Wales in Venice 2013 - Alfredo Cramerotti curator
Wales in Venice - Welsh Pavillion at the 55th Venice Biennale, 2013, http://www.artscouncilofwales.org/arts-in-wales/venice
Start date: 01-Jun-2013
End date: 01-Dec-2013
Bedwyr for the Biennale
Bedwyr Williams in a project jointly curated by MOSTYN’s Alfredo Cramerotti and Oriel Davies’s Amanda Farr and supported by the Arts Council of Wales will be the artist to represent Wales at the 55th Venice Biennale 2013 International Art Exhibition.
The 37 year old artist born in St Asaph now lives in Caernarfon, North Wales. His comedic and poetic live performances and installations deal with Welshness, otherness and difference. He has in the past assumed difference and personas in his work - a one-eyed preacher, a Grimm Reaper and Count Pollen.
"I'm interested in worst case scenarios and the people that get caught up in them", he says.
The artist’s work often draws upon the quirky banalities of his own autobiographic existence to develop his sculptures and performances. His work merges art and life with an idiosyncratic twist that is instantaneously sympathetic and relational. His sculpture, installations, text and photography based works and live performances explore subject matter ranging from growing up in Colwyn Bay with size 13 feet, to a mini bus crash with four other artists in residence (in which he is the only survivor).
Bedwyr Williams’ work featured in the opening show of the new and refurbished MOSTYN and last year created a memorable installation in Oriel Davies of Nimrod a piece first shown at Ceri Hand Gallery. Ceri Hand Gallery represents Williams and will be launching a new solo show by the artist in their new gallery in London, during Frieze week in October. His work was also included in the Becks Futures show in 2006, and in recent exhibitions in London, Turin, Paris and Bonn. In 2011 he took part in Performa 11, New York.
Currently Williams has a new exhibition My Bad at Ikon Gallery Birmingham continuing until 8th July, whilst the stand up performance which has become an increasing feature of his work will be showcased at the Hayward Gallery’s ‘Wide Open School’ in London on July 6th in a lecture titled The Truth against the World. A piece inspired by his upcoming ovation to The Gorsedd of Bards of the Island of Britain in August.
Bedwyr Williams is a fitting choice for a challenging contemporary art arena such as the Venice Biennale. During the 2005 Biennale presentation of work in the Welsh Pavilion by Peter Finnemore, Paul Granjon, and Laura Ford in the exhibition Somewhere Else, Bedwyr Williams was awarded an artist placement commission by Cywaith Cymru Artworks Wales. This took place alongside the official exhibition as a complementary add-on. It built to a book and presentation on the Giudecca entitled BASTA, the Italian for “That’s Enough!” BASTA was a rueful and wry reflection on the homesickness of the artist in residence.
Bedwyr Williams’ exhibition in Venice will be curated by two of Wales’s leading galleries; MOSTYN and Oriel Davies and will be shown in the Ludoteca, midway between the critical exhibition sites for the Biennale of the Giardini and the Arsenale. This is the second time Wales has shown at the Ludoteca.
Wales’s presence at Venice has been a vital part of the artistic calendar ever since the country first burst onto the International Biennale’s scene in 2003 with the exhibition, Further. Since then the Biennale has provided a superb platform for visual art from Wales, strengthening its presence on the international stage and reflecting back into Wales through exhibition tours and related initiatives such as internships, the Invigilator Plus programme, educational resources and talks.
The exhibition is commissioned and managed by the Arts Council of Wales and Wales Arts International with support and collaboration from the Welsh Government and the British Council .
For further information, please contact Siân James on 029 2044 1344 / 07812 801356 or email sian.james@artswales.org.uk
Notes to Editors
1. MOSTYN is the leading contemporary art gallery in Wales and receives financial support from the Arts Council of Wales, Conwy County Borough Council Art Services and Llandudno Town Council. Its recent new build and refurbishment has won many plaudits. It is key partner of Plus Tate network of the twenty most dynamic contemporary art galleries in the UK. Mostyn programmes have recently included a show of David Nash exploring for the first time the role of colour in his work. New Director and Wales in Venice 2013 co-curator Alfredo Cramerotti recently curated Manifesta 8, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art, Region of Murcia, Spain and All That Fits: The Aesthetic of Journalism. http://www.mostyn.org/
2. Oriel Davies is a key contemporary art gallery of Wales and the principal visual arts venue for the mid-Wales and the Welsh Borders region. From this highly rural setting the gallery presents world-class, thought-provoking and challenging art by national and international artists. Oriel Davies is supported by the Arts Council of Wales and Powys County Council. http://www.orieldavies.org/
3. Ceri Hand Gallery is a commercial contemporary art gallery established in Liverpool in 2008, currently relocating to London, launching on 12 July 2012. The Gallery represents a selection of the best emerging and mid-career artists, with a special focus on conceptual and performance art, producing and exhibiting major new works on and offsite, http
4. Arts Council of Wales is the country’s funding and development agency for the arts. Its vision is of a creative Wales where the arts are central to the life of the nation and to ensure that the contribution of the arts is recognised, valued and celebrated.
5. Wales has had a presence at successive Biennales since 2003. In summary these exhibitions have been:
2003 - Work by four artists, Simon Pope, Cerith Wyn Evans, Bethan Huws and Paul Seawright, was chosen for Further - the first collateral exhibition of Wales at the Venice Biennale.
2005 - In the exhibition Somewhere else Peter Finnemore, Laura Ford and Paul Granjon presented work in the context of the 51st Venice Biennale of Art. In addition to the exhibition at the Ex-Birreria, Giudecca, there was a residency project by Bedwyr Williams, Basta. The project was the result of partnership working between Wales at the Venice Biennale and Cywaith Cymru. Artworks Wales.
2007 - 'And So It Goes' featured works by Richard Deacon, Merlin James and Heather & Ivan Morrison 2007 marked the most extensive use of the Ex-Birreria site for the exhibition from Wales.
2009 - Dyddiau Du/ Dark Days by John Cale. The durational 46 minute split five screen film and sound installation was situated in the Capannone 1 space at the Ex-Birreria site.
2011 - Tim Davies. Cymru yn Fenis /Wales in Venice establishes itself in a new venue, the Ludoteca in the Castello district at the top of the Via Garibaldi between the Giardini and Arsenale. The Ludoteca has been confirmed as the location for the Cymru yn Fenis Wales at Venice 2013 Exhibition.
6. For Bedwyr Williams see http://www.bedwyrwilliams.com/
7. For Alfredo Cramerotti see http://www.alcramer.net/
