An exploration of the work of artist Tim Davies in its Welsh and international context by four critics together with the artist's personal observations on his work process, in particular his original re-use of natural and raw materials. 27 colour and 42 black-and-white illustrations.

Astudiaeth o waith yr artist Tim Davies yn ei gyd-destun Cymreig a rhyngwladol gan bedwar beirniad ynghyd â sylwadau personol yr artist ar ei brosesau gwaith, yn arbennig y broses wreiddiol o ail ddefnyddio defnyddiau crai. 27 llun lliw a 42 llun du-a-gwyn.

Tim Davies is an artist of great integrity and international stature, fully worthy of this handsome, accessibly priced monograph. It presents a balanced visual record of Davies’s work to date, and several essays. The longest, 'Fire', by Anne Price-Owen, considers the way he 'makes the familiar seem strange' by the imaginative exploitation of his raw materials, and notes also the ambitious scope of his site-specific work. David Alston, in his succinct piece, suggests that the artist’s re-use of the raw materials for manufacture offered him by his native Wales goes further: it is at the heart of his cultural identity. Even the humble nail is 'an iconic object for Davies'. Iwan Bala, in his customary role as Pontifex Cambrensis, uses his opportunity to air a few grievances against both Richard Long for the 'subliminal colonialist hangover' in his work, and, even more gratuitously, Barnett Newman’s 'confident male territorial machismo'. When he focuses on Davies himself, however, there are some genuine insights, such as his comment on Davies's 'puritan minimalism'. Best of all is Davies’s own piece, written with the understated eloquence of his visual work, in which his goal is ‘to distil ideas into their purest visual equivalent'. In this transformative process, he turns art into a contemporary alchemy.

Rex Harley

It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgement should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council.

Gellir defnyddio’r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatâd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.