Shani Rhys James’ most recent paintings will be presented at Connaught Brown. This selection continues her profound dialogue relating to the obsessive qualities inherent in the ownership of objects.

The works that Rhys James will unveil in September further develop these ideas surrounding feminine identity and domesticated spaces—which have been at the root of her professional work for the past twenty years—through the exploration of painted wallpaper. The large painted patterns of flowers and organic ephemera create spaces where the figure becomes almost overwhelmed by her surroundings, fighting the boisterous tendrils of the flora and fauna to be seen. Her works highlight ideas surrounding the art of consumption and attainment, and, how this quest to ‘capture’ objects indeed entraps us all.

Rhys James’ unapologetic application of paint creates a rich topography of impasto that sits firmly within the legacy of British painters currently exhibiting in London this year such as David Hockney and Lucien Freud. She succeeds in bringing the uncanny to the everyday—constructing spaces that feel both familiar and oppressive, domesticated and wild.

Shani Rhys James is arguably the most exciting and successful Welsh painter of her generation. Her considerable reputation, both in Wales and beyond, continues to grow apace. In the past few years her work has appeared in exhibitions throughout Britain and Europe. William Packer, art critic of the Financial Times, has spoken of her as a painter of remarkable power, whose paintings are as convincing as anything currently being produced in Britain.

She has been feted with prizes and honours: from the UK's most prestigious and valuable prize for painting, the Jerwood Prize in 2003, to the Gold Medal for Fine Art in the 1992 Royal National Eisteddfod; from the '2003 Welsh Woman in Culture Award' to being awarded the MBE in 2006. More recently, she received the Glyndŵr award in 2007, by MOMA, for her contribution to Welsh art.

Her body of collectors, both private and public, continues to expand both in the UK, but especially abroad, with sales to important private collections in the USA, Belgium, France, Germany, New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong.

Connaught Brown
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Tel. +44 020 7408 0362
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