Huw Andrews In Soviet Times My Friends Had Teams Like Barcelona, I Had Wrexham.

Huw Andrews In Soviet Times My Friends Had Teams Like Barcelona, I Had Wrexham. Weekends 6th-7th, 13th-14th 20th-21st August 10am-5.30pm Huw Andrews was born in Carmarthen in 1980. In the spring he spent three months in Estonia, working in Tartu and Tallinn, the European Capital of Culture for 2011. In Soviet Times My Friends Had Teams Like Barcelona, I Had Wrexham (2011), his current solo show at The Last Gallery, responds to the various languages, traditions and occupations of Estonia. The title of the project and of the artworks themselves, are selected from various quotes and thoughts gathered in his notebook – connecting 35mm photography, video, audio, text and objects with random conversations. Since regaining its independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991, Estonians have formed a strong identity alongside their Russian neighbours (around 30% of the population are Russian). Such variation in language, personality and culture between the nationalities accounts for a distinctly bilingual and bicultural country. This reminded him of Wales, sensing that both countries have more in common than just a passion for song. www.huwandrews.com Predominately, Andrews produces artworks in projects, offering multiple angles on a particular place, focus or impulse. Locally and internationally, he records spontaneous encounters, personal endeavours and wandering observations; exploring overlooked spaces, thoughts and individuals. Conversely however, he remains fascinated yet unsettled by the influence of mass consumption on our behaviours, choices and identities. In production, Andrews often approaches this conflict by manipulating his research with reference to consumerism, tourism or television. Overall, Andrews aims to celebrate the undervalued and trivialise the valued, disrupting the mainstream perceptions of value, success and purpose he routinely encounters. Between 1998 and 2006, Andrews undertook various jobs and studies, both at home and abroad. In 2010 he completed a Fine Art degree at Leeds Metropolitan University, winning the Edna Lumb Travel Prize there in 2009. Recent group exhibitions include ¿AreWeNotDrawnOnwardToNewEra? at g39, Cardiff, twoscore at Chapter, Cardiff, The Value of Things at Parlour Gallery, London and An Exchange with Sol LeWitt at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, USA. Locally, he has two upcoming solo shows, in July at Elysium Gallery, Swansea and in August at The Last Gallery, Llangadog.