Vale of Glamorgan Council
Cyngor Bro Morgannwg
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New Art Central LogoArt Central Gallery

Town Hall, King Square, Barry, CF63 4RW (via library)

 

Art Central gallery is located in the heart of the county. The exhibition space is a magnificent place to exhibit, visit and appreciate art.

 

It is a light, flexible and welcoming space. Art Central’s programme includes a varied selection of art by artists, community groups, arts organisations and touring exhibitions. FREE admission 

 

 

 

Pwynt Diflannu / Vanishing PointJH_0557 _A2 Vanishing Point Poster_ed6_title in yellow-1

Richard Bowers

Saturday 17 January to Saturday 28 February 2026

 

The Vale of Glamorgan Council is marking Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) with various events. Art Central Gallery’s contribution is an art installation – Vanishing Point – by Penarth-based artist, Richard Bowers.

 

This year, the Holocaust Memorial Trust’s theme, Bridging Generations, reminds us of the responsibility of remembrance, the historic genocides and atrocities that have left their mark today. To honour, remember and carry forward survivors’ legacies, through individual life stories, books, films, and other interpretations. By highlighting the power of intergenerational dialogue, listening to those who came before us and sharing stories with those who follow afterwards, we preserve memory and connect it to the present.

 

Richard Bowers' mixed media art installation, Vanishing Point, at Art Central Gallery raises visitor awareness of a range of relevant themes by connecting the past, present, and future.

 

The artist refers to George Santayana's famous quote from The Life of Reason: "Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it", providing a pragmatic view of our responsibility to remember and learn from past catastrophes.

 

Bowers draws the visitor in with extraordinary life-size monochrome canvas panoramas of ruins, a shoreline forming a barricade that stands tall against contemporary sculptural works reminiscent of rafts, drifting. They carry a message of displacement, loss, freedom, and hope.

 

The sound and visual effects from eight monoliths are derived from previous developmental works created by Bowers. The sound of a low hum, as if from a factory, punctuated with the sound of bells, creates a spatial effect; at intervals, transfigured folk-like melodies impact on our senses. While being historically non-specific, the work creates an unmistakable sense of desolation, prompting us into thinking of others, past and present.

 

Bowers says: "In a visual reference to Gericault's The Raft of the Medusa, I regard the rafts as representative of a search on the one hand, and exile on the other. They are crossing over to the unnamed shore; to the afterlife, or as political refugees seeking a safe haven."

 

As a multi-media artist, Richard Bowers integrates painting, sculpture, sound, and video. Musical composition is an important feature that animates otherwise inert elements. He often uses computer programming as the means of composition, where the software environment is a workshop in which to develop, evaluate, and render musical materials. This environment also affords him control over the way the work is presented – algorithmic processes serve to regenerate the work in such a way that it never repeats identically. Richard's works have appeared in numerous venues, festivals and events in Wales and the UK.

 

Cllr Rhiannon Birch, Cabinet Member for Education Arts and Welsh Language, expressed her delight that a locally-based artist, Richard Bowers, was exhibiting at this year’s Holocaust exhibition, stating: "It is important that we continue to mark this date, aiming to raise awareness of lessons learnt from the past, particularly as we, recognise and understand the impact of unrest on lives today. We hope that we can help to make a difference, to inform and enlighten people, if only to make small changes in the/our world every day."

 

 

Holocaust Memorial Day Trust Theme for 2026

Holocaust Memorial Day 2026: Bridging Generations Theme Paper 

 

View poster in full resolution

 

 

 

Coming Up! at Art Central Gallery

 

Previous Exhibitions

 

Universal Energy in Art

Beryl Rhys Wilhelm

JH_0523_Universal Energy _A2 Poster

Saturday 20 September to Saturday 01 November 2025

 

Opening Event Saturday 27 September 2025, 1pm to 3 pm

 

Beryl Rhys Wilhelm is a Vale-based artist, who has been creating her unique paintings for many years. She began her interest in art as a child, when living in Llanelli, spending time drawing people, theatrical scenes and other subjects that influenced her life at the time. Early examples of her sketchbook work are on show as part of the exhibition.

 

Beryl attended what was then Llanelli Art College, (Coleg Sir Gâr today), where she studied for a Diploma in Art. After getting married, she continued to paint in her spare time, whilst looking after her family. The mountains and landscapes of Austria, where Beryl and family would frequently go on holiday, have strongly influenced some of her art works.

 

After living in Cardiff, the family, moved to Cornwall where, once more, the local scenery inspired her creative practice. Eventually, a yearning to return to her country of birth prompted the artist to come home to Wales and she settled in Barry.

