GALLERY 1
PORTAL 2024
24 AUGUST – 16 NOVEMBER
Portal is our annual group exhibition of graduate artists and makers that aims to demystify working in the arts. By giving new voices support, tools, and the opportunity to develop skills, Portal reaches beyond the gallery walls to give emerging artists the best possible start for forging sustainable careers.
Through a constellation of practices that range from ceramics, steel, textiles, sculpture, photography, and installation, Portal 2024 showcases a collection of 14 of this year’s graduates. With artists from Welsh institutions such as Cardiff Met, UWTSD Swansea, Carmarthen School of Art, and Aberystwyth School of Art, to national universities such as Hereford College of Arts, Glasgow School of Art, and the University of Hertfordshire. We hope this exhibition captures the collective spirit and ideas coming out of art schools this year.
The work on display shows a movement between indoors and outdoors, with artists looking to nature and domestic space to consider what small intimacies can tell us about the wider world, and how our environment and landscape can shape who we are.
Through storytelling and constructing narratives, some work uses characters to embody observations of class prejudice, or to manifest the experience of being autistic. Others look to their histories and families, sharing glimpses of their childhood, home life, and experiences of immigration and resettling.
Domestic life is a shared theme, with artists drawing on their routines, relationships, and the objects they interact with to show what is both mundane and sentimental.
Moving outdoors into nature, the repetition of daily life can be seen in our environment, as well as in the making process. From the meticulous way spiders weave their webs, and the ongoing process of erosion, to the techniques of printmaking, embroidery, and crochet; there is an obsessive commitment to creativity.
With many artists being inspired by expressions of care, everyday routines, and the journeys and experiences that make us who we are, Portal 2024 creates an intimate portrait that encourages you to reflect on your own position and to give time to understanding the experience of others.
Featuring work from:
Alex Holland, Alice Banfield, Bethan Hughes Jones, Elin Crowley, Emma Andrews, Gwilym Pearce Jones, Janina Bacchetta, Jennifer Hodgeman, Lena Jajawi, Lucy Jones, Mary Chris, Militsa Milenkova, Rhi Christie, Stuart Taylor
