ABERTILLERY ABERYSTWYTH
L A N D S C A P E JOHN HARVEY
ABERTILLERY ABERYSTWYTH LANDSCAPE LANGUAGES
lonawr 6 January - Chwefror 10 February 1996
Oriel Gregynog The National Library of Wales Aberystwyth Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru FRONT COVER CLAWR BLAEN Attic I Attic I acrylic and plywood 21 x 25 x 9.5 1992 acrylig a phren haenog 21 x 25 x 9.5 1992
GACK COVER CLAWR CEFN Ariel V Ariel V gouache and photocopy 20 x 28.5 x 10 1992 gouache a ffotogopi 20 x 28.5 x 10 1992
TREFNU'R ARDDANGOSFA GAN EXHIBITION ORGANISED BY 0 Michael Francis, Ceidwad Cynorthwyol, 0 Michael Francis, Assistant Keeper, Adran y Darluniau a Mapiau, Llyfrgell Department of Pictures and Maps, The Genedlaethol Cymru, Aberystwyth National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
PHOTOGRAPHS FFOTOGRAFFAU Jacqueline Harvey and Rudy Lewis Jacqueline Harvey and Rudy Lewis
EXHIBITION AND CATALOGUE CATALOG AC ARDDANGOSFA The National Library of Wales and The Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru & Yr Ysgol University of Wales, School of Art, Gelf, Prifysgol Cymru, Aberystwyth Aberystwyth
CATALOGUE WRITTEN AND DESIGNED GY CATALOG, YMCHWIL A CYNLLUN
John Harvey John Harvey
PRINTED BY ARGRAFFWYD
Andrew Baldwin, The University of Wales, Andrew Baldwin, Yr Ysgol Gelf, School of Art Press, Aberystwyth 1995 Prifysgol Cymru, Aberystwyth, 1995
ISBN 1 899095 07 1 INTRODUCTION CYFLWYNIAD
Abertillery sits at the junction of the Tillery Gorwedd Abertyleri wrth adwy cymoedd Tyleri and Ebbw Fach valleys on the north-eastern ac Ebwy Fach ar gornel gogledd-ddwyreiniol corner of what were the south Wales yr hyn a fu'n faes glo de Cymru. Saif y dref yn coalfields. The town is situated mainly on the bennaf ar ochr ddwyreiniol cwm Ebwy Fach. east side of the Ebbw Fach valley. The Ffurfir ochr orllewinol y cwm gan lethr serth valley's west side is formed by the mynydd Arael, fel lien anferth hyd ochr y cwm. precipitous slope of the Arael mountain, a Unwaith, uwchben y mynydd, trodd awyr y nos towering curtain running the length of the yn oren tanboeth ar agoriad ffwrneisi chwyth valley. Above the mountain the evening sky gwaith dur Glynebwy yn y cwm nesaf. Trigai fy once turned an intense crimson-orange as nheulu mewn tf talcen teras ar waelod bryn the blast furnaces at the Ebbw Vale serth yn agos i waelod Ebwy Fach. Wrth fynd steelworks in the next valley were opened. am dro i ben yr Arael, byddai fy nhad yn My family lived in an end-of-terrace house at dangos talcen pinwydd pyg y tf i ni, nodwedd the bottom of a steep hill near the base of a'i gwnai'n wahanol i'r llinellau o resi, the Ebbw Fach. On our walks to the top of the strydoedd a therasau a ffurfiai'r dref. O'r Arael, my father would point out the pitched copa, edrychai Abertyleri tel map tirwedd y pine-end of the house, the aspect which most gellid dilyn tirnodau a llwybrau cyfarwydd clearly distinguished it among the sprawling arno. Cynhwysai'r olygfa i fyny'r cwm y ffordd trains of rows, streets, and terraces that were hir i'r gogledd a basiai heibio i'r domen lo the town. From the summit, Abertillery looked islaw pwll glo Rose Heyworth ac a ddiflanai i'r like a giant relief map on which familiar tarth myglyd a orchuddiai Blaina a Nantyglo. landmarks and paths could be traced. The l'r de, gellid gweld y pwll glo yn Six Bells, a view up the valley took in the long road north llif traffig cyson y bysus i ac o Gasnewydd a that passed the coal-tip below Rose Heyworth Glynebwy, ac adlais eu peiriannau'n hyrddio'n colliery and disappeared into the smoky haze gryglyd drwy'r cwm. Dyma fu'r ddelwedd o'r obscuring Blaina and Nantyglo. To the south dref a fu gennyf yn fy meddwl erioed. 0 could be seen the colliery at Six Bells, and gopa'r mynydd, ymddangosai'r dref yn ddigon the constant traffic of buses to and from bach i'w chofleidio rhwng eich Newport and Ebbw Vale, the pull and grind of breichiau. Yn ddiweddarach mewn bywyd, their engines reverberating throughout the daeth paentio ac arlunio'n ffordd arall o length of the valley. This has been my gofleidio'r dref, ac yn todd o ddychwelyd, enduring vision of the town. mewn ysbryd, i'r lie a fu'n gartref i mi unwaith ac, i raddau helaeth, y lie a fu'r byd yn grwn i
