Harbour House is delighted to show local artist Llyr Davies’ first solo exhibition Wreck. Davies’ practice draws inspiration from local landscapes, everyday objects and folk tales to create works which capture the emotional and psychological context of a place or object and the traces of humanity left behind. His work draws on the landscape and folk tales of South Wales, where he grew up, as well as the landscapes, tales and histories of the South West, where he is now based.
The exhibition brings together existing works with a new body of works painted on site at Harbour House, inspired by the tale of ‘The Wreckers’ and the many wrecks around the South Devon coastline. Davies grew up on the South Wales coast with stories about shipwrecks and wreckers-ruthless gangs who lit false beacons to lure seamen to theirdoom. Whilst visiting Kingsbridge, he came across a copy of Ken Radford’s book ‘Tales of South Wales’ in a local charity shop, which recounts three tales of wreckers at large on the South Wales Coast. This became the starting point for the new works, which explore the motif of the wreck in the landscape and the traces of humanity in these tragic tales from different perspectives.
Harbour House Director, Amy Dickson said: “We are really excited to launch the first painting show of the new programme at Harbour House and to be bringing Llyr Davies’ brilliant work to our communities. We are delighted to have been able to support Llyr in making this new body of work and can't wait to welcome visitors to the gallery.”
Davies’ works go through many stages before they are complete; scraping off and overlaying figurative motifs with gestural mark making is one of the many processes in his work. His paintings employ a rich use of colour and texture with various combinations of materials and techniques, such as oil paint, spray paint and collage on canvas.
As part of the programme around Wreck, Harbour House will be announcing a series of exciting free events and workshops for all the community, including sculpture making workshops, printing workshops and another gallery silent disco in collaboration with Kingsbridge Celebrates Christmas. Dates to be announced soon. There will also be a freeactivity as part of the exhibition, for visitors to respond to the artwork on display and design their own postcard.
Opening Event: Friday October 25, 6pm-8pm, Harbour House Ground Floor Gallery
Exhibition: Saturday October 26 2024 - Saturday January 11 2025, Harbour House Ground Floor Gallery
Workshops / Events
Ship Sculpture Building Workshop with Llyr Davies & Far Flung, Nov 30 2024, 1 - 5pm at Quay Lane Studio, Harbour House: We will be working with artist Llyr Davies and Far Flung Dance Theatre to make large scale ship sculptures inspired by Llyr’s paintings in the gallery. We will devise a procession with the ships along the quayside as part of Kingsbridge Celebrates Christmas 2024.
FREE, book via eventbrite.
Shipwreck Procession as part of Kingsbridge Celebrates Christmas, Dec 7 2024 at Band Stand, Kingsbridge Town Square: FREE and all welcome.
Christmas Card Making Workshop with Llyr Davies, Dec 7 2024, 11am - 2pm at Harbour House Ground Floor Gallery: Join us in the gallery for a FREE print making workshop with artist Llyr Davies. We will be using a mono printing press to make homemade christmas cards.
We will have light festive refreshments. Drop-in session. All Welcome.
Christmas Silent Disco in the Gallery, Dec 7 2024, 5pm - 8pm at Harbour House Ground Floor Gallery: Join us in the gallery for a family friendly Christmas silent disco in the gallery, with playlists from KDJ Collective, the Harbour House team, and the Family Advice Support Trust Youth Group.
All Welcome, book via eventbrite.