Artists announced for Locws Public Art Open Submission

We are extremely pleased to announce the selected artist for the Locws International Public Art Open Submission. Locws received a large number of local, national and international applications from artists based in the UK, South Africa, Denmark, USA, Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Sweden and Wales. The standard was extremely high with a wide and diverse range of exciting proposals.

Following discussions between the Locws team and our selectors, Ceri Hand and David Blandy, the inaugural Locws International Public Art Submission has been awarded to Jeremy Millar.

Millar’s work takes historic events and presents them for a modern audience. For Art Across The City, Millar takes visits to Swansea by two great philosophical thinkers, Emanuel Swedenborg and Ludwig Wittengstein, to create a new image for the city. Wittengstein’s joyful exclamation upon arrival in Swansea of Am I Glad To Be Here! not only makes a bold, and very positive declaration about Swansea in the present, but also opens up fascinating, and perhaps unknown, aspects of its past and its future.

The standard of submissions was extremely high. With that in mind, we have also decided to announce we will develop two proposals by shortlisted artists Lisa Scantlebury and James Isles. We will work with the artists to deliver the work in 2014. Locws International Project Manager, Gordon Dalton said ‘Jeremy’s proposal appealed not only for it’s well researched local history, but also for the highly visual impact it will have across the city and the education and outreach opportunities it brings. With Swansea being shortlisted for City of Culture status, as well as Locws International’ Biennial of Contempory Art for Wales in 2014, Am I Glad To Be Here! is a very inspirational slogan for the city.

Jeremy Millar’s work will feature in Art Across The City – Biennial of Contemporary Art for Wales 2014, launching in Swansea on April 12th 2014.

Art Across The City 2013 continues until 6th October and features Jacob Dahlgren, Juneau Projects, Matthew Houlding and Laura Sorvala

Jeremy Millar, Self-Portrait as a Drowned Man (The Willows),
2011

Jeremy Millar is an artist living in Whitstable and tutor in art criticism at the Royal College of Art, London. He has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad including Tramway, Glasgow; NGCA, Sunderland; CCA, Vilnius; Rooseum, Malmö; Bloomberg Space, London; and the Metropole Galleries, Folkestone. Recent exhibitions and screenings include ‘Plum Tree Blossom’, commissioned by Inverleith House, Edinburgh, to complement works by John Cage and Merce Cunningham; the Vigeland Museum in Oslo; Sleeper in Edinburgh; Tate Modern, London; National Maritime Museum, London; David Roberts Art Foundation, London; Tate St Ives; Ikon Gallery, Birmingham; Ethnographic Museum, Krakow; SE8, London; HICA, Inverness-shire; Plymouth Arts Centre; and Baltic, Gateshead. A permanent public work was installed in Folkestone in 2006.