Crooked Window


Ffenest Gam

Y GRWP CYMREIG YN 70
THE WELSH GROUP AT 70

Produced by Crooked Window for publication by The Welsh Group in 2018,
written by David Moore and designed by Sue Hiley Harris.

For its seventieth anniversary, the Welsh Group is launching a major new book about the Group at the opening of its latest exhibition, The 70 Series: The Valleys at Oriel y Bont, Ty Crawshay, University of South Wales, Treforest, Pontypridd, featuring the work of its current members.

Today, with a current membership of thirty-six artists, the Welsh Group is one of the highest-profile professional artist groups in Wales. The Welsh Group, founded in 1948 as the South Wales Group, was originally an association of affiliated art societies. Individual artist membership was only introduced, in an environment of increasing professionalism, in 1957. Art society affiliation, however, and open exhibitions continued to be a feature of the Group for many years. It only became a fully professional group in the 1970s after being renamed 'The Welsh Group'.

Many current members are deeply rooted in the Group's evolution. The oldest continuous members, Glenys Cour and Islwyn Watkins, became artist members in the late 1950s, Glenys having joined the affiliated Swansea Art Society in 1950. Eleven members, however, have joined since 2008 and it is, perhaps, more diverse in nature than it has ever been. The youngest member is Gustavius Payne, the Group's current chair.

The Book is available from 15 November 2018. Specially commissioned by the Group from Crooked Window and written by David Moore and designed by Sue Hiley Harris, it is illustrated throughout with outstanding artworks, new photographs and telling printed ephemera. Exploring the work of individual current members, the book highlights the history of their involvement. It also reflects on recent members and takes a fresh look at the Group's character. It reveals, too, that, over the last decade, the Group has exhibited extensively in Wales as well as developing partnerships with groups in the United States and Germany.

In its seventieth year, the Welsh Group continues to make a significant contribution to raising the profile of the visual arts in Wales both at home and internationally.

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