At the top of the mountain, the town mi. Mae Abertyleri, neu'n fwy penodol, yr appeared small enough to embrace between argraffiadau gweledol, y dyfnder teimlad a'r outstretched arms. In later life, painting and atgof emosiynol a gysylltaf a'r lie, yn dal i drawing became another way of taking the ddiffinio ffiniau a gorwelion fy niddordebau tel town unto myself, and a means of returning, artist. in spirit, to the place that was once my home and, to a great extent, my whole world. Roedd angen i mi ddringo 'mynydd' er mwyn Abertillery, or more specifically the visual paentio Aberystwyth am y tro cyntaf impressions, intensities of feeling, and (Aberystwyth (Astudiaeth) 1982). O'u gweld o emotional memory that I associate with it, ben Consti a Phen Dinas, mae clwstwr y still largely defines the boundaries and geometregau sy'n ffurfio'r dref yn clwydo o horizons of my interests as an artist. fewn cruglwythi sy'n cau amdanynt, cyfluniad sy'n debyg i'r olygfa o Abertyleri fel y'i gwelir I needed to climb a 'mountain' in order to o waelod cwm Ebwy Fach - ond mai bryniau a paint Aberystwyth for the first time mor, nid mynyddoedd, sy'n ffurfio terfynau
(Aberystwyth (Study) 1982). Viewed from Aberystwyth (Abertyleri 1 1995). Rhoddodd y both Constitution Hill and Pen Dinas, the thema hon fan cychwyn cyfarwydd, cysurus i cluster of geometries comprising the town mi ymestyn ymhellach archwilio tirlun nestles within enclosing masses, a newydd. Gan nad oedd Aberystwyth yn rhan o configuration analogous to the view of brofiad plentyndod a glaslencyndod i mi, nid Abertillery as seen from the bottom of Ebbw oedd gennyf atgofion na phrofiadau Fach valley -- Aberystwyth being bounded by cysylltiedig a'r dref i'w dwyn i got. Yn lie hills and sea instead of mountains hynny, disgrifiais nodweddion neilltuol y lie, (Abertillery 1 1995). This motif provided a golygfeydd yn bennaf o ffenestri ystafelloedd familiar and reassuring point of departure y bum yn byw ynddynt. Nid dirnad cartref yn from which to explore a new landscape. Since nhermau tref a'r ardal o'i chwmpas a my childhood and adolescence were not wneuthum felly, ond yn hytrach yn nhermau
bound up with Aberystwyth , had no tirlun cyfagos y tu allan i bedair wal. Ar 61 memories or experiences connected with the byw yn Aberystwyth am dros ddeuddeng town to evoke. Instead described the mlynedd, mae gen i nawr orffennol mewn
specific features of the place, mostly views perthynas a'r dref. Mae' r gweithiau diweddar
from windows of rooms where I lived. Thus yn tynnu ar deimladau fy atgofion cynharaf yn home was conceived in terms not of a town ogystal a' m hymdeimlad o'r lie yn y presennol. and its environs, but of a proximate Yn hynny o beth, maent yn cynrychioli
landscape outside four walls . Having lived in cydasiad o atgof a chanf.yddiad , gorffennol a
Aberystwyth for over twelve years , I now have phresennol , teimlo a gweld , ac weithiau , a past in relation to the town . The most ymdoddiad o nodweddion sy'n gysylltiedig a'r recent works draw upon the sentiments of my ddwy dref. earliest recollections as well as my present sense of the place. As such , they represent Mae corff y gwaith yn cyfuno nid yn unig an amalgamation of memory and perception, amserau, teimladau a thirluniau , ond hefyd past and present, feeling and seeing, and , i n ieithoedd gweledol : arlunio a phaentio, some instances, a coalescence of adeiladwaith a rhith , haniaeth a ffurf, characteristics associated with both towns. tueddiadau lleiafsymiol a mwyafsymiol, sgiliau
academaidd a thechnegau modernaidd, The body of work combines not only times, ynghyd a natur glasurbl a rhamantaidd . I niter sensations, and landscapes but also visual o arlunwyr, gan gynnwys fi fy hun, mae languages: drawing and painting, arlunio a phaentio, i raddau helaeth , yn ddau construction and illusion , abstraction and beth gwahanol iawn er nad ydynt yn figuration , minimalist and maximalist weithgareddau digyswllt. Mae' r cyntaf tel arfer tendencies , academic skills and modernist yn weithred ragfwriadol y ceisiaf drwyddi techniques , as well as classical and romantic gymell cyfarfyddiad cyntaf a phwnc. Mewn dispositions. For many artists, myself cyferbyniad, mae arlunio'n ami yn tyfu o included, drawing and painting are, for the broses o addasu , gyda' r atgof am dirlun yn most part, separate though not unrelated rhoi ffurf ac arwyddocad i law rydd ar ffurf. activities. The former is usually a Mae' r gwahaniaeth rhwng y bwriad a' r broses premeditated act by which seek to initiate a yn esgor ar bwyslais gwahanol mewn paper constructions based on my 'mountain- gwaith celf ac i gydnabod perthynas y darlun
top experience' in Abertillery. The first a' i gynhaliad. Mae'r darnau'n cychwyn gyda
painted constructions are the Attic series. chynllun y cynhaliad. Mae' r paentiad felly' n The paintings are made on shaped supports, cael ei gyflyru gan gyfyngiadau' r ffurf tri
breaking the traditional rectilinear boundaries dimensiwn, yn ogystal ag yn ymateb iddo.
