art JACQUELINE DE JONG: THE


ULTIMATE KISS Oriel Mostyn, Llandudno Sat 9 Oct-Sun 6 Feb


Though not the first opportunity to view Jacqueline de Jong’s paintings on UK soil, The Ultimate Kiss is the first full- scale


representing each segment of her six- decade career. There appears to be an effort to deemphasise the ‘retro’ of retrospective, to avoid presenting de Jong as someone who burned bright in her youth (although she did) before becoming dispassionate or ‘establishment’.


The painting which lends its title to the exhibition is a case in point, listed as dating from “2001-2012” – de Jong was born in 1939 – but ripe with a dark, bestial strangeness that’s at least as radical as the swirling mixes of grotesquerie and social commentary that informed her canvasses in the 1960s. During that decade, de Jong threw herself into the Situationist movement, founding and editing a magazine, The Situationist Times, at only 23.


THE ULTIMATE KISS by Jacqueline de Jong


Across the decades, de Jong’s practise hasn’t so much evolved as mutated. Some work from the 1970s is larded with iconography of the time, and feels


exhibition for this Dutch artist,


analogous to pop art without being that. Oil paintings from the 80s are slicker and more technically proficient; later work sometimes borders on cartoonish in the scenarios it depicts, and in recent years she’s made the perhaps unlikely move into potato-based jewellery.


Interviews with the artist suggest she has an deep aversion to being put in any stylistic pigeonhole, also downplaying or dismissing other people’s suggestions of paintings’ subtext. Plausibly, this has meant de Jong has been less celebrated than her work deserves, but has made it easier to maintain relevance even when in her ninth decade. The Ultimate Kiss, which travels to Wales from Belgium and will subsequently show in Germany, is accompanied by a monograph of the same title which includes essays by various critics and an interview with the artist.


Admission: FREE.


01492 879201 / mostyn.org NOEL GARDNER


PORTAL 2021 Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre, Cwmbran Until Sat 6 Nov


This gallery exhibits mixed shows of degree work on an annual basis, under the Portal banner, and its latest edition gathers work by 19 young artists who have been up against it, in a creative sense. Zoom- based learning, confined to one’s domicile, money for (what felt like) nothing – heck, it was enough to make people across the UK into student sympathisers.


This year’s crop hail from across the UK and add up to a commendably mixed show, with “photography, painting, sculpture, textiles, video and illustration” promised by Llantarnam Grange. Subject matter ranges from the more obviously political to abstract expressions,


taking into account that these artists are simultaneously accomplished and developing, the offer of support and coaching has been made to them, with funding from Welsh body the Oakdale Trust.


and


Among the selected creatives, Welsh representation includes Helen Louise Murphy from the University Of South Wales, Ruth Petersen from Carmarthen School Of Art and three from Cardiff Metropolitan University: Rosie Harman, Klara Sroka and Yusun Won.


Admission: FREE. lgac.org.uk NOEL GARDNER


THREAD Elysium Gallery, Swansea Until Sat 16 Oct


Expertly curated by Angela Maddock, Ann Jordan and Lorna Hamilton-Brown, Thread brings together four established artists to explore the vast possibilities of what can be created with textiles, as well as considering the contemporary themes that can be weaved through these creations.


Discussing the reason for the exhibition’s title, Maddock said: “Thread was chosen because of its multi-faceted meanings. I was keen that the exhibition would feature contemporary artists from different backgrounds


practice in different ways and question the viewers ideas surrounding identity, culture and global issues.”


The exhibition will feature work from Shelly Goldsmith, Raisa Kabir, Shona Robin Macpherson, and Lasmin Salmon, along with pieces from bright young talents Siwan Thomas BA and Imogen Mills MA. To allow visitors a peek behind the curtain of the exhibition, there will be an open work room alongside the main gallery, featuring the artists’ samples and sketchbooks. Bringing together a wide range of ideas and materials, Thread promises to be a treat for anyone who has been excited by the endless possibilities of cloth as a raw material for art.


Admission: FREE. 07980 925449 elysiumgallery.com JOSHUA REES


that stretch boundaries,


NORTHERN EYE


PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL 2021 Oriel Colwyn, Colwyn Bay Sat 9 + Sun 10 Oct


The Northern Eye Photography Festival returns to Colwyn Bay with a stellar lineup of speakers. Top of the bill are Craig Easton, whose project Bank Top set out to challenge media misrepresentations of a maligned area of Blackburn; Charlie Phillips, the self-taught son of Windrush- era immigrants, who documented his local community in pre-gentrification Notting Hill, photographed Jimi Hendrix and Muhammad Ali and earned the admiration of Henri Cartier-Bresson along the way; and Brian Griffin, who shot album cover images in the 1980s for the likes of Joe Jackson, Iggy Pop and Depeche Mode.


Over the course of the weekend, in-person and online attendees will also get the opportunity to hear Jack Lowe talk about his ambitious project to visit and visually record all 238 RNLI lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland armed with a vintage camera, and to find out how Cardiff-based artist Suzie Larke creates her surrealist representations of mental health struggles. And the Fringe Festival takes place throughout October, with venues around the town hosting free exhibitions and workshops.


Tickets: £40.


northerneyefestival.co.uk BEN WOOLHEAD


BASKETRY: RHYTHM, RENEWAL & REINVENTION Ruthin Craft Centre Sat 25 Sept-Sun 9 Jan


Gregory Parsons, curator at Ruthin Craft Centre in Denbighshire, brings together work by around three dozen contemporary basket makers, who span generations and use traditional methods to create woven vessels of strikingly modern appearance.


Among those showing are Josey Goodin, a Canadian living in England who took up the practise with his father’s encouragement and makes exquisitely curved pieces from ash trees; Ewen Balfour, who specialises in a type of basket from northern Scotland known as a kishie; Clare Revera, who also has work at Cardiff’s Craft In The Bay and grows her own willow in Pembrokeshire; Pip Rice, who got the basketry bug from her previous job styling photos; Alison Dickens, who conversely arrived via work in urban regeneration; and Monmouthshire maker Colette Davies, whose portfolio includes wearable basketry pieces.


The environmental angle of basketry – sourced from the natural world, but as per Revera’s example possible to do sustainably – is also taken into account in what looks to be a deeply thoughtful exhibition.


Admission: FREE. 01824 704774 ruthincraftcentre.org.uk NOEL GARDNER


34


Yusun Won


Shelly Goldsmith


Charlie Phillips


Basketry – Dalia Hamiche


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