Image: Tŷ Pawb, Wrexham County Borough
Tŷ Pawb in Wrexham has announced 'murmur', a new solo exhibition by Cardiff-based artist and writer Anthony Shapland, guest-curated by Marie-Anne McQuay. Running from 11 July to 31 October 2026, the exhibition will include Shapland’s new film 'Sleeper' alongside recent moving image works, and will be accompanied by an integrated reading space and events programme.
The exhibition is presented as a large-scale solo show and is being organised by Tŷ Pawb with guest curator McQuay, working alongside Tŷ Pawb Creative Director Jo Marsh. The venue’s announcement places Shapland’s practice at the centre of the project, describing his work as one that moves between the gallery and the printed page and reflects his interest in the intersection between art and writing.
Shapland’s practice is rooted in a blend of documentary and fiction, drawing on lived experience in a way that the venue says includes rural queerness and growing up performing straight. Tŷ Pawb also notes that Shapland is a Welsh artist, a novelist and the founder of artist-led space g39. The exhibition text frames his work as an exploration of lives lived at the edges of rural landscapes and as a sustained inquiry into illusion, mimicry and how stories are constructed.
According to the venue, 'murmur' will build on recent moving image work including 'Starling Seven' (2025) and 'Between the Dog and the Wolf' (2019). The new exhibition will continue Shapland’s use of cinematic techniques such as props, backdrops, filters, artificial light and Foley sound effects, devices that the artist uses to create and then unpack coded narratives. The exhibition text also points to a recurring question in his work: “What happens when you stay?”
Tŷ Pawb’s announcement says the exhibition will be accompanied by a reading space and public programme, extending the show beyond the gallery walls and into writing and discussion. The summer programme listed by the venue also includes several workshop events connected to the exhibition for young people aged 16 to 25, among them 'MURMUR: Writing in the In-between', 'MURMUR: Poetry-Film Workshop' and 'MURMUR: Life Writing Workshop'.
The venue’s description of Shapland’s broader career situates 'murmur' after recent recognition for his debut novel 'A Room Above a Shop' (Granta). Tŷ Pawb says the book was selected as one of The Observer’s 10 best new novelists 2025 and was named Waterstone’s Welsh book of the year, and that it was also shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize 2026. The exhibition itself is scheduled to run at Tŷ Pawb, Market Street, Wrexham, with a preview and press view on 10 July 2026, before opening the next day and continuing through 31 October.
