Welsh Artist of the Year 2007


Walter Keeler is Welsh Artist of the Year 2007

Monmouth-based artist Walter Keeler was named Welsh Artist of the Year on Sunday June 3rd 2007, at St David’s Hall in Cardiff. His salt-glazed ceramic entry ‘W.I.’, which consists of a large tea pot and nine mugs, was singled out by the panel of judges as an “extraordinary achievement”. Walter, himself a former Welsh Artist of the Year judge, also won the Applied Art/Craft award.

Judge Duncan Ayscough, artist and senior lecturer in ceramics at UWIC, paid tribute to Keeler:

“This presentation of a large salt glaze tea pot and mugs encapsulates the work of Wally Keeler at its best. Effortless skill combined with a joy and understanding of social and ceramic histories, blended with a dry humour.”

“Wally has relentlessly pursued his passion for the process of making and the function of the outcomes. Ingenious interpretation and reinterpretation of the familiar objects of daily life draw on the broad history of the ceramic processes.”

“Despite the familiarity of the object, or possibly because of that familiarity, the ability of his pots such as this significant presentation W.I. has the same power to affect the viewer albeit in a more intimate physical scale as a Norman Foster building or a Barbara Hepworth sculpture.”

“His contribution to art extends far beyond the area of ceramic practice and indeed the applied arts and he can truly be considered as an artist of international importance.”

Walter’s entry beat off competition from around 450 entries in a variety of styles and media. Twelve other artists were honoured in the awards ceremony on Sunday.

"This is more a shock than a surprise,” said Keeler as he accepted his prize, a cheque for £2000.

“I make pots, I don't make ceramic sculptures and I don't wear a frock." (This is a reference to Turner Prize nominee Grayson Perry, a transvestite).”

"I am overwhelmed to have won the Welsh Artist of the Year award.”It is 31 years tomorrow that we moved to Wales and I have worked as a potter here ever since. It gives me a great sense of belonging to be part of the Welsh community of makers."

"The award is good for pottery but it goes beyond that too.”

“There was a feeling before that the prize could only be won by someone in fine art and that the best that ceramicists, photographers and sculptors etc could hope for was to win a category prize."

“The fact that I have won it goes to show that the door is open and the prize is there for everybody. This will be good for the competition because it might encourage more people to enter, leading to more variety."

“The judges felt this collection of 135 works truly represented what is best about the Welsh art world”, said the exhibition’s curator Ruth Cayford. “We hope the exhibition will encourage new and emerging artists to submit their pieces in what will be a bigger and better show next year.”

‘W.I.’ formed the centrepiece of the Welsh Artist of the Year exhibition 2007. Works on display were selected from almost 500 entries. The exhibition ran from Monday, June 4 to August 10, on levels 1, 2, 3 & 4 of St David’s Hall.

WINNERS:

Overall winner: Walter Keeler (from Monmouth) for ‘W.I.’

Second prize: Virginia Head (Cardiff) for ‘Pelegrina’

Third prize: Daphne Hurn (Abergavenny) for ‘Echoes’

Award for Photography: William Tsui (Port Talbot) for ‘Swansea Dog Show’
Award for sculpture: Robert Harding (Llantrisant) for ‘Spiky Bowl’
Painting award: Emrys Williams (Colwyn Bay) for ‘Chamber’
Printmaking award: Andrew Baldwin for ‘Punch Drunk’
Award for drawing: Heather Eastes (Aberystwyth) for ‘Surface With Egg Figure’
Student award: Rachel Loosemore (Mountain Ash) for Entropy.

Highly commended: Chris Griffin (Cardiff) for ‘Studio Table III’; Tom Piper (Cardiff) for ‘Homage…’; Jin Eui Kim (Cardiff) for ‘Untitled’ and Margaret Crossley (Cardiff) for ‘Recyclists’.

DOWNLOAD A PDF THE CATALOGUE (5MB)

DOWNLOAD A PDF THE WINNERS PAGES

Current Exhibitions


June 4 - August 10
Levels 1, 2, 3 & 4

Welsh artist of the year 2007

Below from left: Corrie Chiswell, Craig Lewis

An exhibition of over 100 selected Competition Attracts 'Captivating and Curious' Entries

The Welsh Artist of the Year competition has attracted a wide variety of interesting entries reflecting the abundance of artistic talent in Wales.

