Sean Edwards, 'Undo Things Done' - Cymru yn Fenis Wales in Venice 2019

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Man cychwyn Undo Things Done yw profiad Edwards o dyfu i fyny ar stad o dai cyngor yng Nghaerdydd yn yr 1980au ac mae'n dal a throi’r hyn mae’n ei alw yn gyflwr o ‘beidio â disgwyl llawer' yn iaith weledol a rennir; un sy'n dwyn i gof ffordd o fyw oedd yn gyfarwydd iawn i nifer fawr o bobl. Fel rhan o’r cyflwyniad yn Wrecsam, sy’n cynnwys cwiltiau Cymreig, printiau, cerfluniau a ffilm, mae'r artist yn ail wampio Refrain, 2019

Mae Refrain yn ddrama radio a ysgrifennwyd ar gyfer mam yr artist a gyd-gynhyrchwyd gan National Theatre Wales wedi’i pherfformio gan fam yr artist Lily Edwards. Perfformiwyd y ddrama radio hon, a oedd yn ganolog i arddangosfa Fenis, yn fyw bob dydd yn ystod y Biennale, a ddarlledwyd o'i fflat yng Nghaerdydd i safle Cymru yn Fenis Wales in Venice 2019, sef Santa Maria Ausiliatrice, Castello. Mae Refrain yn plethu atgofion Lily Edwards o’i magwraeth mewn Cartref Plant Catholig yng Ngogledd Iwerddon a’i bywyd diweddarach yng Nghymru, gyda deunyddiau a ganfuwyd ac atgofion Sean Edwards o’i blentyndod. Bydd Edwards yn addasu’r fersiwn a gomisiynwyd yn arbennig o Refrain a gynhyrchwyd gan John Norton a Martin Williams a ddarlledwyd ar BBC Radio 4 ar 17 Rhagfyr 2019.

Fe dderbyniodd Undo Things Done, cyflwyniad Edwards yn Fenis, 25,000 o ymwelwyr yn ystod La Biennale di Venezia ond, yn ogystal â nifer o gyflwyniadau swyddogol eraill, fe ddaeth i ben yn gynnar o ganlyniad i lifogydd na welwyd ei debyg o’r blaen ar draws y ddinas. Fe effeithiodd y llifogydd ar waith dur a choed arwyddocaol, sef in parallel with the past i-iv 2019, sydd wedi ei dynnu o’r daith gyda gweithiau newydd wedi eu hychwanegu gan yr artist wrth i’r daith fynd yn ei blaen. Fel artist sydd bob amser yn addasu pob arddangosfa i’w chyd-destun newydd mae’r newidiadau hyn wedi eu hamsugno i broses weithio Edwards ei hun.

Bydd corff newydd o weithiau emosiynol Edwards ar gyfer Undo Things Done - ffilm, cerfluniau, printiau a chwiltiau Cymreig – felly’n ehangu ac yn datblygu gyda’r daith. Yn nodedig am ei ymagwedd gerfluniol tuag at y cyffredin, mae Edwards yn aml yn cychwyn ag elfennau sy’n ymddangos yn ddigyswllt ar yr olwg gyntaf ond sydd wedi’u plethu â chysylltiadau hunangofiannol a diwylliannol. Drwy brosesau ymchwilgar gan gynnwys amser a dreuliodd mewn archifau, amgueddfeydd a llyfrgelloedd lleol, mae’n dwyn ynghyd ddelweddau, storïau, dyfyniadau a chlipiau. Drwy brocio, ynysu, dethol a dwyn y cyfan ynghyd y daw eu hadleisiau gwleidyddol a ffurfiol i’r wyneb.

Ym mis Tachwedd 2020, bydd yr arddangosfa’n symud i Bluecoat, Lerpwl, sef partner Cymru yn Fenis 2019.

Noddir taith Undo Things Done gan yr Art Fund ac Ymddiriedolaeth Elusennol Colwinston.

Am fwy o wybodaeth am Gymru yn Fenis ewch i fenis.celf.cymru.

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Undo Things Done takes as its starting point Edwards' experience of growing up on a council estate in Cardiff in the 1980s, capturing and translating what he calls a condition of 'not expecting much' into a shared visual language; one that evokes a way of living familiar to a great number of people. As part of the presentation in Wrexham which includes Welsh quilts, prints, sculpture and film, the artist is reworking Refrain, 2019.

Refrain is a radio play written for the artist’s mother co-produced by National Theatre Wales performed by the artist’s mother Lily Edwards. This radio play, which was at the heart of the Venice exhibition, was performed live daily during the Biennale, streamed from her flat in Cardiff to the Cymru yn Fenis Wales in Venice 2019 venue Santa Maria Ausiliatrice, Castello. Refrain weaves Lily Edwards’ biography, growing up in a Northern Irish Catholic Children’s Home and her subsequent life in Wales, with found materials and Sean Edwards’ memories from childhood. Edwards will adapt the specially commissioned version of Refrain produced by John Norton and Martin Williams which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 17 December 2019.

Edwards’ presentation Undo Things Done in Venice received 25,000 visitors during the run of La Biennale di Venezia however, along with a number of other official presentations, drew to an early close due to unprecedented flooding across the city. The floods affected a significant steel and wood work in parallel with the past i-iv, 2019 which has been removed from the tour with new works instead added by the artist as the tour progresses. As an artist who always adapts every exhibition to its new context these changes have been absorbed into Edwards own working process.

Edwards’ emotionally resonant body of work for Undo Things Done - film, sculptures, prints and Welsh quilts - will expand and develop with the tour. Known for his sculptural approach to the everyday, Edwards often begins with seemingly unrelated elements linked by autobiographical and cultural connections. Through investigative processes including time spent in local archives, museums and libraries, he gathers together images, stories, quotes, and clips. It is in the teasing out of these things in the studio, in isolating, abstracting, and bringing them together, that their political and formal resonance comes into play.

Undo Things Done will travel to Senedd, Cardiff, 26th July to 9th September 2020, by invitation of the National Assembly of Wales. In November 2020 the exhibition will then tour to Cymru yn Fenis Wales in Venice 2019 partner Bluecoat, Liverpool.

The tour of Undo Things Done is kindly supported by Art Fund and Colwinston Charitable Trust.

For more information about Wales in Venice please visit venice.arts.wales