GB · International contemporary art platformThe Glynn Vivian Art Gallery announced the presentation of Arian, aelwyd, atgofion, a significant solo exhibition by Peter Finnemore. The show centres on the artist’s longstanding relationship with his family home, Gwendraeth House, located in West Wales. This connection spans four decades and forms the foundation for the exhibition’s exploration of place, memory, imagination, and materiality.
Finnemore’s work uses his family home as a gateway to reveal narratives that intertwine generational family history, personal experience, and artistic practice. Drawing on his background in painting and wallpapering, he employs commercial materials and techniques to challenge traditional distinctions between craft and fine art. Layers of wallpaper, paint, and decorative materials collected from the house are transformed into contemporary artworks, inviting viewers to reconsider familiar domestic objects in new ways.
Photographs of these artworks are taken within the rooms and spaces from which they originate. Rather than simply documenting the pieces, the photographs convey the atmosphere, light, and character of the house itself. The artworks appear closely connected to their surroundings, shifting with changes in light and weather.
The exhibition’s presentation is informal and domestic, with artworks displayed on bookshelves, tables, stools, and window ledges. This arrangement reflects the relaxed nature of the home and its everyday signs of life. A key aspect of the project is the dialogue it creates across generations, particularly between Finnemore and his great-uncle Sidney Finnemore, an amateur painter and paperhanger whose life and work serve as an important reference point throughout the exhibition.
Building on decades of photographic practice, Finnemore investigates the unique qualities of photography, including tone, time, and spatial framing. These ideas are expanded through painting, collage, and video, resulting in a layered exhibition that moves between personal history and collective experience.
Alongside Arian, aelwyd, atgofion, Finnemore has curated a partner exhibition titled Cymdogion: Ymylon, cyrff, perthyn, shown in adjacent gallery spaces. This companion show features historical and contemporary artworks from collections including Amgueddfa Cymru, the National Library of Wales, and Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, presenting artists such as Robert Frank and contemporary Welsh and international artists.
Together, the exhibitions explore themes of landscape, memory, belonging, the sacred and everyday life, domesticity, and working-class experience, as well as how time shapes our understanding of people and place. The project is part of CELF, the National Contemporary Art Gallery for Wales, which shares national collections across Wales.
A full programme of learning and events accompanies the exhibitions, including newly commissioned educational resources supported by CELF, enhancing public engagement with the themes and artworks on display.
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