of the picture-frame in order to explore the Mae' r gwaith yn ymwneud a 'dadlunio' (yn contrary spatial effects between illusionistic llythrennol , tynnu ' n ddarnau) y pwnc a ' i ail- and actual depth , to stress the objecthood of lunio ffurfio cyfanwaith newydd. Mae' r the artwork, and to acknowledge the relation gweithiau cyfredol yn cydasio tirlun gyda of the picture to the support. The pieces nodweddion pensaern'iol a gysylltir a thu begin with the design of the support. The mewn capeli Cymreig . Am fod strwythur painting is thus conditioned by and responds cerfwedd y paentiadau bob amser wedi fy to the strictures of the three-dimensional nharo' n gyflawn ynddo'i hun, rwyf i nawr yn form . The works involve ' deconstructing' ymyrryd cyn lleied ag sy' n bosibl drwy (literally, taking to pieces) the subject and ychwanegu pigmentau a staeniau . reconstructing it to form a new whole. The current works conflate landscape with architectural features associated with the interiors of Welsh chapels. Since the relief structure of the painting·s has always struck me as being complete in itself, further intervention , in the form of applying pigments and stains, is now kept to a minimum.
John Harvey Abertillery 1995 Boat House 1995 1 ' '
Pen Dinas: Trefechan 1995 Two Houses: Caradog Road, Aberystwyth 1988 . . - -
After Industry IV 1995 A rae I Top 1994
BIOGRAPHY
1959 Born in Nantyglo 1977-81 Undergraduate student at Gwent College of Higher Education
1982-4 Postgraduate student at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth 1985-7 Tutor at Gwent College of Higher Education and Pontypool College 1986-90 Postgraduate student at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth 1986-92 Tutor in Fine Art at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth 1992-5 Lecturer in Fine Art at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth
1995 Professor of Art at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1979 The Welsh Group, Newport Museum and Art Gallery
1980 House as Gallery, London 1980 Drawing 80, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff 1981 The Welsh Group, Newport Museum and Art Gallery
1983 John Harvey & Steven Whitehead, Aberystwyth Arts Centre 1984 The Welsh Group (touring exhibition) 1985 The Welsh Group (touring exhibition)
1987 The Welsh Group (touring exhibition) 1989 The Welsh Group (touring exhibition)
1993 Aberystwyth Artists, Deffet Francis Gallery, Swansea 1993 Euro-Wales '92, Canal Wharf Gallery, Cardiff 1995 Exhibition of Work by Staff and Students of the School of Art, Gregynog Hall, Newtown
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
1992 'Work and Worship: Mining and Religion in the Paintings of Nicholas Evans', Llafur: Journal of Welsh Labour History
1993 'Spiritual Emblems: Visions of the 1904-5 Welsh Revival', Llafur: Journal of Welsh Labour History
1995 The Art of Piety: The Visual Culture of Welsh Nonconformity, Cardiff: The University of Wales Press CATALOGUE ' CATALOG
Abertillery I acrylic and gouache I acrylig a gouache 18 x 18 1981
2 Aberystwyth (Study) acrylic and gouache I acrylig a gouache 21.6 x 26.7 1982
3 Backs: Portland Street, Aberystwyth pencil I pensil 26.2 x 29.3 1988
4 Two Houses: Caradog Road, Aberystwyth pencil I pensil 39.9 x 38 1988
5 Vision: Angel and Devil Fighting Over L/anhilleth pencil I pensil 8 x 6.4 1989
6 Abertillery I pencil I pensil 7.9 x 7 .7 1989
7 Abertillery II pencil I pensil 8 x 7.2 1989
