The Without Borders and MEWNrhwng exhibitions will run from 17 July to 28 August at Swansea’s elysium gallery, bringing together local and global artists. Rachel Mainwaring shares more information on the new exhibitions – along with some of its artwork – below.
Two new exhibitions have launched at Swansea’s elysium gallery, bringing together the work of artists from across Wales and the world. The not-for-profit gallery, which doubles up as Wales’ largest artistic studio provider, is showcasing the Without Borders and MEWNrhwng exhibitions from Saturday, 17 July to Saturday, 28 August.
Without Borders is being hosted in the elysium’s Gallery 1, and is the result of a collaboration between almost 300 artists and 22 communities worldwide. An evolving exhibition that combines digital and physical works, Without Borders brings together creatives from across the world to develop a touring exhibition of artists pages, which will be bound together at the end of the exhibition in an ‘Artists Book’.
At the close of the exhibition’s run at the elysium it will then make its way around the world via Japan, the United States, Italy, and Canada, before returning to Wales to conclude its global tour. Curated by the gallery’s director, Jonathan Powell, and the co-editor of 1SSUE artist books, Heather Parnell, Without Borders explores the diversity of creativity, the notion of borders – both geographical and social – and how those barriers can be broken down. Heather Parnell said: “The project salutes the diversity of creativity, showcasing the work of all participating artists democratically, in a format that is portable and accessible. The ‘Artists Book’ serves as the vessel and sets the parameters into the exploration of the notion of Borders.”
MEWNrhwng is showing in Galleries 2 and 3, and brings together north Wales artists Najia Bagi, Jenny Cashmore, Rebecca F Hardy and Gemma Lowe. The second instalment of the exhibition, which builds on its debut showcase at Caernarfon’s Oriel CARN gallery, considers the theme of transition – the show’s name is a combination of the Welsh “mewn”, meaning “in”, and “rhwng”, meaning “between”. Speaking about the exhibition, Rebecca F Hardy said the intention of the artists was to collide mewn and rhwng to “express the stages of contentment and emotional thralls. The blurred lines between wellness and chaos”.
Also appearing at the gallery’s Art in the Bar will be The Poetics of Spacetime, an exhibition by local artist Tim Kelly, which features largescale drawings on the walls of the bar, which explore contemporary cultural, political and scientific thought.
The elysium gallery, based on Swansea’s High Street, is open Wednesday-Saturday between 11am and 6pm. Visitors are asked to book free tickets on the gallery’s website for an allocated time slot. The gallery is currently allowing no more than 30 people in every 60 minutes to ensure social distancing is possible.
Read more about the elysium gallery’s new exhibitions here.
