celebrates contemporary painting, embracing the best and most vital work being created today.
wants to encourage artists to submit fresh and intriguing works with strong opinions and topical observations on the world.
will bring to Wales the best contemporary painting from across the globe.
will highlight excellence in content, aesthetic, technique and materials used.
will raise awareness of the broader context of painting, whether in traditional format or testing new media in relation to painting.
aims to promote, discover and support imaginative and vibrant practice in contemporary painting.
beepbegins in 2012 and will run every 2 years: bi – ennial exhibition of painting = beep.
There will be 2 cash prizes in 2 categories making up the beep awards. The main prize will be chosen by three judges, all professional and well respected artists, the winner will be announced on the opening night of the exhibition. The Peoples Prize will be chosen by the visitors to the exhibition and will be announced at the end of the exhibition. Both prize amounts will be announced closer to the deadline day for entries.
Why beep? Painting proudly carries the weight of art history on its shoulders; Painting depicts our past, captures our present and imagines our future. Painting will never go out of fashion and is not dependent on technology. Painting can capture the minuteness of details and the grandest and most grandiose of visions. A single brushstroke can offer a split-second emotion; a thousand brushstrokes can absorb the mind and soul. Painting does all this with ease and painting will only die when WE die.
VIVA PAINTING!
Wales currently lacks a proper large-scale exhibition dedicated to contemporary painting. This is why beep was born.
Who is beep?
beep was conceived by Elysium Gallery Director Jonathan Powell out of a desire to bring a regular series of grandeur contemporary painting exhibitions to Wales that address serious subject matters.The seeds of this idea were first sewn during Overview, Elysium Gallery’s highly successful first main exhibition of painting. This was an open show curated by Jonathan at Elysium Gallery’s first premises in 2008 which included work by 60 artists/painters in a relatively small space. The idea was further cemented with the 2010 exhibition After the End which presented works by 80 artists over three floors in a sprawling disused building in the centre of Swansea. The exhibition attracted a great deal of interest and debate. This was the biggest exhibition of its kind to be held in Wales, with over 500 people in attendance on the opening night, and many more through the doors across the viewing period. The success of these two events pointed towards the need for a large scale celebration of contemporary painting.
elysium gallery is an artist led organisation dedicated to promoting emerging artists by providing a solid platform from which artists can anchor themselves and provide a comprehensive national and international network to increase their exposure. The gallery strives to provide support for new artists and art organisations as well as encouraging pride and participation in local visual and performing arts in an environment that promotes experimentation, freedom and appreciation in all creative practices. This helps to bridge the large gap between emerging and established artists, whilst continuing to strengthen, promote and sustain the vibrant Welsh arts scene.
elysium gallery was established in 2007, and is run by 3 directors; Jonathan Powell, Sarah Williams and Daniel Staveley, and a dedicated core of fantastic volunteers. The gallery is currently in its third home in 4 years and also runs 12 artist’s studio spaces above its current gallery home and a further 13 in the city centre. The current Elysium gallery space is too small for large scale exhibitions and so is initiating larger projects such as beep outside of its gallery environment.
Visit www.elysiumgallery.com for further information on Elysium gallery, its exhibitions and other opportunities.
Dates: Friday 20th July (7pmopeningnight) Exhibition continues until Saturday 11th August Opening times: Tuesdays – Saturdays 11am – 5pm Location: Volcano Theatre 229 High Street Swansea SA1 1NY
Hannah Downing is a visual artist from Crai, near Brecon in South Wales. Hannah’s art practice is based around an interest in the relationship between pictures and reality. Through processes which include painting, drawing and collage she makes work that uses image as rhetoric. The language of things like the out of focus bits in a photograph; the elevated viewpoint of a cctv image; perspective and panoramas are used in works that often possess a political undercurrent.
