2017 Catalogue Archive

In a recent body of work, Dan Rees imagined a rebranding of traditional Welsh food product laverbread – a fine, edible seaweed native to Wales. In contrast to widely-exported kelp products from Asia, laverbread remains a niche item, barely known outside the artist’s native land. Delesseria Sanguinea (scientific name for a bright reddish-pink seaweed) is one from a series of graphic, commercial-looking images of seaweed, all part of a fantasy PR firm’s effort to upmarket seaweed for the young, modern consumer. In this variation on the image, Rees has added a paisley, a tribute to iconic fashion brand Etro’s archive of antique paisley textiles. Rees’ work has been the subject of solo exhibitions worldwide, among them a 2013 exhibition at Goss-Michael Foundation in Dallas.