Manic Street Preachers’ lyricist and bassist Nicky Wire will see more of his artwork on display at Tenby Museum and Art Gallery as part of a ‘Celebration of Welsh Contemporary Painting’ exhibition.

Tenby Museum and Art Gallery is the final venue for the showcase which has seen a Wales-wide series of exhibitions held, launching in the summer of 2022 at Cyfarthfa Castle Museum and Gallery and the Redhouse in Merthyr Tydfil.

Back in September of 2018, Welsh rocker Nicky created an ‘Everlasting’ memory for music and art fans at the Tenby venue situated on Castle Hill, when the Welsh rocker was on hand to open his first ever exhibition - ‘Paintings and Polaroids’ - in the coastal town that holds a special place in his heart.

Not only was Nicky present to open the exhibition, and talk through his artwork and love of Tenby, where he has owned a flat for over a decade, but he also welcomed his Manic Street Preachers bandmate James Dean Bradfield to the ‘Museum and Art Gallery’ who officially declared the show open with a couple of well known tunes.

The exhibition showcased Nicky’s work and love of the Polaroid camera, which he took out with him on the road when the band first started performing and touring in the early 90s, with much of the artwork on display showing Nicky’s influences from musicians and artists such as -Bowie, Dylan Thomas, Philip Larkin, John Uzzell Edwards, Marilyn Monroe, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Vivian Maier, Yayoi Kusama, Richter, Tracey Emin, Bert Stern and Miles Davis.

Now, exhibiting under his name Nicholas Jones, the Manics’ bassist joins other artists as part of the Celebration of Contemporary Welsh Painting, which has taken place in 13 venues across Wales since July last year, aiming to give exhibition space to some of Wales’s most significant painters and those who are up and coming, as well as featuring high-quality work from students in colleges and/or schools.

As it has from the beginning, the Celebration of Contemporary Welsh Painting will aim to ensure that at least 50 per cent of the featured artists are women, reflecting the many talented but previously under-represented women painting in Wales.

The second of the museum’s two impressive art galleries will be hosting the Celebration exhibition, and will include artists such as - Claudia Williams, one of Wales’s most popular and collectable artists, Grahame Hurd-Wood, a renowned Pembrokeshire artist who often paints en plein air, Meirion Jones, whose work is ‘an expression of living in the community and landscape of West Wales.

The exhibition officially opened on Saturday, January 7 and is open to the public from Wednesday, January 11. It runs until Saturday, February 18.

Established in 1878, Tenby Museum and Art Gallery is the oldest independent museum in Wales, with a focus on the story of Tenby and surrounding area through prehistory, social history and art.

Further information is available at: https://tenbymuseum.org.uk/

To find out more about all the previous exhibitions in the 2022-23 Celebration of Contemporary Welsh Painters, visit: https://www.cowcp.co.uk/