About the Exhibition

Theatr Clwyd & Periclo present the first exhibition of work by artists from Olivet Studios, Wrexham.

The Welsh word ‘clo’ possibly takes its origin from Proto-Brythonic klọw meaning ‘bolt’.

The English word ‘lock’ has various origins from early languages such as Old Frisian and Old Norse. One such origin, the Proto-Germanic Lukana-, is also possibly where the Irish/Scots Gaelic (loch), Old English (lough) and Welsh (llw) words for lake derive from.

A means of fastening; an enclosure; an agreement; a barrier; a cluster.

In either language, the definitions are numerous yet intertwined. As with much etymological research, the ambiguity is strenuous and sometimes tenuous, but it is from here that we take the explanation for this exhibition. That and a global pandemic.

Olivet Studios were established by Periclo in an old chapel in Rhosrobin, one week before the UK’s first national Lockdown in March 2020. Since then, despite obvious challenges, seven artists have occupied the studio spaces.

As the first exhibition that Periclo has produced since the studios were established, it is fitting that all studio holders are represented. For those artists, this is an opportunity to showcase their work to new audiences from outside of Wrexham.

The studio is a contentious place for contemporary artists. It is a site for production that is made essential by academic norms, yet increasingly is a luxury that emerging artists cannot afford. Dismissed by the conceptual artists of the ‘post-studio’ era in the 1970s and monopolised by the flabby heavyweights of the 1990s into clinical production lines, the studio will always be associated with the stereotypes of being an artist. Tired, outdated depictions of a troubled genius linger.

With Olivet Studios, Periclo is aiming to provide affordable studios to artists based in and around North-East Wales. A supportive environment allows artists to be experimental and expressive.

It would be reductive to each artist to say that they are bound by a common reflective nature. As with a lock of hair, all of the threads are different yet the same.

Artists

Paul Eastwood

Tom Echlin

Ffion Griffiths

Rhi Moxon

Georgia Nielson

Matthew Walker

Joseph Wheeler