Tan • Until

15|09 - 14|10

Oriau • Hours

Wednesday - Saturday 10:30 - 17:00

Lleoliad • Location

The Coach House, Rear of 143 Donald Street, Cardiff, CF24 4TP [Map]

Cyswllt • Contact

+44 (0) 29 2060 0495

info@gallery-ten.co.uk

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Mae TEN yn falch o gyflwyno ‘War’, corff o baentiadau a phrintiau newydd gan yr artist André Stitt.

Dros y blynyddoedd diwethaf, mae Stitt wedi mynd â ni o dai cit Palm Springs y 1930au i gownteri melamin y 50au, o freuddwydion iwtopaidd trefi newydd ar ôl y rhyfel i stadau dystopaidd adfeiliedig. Yr edefyn sy'n plethu drwy rhain yw dylanwad pensaernïaeth ac effeithiau strwythurau ar eu hamgylcheddau a'r cymunedau cyfagos. Mae cymaint wedi’i wreiddio ym mhrofiad bywyd Stitt o gael ei fagu yng Ngogledd Iwerddon yn y 60au a’r 70au cythryblus yn ystod y gwrthdaro sifil – lle safai tyrau gwylio ochr yn ochr â bloc fflatiau tŵr uchel. Mae effaith yr adeiladau milwrol - a milwriaethus - a'r hyn y maent yn ei gynrychioli, yn cael eu dangos i ni trwy lygad Stitt, gyda tensiynau rhyfel yn gyfeiliant parhaol.

Felly, mae'n ddilyniant naturiol anochel i weld Stitt yn edrych i gyfeiriad yr ymosodiad anghyfreithlon gan Rwsia ar yr Wcrain fel dylanwad ar gyfer yr arddangosfa hon, ei 6ed wedi'i chyflwyno gan TEN. O fewn y corff newydd hwn o waith, gwelwn ddull cyfarwydd Stitt o osod motiff ym mlaendir canol y llun - blociau onglog, gwastad yn awgrymu ffurfiau gwrthrychau a strwythurau. Mae'r motiffau hyn wedi datblygu ymhellach i mewn i siapiau rhyfel - dronau, esgyll taflegrynau, cyrff o dan orchydd, bynceri. Mae'r rhain wedi'u haenu ar gefndir llac a gweadog. Mae'r elfen perfformio ynddo yn dod i’r amlwg yn y broses o beintio'r cefndir - mae’n plastro paent yn uniongyrchol ar lawr ei stiwdio, rhwbio'r cynfas ar ei ben i drosglwyddo'r paent. Mewn rhai achosion, mae'r cynfas sych wedyn yn cael ei roi drwy’r peiriant golchi. Ychwanegir haenau o baent eto gyda du, llwyd a gwyrdd yn bennaf ac ambell fflach o liw cysefin. Y canlyniad yw cefndir mynegiannol, damweiniol, anhrefnus sy'n cyferbynnu â'r gwrthrychau cryf, bygythiol ond tawel. Mae Stitt yn ein cyfarwyddo i ganolbwyntio ar y prif gymeriadau, slic yn y golygfeydd blêr o ddinistr. Mae ailadrodd yr un ffurfiau o un paentiad i’r llall yn ymddangos yn obsesiynol ar ran Stitt, ac yn cyfleu presenoldeb parhaus a di-baid a y gwrthrychau/strwythurau. Nid dim ond edrych i fyny ar un drôn rydyn ni, ond ar ddau, tri, pedwar… daw’n ymosodiad gweledol arnom ni, y gynulleidfa.

