At a Loss art exhibition connects people

At a Loss is a creative arts project that promises to bring moments of emotional release and flashes of joy to bring people together, in creativity and conversation during a group exhibition at the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s prestigious exhibition venue, Art Central Gallery, Barry, Wales, from 7^th October 2023 to 6^th January 2024.  The At a Loss project is supported in kind by The Vale of Glamorgan Council’s Art Service and Art Central Gallery and with grant funding from Arts Council Wales.

Grief can be a subject that is difficult to discuss but will touch all our lives at some point. The At a Loss Project has brought together artists from the UK, USA, countries in mainland Europe and Israel, who share an interest in exploring experiences of loss through their creative practice. Each artist works with the material objects belonging to a lost loved one, “spinning gold out of the things left behind”.

The project is the idea of artist-filmmaker and educator Inga Burrows. co-curating with Tracey Harding, the Manager and Curator at Art Central Gallery in Barry, S.Wales. It’s important that the show helps visitors to feel humanly connected in a way that only art can do.

The concept for the exhibition was developed after the passing of Inga’s mother: as she sorted the things left behind, Inga began to wonder whether other artists feel creatively inspired to use their lost loved one’s possessions as material for art making. She explains further, “Deciding what to do with the material possessions belonging to a lost loved one can be overwhelming for many of us, regardless of how much time has passed and in what circumstances our loved one died.   

 

As the one female amongst my siblings, I took charge of the sifting through my mother’s clothes, her hats, glasses, crockery, underwear, hairbrushes, jewelry, bedding etc. Seeing her belongings laid out on her living room floor and deliberating over what to hold onto and what to let go of, the heaps of my mother’s stuff morphed into art materials before my eyes.”

An Arts Council of Wales funding application enabled Inga to create opportunity to work with other artists. The core group for the project developers Inga Burrows, Tracey Harding and Emma Geliot and experienced Arts Journalist, working on the artist’s catalogue, developed an ‘Open Call’ to work with other artists. they were delighted when applications came in from Wales the UK and around the world from artists whose work connected with the exhibition theme. Some artists selected are exhibiting existing artworks and others have been commissioned to make new pieces for the show – Inga has been bringing the artists together regularly to discuss the development of their work for exhibition. Altogether there will be sixteen artists showing work in the At a Loss exhibition.

Cllr Rhiannon Birch Cabinet Member for Education, Arts and Welsh Language is very keen to support this exhibition saying “We rarely talk about loss as part of lives. When we lose our loved ones, it may be a shock and difficult to process no matter how expected or unexpected it is.  How do we cope, what do we do with the items and memories of our parents, grandparents, spouses, partners, children what do our children do with our material items.  This project is creating an opportunity to explore and help creatively manage our families’ personal treasures which to keep and of course often the most difficult to let go.  We hope you can visit the gallery and be inspired but some of the sixteen artists ideas and creations on show.”

This multi - media exhibition will be on show from Monday 9^th October 2023 until Saturday 6^th January 2024. An opening event will take place on Saturday 7^th October from 12:00noon at Art Central Gallery where you will be able to meet the artists involved and see the exhibition.

we hope to run workshops during the month of November look out for updated information about this.  We look forward to sees in you at Art Central Gallery. For more visit: www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk/artcentral

At a Loss Exhibition

Art Central Gallery, Town Hall, King Square, Barry, CF63 4RW

7^th October 2023 to 6^th January 2024

David Green – Cul-de-sac: 05 August - 30 September 2023

David Green is an artist and teacher, based in the Vale of Glamorgan. He studied at Kingston University and The Royal Academy Schools, in London. He has exhibited throughout the UK.

Cul-de-sac  (2018 – 2023) is a series of digital print projects, each of which explores the ideas behind the objects we create and the ways in which we relate to those objects, imaginatively and socially.

Refused to be Silent

The sleepy residential streets in the various towns and cities, depicted in these prints, share the same name, Oscar Romero Street, in honour of the Archbishop of San Salvador.  

Researching a holiday destination on Google Maps, David Green happened to come across a street named Oscar Romero. Recognising the name, this immediately sent Green’s mind back to 1980, when the news of the death of the Archbishop in San Salvador was televised. The report of a car stopping said that the assassin steadied his rifle on the roof of the car, the bullet travelled through the open door of the chapel, striking the archbishop, who was preaching from the altar. The assassin was never found. This assassination had a profound effect on the artist at the time.

Killers and Victims

Swedish Authors Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö wrote their successful Martin Beck crime novels in the 1970s. One of the distinctive features of the novels is the sense of detachment, towards perpetrators and victims alike, that the reader is encouraged to feel. The absurdist aim of this project is to objectively analyse characters through scrutiny of their costumes and belongings, not their human traits and behaviours. 

Unreal Words

This series of prints appropriates the graphic signage found in the scenic design of well-known films, including Mean Streets (1973), The Long Goodbye (1973), Zabriskie Point (1970), Smiley’s People (1982) and Hidden (2015).  Out of context, on the gallery wall, these graphic signs serve to activate the viewer’s imaginative response to what the words as signage might mean.

This exhibition carries a warning in relation to the content of some of the imagery. 

Exhibits and Events

If you would are interested in exhibiting, running workshops or holding events at Art Central please complete our online application form:

Apply Online

Please note: The application process is competitive and not all applications will be successful.

Volunteering 

Do you have an interest in the arts? Art Central Gallery is seeking volunteers. Volunteers would need to assist visitors and the Arts Development Officer.  

• 01447 709805

• tcharding@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk

Crafts

Selection of high quality contemporary craft work made by local and international artists. If you’re interested in displaying and selling your artwork you’ll need to provide details and images of your artwork, a CV and/or a covering letter. 

• 01446 709805

• tcharding@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk