North Wales has nothing to prove when it comes to beauty—the razor ridges of Crib Goch find counterpoint in the soft woodlands of Betws-y-Coed; the human drama of Holy Island and Beaumaris provide a foil to imposing Blaenau Ffestiniog slatescapes. Acre for acre, few places on the planet are as visually arresting.
It’s a lot for an artist to live up to. But what better to set it all off than bold, bright, Brazilian sensibility? Llandudno-based free gallery Mostyn faces North Wales head-on with its first show of 2025.
Extract from press materials:
Mostyn are delighted to share news of the first exhibition of 2025, which will be a major solo exhibition by Brazilian artist Vanessa da Silva, her largest to date in the United Kingdom. It opens on 15 February until 31 May 2025 and a preview takes place the evening of 14 February.
Roda Viva draws inspiration from da Silva’s own Brazilian heritage – family history, music, dance, and the legacy of Brazilian artists such as Helio Oiticica and Lygia Clark, exploring themes around identity, displacement, ancestry, destiny and memory. The title, which translates to ‘live wheel’, references life in motion or the movement in life. The show is centered around the various cycles of lives, the histories carried from generation to generation, and the interconnectedness of past, present and future.
The exhibition will revolve around issues of joy, celebration for life and the expression of freedom through colour, rhythm and movement to create a visual and spatial experience for the audience. The installation will combine works made in different mediums, hanging textiles will play with the verticality of the gallery rooms, floating to create ‘spaces’ inside the exhibition, giving the textiles a sculptural, architectural element, some sheer and some solid, screen printed and hand embroidered.
Da Silva’s biomorphic sculptures will become wearable costumes and props for a new dance performance element, to be performed during the exhibition in collaboration with professional dancers along with audience members.
Mostyn
12 Vaughan Street, Llandudno
Mostyn.org
The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. – Aristotle
