Y GRÅ´P CYMREIG THE WELSH GROUP
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About
President: Mathew Prichard CBE
Chair: Paul Edwards
Vice-chair: Philip Watkins
Secretary: Neil Stone
Treasurer: Heather Eastes
Safeguarding & website: Gus Payne
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Committee members:
Jacqueline Alkema,
Jenny Allan,
Anthony Evans,
Chris Griffin,
Sue Hiley Harris,
Maggie James,
Gerda Roper.
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Full list of members:
Click HERE.
The Welsh Group is one Wales' most established and respected group of artists. It was founded in 1948 as the South Wales Group which at that stage consisted of both professional and amateur artists from south Wales' six leading art societies. However, by 1975 it had radically changed, becoming a professional only collective renaming itself The Welsh Group: Y Grŵp Cymreig.
Throughout its history the group has exhibited widely in Wales and internationally. It celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 1998 with a publication by Dr Peter Wakelin and an exhibition in the National Museum and Gallery of Wales, followed by a tour. In 2008 a 60th Anniversary was similarly celebrated with a major exhibition of current members work at the National Library of Wales. The exhibition was curated by Dr Ceri Thomas who also wrote the accompanying introduction and catalogue.
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During 2018 and 2019 the group toured a celebratory exhibition across Wales, marking 70 years of The Welsh Group, together with a new publication by David Moore, exploring the work of individual current members,
The Welsh Group is an artists' collective, with the purpose of exhibiting and "giving a voice" to the visual arts in Wales.
highlighting the history of their involvement. The book also reflects on recent members and activities and takes a fresh look at the group's character.
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The Welsh Group members are not dominated by any movement, style or manifesto, but come together as professional individuals promoting and exhibiting art of high quality. The Group gives a sense of comradeship and belonging to its members and, by association, to other artists living and working throughout Wales. The Welsh Group members demonstrate a wide cross section of conceptual approaches in contemporary visual arts practice through a range of media and processes.
The Group currently has just under forty active members (occasionally including a Chair's Mentored Member) located across the whole of Wales. Its members are amongst the best-known and respected practitioners working in the visual arts within Wales.
Further reading:
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The Welsh Group at 70, David Moore, Crooked Window | Ffenest Gam (2018).
ISBN 978-0-9560867-3-0.
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Creating an Art Community: 50 years of the Welsh Group, Peter Wakelin, National Museum of Wales (1999).
ISBN 0-7200-0472-1.
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Mapping The Welsh Group at 60, Ceri Thomas, Diglot Books, Llantrisant (2009).
ISBN 9780956086709 (0956086705).
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Yma ac Acw / Hier und Da / Here and There, The Welsh Group / BBK Düsseldorf (2014).
ISBN 9780956086723.
Books available HERE.