STORYLINE Exhibition in Cardiff

On Monday's wet and blustery afternoon I took a train to Cardiff to attend the opening of STORYLINE, the exhibition organised and curated by Bill Garnett in aid of Shelter, the Welsh charity. I recently posted about this here and on FaceBook.

I've only been to Cardiff briefly once before and on both occasions weather, time of day (dim then dark) plus my deficient sense of direction conspired to make it difficult to locate my destination which, this time, was the Norwegian Church (no longer a church but an Arts centre) on the waterfront.

No doubt the population of Cardiff is huge but, while those few individuals I came across on my way to the gallery were cheerfully helpful in the endearing Welsh manner, the population itself must have been hanging out elsewhere. Three or four persons on the bus to Cardiff Bay, half dozen or so in the vast Millenium Centre where I wandered in to ask directions, and not a single human or animal on the long and winding windy waterfront. I had miscalculated and was too early for the gallery opening, too late to go back into the city centre (couldn't find it anyway) and no cafe in sight where I could catch my breath. Finally, a sudden glimmer of light around a deserted corner revealed a pub - allelulia! Also deserted, apart from the cheerful owner, his wife and one customer. Perfect. All I wanted was to sit somewhere warm until the Norwegian Church, standing whitely spired at the far end of the pier, would be open. Indeed, at the appointed hour, Bill Garnett was there to welcome me.

 

Enough preamble, I'll get to the point: the exhibition at the Dahl Gallery, upstairs in the Norwegian Church, Cardiff Bay, is full - overflowing - with truly exceptional examples of artwork by over 20 exceptional artists. Some of them are household names: Elizabeth Frink, John Piper, Paula Rego, Ceri Richards, Michael Rothenstein, Philip Sutton etc. and some are known in fewer households. But never mind names: if it's wonderful, original, distinctive artwork you love, then you must make your way this week (it's only on for a week) to the Norwegian Church on Cardiff Bay.

Most of the work is for sale, at absurdly reasonable prices, and the very worthwhile Shelter charity will benefit. Cardiff is only two and a bit hours by train from London Paddington and who knows how many hours from wherever you are but it's well worth the trip. If you really truly can't get there in person then you can contact Bill Garnett at Pomegranate Fine Art to get a full PDF catalogue of all the artists.

You already know that this blog is usually (not always) about me so I won't apologise that the photos below are of some of my works in this exhibition (around 20 of my prints and a couple of my artists' books are included.)

 

The bottom photo is of my artist's book For A Song (7 poems and 7 etchings). Full details are here and all the pages from this version are shown  here.