Cerith Wyn Evans reflects on his largest show in the UK to date, at Mostyn, Wales – a multisensory, neon-charged fantasia of mind, body and language. Read the Wallpaper* Magazine interview here.
At Mostyn gallery in the picturesque seaside town of Llandudno, Wales, Wyn Evans is currently showing his largest exhibition in his home country, and the UK, to date.
Mostyn, which has a century-long history of championing local and globally renowned contemporary art, fuses Edwardian architecture with the RIBA award-winning concrete modern expansion.
Wyn Evans’ show, curated by the gallery’s director, Alfredo Cramerotti, is borderless –infused with film, music, poetry, literature and Eastern philosophy, and how energy can flow freely through sculpture, video and found objects. The artist has turned Mostyn’s Edwardian galleries into a neon-charged fantasia, with works that dance through the spaces like illuminated drawings. Wyn Evans was keen to embrace the plentiful natural light in the 1901 building, and explore how light patterns will shift through the winter months.
Cerith Wyn Evans said: ‘I love nothing more than neon in direct sunlight. it’s absolutely heartbreakingly beautiful.’
Dominic Williams Director Ellis Williams said: ‘I really like how Wyn Evan’s beautiful filigree works counterpoint the differing spatial qualities of the galleries, light being their common language.’
Ellis Williams has supported the project along with sponsors Colwinston Charitable Trust, White Cube, Marian Goodman Gallery, Neonline, Dr Carol Bell and Salisbury & Co. along with core funding support from Arts Council of Wales, Conwy County Borough Council and Llandudno Town Council.
Designed in 1900 by Welsh architect G A Humphreys, the original Mostyn Gallery closed in 1913 when it was requisitioned for use as a drill hall for the First World War. It subsequently housed offices for the Inland Revenue.
Ellis Williams was commissioned to restore the façade, canopy and original exhibition galleries, as well as providing four new gallery spaces and facilities including a café, shop and education spaces around a concrete circulation core.
Internal additions include a board-imprinted in-situ concrete circulation lightwell, bringing natural daylight into the gallery’s dark rear spaces. The refurbishment completed in 2010.
Acknowledged to be ‘one of the most beautiful galleries in Britain’ Mostyn has won the following awards.
Awards
- 2011 Welsh National Eistedfodd Gold Medal for Architecture
- 2011 Civic Trust Award
- 2011 RIBA Award
- Shortlisted for AJ Building of the Year 2011
- Shortlisted for Concrete Awards 2011
- Shortlisted for AJ 3DR Award for Cultural Building 2011
- Longlisted for the Art Fund Prize 2011
Instalments Photography copyright – Rob Battersby