Artists

Artists whose work has significantly influenced my practice, spanning documentary photography, industrial imagery, collage, and conceptual art.

Documentary and Landscape Photography

Peter Fraser (b. 1953)

Photographer known for exploring mundane objects to find hidden meanings, interested in “the intensity of vision.” Fraser works “poetically with a camera” rather than as a documentary photographer. He was part of the influential Valleys Project (1985), which documented the changing landscapes of South Wales. Fraser experiments with various materials including paper, card, wood, and metal in collage and digital print work.

John Davies (b. 1949)

Interested in industrial landscape and the remains of the mining industry. Davies participated in the Valleys Project and is noted for capturing unexpected cultural elements within landscapes, revealing layers of history and human impact.

Paul Reas (b. 1955)

Contemporary photographer and educator, currently Course Leader of Documentary Photography at the University of South Wales. Reas contributed to the Valleys Project and creates compelling, often humorous images that incorporate text to add layers of meaning.

Tom Wood (b. 1951)

Known as the “Photie Man” in Merseyside, Wood has documented communities over 40 years. His work emphasizes trust and personal connection in photography, building long-term relationships with his subjects. His work has been exhibited at the Walker Gallery and Tate Britain.

Contemporary Artists

Rene Matic (b. 1997)

Creates images characterized by “honesty, integrity and resilience,” addressing contemporary themes with directness and emotional depth.

Andy Warhol (1928–1987)

Known for silk screening and vibrant colors, Warhol’s work engages viewers through repetition and popular imagery. His personal background and childhood experiences deeply influenced his artistic output, particularly his interest in consumerism and celebrity culture.

Gerhard Richter (b. 1932)

German artist interested in photography manipulation and overpainting photographs. Richter explores “chance process and chance effects” in his work, particularly in his “Cage Paintings” and extensive “Atlas” series, which archives thousands of photographs and sketches.

Richard Serra (b. 1938)

American sculptor known for large-scale steel installations. Serra emphasizes materiality, weight, and the viewer’s physical experience of space. His works include:

• “Belts” (1966-67) - constructed from vulcanised rubber strips with neon tubing
• “Fernando Pessoa” (2007-2008)
• “Promenade” (2008)

Serra’s work demonstrates a sense of materiality and timelessness that explores the relationship between industrial materials and human scale.

Joe Rush (b. 1960)

Joe Rush and his Mutoid Waste Company are also of interest and I had the opportunity of meeting with him at the exhibition held at the Fulham Town Hall called “Art in the Age of Now” in May of 2021. His use of salvaged material in creating very large pieces has been widely celebrated and the works are in evidence at the Glastonbury Festival each year.He is very much a collaborative artist with a social conscience, having worked with notable activists and designers like Vivienne Westwood on the “Climate Revolution” project.

David Garner (b. 1958)

Having studied in London returned to his native Wales and whose practice is both sculptural and poetic, using the Welsh language in his work.

Bedwyr Williams (b. 1974)

An artist with a wide ranging practice, incorporating humour and insightful commentary on society and intent upon maintaining the Welsh language. Favourite piece : “Tyrrau Mawr” in which a Welsh landscape receives a dystopian makeover.

Laura Ford (b. 1961)

Born in Cardiff and has produced a beautiful body of sculptural. I first came across the artist whilst my son was studying at Warwick University. On entering the main campus there is the enthralling piece, “Days of Judgement, Cat 1” This was created in 2012 from Bronze, height 1,700, width 2300, depth 1000. On his graduation day he was in fact photographed next to the cat and remains a favourite image of mine. Https://www.lauraford.net/frieze

Kevin Sinnott (b. 1947)

A Welsh artist who studied and practised in London before returning to Bridgend in Wales where he has a gallery and is extremely generous with his time within the local arts community. He has produced some wonderfully evocative work, a favourite of mine being “Running away with the hairdresser” painted in oil, height 63”, width 85”. I viewed this at the National Museum of Wales in the summer and it is charged with a sense of youthful exuberance.There is then also a sense of loss, as Sinnott is quoted in the museums website where the painting can be interpreted as “a momentary slip into fecklessness…a mature scepticism towards youth’s arrogance”. His work evokes a real sense of experience and a celebration of the people of the Welsh valleys which I much admire.

Cerith Wyn Evans (b. 1958)

A Welsh artist whose use of diverse materials and contexts I much admire, in particular the piece: “The return of the return of the Durutti Column”.

Ceri Richards (1903—1971)

Born in Swansea and was influenced by both the industrial landscape of South Wales along with the poetry of Welsh writer Dylan Thomas. An interesting artist who later became interested in abstract and lyrical themes. I much admire Ceri Richards experimental approach as can be seen with his use of wire in the work to emphasise the materiality of the work . There is sincerity and integrity in his depictions. I will certainly be revisiting the Glynn Vivian gallery, a beautiful gallery in the heart of Swansea. This is particularly relevant to myself, Ceri Richards’ father having worked at the Tin Plate works in Gowerton a very short distance away from Cross Engineering where I have sourced the majority of my photography along with the salvaged steel.

