George Little: The Ugly Lovely Landscape

Writers, artists, urban explorers and archaeologists have long been drawn to the places of industry and the gaunt and mournful remains left behind by deindustrialisation and urban decay. No artist has been more committed to recording and interpreting such environments than George Little. Born in the east end of Swansea in 1927 he grew up next to the abandoned copper works, slag heaps and still-busy docks of Dylan Thomas’s ’ ugly, lovely town’ . As a teenager the destruction of the Swansea Blitz was seared into his imagination. After training at Swansea College of Art and the Ruskin School of Drawing in Oxford he lectured in art history at Swansea University. He brought a deep visual knowledge to a life’s work exploring the dramatic forms and startling colours of industrial and urban decay in photographs, drawings and paintings. He continued working up until his death in 2019. With an introduction by Peter Wakelin. Featuring photographs and paintings from George Little that captured the heavy industry of south Wales and chronicled its decline.

Peter Wakelin is a writer and curator. He was formerly Secretary of the Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Wales and Director of Collections & Research at National Museum Wales. He has recently curated work for the National Eisteddfod.