'Pretty Eyed, Pirate Smile' by Ellie Rees
It’s only been 6 months since Aberystwyth Art Centre celebrated the launch of an extraordinary architectural commission which provides much needed studio and workshop space for arts organisations in Wales.
The sixteen new Creative Units, funded by Arts Council for Wales Lottery Fund, the Welsh Assembly Government and Aberystwyth University, were designed and built by Heatherwick Studio – one of the UK’s most creative design practices. The eye-catching and environmentally innovative silver structures have already established themselves as new landmarks for Aberystwyth and go to further enhance the Art Centre’s reputation as one of the leading venues for contemporary arts and culture in the UK.
As well as housing creative businesses, the Units have also provided a home for a variety of artists as part of the Arts Centre’s Artists in Residence project which began in September 2008 with grant funding from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. As part of the project two artists at a time are selected from an open submission to stay and work in Aberystwyth for a three month period, based in studios in the Creative Units recently built at the arts centre. One of the first two artists to benefit from the project was talented young video artist, Ellie Rees, whose residency ran from September – November 2008.
Ellie, who has roots in the Rhondda, studied at Central St. Martin’s College of Art and Design and Winchester School of Art; she is an Associate Lecturer at Chelsea College of Art and Design and Central St. Martins. She exhibits and performs internationally, venues have included: The ICA (London), Tate Modern (London), Tate Britain (London), Espace Croise (Lille, France and Museo de Arte Contemporaneo (Caracas, Venezuela).
Ellie is increasingly working in set design for opera, and has been commissioned by English National Opera, Buxton Opera Festival and The Almeida Theatre, and was awarded a Jerwood Opera fellowship for 2009. In addition to her residency in Aberystwyth, she has also held residencies at London Metropolitan University, The University of Giessen, Germany, I-Park, Connecticut and The Britten-Peers School, Suffolk.
During her residency in Aberystwyth, as part of the project, staff from the Arts Centre took Ellie around Wales to meet other curators/ see other galleries, so that contacts could be made and followed up after the residency ended. As a result, during the residency she was invited to show one of her films at the National Library of Wales as part of an open evening event, and was also invited to be a guest lecturer at the University’s School of Art.
Work that she created during her residency , entitled ‘Beyond Narcissus’ went on to form part of a solo exhibition for the Arts Centre’s main Gallery 1 from 10 – 31 October 2009. The exhibition ‘Pretty Eyed, Pirate Smile’ was an exhibition of video works, much of which examined the contradictory attractions of emancipated female roles and the romantic dreams postulated by popular and traditional culture. This exhibition is currently part of the portfolio of exhibitions which Aberystwyth Arts Centre have on offer for tour.
Now Ellie who has roots in the Rhondda, is gearing up for her next big adventure. She’s been selected to take part in a prestigious exhibition in New York, ‘British Subjects: Identity and Self-Fashioning 1965-2009.’ It runs through December at The Neuberger Museum of Art in Purchase New York and includes renowned artists such as Gillian Wearing, Steve McQueen and Ian Breakwell.
The exhibition explores what it means to be British in conceptions of selfhood and self-portraiture. It’ll present a selection of works by artists who draw on and depart from the conventions of self-portraiture, delineate new possibilities of self-fashioning and self-representation, and visualize new notions of Britishness, identity, and subjectivity.
Ellie added:
“The residency at Aberystwyth Arts Centre gave me the invaluable time, resources and support to enable artistic and professional development at a pertinent time in my career. The space to breathe and think – physically and artistically within a vibrant and conscientious environment of the Creative Units ensured an extremely productive three months. The strong relationships established and work made as a result of the residency, led directly to a solo exhibition at the Arts Centre – my first in a major public gallery.”
After exhibiting in New York, Ellie will be featuring her work at the John Jones Project Space in London in February.
Alan Hewson, Director of Aberystwyth Arts Centre said:
“We are delighted that the value of the Artists in Residence scheme has been realised so early with the success of Ellie’s residency and the subsequent relationship with the Arts Centre and her New York show. Since Ellie’s residence there have been 13 artists in residence from Wales and the U.K. taking the opportunity to extend and develop their work. Applications for the residence programme for 2010-11 have just closed with almost 90 applicants, again an indication of the success of the scheme.
“In addition to the U.K. artists, the Arts Centre is developing an international artists strand to the programme and during 2009 this included a sculptor and ceramicist from Canada which will become a regular part of the programme and in 2010 artists from Finland and Pakistan will also herald a growing relationship with those countries. All this would not have been possible without the new Creative Units Development which has been the powerful catalyst for the Arts Centre to develop entirely new strands of artistic work.”
