Mary Vivienne
Concepts My central concerns are with image, memory, identity and landscape. I find that different conditions of light challenge habits of perception - where or what are things ? My work uses various illusionistic devices to portray this ambiguity of the nature and location of things, and to reflect their forms and qualities. I am also interested in the use of books and notebooks as repositories of an artist's thinking processes. Whereas in my 3D work I am exploring space dimensions, in my books I am more concerned with time.
Influences Aesthetic/Formal concern, Emotions, Environment/Ecology, British, own gender (Female), mythology, issues of identity, personal histories, the link between visual art and contemporary music. Career path Qualifications: 1990 BA Hons, Fine Art, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff Teaching Experience: 2007 Workshops, Newport City Museum and Art Gallery 2006 Collage workshops, UWIC, Cardiff 2005 3D workshops, UWIC, Cardiff 2004 Collage workshop and guest lectures, Chinese University of Hong Kong 2003 Collage workshops for UWIC 2002 Workshops for UWIC, Cardiff and Newport City Council Schools Programme 2000 Workshops for Camarthenshire College, Faculty of Art and for Permanent Waves Women's Arts, in Barry (part of their Isolated Communities project) 1999/00 Occasional Lecture, Foundation, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff.
Areas of work: Exhibiting, Practice-based research, Curating and writing.
Collections: New Hall Art Collection, Cambridge; Broken Hill Proprietries Collection, Australia; Australian National University Collection; British High Commission, Canberra; Contemporary Arts Society for Wales; Newport Museum and Art Gallery - Education Collection; Sanshang Museum of Contemporary Art, China. Private collections in Australia, Britain, Canada, China, Europe, Hong Kong, and USA.
In 2007 the finding of my first son, lost through adoption in 1963, but found via my work in the New Hall Art Collection, inspired a whole new body of work, Hush Don't Tell, which, together with a large number of related books and journals absorbed my attention for the next four years.
Since 2011 I have been engaged with a project called Open Books. This has taken the form of a series of exhibitions of Chinese folding books. I am both an exhibitor and curator of the project. The initial exhibition, selected and curated by me, opened in the National Library of Wales in 2012. it has since been shown in Cardiff, Bristol and Hangzhou in China in 2013. In Brisbane and Canberra in Australia, as well as in Hong Kong in 2014. In 2016 it opened in Ottawa, Canada, and in early 2017 in Jaipur, India. Negotiations are now ongoing for Korea and US. Every new country adds local artists. It grows as it tours. Links to catalogues for this project:
Paper Exchange catalogue http://www.blurb.co.uk/b/9352614-open-books-paper-exchange
Canada OPEN BOOKS CANADA A LIVRE OUVERT 15/09/16 http://www.blurb.com/b/7350471
Australia 14/04/14 http://blur.by/1iMGKNX
China 22/10/13 http://blur.by/1ddIOQ6
Wales 2012 http://www.blurb.co.uk/bookstore/detail/3318049
My work has become more focused on working in books over the last few years, both in codex form and in Chinese folding (or concertina) books. My medium is primarily a mixture of collage with drawing and watercolour. I have become particualry concerned with a calligraphic language of 'found' or 'given' marks. These for the most part are rubbings from the natural environment. Fragments of these combine with drawn marks to create roaming landscapes across linked pages. A 'mark' at one scale refers to something quite different at another scale.
Over the last year I have made work in which I mount multiple related images together, either as single images diplayed close together in groups, or as multiples of related images within one frame. I have also revisited the idea of working within wall-mounted boxes.
A catalogue: 'A Calligraphy of Landscape, The Landscape of the Found and Given Mark' by Mary Husted, was published through Blurb books in March 2018. This can be viewed on their website.
