MoMA Wales Shows the Welsh Landscapes of Matthew Wood

Written by Connor Sullivan Friday, 22 July 2011 23:23

Machynlleth, Wales.- The Museum of Modern Art, Wales is proud to present "Matthew Wood: 110 Paintings of Wales", on view at the museum until September 3rd. After producing landscape paintings in Shropshire, Brussels and a variety of other European locations over the last 8 years, it was through geographical serendipity that I happened upon the theme of Welsh landscape. I have always been drawn to Wales as a source of inspiration. The Welsh landscape is arguably both sublime and picturesque: it represents a seemingly endless diversity of landscape motif, be it the calming southern vistas of the Cambrian Mountains seen from Aran Fawddwy, the upfront and brutal landscape of the Ogwen Valley in Snowdonia or the scenic viewpoints of the Pembrokeshire coastline.

Describing these works, Matthew Wood says: "The notion of producing a numerical response to a chosen theme came about through a moment of reflection. My work is produced in one sitting on location: the paintings are not worked on after I have left the site. Each piece of work is rendered within 3 hours and the notion of presenting a large number of these images that have a geographical or topographical significance seems to be a logical and aesthetic step forward. Painters have been drawn to Wales primarily by its visual reper¬toire. Thomas Jones used Wales as a historical starting point. J M W Turner worked with the Grand Tour using geographical and mete¬orological observation. All landscape painters past or present, working with Wales, are influenced by its varying topography. By aiming to produce 110 paintings of Wales I hope also to explore this extensive subject."


In 1984 Andrew Lambert bought The Tabernacle, a former Wesleyan Chapel. He set up a Charitable Company, The Machynlleth Tabernacle Trust, and after extensive renovation The Tabernacle re-opened as a centre for the performing arts on 11th October 1986. The adjoining land, the site of an earlier chapel, belonged to the Tabernacle Trust and a free-standing block was built to house toilet facilities and a Green Room. In the same year the Trust, with the help of a generous loan, bought Harvey House. This former grocer’s shop provided much-needed street frontage on the main North-South Wales coastal road. It took 5 years to raise the money to convert Harvey House into Art Galleries. The building was renamed the Ellis Building and the first art exhibition was held in May 1992. A donation from the Trustees of the Foundation for Sport and The Arts along with some government support allowed the construction of the Linking Building (designed by David Thomas) and the provision of a new sound and lighting system, a recording studio, simultaneous translation facilities and a language laboratory. Lord and Lady Hooson opened the magnificent Owen Owen Building on 3rd July 1994. In 1998 the Trust received a wonderful bequest from the estate of Nora Gibbs and Mollie Winterburn. This enabled them to purchase Ty Llyfnant and convert it for use as an artist’s studio and music teaching and practise rooms. Recently the two small galleries on the first floor have been converted into one spacious Pulpit Room. Visit the MoMA Wales website at ... http://www.momawales.org.uk

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