Wolves influence a new art exhibition at Newtown

Simon created Louphole after he spent two weeks in Northern Quebec on a hunting reserve

Newtown's Oriel Davies gallery presents new work by artist, Simon Whitehead which will culminate in a procession through the town accompanied by the Newtown Silver Band, and the first public 'Howl' on Bryn Bank above the town. The gallery's curator, Alex Boyd, told us more about the exhibition.

The exhibition will be in two parts, Louphole, and Afield.

Louphole will combine a series of commissioned site-based performances and a public event which will incorporate the first public 'Howl' in Wales (and possibly in the UK).

It will also comprise, Afield, an exhibition which charts Simon's practice over the past 15 years.

The wolf howls called up a physical sensation I had not experienced before, an excitement probably rendered by the folk tales of this legendary outlaw... Simon Whitehead

Simon works with physical movement to investigate and expand meaning and understanding within a location or environment.

Originally trained as a geographer and a dancer he has, over the past decade or more, developed material from an earlier work called Pedestrian Practices, which involves a process of ritual reconstruction through the body to include live performance, dance, sound and film.

Wolf packs

The work presented in Afield features video pieces and artefacts to present an evolution of the artist's practice and his physical encounters with the landscapes he inhabits and moves through.

These processes, often contingent and improvised, also reveal Whitehead's collaborative approaches, both with the public and other artists, remarkably with sound artist Barnaby Oliver, with whom he has worked consistently over this period.

The newly-commissioned work, Louphole, emenates from a visit Simon made during the winter of 2005 where he spent two weeks in Northern Quebec on a hunting reserve as part of a residency.

An enduring memory of the place was the wolf packs, audible at night and absent by day, save for their tracks and kills. As a protected animal in this part of Canada, the wolf is now in a steady ascendance again.

Simon said: "The wolf howls called up a physical sensation I had not experienced before, an excitement probably rendered by the folk tales of this legendary outlaw as well as some primal response to the proximity of another predator.

"We never saw the wolves, they are rarely seen by humans, which made their evanescence even more compelling."

Evil

On returning to Wales, Simon began to consider the long disappeared packs that wandered the hills here until the 16th century.

Steadily wiped out by hunting and a social perception of the wolf as evil and dangerous, there are a number of stories that celebrate the death of the last wolf in different parts of Wales.

Through Louphole Simon reconstitutes this lost predator through a series of fugitive performances and mysterious visible and audible sightings across Newtown.

Louphole means a spy hole in mainland Europe made in shelters in forest and open spaces through which travellers could watch for wolves.

Simon has also commissioned his long-term collaborator Barnaby Oliver to compose a new musical composition for Newtown Silver Band.

The project will culminate in a public gathering and procession through the town accompanied by Newtown Silver Band and the first public 'Howl' on Bryn Bank above the town on Thursday, 4 March 2010.

A short film documenting the event will subsequently be presented in the exhibition.