ONE of North Wales’s most respected artists will be celebrated at a major retrospective ahead of this year’s Llŷn and Eifionydd National Eisteddfod in Boduan in Gwynedd.
The exhibition, showcasing the work of local artist Emrys Parry will open on July 19th at Plas Glyn-y-Weddw Arts Centre in Llanbedrog close to the main festival site in Boduan. It is not tied to the official Eisteddfod programme but opens two weeks before and will run until September.
Described as a key figure in Welsh art, Parry was born in nearby Nefyn in 1941. The show will feature works spanning his 65 year-long career.
Emrys Parry’s work focuses on the local landscape, ancestry, religion, Welsh language, legends and memory to create multi-layered compositions. Critics have described Parry as “Not only a fine draughtsman but one of Wales’s most gifted iconic painters” (Bernard Mitchell, Photographer).
Parry was Head of Diploma and Diagnostic Studies at Norwich School of Art and Design until 1996. He has exhibited across the UK and has work held as part of the National Library of Wales collection. He is a member of The Royal Cambrian Academy.
Plas Glyn-y-Weddw is an arts and heritage centre of national importance. Over the years it has welcomed exhibitions by Welsh greats including Kyffin Williams, Donald McIntyre, William Selwyn, Claudia Williams and Gwilym Prichard.
Plas Director Gwyn Jones said: “Who better to welcome the Eisteddfod to our region than Emrys Parry, truly one of our local artistic giants. If Emrys’s work is about one thing – it is about Llŷn. The landscape of his childhood, his family and of course the Welsh Language which all appear continuously throughout his work…… this show is a remarkable opportunity for the whole of Wales to experience his enduring artistic legacy. We are delighted to be able to bring Emrys Parry to a new generation and a whole new audience”.
Amanda Geitner, Director of the East Anglia Art Fund said “Consistent in all his work is Parry’s masterful control of structure, texture, and colour, within which the artist orchestrates an enthralling play between geometry and figuration. There is a narrative generosity to this work that invites us to look, decipher and understand. Touching on relationships and memories that are deeply personal to Parry, his work reminds us that from the private depths of our minds we can communicate to one another something marvellous.”
The retrospective will also be supported by the release of a new book providing visuals of additional work and insights from contemporaries. Parry will also be taking part in a live Q&A event at the Plas during the Eisteddfod.
Although Emrys Parry left Gwynedd in the 1950s to pursue his career in art in England, a mythic sense of belonging and an unshakeable connection to the Llŷn Peninsula has been the driving creative force behind his work for 65 years. It has been said his self-imposed exile away from his beloved Nefyn and homeland gives his narrative work their power.
He lives and works in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