I continue to be actively engaged with Open Books and a new development in the form of a paper exchange between Welsh and Chinese artists resulted in an exhibition of work by 11 Welsh artists and 11 Chinese artists in 2019 in Cardiff Bay, attended by a group pf our fellow Chinese artists and opened by the First Minister, Mark Drakeford. A return exhibition was due in 2020 in Hangzhou, China, but has been postponed due to the pandemic. We now have an Open Books website:
https://www.openbooks-international.org/
Solo exhibitions
2011 - Hush Don't Tell and works from The Spiegel im Spiegel Series, Art Central Gallery, Old Library, Barry, South Wales. 2010 - Hush Don't Tell, New Hall Art Collection, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge. 2007 - Shifts, St David's Hall, Cardiff, South Wales. 2006 - Take Care of the Small Box, Newport Museum and Art Gallery, Newport, Wales. 2005 - Echoes, Vale of Glamorgan Music Festival, St. Donats Arts Centre, Llantwit Major, Wales. 2005 - Fragments, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. 2005 - The Spiegel im Spiegel Series, GPF Gallery, Newport, Wales. 2004 - Theatres of Memory, Ruthin Festival of Contemproary Art and Light, Ruthin, N. Wales. 2003 - New Work from the Mirror in the Mirror Series, Cafe Brava, Cardiff. 2001 - Lightgathers, Humanities Research Centre, Australian National University, ACT. 2001 - Such distances, St Donats Arts Centre, Vale of Glamorgan Music Festival. 2000 - Sea Garden by Arian, collaborative name for Mary Husted and Valerie Coffin Price, The Gallery, Stratford-upon-Avon. 1995 - All Of A Piece, Endeavour House, Manuka, ACT, Australia. 1995 - Box Works, Playhouse, Australian National Theatre Festival, ACT, Australia. 1995 - Reshaped Forms, GIO House, Canberra, Australia. 1993 - Box Paintings, New Hall, Cambridge, England. 1992 - Recent Work, Y Bont/The Bridge Gallery, University of Glamorgan, Wales.
Group exhibitions
2023 - 2024 - Contemporary Welsh Art, Gregynog Gallery, National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
2023 - 2024 - Real Families : Stories of Change, Fitzwiliiam Museum, Cambridge
2023 - Autumn Group Exhibition, West Wharf Gallery, Canal Wharf, Cardiff
2023 - CELF GWYRDD - The Welsh Group, Mid Wales Arts Centre, Caesws, Newtown
2023 -THE WELSH GROUP IN FOCUS Painting, sculpture and Bernard Mitchell's artist portraits Y Gaer | Art Gallery, Glamorgan Street, Brecon
2022 - The Welsh Group, Turner House Gallery, Penarth
2022 - Sue Hunt Mary Husted Tessa Waite, West Wharf Gallery, Jacobs Building, West Canal Wharf, Cardiff
2021 - 2023 - Without Borders, Elysium Gallery, Swansea, touring to Japan, Norway, USA, Venice, Canada, and back to Wales
2021/2022 - Open Books Buka Buku, The Godown Arts Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as project manager and co-curator.
2020 - 40th Anniversary of Studios at 54b Bute Street, BayArt, Cardiff
2019-21 - Sue Hunt and Mary Husted - a duo exhibition at Cardiff Business and Technology Centre, CBTC, Cardiff
2019 – Open Books and Works on Paper, Art Central Gallery, Barry Library;
2019 - Paper Exchange, BayArt Gallery, Cardiff Bay:
2018 - 19 - Welsh Group at 70, Royal Cambrian Academy, Conwy; MOMA, Machynlleth; Oriel y Bont, Trefforest; Senedd and Futures Galleries, Cardiff Bay;
2018 - Diverse Imaginations, the HeARTh Gallery, Llandough Hospital:
2018 – Fields of Vision, Boundary Art, Cardiff Bay;
2018 - Mary Husted, Lois Williams, BayArt, Cardiff Bay, Wales;
2018 - The Welsh Group at 70 Series, Cynon Valley Museum, Mid Wales Arts Centre, National Assembly of Wales, Cardiff, Oriel y Bont, Treforest; Fields of Vision, Boundary Art, Cardiff Bay,