Evan Walters (1893—1951)

Another Swansea born artist who caught the essence of the working person was Evan Walters whose work I saw at the Glynn Vivian Gallery. There is a real dignity in the expressions of the colliers who worked locally at the mines.

Sculpture and Installation

Richard Deacon (b. 1949)

British sculptor who emphasizes experimentation in his practice. Deacon uses titles drawn from popular culture and works with a variety of materials, creating forms that explore the relationship between inside and outside, surface and structure.

Collage and Text-Based Work

Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008)

Believed in art’s capacity for social change and worked across multiple mediums including painting, printmaking, and performance. Rauschenberg valued collaborative creativity and broke down boundaries between art and everyday life through his “Combines” and transfer drawings.

John Baldessari (1931–2020)

Incorporated text, photography, and collage to create playful, engaging artwork. Baldessari emphasized an experimental approach, often using found images and adding colored dots or text to create new meanings and challenge traditional art-making.

Ed Ruscha (b. 1937)

Pioneered Pop art with his graphic style combining imagery and text. Ruscha’s work is influenced by advertising and street art, and includes iconic artist books like “Twentysix Gasoline Stations” (1963) and paintings that use words as central compositional elements.

Jay Bernard (b. 1968)

Multi-disciplinary artist known for poster-style work that combines image and text in bold, direct compositions.

Victor Burgin (b. 1941)

Conceptual artist focused on the relationships between image and text, exploring how images and text influence public consciousness. His work examines the space between seeing and reading, investigating how photographic meaning is constructed through language and cultural context.

Richard Mosse (b. 1980)

Irish artist working with multi-spectral camera and thermal technology to create powerful work addressing social issues like refugees and trafficking. His work combines aesthetic, scientific, forensic, and indexical qualities. Mosse emphasizes “making people feel something” through art and stresses the importance of addressing critical issues differently to engage people emotionally and intellectually. Notable work includes “Incoming” (2017), which documents the refugee crisis and human trafficking using military-grade thermal imaging technology.

Nico Froehlich

Contemporary photographer and artist. Website: nicofroehlich.com

Christian Boltanski (1944–2021)

French artist known for his installations and conceptual work exploring themes of memory, mortality, and the Holocaust. His work often incorporated photographs, light, and personal artifacts to create powerful meditations on human existence and loss.

Wolfgang Tillmans (b. 1968)

German photographer known for his diverse body of work spanning portraiture, still life, landscape, and abstract photography. Tillmans challenges traditional photography conventions and addresses contemporary social and political issues through his innovative approach to image-making and installation.

Anselm Kiefer (b. 1945)

German painter and sculptor known for his monumental works that address German history, mythology, and memory. His work often incorporates unconventional materials and explores themes of national identity, war, and cultural trauma.

Andreas Gursky (b. 1955)

German photographer known for his large-format architecture and landscape photographs. Gursky’s work often depicts contemporary life and globalization through meticulously composed, digitally manipulated images that reveal patterns and structures in modern society.

Hannah Starkey (b. 1971)

British photographer known for her carefully staged photographs that explore the daily lives of women in urban settings. Notable exhibition: “In Real Life” at The Hepworth Gallery, which examines contemporary female identity and experience.

Richard Billingham (b. 1970)

British photographer and filmmaker known for his intimate documentary work. His breakthrough series “Ray’s a Laugh” (1996) portrayed his family life with unflinching honesty, creating both gritty and tender images that challenged traditional documentary photography.

Francesca O’Dell (1951–2022)

Photographer whose work documented Welsh communities and social issues. Her photographs captured the essence of life in the valleys and contributed significantly to the documentation of Welsh working-class culture.

Joanne Coates

Artist and photographer known for her project “Daughters of the Soil,” which explores themes of rural life, labor, and women’s connection to the land.

Sam Blackwood (b. 1992)

Contemporary photographer whose work often features sculptural elements, creating evocative pieces that blend photography with three-dimensional form to explore social and cultural themes.

Rob Clayton

Photographer known for his documentary project “Life on the Lion Farm Estate, Oldbury, West Midlands” (1990-1991), which provided an intimate portrait of community life on a British housing estate during a period of social change.

John Ormond (1923-1990)

Welsh poet and filmmaker. The film “Borrowed Pasture” (1960) receiving particular acclaim in the portrayal of two Polish exiles struggling to make a living in Carmarthenshire. A contemporary of Dylan Thomas and who created a number of well crafted documentaries on Welsh painters and writers like Ceri Richards, Kyffin Williams, RS Thomas and Alun Lewis a number of whom I have researched and included in my website. His poetry is beautifully written and goes to the core of Welsh identity.

Film and Multi-Media

Derek Jarman (1942–1994)

Multi-talented British artist, filmmaker, and writer who addressed AIDS in his work during the epidemic. Jarman wrote “Chroma: A Book of Colour,” exploring the cultural, personal, and political dimensions of color. His films and garden at Dungeness demonstrate a unique integration of art, nature, and activism.

Miscellaneous

• “Artist Placement Group” (APG) - Research conducted into the APG reinforced my interest in working collaboratively with similar works to that which I have currently undertaken.