A SELECTION of artworks is now on display at the Waterfront Gallery in Milford Haven.

The pieces of art have all been shortlisted in the Wales Contemporary exhibition.

It is an international open competition for 2D and 3D artworks inspired by the country’s people, landscape, art history, traditions, and contemporary culture.

Over 1,150 submissions were sent in by 600 artists living across the United Kingdom and Europe but also stemming from countries as diverse as Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

Developed by the Waterfront Gallery in association with the Welsh Government, the exhibition celebrates everything Welsh by gathering paintings, drawings, sculptures, crafts and more.

All of the entries were considered by a prestigious panel of judges: artist Basil Beattie RA, painter and emeritus professor Gerda Roper, and sculptor Sebastien Boyesen, who selected a little over 150 pieces for the final exhibition.

The shortlisted artworks will be available to see in the Wales Contemporary / Cymru Gyfoes exhibition at the Waterfront Gallery, Milford Haven. The gallery opened on Thursday, November 12, and will run until Wednesday, December 30, 2020.

Now in its second year, Wales Contemporary / Cymru Gyfoes has established a strong reputation for championing art about Wales and from Wales. In fact, the international competition has been described by artists and visitors as “a fantastic opportunity”, “a signal of the wealth of creativity in the country” and “a celebration of Wales’ land and culture in art.”

The 2020 exhibition brings together original, diverse, and often unexpected expressions of what makes Wales Welsh.

It offers a panorama of the country’s landscapes, including photorealistic depictions and impressionistic evocations, from its snowy mountain tops to its valley villages, from its mining communities to its industrial cities, from its green farmlands to its picturesque coasts.

In addition to meditative still-lives and vulnerable portraits, today’s socio-political context is equally represented, with crisp depictions of lockdown life as well as a meticulous and satirical Golden Age inspired Basket of Fruit and Vegetables Attacked by Brexit Gremlins.