2017 -Welsh Group Exhibition Tenby Museum. 2017- Open Books at Rajasthan Lalit Kala Akademi and Ravindra Manch Art Gallery, Jaipur, India. 2016- 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Art Central, Barry, Wales. 2016- Open Books A Livre Ouvert at the Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa. 2016-Welsh Group Exhibition, Taliesin Arts Centre, Wales. 2014-2015 - Open Books Plus, at the Museum of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. 2014 - The Art of Dylan Thomas, Art Central, Barry Library, Wales. 2014 - Open Books Plus - Australia, Logan Regional Gallery, Queensland and UNSW Canberra Academy Library, Canberra, Australia. 2014 - Here and There, The Welsh Group and BBK Dusseldorf, Rhondda Heritage Park and Gas Gallery, Aberystwyth, Wales. 2013 -2014 - Welsh Group/ISEA Joint Exchange Exhibition at Art Central, Barry Library, South Wales, at Big Arts, Sanibel, Florida US, and NWS Gallery, San Pedro, California, US. 2013 - Open Books Plus - China, Sanshang Museum of Contemporary Art, Hangzhou, China. 2013 - Open Books at BayArt, Cardiff Bay, and at University of Western England Library, Bristol. 2012 - Monstrous Regiment of Women, Cynon Valley Museum and Gallery, Wales. 2012 - Open Books:Sixteen Artists and the Chinese Folding Book, National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth. 2012 - Welsh Group Exhibition, Radnorshire Museum and Art Gallery, Llandrindod Wells . 2011 - Artemesia, St David's Hall, Cardiff. 2011 - Book Arts Exhibition, Cardiff Central Library, Cardiff. 2011 - Echoes and Traces, Musgrove Gallery, Taunton. 2011 - New Hall Art Collection's 25th Anniversary, Cambridge University Library, Cambridge. 2011 - Nothing in the World but Youth, Turner Contemporary, Margate. 2011 - Ten Years On, BayArt Gallery, Cardiff Bay. 2011 - The Welsh Group 2011, Art Central Gallery, Old Library, Barry, South Wales. 2011 - The Welsh Group 2011, Cynon Valley Museum and Gallery, Aberdare. 2010 - String Books Exhibition, The Left Hand Gallery, Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia. 2010 - The Moment of Privacy Has Passed, Usher Gallery, Lincoln. 2008 - Mapping the Welsh Group at 60, National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth. 2007 - Gifted at Oriel y Bont - an exhibition of art donated by the Contemporary Art Society for Wales to the University of Glamorgan, Treforest, Wales. 2007 - Welsh Artist of the Year Exhibition, St David's Hall, Cardiff, Wales. 2006 - Distant Horizons - Valerie Coffin Price and Mary Husted, The Gate, Cardiff, Wales. 2006 - Other Visions, Cynan Valley Museum and Art Gallery, Aberdare, Wales. 2006 - Residues - Valerie Coffin Price and Mary Husted, Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre, Cwmbran, Wales. 2006 - Shadows - Mary Husted with Valerie Coffin Price, The Sennedd Building, National Assembly for Wales, Cardiff Bay, Wales. 2004 - From There to Here - Valerie Coffin Price and Mary Husted, Swansea Museum, Swansea, Wales. 2003 - Christmas Exhibition, Bayart, Cardiff Bay, Wales. 2003 - Christmas Show, Cuppola Gallery, Sheffield, Yorkshire. 2003 - Contemporary Arts Society for Wales: 2002 Purchases, Brecknock Museum, Brecon, Wales. 2003 - Fine to Functional, Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre, Cwmbran, Wales. 2003 - Gross Innovations - ISEA and Welsh Group Exchange, ISEA, Chicago, USA. 2003 - Insiders - Art and the Box, Oriel Davies, Newtown, Wales, touring Wales, England and Scotland. 2003 - Perameters, Welsh Group Annual Touring Exhibition, Taliesin Arts Centre, Swansea, Wales. 2003 - Voyage Out, The Dock Museum, Barrow in Furness, Cumbria. 2003 - Welsh Artist of the Year Exhibition, St David's Hall, Cardiff, Wales. 2002 - Butetown Artists, Bayart, Cardiff Bay, Wales. 2002 - Contemporary Welsh Art, Beatrice Royal Contemporary Art, Eastleigh, Southampton, Hants. 