Award winning artist in Newtown

Swiss-born painter Andreas Rüthi, joint prizewinner of the Oriel Davies Open competition 2016, is returning to the Newtown art gallery with a one man show, colourfelt, from December 9 to January 27.
 
Andreas, who lives and works in Monmouthshire, has exhibited his still life paintings in more than 20 solo exhibitions worldwide.
 
The artist specialises in finding new possibilities held within the traditions of painting, including colour and form and likeness. Much of his subject matter originates from magazines, prints and books, where objects of mass production can be re-examined through an engagement with the nature of reproduction and re-presentation.
 
An observational shrewdness is present in Rüthi’s work often coupled with a sense of celebration, humour and playfulness.
 
Showing for the first time and celebrating the hallucinogenic power of colour are several works depicting mushrooms and toadstools. Several large composite paintings scale above us while ‘Field’, which comprises 64 small paintings, each depicting a small landscape populated with fungi, are dispersed across the gallery wall with dazzling optical effect.
 
These portray every colour plate in an historic mushroom guidebook and, through a return to the painter’s touch, release the potential held within each reproduction.

The show’s title, colorfelt, refers to both the experience of colour and the German word for field which is feld, pronounced ‘felt’. 

This community of paintings that exist collectively despite their distinct individuality, demonstrates a specific development in Rüthi’s work. This is echoed in another work of 28 paintings that make up ‘Royals, Roses, Revolutionaries’. These reproductions are copies (and in some cases copies of copies) of drawings, prints and paintings of both famous and forgotten people from the French Revolution.

Moving away from the traditional idea of showing a single, individual painting, ‘Royals, Roses, Revolutionaries’ embodies instead a community of artworks that belong together. The relationship with the viewer has changed in the presentation of a historical “facebook” that looks back, asserting itself in the presence of the onlooker.

Born in Zürich, Rüthi studied at Watford College for Art and Design and subsequently Rietfeld Academie Amsterdam. He has exhibited within Wales and internationally, with two exhibitions coming up in 2018 - Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea, and Oriel Plas Glyn y Weddw, Llanbedrog.

On January 27, between 2.30pm and 4pm, there will be a chance to hear renowned art critic and curator, Sacha Craddock discuss Rüthi’s work within the exhibition. She has recently contributed to the 2017 Turner Prize catalogue, writing essays for Lubaina Himid and Hurvin Anderson. Booking is essential at: desk@orieldavies.org or Tel: 01686 625041.

Rüthi and Louise Bristow were joint prizewinners of the Oriel Davies Open 2016, each winning £500 and an offer of a solo exhibition. Bristow’s exhibition is running until December 2.

Oriel Davies is a contemporary art gallery, showing ground-breaking national and international art and craft. Opening hours are Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm and admission is free. For more information on the gallery, which receives funding from Arts Council of Wales and Powys County Council, visit www.orieldavies.org .