Casgliadau Arlein

Label from '[un]seen [un]heard]' display intervention 2020: "This bust is a portrait of Paul Robeson an African American athlete, performing artist and activist created by Jamaican-born fellow Black artist Ronald Moody. During his time spent in Britain, Robeson developed a deep bond with the labour movement and was particularly supportive of the miners of Wales."

This portrait was commissiond by the DDR Akademie der Kunst, Berlin, but political mayhem forced them to renege. Despite this and Robeson's unpredictability as a sitter, it was ready in time for the SPS 'Human Rights' exhibition.

This dramatic head was the last of five portraits in this medium, which are essays in the juxtaposition of textural effects and patins. In each, the skin has the nubbly surface, developed during the artist's experimentation with concrete, but in these works it is more varied and much finer and contrasts subtly with other textures he achieves. Here honeycomb texture of the hair compliments the heavier texture of the skin, infusing the whole with immense tactility.