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8/6/2005

Artists from Wales

Ex Birreria, Venezia

Curated by Karen MacKinnon

Following the resounding success of the first exhibition from Wales at the Venice Biennale of Art in 2003 we are very pleased to announce that Peter Finnemore, Laura Ford and Paul Granjon have been selected to represent Wales at the 51st Biennale in 2005.

The Biennale is arguably the most important event in the contemporary art calendar. With over 70 nations participating it provides our artists with an important opportunity to exhibit their work on a major international platform. Artists from Wales will again present and represent Wales by taking part in this significant art exhibition and debate on contemporary art practice.

We are delighted to be returning to the same exhibiting space for 2005, which is the Ex-Birreria, on the island of Giudecca. The Ex Birreria comprises several exhibition spaces including the former brewery building itself, which has two levels, the Green Shed, (which is a large self-contained space), and a beautiful garden at the rear of the building.

Karen MacKinnon, Curator for 2005 said of the selected artists “all of them initially draw you into their work through a sense of humour and play but beneath this there are serious concerns - human desire and notions of progress, the use and misuse of power and the complex relationships between local and global, personal and political. The Venice Biennale is about exhibiting the very best in contemporary art practice and here we have three artists who raise debates which are internationally significant.”

Peter Finnemore was born in Carmarthenshire, Wales in 1963 and lives and works in his home near Llanelli, South Wales. He studied at Dyfed College of Art Carmarthen, Glasgow School of Art, and the University of Michigan.

His highly acclaimed solo photographic exhibition Gwendraeth House, originated by Ffotogallery in Cardiff in 2000, firmly cemented his reputation as one of the most innovative artists working in Wales. He has a new solo show Zen Gardner which will include installation and video work opening at Oriel Mostyn Gallery in Llandudno in November 2004. He explores themes of Welsh identity in all its complexity. His work is multi-layered, bringing into play the geography and landscape of Wales, its history, culture and its mythology. Central to his work is his own sense of place within the specific site of his home and family. His works raise pertinent questions about the formation of identity and belonging, which are both specific to a certain place but relevant anywhere where ones specific locality is misunderstood or challenged by global forces.

Finnemore has exhibited widely throughout Britain as well as the USA, Switzerland, The Netherlands and France. His work is included in the collections of the Contemporary Art Society for Wales, Scottish Arts Council, Arts Council of England and Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno.

Peter Finnemore will make new work for the Green Shed at the Ex-Birreria.

Laura Ford was born in Cardiff, Wales in 1961. Following studies at the Bath Academy of Art and Chelsea School of Art, London she spent a year travelling and lecturing in India. She now lives and works in London. Her latest solo show, Wreckers, has just finished at Beaconsfield and Houldsworth Galleries in London and she was in recent group show, Artist’s Favourites at the ICA, London. She is currently working on several new commissions.

Her sculptures often part human, part animal, resemble strange hybrid creatures from children’s books and TV, fairy tales, mythology and dreams. In Ford’s work there is no black and white, no clear divisions between the domestic and public, the child and adult and therefore her work is extremely unsettling. Through her work she questions any straightforward simplistic view of the socially constructed adult world – its logic, politics, cultural and psychological boundaries are thrown into question.

Ford has exhibited widely in Britain, and her important touring solo show The Great Indoors originated by Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Aberystwyth; toured to Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno and the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea in 2003. Her work has been exhibited abroad in many countries including Spain, France, Japan, Austria and the USA. Ford’s work is represented in several collections including those of the National Museum & Gallery, Cardiff; Tate, London and The Arts Council of England. Ford is represented by Houldsworth Gallery, London,

Laura Ford will make new work for the lower gallery space of the Ex Birreira.

Paul Granjon was born in Lyon, France in 1965 and has lived and worked in Cardiff, Wales for nearly ten years. He founded Z Productions (www.zprod.org) in 1988 before graduating from ‘Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Marseille, France in 1990. He has recently been awarded a prestigious NESTA Fellowship to enable him to concentrate fully on his visual art practice.

His DIY approach involves using the ever-increasing detritus of the technological revolution to create his robots, films, installations and performances. His ability to engage and entertain through his work is deceptive as it belies an investigation of serious issues that lead us into darker worrying territories and explore cultural anxieties. Granjon critiques our cultural obsession with notions of progress and our ever-increasing desire to create and harness state-of-the art technology.

Granjon has exhibited extensively both in Britain and internationally including the solo exhibition Z Lab 2001 commissioned by Chapter Arts Centre and Z Food Across the World, which travelled to seven countries. More recently he has exhibited in Quebec as part of an exchange between Le Lieu (Quebec) and Trace: Installation Artspace, Cardiff and has performed Z Lab Transported at Chapter Arts Centre where he presented the latest subjects from his renowned fictional Z Lab. His work is in public and private collections including the Arts Council of England and Lovebytes, Sheffield.

Paul Granjon will make new work for the upper gallery space and the garden of the Ex Birreria.

On welcoming the announcement, Alun Pugh AM, Minister for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport, commented that “with the artists that have been selected we have a wonderful opportunity to make a significant impact in Venice. In 2003 we started with a resounding success to build a profile for Wales. The 2005 show is sure of receiving very extensive attention and we all look forward to seeing what our artists will produce.”

Northern Ireland will be represented for the first time at Venice in 2005, while Scotland, like Wales, will be exhibiting independently for the second time at the prestigious event. On the importance of the Biennale Commissioner for Wales, Michael Nixon, said, “The Venice Biennale of Art is the show that every artist wants to be in and every nation wants to be at. The Venice Biennale is in a class of its own. We have chosen three artists who will relish the opportunity to have their time in the sun. When the Biennale opens in June 2005 we expect the temperature in Venice to be soaring and the Wales Pavilion to be glowing with their art.”

The 2005 Venice Biennale of Art will run from mid June to November and is housed at various sites across Venice including the Biennale Gardens and the historical spaces of the Arsenale, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world.

Wales at Venice 2005 is hosted by the Arts Council of Wales, supported by a partnership which includes Arts & Business Cymru, The British Council, The Contemporary Art Society for Wales, Wales Arts International, The Wales Tourist Board, Wales Trade International, The Welsh Assembly Government and the Welsh Development Agency Food Directorate. ACW is also in discussion with a number of commercial sponsors.

Ex Birreria
Isola della Giudecca - Venezia

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