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.