Trwy sianeli newyddion a chymdeithasol, cawn ein hwynebu â delweddau o ddinistr rhyfel, adeiladau wedi'u dinistrio, ffrwydron ar y strydoedd a cyrff marw. Daw enwau’r lleoedd dan ymosodiad yn gyfarwydd - Mariupol, Odessa, Bucha [a ddefnyddir gan Stitt fel teitlau paentiadau yn y gyfres hon]. Rydyn ni - os dymunwn - yn profi'r cyfan yn ail-law. Ond i'r rhai y mae eu hanes yn cynnwys rhyfel, sydd wedi ei fyw, wedi gweld y dinistr ac wedi dioddef y pwysau meddwl, beth mae'n ei olygu i weld rhyfel gwlad arall?

Mae’r gair ‘triggered’ yn cael ei ddefnyddio’n rhydd, yn aml yn ysgafn, ac ar adegau yn goeglyd. I Stitt, a ddaeth yn lanc dros gyfnod rhyfel, sut all beidio a chael ei effeithio - yn gatalydd wirioneddol - gan y delweddau o'r Wcráin? Gyda PTSD yn cropian i mewn, mae'n pwyso ar ei ymarfer artistig - yn gweithio pethau allan, mynd ati'n gorfforol, yn chwilio am ryddhad therapiwtig ac [fel y mae'n ei ddisgrifio] gwaredigaeth mewn celf. Fe sy’n gwneud y gwaith – a gallwn ni, fel cynulleidfa empathetig, ddod o hyd i rywfaint o waredigaeth ail-law ein hunain yng nghelf Stitt.

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TEN is proud to present ‘War’, a body of new paintings and prints by artist André Stitt.

Over recent years, Stitt has taken us from 1930s Palm Spring kit houses to melamine countertops of the 50s, from the utopian dreams of post-war civic new-towns to dilapidated dystopian sink estates. The thread which weaves throughout is the influence of architecture and the effects of structures on their environments and surrounding communities. So much is rooted in Stitt’s lived experience of growing up in Northern Ireland in the turbulent 60s and 70s during the civil conflict - where look-out towers stood next to high-rise tower blocks. The effect of these military - and militant - buildings and what they represent are illustrated to us through Stitt’s hands, tinted with the lasting, underlying tensions of war.

It is then a [sadly] inevitable natural progression to see Stitt drawing from the on-going illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine as influence for this exhibition, his 6th presented by TEN.

Within this new body of work, we see Stitt’s familiar method of placing a motif in the centre foreground of the plane - abstracted, flat, angular blocks hinting at forms of objects and structures. These motifs have morphed further in to shapes of war - drones, missile fins, shrouded bodies, bunkers. These are layered onto a background which is loose and textured. The performance artist in him comes out in the process of painting the background - plastering paint directly on the floor of his studio, rubbing the canvas on top to transfer the paint. In some instances, the dried canvas is then put through a cycle in the washing machine. Layers of paint are added again, with the dominance of black, grey and army green and the occasional flash of prime colour. The result is an expressive, haphazard, chaotic backdrop contrasting with the strong, threatening yet quiet objects. Stitt directs us to focus on the main, slick characters in the messy scenes of destruction. The repetition of the same forms from one painting to the next seem obsessive on Stitt’s behalf, and conveys the relentlessness and continuous presence of said forms. We aren’t just looking up at one drone, but at two, three, four… we, as audience, are visually bombarded.

Through news and social channels, we are confronted with images of the destruction of war, of destroyed buildings, bombshells littering the streets and the deceased. Under-attack places are now familiar names - Mariupol, Odessa, Bucha [used by Stitt as titles of paintings in this series]. We - if we wish - experience it all second-hand. But for those whose history include war, who have lived it, saw the devastation and suffered the mental load, what does it meant to see another country’s conflict?

The word ‘triggered’ is bandied about freely, often lightly, and at times sarcastically. For Stitt, who’s formative years were marked by war, how can he not be triggered - in the true, catalyst way - by the images from Ukraine? With PTSD kicking in, he leans on his artistic practice - working things out, physically going at it, looking for therapeutic relief and [as he describes it] redemption in art. He does the work - and we, as an empathetic audience, can find some of our own second-hand redemption in Stitt’s output.

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