From a short film depicting the musical journey of an unusual viola, to an image of Charlotte Church made entirely of beads, and jewellery made from discarded newspapers; this year's Welsh Artist of the Year exhibition will delight and intrigue the public.

Judges sifted through over 450 entries before deciding on the overall winner, six category winners, and the 135 pieces which make up the exhibition.

“It’s a very diverse collection this year," said the exhibition’s curator and judge Ruth Cayford. "The growing reputation of the award meant we had more and more established artists entering alongside new and emerging talent."

"Some of the art is very thought-provoking and challenging and addresses some of the issues of our time. We are committed to presenting a diverse exhibition that will provoke open debate," added Ruth.

The exhibition features some engaging paintings by established artists such as Emrys Williams, Corrie Chiswell and Daphne Hurn. Sculptor Robert Harding addresses issues of terrorist threats through his work and there is also a provocative interpretation of the Last Supper by painter Warren Williams.

A first for the Welsh Artist of the Year 2007 is a piece by Cardiff-based filmmaker Virginia Head. Her short film 'Pelegrina' is the first video work that has been chosen for the final exhibition.

The animation combines drawing, painting, photographic imagery and specially composed music to illustrate the musical journey the artist took after she was introduced to the work of acclaimed stringed instrument maker Don Tatem, who is based in Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff.

He showed her a Dali-esque shaped viola and she "fell under its spell".

"This is an exciting development in the competition. We are thrilled to be showing such a beautiful film as part of the exhibition," said Ruth Cayford.

Cardiff-based art student Sarah Gwyer spent five months making an image of Welsh singer and celebrity Charlotte Church entirely out of beads.

The judging panel felt Sarah's piece was an interesting take on modern celebrity culture appreciating the irony where a traditional art form is used to represent a popular icon in celebrity culture.

Entitled 'Influence of Strangers', Sarah's piece was also inspired by living in the capital for two years.

"I wanted to create a tribute to my time here, something bright, colourful and eye catching,” she said. “For me Charlotte Church represents Cardiff's current regeneration and its vibrant social scene."

"The main aim of the piece is to question the influence celebrities have on our everyday lives. I used the excessive workmanship beading requires to emphasise the time that I, at least, have spent considering the world of celebrity."

Similarly dedicated is 38-year-old jewellery maker Fiona Wright who fashions delicate necklaces and bangles out of the discarded newspapers she finds on the London Underground.

Now based in south west London, but brought up in Tregaron and Lampeter in West Wales, Fiona's work is inspired by her rural upbringing, and in particular the forms of natural woodland, and particularly the branches, twigs and leaves of trees.

Using only the colour of the newspaper print, Fiona has developed a completely unique method of spinning, rolling and twisting the paper by hand to create her stunning yet ecologically-sound pieces.

"It requires an awful lot of time and patience to get the pieces looking absolutely right," admits Fiona who began developing her interest in paper while studying at London's Metropolitan University.

"But I really like exploring my material and experimenting with it. With the newspapers I started rolling and twisting it and read into Japanese methods before I developed my own system."

The overall winner of the Cardiff Council sponsored Welsh Artist of the Year, and its six successful category winners and highly commended artists, will be announced in St David’s Hall on June 3rd. These works, and around 110 others selected by judges will then be on display at the Hall’s Foyer Galleries from June 4 to August 10.

Last year's 'Welsh Artist of the Year', Cardiff-based Ruth Harries, who won with her textile entry 'Anticipation', said she felt very honoured to win the award.

It also led to her becoming a judge in this year's competition.

"The award raised my profile and I gained more respect from other artists within my field and beyond," she said.

"It also led to a couple of offers to exhibit so it gave me a huge boost."

The Welsh Artist of the Year exhibition will include paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, ceramics, textiles, printmaking and video art. The exhibition is on levels 1, 2, 3 & 4. All works are available to purchase. The exhibition is open to the public Monday – Saturday 10-4. Entrance is free.

For more information please contact:
Ruth Cayford, Exhibitions Officer on: 029 2087 8706 or: rcayford@cardiff.gov.uk