheless backing a citywide contemporary art festival, Cardiff Contemporary, which launched its first programme last October, encompassing 33 new commissions and a series of events at key partner venues, including g39, an artist-run gallery.
Ben Borthwick, the former director of Artes Mundi and now the artistic director at Plymouth Arts Centre, says that “it is early days for Cardiff, which is emerging from a decade-long loss of confidence in the arts since losing out to Liverpool in the European Capital of Culture bid [in 2003]”, though he notes a sense of momentum building in visual arts in the Welsh capital.
Writing in WalesOnline, Ruth Cayford, the city of Cardiff’s visual arts manager, says: “Cardiff Contemporary 2014 cannot be compared with the Liverpool Biennial or Glasgow International yet.
“But these cities have recognised the role of the arts in promoting economic growth and community engagement; we are laying the foundations for similar activity for Cardiff.”
Glynn Vivian gallery to reopen next year
Wales’s place on the contemporary art map will be boosted further when the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in Swansea reopens in summer next year.
A redesign of the gallery extension, built in 1974, and a new storage and conservation area are part of the revamp.
The £5.2m refurbishment is being funded by the Welsh government (including £550,000 from the Swansea Regeneration Area programme), the Arts Council of Wales, Cadw and Swansea council.
The renovation was delayed in 2013 after the contractor went into administration.
The gallery, which closed in October 2011, hopes to attract about 90,000 visitors annually.