Cerith Wyn Evans, b. 1958, is a Welsh conceptual artist. He studied for a BFA at St Martins School of Art (1977-1980) and a MA in Film and Television at the Royal College of Art between 1981-1984. 

His career began in experimental filmmaking, working as an assistant to Derek Jarman in the 1980s while also making his own films. From the 1990s he worked in other media, including installation and sculptures, while retaining his interest in film. His work is characterised by a focus on language, a conceptual underpinning, site-specificity and a clean aesthetic. He invests found or remembered quotes from classic sources in literature or film with other, sometimes more personal resonances. His firework pieces, for example are wooden structures that spell out open-ended texts that burn over a designated period of time.

Recent solo exhibitions have occurred at the De La Warr Pavilion (2012); Kunsthall Bergen in 2011; Tramway, Glasgow (2009); Inverleith House, Edinburgh (2009);  MUSAC, Leon (2008); Musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris (2006) and Kunsthaus Graz (2005).

He has participated in the Moscow Biennial (2011); The Aichi Triennale (2010), the Yokohama Triennale (2008); and  the International Istanbul Biennial (2005). The artist represented Wales in the first Welsh pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2003).
Wyn Evans is represented by Yvon Lambert Gallery, Paris and White Cube and lives and works in London.

Glossary

  • Film

    A transparent, flexible plastic material, usually of cellulose acetate or polyester, on which light-sensitive emulsion is coated, or on which an image can be formed by various transfer processes.

  • Installation

    An artwork comprised of many and various elements of miscellaneous materials (see mixed media), light and sound, which is conceived for and occupies an entire space, gallery or site. The viewer can often enter or walk around the installation. Installations may only exist as long as they are installed, but can be re-created in different sites. Installation art emerged in the 1960s out of Environmental Art (works of art which are three-dimensional environments), but it was not until the 1970s that the term came into common use and not until the late 1980s that artists started to specialise in this kind of work, creating a genre of ‘Installation Art’. The term can also be applied to the arrangement of selected art works in an exhibition.

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