Bedwyr Williams, 'Phizogs' (2018) Photo by Jim Wileman

Bedwyr Williams, ‘Phizogs’
A new artwork by award-winning artist Bedwyr Williams has been unveiled at RAMM. It covers the wall around the statue of Prince Albert and features an array of faces and masks found in RAMM’s collections. It includes an Easter Island staff, a roof tile from Roman Exeter, a Martinware jug, a 17th-century gold ring found in Devon and a host of other human faces from around the globe. Each represents a guest at a fictional birthday party celebrating 150 years of the museum.
When RAMM first opened in April 1868 only a small part of the current museum was built. The first visitors would have entered through the Queen Street entrance and seen the statue of Albert. Given this is the oldest part of the museum, it seemed fitting to show an artwork celebrating RAMM’s birthday in this space. Bedwyr has also created a video piece to accompany the installation which is showing in the café.
Phizogs by Bedwyr Williams will run until April 2019.