 

Beryl paints every day, barely able to put down her brushes. The result is a collection of memories, dreams, visions, and life experiences, which have manifested through subtle and dramatic colours, imagery, and something she describes as, “pure imagination”. Using only three primary colours and white, the over-layering and careful mixing of paint produces colourful, striking, ethereal pieces. The landscapes – with hidden figures, wildlife, and dramatic skies – draw the viewer into the work, in search of hidden detail and messages.

 

The artist has sold over 200 paintings and has undertaken several commissions.

 

Beryl says: “I try to infuse my paintings with a surrealistic or magical air, often inspired by memories and imagination; something I feel is out of this world.”

 

Councillor Rhiannon Birch, Cabinet Member for Education, Arts, and the Welsh Language said: “We are delighted to be hosting Beryl’s artwork at the gallery. Her distinctive style and colourful works will appeal to a wide audience.”

 

The opening event for Beryl Rhys Wilhelm’s Universal Energy in Art, is at Art Central Gallery, Barry, on Saturday 27 September, from 1-3pm. All are welcome to attend, and we look forward to seeing you in the gallery.

 

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SuBCuLtUre    

Redvers John

SuBCuLtUre - Redvers John - Exhibition Poster02.08.2025 – 13.09.2025

 

Opening Event 02.08.2025

Redvers John – is a Fine Art Artist. He graduated with a degree from Coleg Sir Gar having studied Painting, Drawing and Printmaking. John’s focus and interest for his work is about collection and memory where collage, torn paper and typography feature significantly in his work. As a proud Welsh artist, John’s also influenced by the landscapes of Wales that help to inspire his paintings.

 

John’s work reflects upon his memories, which are intrinsically linked to the artists collection of vinyl records, and music memorabilia, landscapes, and personal recollections. John’s recent art practices are inspired by the modernist Kurt Schwitters, Merz collections and collages of the 1940s, and Jamie Reid an iconic contemporary fine artist and designer of record sleeves, for punk bands in the late 1970s.

 

John’s latest works, comprising of print, mixed media and paintings are a combination of personal imagery, photography, and print, ripped and torn to create collaged compositions. He then manipulates the imagery using photography, before reprinting the work, repeating the same process using the new compositions tearing, layering, and replicating through painting. The combination of these layers are fused together and frozen in both real and fictional time. His creative process is time centred, taking many hours to contemplate the different layers of reconfiguration before the final piece emerges.

 

The artworks draw on the iconic Punk Rock movement that challenged norms and promoted individuality and inclusivity through art. The works explore fashion music and political activism and material cultures and contemporary issues. The socio-political elements in the work are brought to the fore, by using what might appear to be random icons but are carefully selected items and materials from both the past and present. The works demonstrates a sense of nostalgia whilst anticipating the frenetic and uncertain world of globalisation today. 

 

Tir a MÔR I Land and Sea

KATE MONTEFIORE and ZINC

Land and Sea posterTir a MÔR – Land and Sea, is an eclectic mix of prints and paintings, both complimentary and contrasting.
 
Have you ever paused to find every shade of colour in a grey sky? Or perhaps noticed the waves that long grasses make in the wind? 
Artists Kate Montefiore and Zinc presents work that is deeply connected to land and seascapes, surrounding us in South Wales, sharing their experiences with such close observation. 
The artists treat colour, gesture, and texture as opportunities to expand and consider the environment using a variety of artists’ medium and styles. The quality of light is unique under Welsh skies and often affects the colour changes in nature. This detail can be seen in both Kate and Zinc’s work, especially in their use of colour mixing.

KATE MONTEFIORE

Kate studied at St Martins School of Art, London and has a degree in Theatre Design from Birmingham School of Art. She has had a varied career in arts management, with a passion for supporting the arts reaching wider audiences. Her experiences are varied, swapping between writing and arts, administration of music and dance, to once again returning to her love of art and print making.
Kate’s work is a fabulous mix of dry point etching, chine-collé, collagraph and monotype printing. Using natural and found materials, Kate enjoys experimenting and developing her creative process and playing with different printing techniques with surprising and unique results. She is particularly drawn to monotype printing for its spontaneity and its ability to capture the fleeting, ever- changing nature of our surroundings. Her most recent works are experimental pieces that layer inks, water, and natural materials, reflecting the organic flow and transformation of land and seascapes. 

ZINC

My artistic journey is an ever-growing spiritual exploration of my oneness with nature. A sketchbook always in my pocket, I spend my days harbouring stillness in my mind for me to sit amongst what inspires me and drawing out my art from those experiences intuitively. Whilst my work may appear to be of subjects other than myself, each piece is deeply personal; we ourselves are nature. My identity, as a being of this Earth is entwined with the tree I sit under, we are together in those moments. Colour and layering is worked on with intense care for detail and intuition in my large oil works; and the same care, channelled in another outlet, is put into my ferociously rapid biro pen sketches and confident line work, done en plain air.

 

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.  

 

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.