Ivor Davies is a Welsh-speaking, Welsh artist born in
Treharris
Treharris is a small town and community (Wales), community (and electoral ward) in the Taff Bargoed Valley in the south of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, South Wales. It is located about west of Trelewis, from which it is separated by the Taff Ba ...
, in November 1935. He currently lives and works in
Penarth.
As a boy Davies went to
Penarth County School. He studied at
Cardiff College of Art and
Swansea College of Art between 1952 and 1957, and then from 1959 to 1961 studied at the
University of Lausanne
The University of Lausanne (UNIL; french: links=no, Université de Lausanne) in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second oldest in Switzer ...
in Switzerland. He then began teaching at the
University of Wales
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, mottoeng = The Best Inspiration is Truth
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before moving on to the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
, where he also completed a PhD on the Russian avant-garde. Davies finally retired from teaching at the Gwent College of Higher Education in 1988.
He was elected Vice-President of the
Royal Cambrian Academy of Art
The Royal Cambrian Academy of Art (RCA) is a centre of excellence for art in Wales. Its main gallery is located in Conwy and it has over a hundred members.
240px, Plas Mawr, Conwy
Early history
During the 19th century there were numerous attempts ...
in 1995
and is a member of
The Welsh Group. He was made an
MBE in the 2007
New Year Honours
The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...
list. At the 2002
National Eisteddfod of Wales he won the
Gold Medal for Fine Art.
Artwork
Davies is passionate about the
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...
,
language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...
and
politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...
of Wales, which inspire his artwork. For a number of years he has sponsored the ''Ivor Davies Award'' at ''
Y Lle Celf
Y Lle Celf ( Welsh 'The Art Place', ) is an annual art, craft and architecture exhibition held during the National Eisteddfod of Wales, claimed to be the biggest temporary art exhibition in Europe.
Description
Y Lle Celf is created every year for ...
'' (''Art Space'' in
Welsh), at the
National Eisteddfod of Wales, for an artwork "that conveys the spirit of activism in the struggle for language, culture and politics in Wales".
Davies' early works in the 1960s used explosives as an expression of society's destructive nature. Davies took part in the
Destruction in Art Symposium
The Destruction in Art Symposium (a.k.a. DIAS) was a gathering of a diverse group of international artists, poets, and scientists to London from 9–12 September, 1966. Included in this number were representatives of Fluxus and other counter-cult ...
in London in 1966.
More recent work has included painting, installations; he has also designed and installed a
mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
of
Saint David at
Westminster Cathedral
Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It is the largest Catholic church in the UK and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster.
The site on which the cathedral stands in the City o ...
.
A major retrospective exhibition of his work from the 1940s onwards, ''Ivor Davies: Silent Explosion'', opened at
National Museum Cardiff
National Museum Cardiff ( cy, Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd) is a museum and art gallery in Cardiff, Wales. The museum is part of the wider network of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales. Entry is kept free by a grant from the Welsh Gov ...
in 2015. This was the largest exhibition dedicated to the work of a single contemporary artist ever held in Wales.
References
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