Reveal And Conceal

About

East Quay Gallery is delighted to announce an exhibition, Reveal and Conceal, by Welsh sculptor Laura Ford, from 10 September 2022 to 1 January 2023. The exhibition presents new works alongside a surprising reconvening of characters created by Laura over the past two decades. Together they reflect both the irresistible evolution and the unexpected, re-examination of things that have characterised so much of the last two and a half years.

The exhibition includes a group of new human-sized comical, bawdy cats – each apparently chasing its own tail. These playful sculptures are accompanied by a number of works on paper, also of cats – this time paddling or drifting in the water to which they are famously adverse. The uncomfortable wetness isn't their usual habitat, but each of the cats continues to swim – sometimes content, more often seemingly irritated at being a cat required to swim. 

Alongside the new cats in an odd context, Laura Ford presents a reconfigured installation of more than 30 sculptures, some meeting for the first time and some reunited. They include a pink knitted poodle, a frog facing the wall, a cat in a tweed cape and bonnet, and a child dressed as a bird in wellingtons – all of them kettled by a barrier of espaliered girls. Their collective emotion is hard to discern – perhaps fearful, perhaps hopeful, perhaps just uncertain of what their next step should be.