2002 - Little and Large - The Welsh Group, Brecknock Museum, Brecon, Wales. 2002 - Waterlines -Julia Brooker, Helene Broutshert, Valerie Coffin Price and Mary Husted, Newport Museum and Art Gallery, Newport, Wales. 2001 - Looking Out, The Welsh Group, Newport Museum and Art Gallery and touring. 2001 - The Welsh Group, Salon International de L'Art, Libramont, Belgium. 2001 - Washington Gallery Christmas Show, Penarth. 2001 - Welsh Group Annual Exhibition, Theatr Clwyd, Mold, Wales. 2000 - Interior Visions, Dursley, Gloucestershire, also at Showcase, Newport Museum and Gallery, South Wales. 2000 - National Eisteddfod, Llanelli. 2000 - Recent Work - Helene Broutshert, Mary Husted, Washington Gallery, Penarth, Wales. 2000 - Reflections, Southside Arts, Southampton. 2000 - Revelations 2000, Llantarnam Grange, Cwmbran and touring. 2000 - Terra Incognita: Images of Australia, University of Wales School of Art, Aberystwyth and touring. 2000 - University of Glamorgan Purchase Prize Exhibition, Trefforest. 2000 - Welsh Artist of the Year Exhibition, St Davids Hall, Cardiff. 1999 - Art Garden, Bristol. 1999 - Beyond Nature, Washington Gallery, Penarth, South Wales. 1999 - Clean Slate, Bay Chambers, Cardiff Bay. 1999 - Fish Publishing Prize Exhibition, Tig Fili Gallery, Cork, Ireland. 1999 - Permanent Waves, Open Exhibition, St David's Hall, Cardiff. 1999 - University of Glamorgan Purchase Prize Exhibition, Trefforest. 1999 - Washington Gallery Christmas Show, Penarth, South Wales. 1999 - Welsh Group 50th Anniversary Exhibition, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff and touring Wales and Ireland. 1998 - Artists in Arms, St David 's Hall Cardiff. 1998 - Permanent Waves Christmas Exhibition, West Wharf Gallery, Cardiff. 1998 - Tenth Mostyn Open, Oriel Mostyn, Llandudno, North Wales. 1998 - Vital Art 1998, Atlantis Gallery, London. 1997 - "New Australian Images Through British Eyes: David Blackburn, Mary Husted and John Wolseley", at ANU Dril Hall Gallery, Canberra, Australia. 1995 - ANCA Womens Day Exhibition, Canberra, Australia. 1995 - Dreaming Civic II Project, Canberra, (Cadence). 1995 - The Worlds Women On-Line, Bejing, Washington DC and Tempe, Arizona. 1994 - Dreaming Civic I Installation, Canberra, Australia (Cadence). 1994 - London Contemporary Art Fair. 1993 - National Eisteddfod of Wales. 1993 - Permanent Waves, Womens Art, Cardiff. 1992 - Womens Art Festival, Cardiff. 1992 - Work By Three Recent Graduates, Martin Tinney Gallery, Cardiff.
Curated projects
2019 - Paper Exchange, BayArt Gallery, Cardiff, co-curated with Maggie James and the Sanshang Museum of Contemporary Art, Hangzhou.
2019 – Open Books, Art Central Gallery, Barry Library, co-curated with Maggie James and the Sanshang Museum of Contemporary Art, Hangzhou.
2016 Open Books Canada A Livre Ouvert, at the Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, co curated with Maggie James and Valerie Coffin Price, 2014-2015 - Open Books Plus, at the Museum of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (to include more than 40 books by prominent Chinese artists), co curated with Zigin Chen and Joe Zhu (China) and Frank Vigneron (Hong Kong). 2014 - Open Books Plus - Australia, Logan Regional Gallery, Queensland and UNSW Canberra Academy Library, Canberra, Australia, co curated with Joe Zhu. 2013 - Open Books Plus - China, Sanshang Museum of Contemporary Art, Hangzhou, China, co curated with Zigin Cheng and Joe Zhu (China) and Sue Hunt (Wales). 2013 - Open Books at BayArt, Cardiff Bay, and at University of Western England Library, Bristol. 2013 - Open Books, BayArt, Cardiff Bay 2012 - Open Books, National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.