Leading Welsh artist unveils new exhibition inspired by childhood film role
Nation.Cymru Staff
A leading Welsh artist is to unveil a new exhibition of paintings inspired by a film she appeared in as a child more than 60 years ago.
Shani Rhys James’ The Afternoon House, which takes its name from a 1963 Australian film by feminist writer Beatrice Faust, will show at Connaught Brown in London from 10 September until 2 October 2026.
“Widely considered the greatest living Welsh painter,” Connaught Brown wrote in their announcement, “For over forty years Rhys James has been an unwavering voice for a generation of female painters and central to the development and promotion of Welsh contemporary art.”
Rhys James was born in Melbourne in 1953 to a Welsh father and Australian mother. Though she moved to the UK in 1963, she would not arrive in Wales until 1984, when she and her husband moved to a derelict farm in Llangadfan.
Her work focuses largely on female figures, often using herself as the subject, to examine women’s experiences within domestic settings.
Recurring details such as florals and upholstery blend with the figures in her paintings, bringing together portraiture and interior scenes.
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These elements are present again in The Afternoon House, which is based on what Judith Brett called “a charming little film”, in which Rhys James featured.
The experimental film follows a young girl who enters an old house while searching for a lost ball and becomes captivated by its garden and rooms.
After exploring the building and its contents, she accidentally knocks over a vase of daisies and is frightened by masks hanging on the walls, prompting her to flee without retrieving the ball.
Brett explains, in Fearless Beatrice Faust: Sex, Feminism & Body Politics, that the “unsettling ending” leaves the young girl “forever trapped in the enchantments and fears of childhood.”
The solo exhibition will mark Rhys James’ eighth with Connaught Brown, who she is currently represented by, and she has previously exhibited at The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Oriel Mostyn, Kings Place in London and Charleston Trust.
Over the course of her career, Rhys James has received numerous awards, including the Jerwood Painting Prize in 2003, the Gold Medal at the National Eisteddfod of Wales and second prize at the BP National Portrait Award.
She was named BBC Wales Visual Artist of the Year in 1994 and was awarded an MBE for services to Welsh art in 2006.
The Afternoon House will show at Connaught Brown (2 Albemarle Street, Mayfair, London W1S 4HD) from 10 September to 2 October 2026. More information is available here.
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