Gurnos [Going for Messages]

Location

Country: UK
City: Wales
Place: Cardiff, Cardiff Hub

This painting references the Gurnos estate in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. Another work in the Collection by the same artist offers a similar style of composition that references the artist’s childhood home on the Seymour Hill estate in South Belfast. Both estates are examples of the post-war brutalist social housing which was built at that time across the UK. The architecture of these estates divided opinion and was associated with dilapidation and crime. Stitt draws on the structures of architectural blueprints to consider a retro-future for these places – bright and angular shapes float in front of weathered backgrounds. Their composition and finish indicate rebuilding and renewal. Central to Stitt’s practice is the theme of communities and their dissolution. In the contested space of the post-war housing estate his paintings allude to hope and possibility.

André Stitt was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He studied at Ulster Polytechnic, and the Belfast College of Art and Design at Ulster University from 1976-1980. He is currently professor of fine art at Cardiff School of Art and Design, Cardiff Metropolitan University, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Art. Solo exhibitions of his work have been held most recently at institutions including Leeds College of Art Gallery and Oriel Myrddin Gallery, Carmarthen, Wales (both 2013); St David’s Hall, Cardiff; and St Paul st Gallery Auckland, New Zealand (2011) Stitt's work has also been included in exhibitions at Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool (2012); Bangkok Art & Culture Centre, Thailand (2008); Galerie Lehtinen, Berlin (2011); Venice Biennale; Baltic Contemporary Art Centre, England (both 2005); and PS1, New York (2000).

Places

Subjects

Materials & Techniques

Artist

André Stitt (1958 - )

Title

Gurnos [Going for Messages]

Date

2021

Medium

acrylic on panel

Dimensions

height: 45.0 cm; width: 65.0 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Gallery TEN, March 2022

Provenance

Gallery TEN, Cardiff; from whom purchased by UK Government Art Collection, 28 March 2022

GAC number

19047