Oriel A&B
A&B Cymru is partnering arts organisations and practitioners in a vibrant programme of weekly exhibitions that aim to engage a wide variety of people either working in or visiting Cardiff Bay. The mission of Oriel A&B is to promote the accessibility of the visual arts and celebrate talent in Wales. The programme includes work by students, community groups and professional artists.
A pop up art gallery opened in Cardiff Bay thanks to a partnership between Arts & Business (A&B) Cymru and Mermaid Quay. The pop up art gallery took place from 13 October – 20 December 2021.
A shop unit in Mermaid Quay, in the heart of the Bay, was been transformed into Oriel A&B for a ten week period to display a range of visual art from around Wales.
The exhibition had been curated by A&B Cymru and was an unique showcase of the work of three exciting artists.
Four prints by renowned Welsh artist Ogwyn Davies are on sale. Ogwyn sufferers from Parkinson’s Disease and can no longer write. He has used his thumb as a signature on these limited edition prints and a contribution from each sale will be made to Parkinson’s Cymru.
Ogwyn’s son, artist Huw Tregaron exhibited a series of paintings and ceramics that are fundamentally linked to his sense of place.
Kate Richardson’s oil paintings fuse iconic images from the hit TV series Doctor Who with works by 19th century artist Adolphe Bouguereau.
Oriel A&B opened on Tuesday 13 October with an exhibition of work selected from the Waterfront Gallery in Milford Haven. Since then exhibitions have included work from the West Wales based Rhôd Artists Group, community arts organisation Pippin’s Designs, Rhondda based Valleys Kids, students from Cardiff Metropolitan University’s School of Art & Design and national photography organisation Ffotogallery. Oriel A&B also housed free daily arts workshops for children during half term, which coincided with Mermaid Quay’s Drawing Water Arts festival.
A&B Cymru’s Chief Executive Rachel Jones said “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Mermaid Quay on such an exciting project. Having the opportunity to showcase such a variety of art in the heart of Cardiff Bay is a first for us and will form a great shop window for both A&B Cymru and the artists involved.”
Justin Patel, Mermaid Quay’s Centre Manager said “Mermaid Quay has long featured several important contemporary works of art from the famous People Like Us statue on the Quayside to the amazing Captain Willows clock. Oriel A&B is an innovative way for us to bring even more artistic spirit into the Bay. We are particularly excited that the gallery will form a focal point for our Drawing Water Arts Festival which we hope will encourage visitors young and old to come down to Mermaid Quay and get involved in artistic activity in Cardiff Bay.”
A reception to celebrate the work of these three artists took place on Wednesday 2 December.
