New exhibition celebrates 30 years of joy and love with Kevin Sinnott

Molly Stubbs

Kevin Sinnott’s newest exhibition of 40 paintings spanning 30 years, ‘Dieithryn Cyfeillgar / Familiar Stranger’, is now showing at Llandudno’s Ffyn y Parc in what will be his final presentation of works at the gallery.

Kevin has been exhibiting in Wales, the UK and internationally for over 40 years, with his work appearing in the collections of some of the world’s most important galleries and museums.

Born in 1947, the youngest of 16 siblings, in Sarn in the valleys of South Wales, the landscape and people of his home have been central elements of his work — a stage for the everyday human dramas he presents.

Kevin’s work, especially in Familiar Stranger, celebrates joy and love with characters full of feeling and desire.

In the midst of colour and clamour and desire, these depictions fling themselves through the air and run across the hillsides, hollering, with history and stories to tell.

Storytelling is a central facet of Kevin’s work. Though his mark-making and palette are bold and uninhibited, his intentions are clear and precise, blending recollections and the present with insight and humour.

He illuminates his subjects, catching their moods, emotions and intentions vividly, allowing them to be noble or tragic and foolish. In turn, the Valleys become a place of light and freedom, a place for adventure and exploration.

All this energy and drive pours from the work, but there is tenderness too, and eloquence — an ambush of peace and revelation.

Despite the dynamism and joy in the paintings exhibited, Familiar Stranger carries a bittersweet note as Kevin’s last exhibition with Ffyn Y Parc.

In an introductory video to the exhibition posted on the gallery’s YouTube channel, Kevin said with characteristic humour: “It’s all over for me. I’ve got some nice stuff for you to see, but…I don’t know, it’s weird. I should be on oxygen all the time but it’s a bloody faff…

“I don’t mind how I go, I just want to get it over with. I don’t want to be hanging around. I’ve had enough.”

Ffyn y Parc Gallery said: “These paintings spark recognition, and they move people. Kevin understands us: our triumphs and doubts, our foibles and our little lies. His perceptiveness always comes with understanding and benevolence. Feel the joy – the wonder of being here and being alive.”

Dieithryn Cyfeillgar / Familiar Stranger runs at Ffyn y Parc Gallery, Trinity Square, Llandudno until 22 November 2025. For more information, visit their site here.