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Celtic Warrior Series 1997
Oil on canvas, 182 x 182cms
"Pure Painting One"
Oil on canvas
This work was chosen as the Welsh representation at the EURO
CELTIC ART 2000 Exhibition at Lorient.
John
Uzzell Edwards lives with his wife Mary, in a large stone
built house in the blissfully peaceful hills above Rhiwfawr,
near Cwmtwrch, in the Swansea Valley.
Built in the ninteenth century, it seems the perfect location
for a studio devoted to the search of national and personal
identities.
Both John and Mary were major supporters in the campaign to
save the local landscape from the devastation of open cast
mining and are now eagerly anticipating the recovery of the
recently reclaimed land.
Click on the image here for larger representation
of the works
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The
Millennium Exhibition
is a solo show of the works of
John Uzzell Edwards at the Tenby Museum and Art Gallery, Castle
Hill, Tenby. (Tel: 01834 842809 or E-mail: tenbymuseum@hotmail.com )
The exhibition was opened on the 15th of January 2000 by Phil
George, Head of Arts, Music and Features - B.B.C. Television
and Radio, and runs until the end of October 2000.
READ
STATEMENT BY
PHIL GEORGE
Head
of Arts, Music and Features
B.B.C. Wales
READ
STATEMENT BY
ROBERT McKEE
About
Robert McKee:
Robert McKee is a screen -guru, who lectures in 'Story Structure'
to auditoriums world wide. His 'bible' on the principles of
screen and story writing 'STORY' was published in 1998. In
addition to lecturing, his writings have included work for
numerous television and feature films. He is a consultant
to major film production companies.
This
year, John Uzzell Edwards represented Wales at the EURO CELTIC
ART Festival in Lorient.
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CLICK HERE FOR FURTHER
EXAMPLES OF JOHN UZZELL EDWARDS PAINTINGS
"Contemporary practice with paint
is re-assessing the emotional immediacy of the painted image
that stands outside category or type of painting activity.
There is a fusion of cultures in Wales where marginalisation
has been a significant factor in its past added to the existing
Welsh musical and poetic spirit.
An equally potent visual awareness is emerging as we approach
a new century. This new spirit is exemplified in the work
of these painters."
Taken from introduction to "PAINTING Ysbryd
- Spirit Wales"
Artists
Statement:
From 1985 when I was awarded a Welsh Arts Council Travel
Grant to study 'Standing Staones' throughout Europe, I have
worked on a series of paintings and drawings which are totally
connected. The first standing stone I painted was the 'Llywel
Stone' which is now in the British Museum. This was followed
by a series of paintings based on the imagery from the 'Standing
Stones' throughout Wales. The imagery and the feelings expressed
in these paintings seemed to relate to the poetry of RS
Thomas, and particularly the poem 'Welsh landscape' and
the lines -
To
live in Wales is to be conscious
At dusk of the spilled blood
That went to the making of the wild sky
RS Thomas
Early
in 1996 I was commissioned by the Shakespeare Institute,
Stratford upon Avon, to paint any Shakespearean charcter.
I chose Owain Glyndwr and the statement by Glyndwr from
'King Henry IV' -
When I was born the earth did shake
The
two quotations above are often written directly on the paintings.
In August 1997 I visited Neath Abbey and there in the large
hall I found a most wonderful medieval tiled floor from
the 12th Century; the subject matter was hunting and jousting.
The 'jousting' imagery seemed to relate to a previous 'Warrior'
series, and has inspired a whole new series of works. They
appear to be all about 'Painting' and not 'Picture Making'.
They seem to relate to manuscripts I have studied in Ireland
and Wales. They seem to weave and meander like a story from
the 'Mabinogion', a Welsh knot, or a piece of penllion music.
Statement taken from the catalogue of The Millennium
Exhibition at the Tenby Museum.
John
Uzzell Edwards
Curriculum Vitae
- 1937
Born Deri, Rhymney Valley, South Wales.
- 1965-66
Awarded Granada Arts Fellowship
at York University.
- 1966 Exhibition at York Festival and three London shows.
- 1968-69 Awarded Prix de Rome at British School, Rome.
Awarded Leverhulme European
Research Fellowship.
Three exhibitions in Germany.
Two London one-man shows.
- 1970-80
Exhibitions in Wales,
Germany and France (UNESCO
Travelling Show)
Twice First Prize Winner of Main Painting Competition
at National Eisteddfod of Wales.
Featured H.T.V. and B.B.C.
Television arts programmes.
Artist in Residence, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea.
- 1980-90 Artist in Residence, The Cross, Pontardawe.
Made Honorary Member of York
University.
- 1993-4
Exhibitions in London,
York, France.
- 1995 TV Film BBC2 'Conflicting
Images' - 40 minutes, Three Welsh Artists, Terry Setch,
Peter Prendergast and John Uzzell Edwards.
- 1996
Awarded
Commission from Shakespeare Institute, Stratford upon
Avon to paint a series of paintings for new library
on Owain Glyndwr (Henry IV).
Organised one-man show at Humphries Gallery, Nob Hill,
San Francisco and helped organise Welsh Festival, March
1st.
- 1997 Featured on H.T.V.
arts programme 'A Word in your
Eye'.
Commission from Robert McKee, Los Angeles.
Commission from Beti George and
David Parry Jones.
- 1998 London
Contemporary Arts Exhibition, Riverside Studios.
Invited
to Arts Reception by H.M. The Queen at Windsor Castle.
With
Brendan Stuart Burns, formed new group of Contemporary
painters - 'Ysbryd/Spirit Wales'.
- Oct
1998 First exhibition of ''Ysbrid/Spirit
Wales' at Howard Gardens Gallery,
Cardiff.
Further
commissions from Shakespeare Institute.
- 1999 'Welsh Contemporaries'
London, Riverside Studios.
Feb 1999
Work featured on S4C television
arts programme.
Oct
1999 B.B.C.
Film on recent work called 'Painted
Dragons' Exhibition at Theatre
Clwyd, Wales.
- 2000 15 January to Oct 2000 - one-man show of recent paintings - The
Millennium Exhibition at Tenby
Museum.
May 2000 Exhibition
at National Museum and Gallery of Wales, cardiff called
'Painted Dragons'.
Feb
2001Exhibiton at 1The Mall, London.
May 2001
Exhibition of Ysbryd Group at the National Museum and Gallery
of Wales, Cardiff.
June 2001
Exhibition
at Winchester Cathedral.
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John Uzzell Edwards 
