WREXHAM'S arts hub will be involved in one of the world's leading art exhibitions.

T? Pawb has been been announced as the lead organisation for artist, Sean Edwards’ presentation for Wales in Venice 2019 at the 58th International Art Exhibition, the Venice Biennale.

He will be exhibiting at the Santa Maria Ausiliatrice, a beautiful Church in the heart of Venice.

His exhibition will return to the UK in 2020, with our very own T? Pawb acting as the first host venue.

Sean Edwards’ presentation is curated by Marie-Anne McQuay, international curator and Head of Programme at Bluecoat, Liverpool, in partnership with T? Pawb.

His work was selected following an open call for proposals in March 2018.

Jo Marsh, Arts Lead for Wrexham Council and creative director for T? Pawb said: “It is a huge honour for T? Pawb to have been announced as Lead Organisation for Wales in Venice 2019, this is a fantastic opportunity for the organisation and for Wrexham.

“Through working with Sean Edwards and Marie-Anne McQuay on this exciting project, we will be flying the flag for Welsh arts, and bringing an international limelight to Wrexham and T? Pawb.

“As lead organisation T? Pawb will have the chance to shape the delivery of both the exhibition and public programme, keeping our ethos of inclusivity at heart.”

A chance to see the work of an award winning Welsh artist

Sean Edwards’ proposal will see the creation of a major new body of work that will foreground his interest in social class and the everyday, influenced by his own experiences of growing up on a council estate on the outskirts of Cardiff in the 1980s.

He is now a lecturer in Fine Art at Cardiff School of Art and Design.

In 2014 he was awarded the Gold Medal in Fine Art at the National Eisteddfod and is also a former recipient of Arts Council of Wales’s Creative Wales Awards.

The exhibition is commissioned and managed by Arts Council of Wales with support of grant in aid from the Welsh Government.

Lead member for communities, partnerships, public protection and community safety, Clr Hugh Jones, said: “To be raising the international profile of T? Pawb so recently after opening is extremely significant, setting out our stall at such a prestigious event as the Venice Biennale.

“On behalf of the whole of Wrexham I would like to congratulate Sean Edwards for being selected. We are all looking forward to bringing his work back to Wales to be shown at T? Pawb in 2020.”

Sean Edwards added: “I am delighted to have been selected to represent Wales in Venice. I look forward to working with the outstanding team at T? Pawb, independent producer Louise Hobson and again with curator Marie-Anne McQuay.

“To have the opportunity to produce the exhibition I proposed during the section process is one thing in itself, to be able to do this under the banner of Wales in Venice is an opportunity almost beyond belief.”