Artist l Object l Project

Catherine Bertola Michael Cousin Deirdre Nelson

Artist responses to ceramics from Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales

Brecknock Museum & Gallery, Brecon, hosts Artist Object Project, three major new installations based on ceramics from the collections of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales.

Catherine Bertola, Michael Cousin and Deirdre Nelson have taken museum pieces ranging from the quotidian to the kitsch to investigate the human, universal nature of the ceramic object.

Catherine Bertola lives and works in Blaydon on Tyne. Her site-specific installation works explore the forgotten and invisible histories of places, people and communities. For 'The People’s Collection of Pottery, Brecknockshire 2009', Bertola has assembled and catalogued a temporary museum collection of pottery owned by people from the Brecknockshire area. She reflects on the personal significance and everyday purpose of these items, and the ongoing importance of ceramic as part of our personal and cultural heritage. Bertola has also created a wallpaper, 'Blue Babylonica', based on the familiar Swansea Willow pattern to act as a backdrop to the collection.

Michael Cousin is a filmmaker living and working in Cardiff. In 'H1N1', Cousin looks at the history and decline of commemorative ceramics as an outlet for political and social commentary. He has selected a jug attributed to the Cambrian Pottery, Swansea dating from 1814, depicting the banishment of Napoleon to Elba and has digitally recreated the jug for our time with a similarly major news story - a series of images exploring the paranoia and global hysteria surrounding swine flu.

Glasgow-based Deirdre Nelson is interested in the human stories behind collections and objects. In 'No Bed of Roses' and the sound piece 'Shift' (in collaboration with Matt Hulse), she focuses on the Nantgarw China Works in south Wales, using the lowly ten percent success rate of ceramics in the firing process to create an installation exploring the gulf between the abstract luxury of the finished object and the poverty, disappointment and dogged perseverance involved in its production.

Artist Object Project has been organised in collaboration with Brecknock Museum & Gallery and the University of Glamorgan as part of Celf Cymru Gyfan -ArtShare Wales, Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales’ visual arts partnership programme which aims to increase access to the national art collection through innovative collaborative projects around Wales. ArtShare Wales is funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. 

Artist Object Project runs in conjunction with The Go Between, a major international conference focusing on the role of the artist as mediator between collections and audiences. For more info visit www.glam.ac.uk/cci

Entry to Brecknock Museum & Gallery is free for the duration of the exhibition. For opening hours and further details please phone 01874 624121 or visit www.powys.gov.uk/breconmuseum.

(image: Michael Cousin, 'New World Order' from H1N1, 2009, HD digital file)