Kevin Sinnott 1947 - 2026: Last Dance on the Hills – Dawns Olaf ar y Bryniau

Celf Gallery presents Kevin Sinnott: Last Dance on the Hills – Dawns Olaf ar y Bryniau, an exhibition of predominantly new work by one of Wales’s most celebrated contemporary painters. Following Kevin’s recent passing, the exhibition has acquired an unexpected poignancy. What was conceived as an exciting new chapter in his work is now a final testament to an artist who remained utterly committed to painting until the end. Regular visits to his Pontycymer and Pont-y-rhyl  studios since his last solo exhibition with us in 2024 allowed works to be selected for what was always going to be a much anticipated exhibition.

Born in Sarn, Bridgend, Sinnott studied at Cardiff College of Art, Gloucestershire College of Art & Design and the Royal College of Art, later teaching at St Martins. His early modernist training gradually gave way to a deeply personal language rooted in the South Wales Valleys, their people, histories and landscapes. His paintings - held in collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the British Museum and the National Museum of Wales, as well as corporate and private collections worldwide - constitute a powerful exploration of memory, community and belonging. His hills and valleys became not simply landscape, but a stage for the emotional and psychological life of Wales.

If his masterpieces, such as Running Away with the Hairdresser at the National Museum Cardiff, captured the collective romanticism of the South Wales Valleys, these newer pieces in this exhibition turn the lens sharply inward. Kevin's paintings remain as vibrant as ever but are layered with rich reflections on memory, identity, and the passage of time. In the recent oils, the thick, urgent linework and bold pigments reveal an artist who continued to push the boundaries of narrative painting.

Never one to shy away from grand, passionate emotional themes, these final paintings feel both deeply personal and profoundly generous. A striking self-portrait sits alongside tender reflections on family and the communities that long inspired him. In this poignant and memorable exhibition, the storytelling continues, the passion remains, and the dance on the hills goes on.

We are deeply grateful to Kevin’s family for their support and generosity in bringing this exhibition to fruition, and for allowing us to celebrate an extraordinary artist.