8 Abertillery Ill pencil I pensil 7.4 x 8 1989
9 Abertillery IV pencil I pensil 7 .3 x 8.4 1989
1 0 Abertillery V pencil I pensil 10.4 x 9 1989
11 Abertillery VI pencil I pensil 7 x 8.5 1989
12 Feeder mixed media I cyfryngau cymysg 30.7 x 9 . 1 1990
13 Adumbration acrylic and gouache I acrylig a gouache 17.9 x 17.9 1990
14 Tabernacle (July 1976) acrylic I acrylig 24 x 24 1990
15 Sunday Afternoon (John's Room) acrylic I acrylig 24 x 24 1990
16 Allotments, Alma Street, Abertillery acrylic I acrylig 20.1 x 22 1990 17 Blaina pencil I pensil 7.9 x 8 .3 1990
18 Blaina pencil and paper 45 x 40 x 5 1990
19 Garden: Diamond Jubilee Terrace, Abertillery pencillpensil 19x17.5 1990
20 Caradog Road: Cae Melyn, Aberystwyth pencil I pensil 42.9 x 27.7 1990
21 Pen Dinas: Trefechan pencil I pensil 15 x 40.7 1990
22 Derelict Chapel gouache and photocopy I gouache a ffotogopi 42 x 29.7 1990
23 Thunderstorm pencil and photocopy I pensil a ffotogopi 9x21 1991
24 Arael Top pencil and Conte crayon I pensil a chreon Conte 24.5 x 25 1991
25 Gospel Pews pencil I pensil 37 x 32.9 1991
26 Alfred Place Baptist Church, Aberystwyth (Interior) pencil I pensil 35.8 x 40.4 1991
27 Garden : Diamond Jubilee Terrace, Abertillery pencil I pensil 29 .6 x 20.5 1991
28 Approaching Home watercolour and gouache I gouache a dyfrliw 29 x 32.7 1991
29 Landscape (Washery) I watercolour and gouache I gouache a dyfrliw 54 x 54 1991
30 Landscape (Washery) II watercolour and gouache I gouache a dyfrliw 54.5 x 54 1991
31 Coalbrookvale watercolour and gouache I gouache a dyfrliw 54.2 x 54.5 1991
32 Berea I acrylic I acrylig 24 x 24 1991
33 Berea II acrylic I acrylig 18 .8 x 25 .2 1991
34 Ariel I gouache and photocopy I gouache a ffotogopi 12 x 21 x 4 1991
35 Ariel II gouache and photocopy I gouache a ffotogopi 16 x 25 x 7 1991 55 Promenade II (Aberystwyth) mixed media I cyfryngau cymysg 20 x 28.3 x 6 .8 1993
56 Promenade Ill (Aberystwyth) acrylic and plywood I acrylig a phren haenog 20 x 29 x 12.8 1993
57 Promenade IV (Aberdovey) acrylic and plywood I acrylig a phren haenog 20 x 28.3 x 6.8 1993
58 Areal Top charcoal and Conte crayon I sercol a chreon Conte 24 .4 x 25 1994
59 Arael Top acrylic and plywood I acrylig a phren haenog 17.2 x 29 .2 x 3.8 1994
60 After Industry I mixed media I cyfryngau cymysg 27 x 35 . 1 1995
61 After Industry II mixed media I cyfryngau cymysg 36 .5 x 31 1995
62 After Industry Ill mixed media I cyfryngau cymysg 28 .3 x 33 1995
63 After Industry IV mixed media I cyfryngau cymysg 32.5 X 32 .5 1995
64 Mary's Lights charcoal and Conte crayon I sercol a chreon Conte 25 .2 x 25 .2 1995
65 Dr. Williams 's Garage, Elysian Grove, Aberystwyth pencil I pensil 26 x 23 1995
66 Pen Dinas: Trefechan oil and pencil I olew a pensil 29 .2 x 58 .4 1995
67 Aberystwyth (Kitchen Window View) oil and pencil I olew a pensil 39 x 46 1995
68 Abertillery I oil and pencil I olew a pensil 36 x 40.5 1995
69 Abertillery II oil and pencil I olew a pensil 42 .2 x 44.4 1995
70 Abertillery oil and plywood I olew a phren haenog 40.5 x 60 x 8 .5 1995
71 Boat House oil and plywood I olew a phren haenog 44 x 48 .5 x 12 1995 72 Bethel I acrylic , wood-stain , and plywood I acrylig, staen-pren, a phren haenog 44 x 58 .7 x 12 1995
73 Bethel II acrylic, wood-stain , and plywood I acrylig, staen-pren , a phren haenog 44 x 48 .5 x 12 1995
7 4 Bethel II I oil and plywood I olew a phren haenog 45 x 60 x 7 1995
75 Moriah oil , wood-stain , and plywood I olew, staen-pren , a phren haenog 71 x 101.5 x 7 .5 1995