Bedwyr Williams: Echt. Solo exhibition at Salzburger Kunstverein

The Salzburger Kunstverein in Salzburg, Austria, just opened a solo show with works by the Welsh artist Bedwyr Williams. The exhibition is entitled Echt, and is a co-produced project that develops throughout 2014 via Tramway (Glasgow), Mostyn (Wales), the Irish Museum of Modern Art (Dublin), and is completed at the Salzburger Kunstverein. For the presentation in Salzburg, Bedwyr Williams has conceived an exhibition that includes several video installations and sculptural works. One of them is a video performance that was filmed in summer in the Mönchsberg-Garage, a parking garage that was carved into the rock of the Mönchsberg Mountain in Salzburg, and shows the artist being carried through the tunnels by a strongman. Another work that has to do with unusual architecture is 70°. 70° refers to the iconic Hotel 70°, which once stood high on a cliff overlooking the nearby town of Colwyn Bay in Wales. The hotel was noted for its peculiar architecture where everything from the carpets to the stairs followed the 70° and 110° angles of the building. The hotel, built in 1972, was demolished in 2007 lives on in a film Bedwyr Williams made with the aid of computer modelling.
Bedwyr Williams was born in Wales in 1974. His work combines installation art, video and references to stand-up comedy. He studied at St. Martins School of Art in London and Ateliers, Arnhem, Netherlands. In 2004 he won a Paul Hamlyn Award for the Visual Arts and was nominated as one of Britain’s most promising artists by The Guardian. In 2005 he was Welsh artist-in-residence at the Venice Biennale and he was shortlisted for the Beck’s Futures prize in 2006. He represented Wales at the Venice Biennale in 2013 with his project “The Starry Messenger.”
The exhibition is accompanied by a new artist book co-produced with the touring partners and the Welsh Arts Council.
Running concurrently with Bedwyr Williams: Echt, the Salzburger Kunstverein presents Bea McMahon: Cover. Both exhibitions run until November 30, 2014.
Within the context of Marina Abramovic’ recent project at Fondation Beyeler, the museum held an artist talk with the renowned performance artist. In the conversation with Sam Keller (Director, Fondation Beyeler), Marina Abramovic provided the audience with an insight into her life and work. Among other things, she talks about being an artist, her project for Fondation Beyeler, and the Marina Abramovic Institute (Many Artists Institute).
“You can’t wish to be an artist. It’s like wishing: ‘Can I breathe or not?’ You’re not asking yourself ‘Can you breathe?’ You are or you are not. It’s not like you’re going to be, it’s not coming, it’s DNA. You just are an artist. It’s the same intensity like breathing. You wake up in the morning and you have to create.”
Performance artist Marina Abramovic in conversation with Sam Keller (Director, Fondation Beyeler) at Fondation Beyeler in Riehen, Switzerland, September 20, 2014.
PS: The video above is an excerpt. The complete talk is available on our website
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