The first UK exhibition by Welsh artist Bethan Huws in 20 years is presented at the Whitechapel Gallery.

From a tiny sailing boat made from a single reed to raising half the Gallery’s floor by 17.5cm, Welsh artist Bethan Huws is interested in subtly altering our experience of spaces to create sites for contemplation. She works with watercolour, drawings, wall texts, installation, sculpture and film to make unexpected links to our experiences of daily life. Her own personal memories and cultural identity are at the heart of her poetic works of art. Titling the exhibition Capelgwyn, literally Whitechapel in Welsh, is a way of bringing her individual history into the show.

Huws’ sculptures and text works have the potential to project us into another time and space, and the ability to alter our perception. One of her signature works, a hand crafted reed boat could take us somewhere far beyond the physical confines of the gallery, while the raised Gallery floor’s horizontal surface reflects the boat’s keel, and changes the dimensions and acoustics of the space itself. A series of wall texts show Huws’ research into the French idiomatic expressions she has found in the work of Marcel Duchamp, offering both a possible interpretation of his work, and an indirect way of understanding hers.

With thanks to:

Yvon Lambert, Paris, New York.