elysiumgallery & From the Station to the Sea are very pleased to announce that artist MARK FOLDS has been selected for ‘I’m Not From Round Here’ residency which will run from July through to August later this year.
Mark will be given a budget and a studio to research and create new work in Swansea city centre with a presentation & display of the work at a later date.
Mark’s artwork takes a critical view of social, environmental and cultural issues. In his work, he deconstructs and highlights the ‘everyday’ by spending time in a place, ‘Looking’ and noticing what seems neglected, mundane and almost invisible but is in plain sight. Then by intervening in ways that seem appropriate for the ‘place’, he makes small visual changes to trigger a response.
Having engaged subjects as diverse as Low Flying Jets, Urban and Rural neglect, street furniture and shared/public space, his work reproduces familiar visual signs and actions, arranging them into new conceptually layered pieces, leading to a change/shift in how this place is perceived.
Mark graduated with a BA in Fine Art from Wimbledon School of Art in 1986. Since then he has exhibited, lectured and made Public Art internationally, notably originating and establishing the ‘ilovepeckham’ art project in London in 1996 that continues to present. Since 2003 he has been based in West Wales, in Newcastle Emlyn, near Carmarthen.
The artist was chosen from over 200 proposals from all over the world. The selection panel were interested in working with an artist who can offer fresh eyes on Swansea High Street – an outsider’s perspective. Around 4.5 million people visit the Swansea Bay area every year, but how much do we really understand about how they experience the area, in particular the High Street?.
You can find out about Mark’s work at http://www.folds.co.uk/
From the Station to the Sea is an Arts Council Wales-funded project about Swansea High Street, co-ordinated by Volcano Theatre and Coastal Housing Group, both of which are based on Swansea High Street.
elysiumgallery is an artist led, social enterprise comprising of artist work spaces and a contemporary art gallery over 4 locations in Swansea City Centre, Wales, UK including 37 studios with additional project and resource spaces on the top floor of 27-29 High Street, Swansea where the residency will take place.
Click Here for INVISIBLE BARRIERS – Mark Folds end of residency exhibition
More info about From the Station to the Sea
