Curated by Adam Carr
This show is a sequel to the first Women’s Art Society exhibition in October 2013, which took as its starting point the gallery’s founding in 1901 as the first gallery in the world built specifically as a home for the presentation of artwork by female artists, in this case the work of the Gwynedd Ladies’ Art Society. Women’s Art Society II continues the spirit of the original Ladies’ Art Society, inviting nine internationally active female artists, to introduce work in the gallery space some 100 years on. In part, a survey of the discipline of painting today, the works display a range of approaches, styles and conceptual concerns, and points to painting’s continued relevance. The work of contemporary artists will be shown alongside a historical element, which examines the local art scene leading up to the formation of both the Royal Cambrian Academy and the Gwynedd Ladies’ Art Society (GLAS). The lives of two key members of GLAS – Clara Perrin and Lily Whaite – are highlighted. After a period of two years GLAS was given, in the form of a letter, notice to leave. The letter was written on behalf of Lady Augusta Mostyn, who commissioned the gallery, by G.A.Humphreys, architect, surveyor and chief agent of the landowning Mostyn Estates. The ladies found alternative accommodation for their final show at the nearby Pier Pavilion. An examination of the Pavilion’s history reveals some fascinating stories, and characters such as Alice Cimatti, before its eventual destruction by fire in 1994.