Exhibition Visit: Wales

Abram Games - Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Comfort Zones - Oriel Davies

Took a work related trip to Wales to visit the above exhibitions on 23 April. By way of background, these two shows will be coming to the James Hockey & Foyer Galleries, where I work, in the near future.

First stop: Aberystwyth. It's a long way away. Abram Games was a Graphic Designer, most known for his work during the Second World War, and the exhibition showcases the development of his creativity, innovation and technical skill through 70 or so posters. Having spent a good six months researching and spending time with a lot of the designs, I was already curious to see them close up. The DVD provided an informative background to the nature of the works displayed and I found the show to be educational as a whole. The designs themselves are regularly branded as 'iconic', and one of the most intruiging aspects is how much they reveal of social history - of how the world acted at the time. For example, there's an image reminding soldiers to think about their personal hygiene that made me think about something to do with being in the army.

A few hours away in Newtown, Powys is Oriel Davies Gallery who have initiated the touring exhibition Comfort Zones, on the topic of questioning notions of 'home' and domesticity. It'll be at James Hockey & Foyer Galleries from mid November. The curatorial information we'd been reading on the show had seemed somewhat complicated and inaccessible, but the exhibition itself has a fun atmosphere and is well put together. Perhaps the most memorable and illustrative of the stated theme is Nina Saunders' collection of works that remind me of Stuart Robinson's subverted objects. Distorted furniture and animals combined. Half a fox stuffed between the cushions of a sofa-esque item. I noted a lack of particularly expressive works. The collection has a certain cold and distant overriding feel. Topics tackled in a deadpan Gilbert and George style, with subjects seemingly needing to be held at arms length in order to comment.