(b. 1974, St Asaph, Wales)

Bedwyr Williams is a Welsh artist based in Wales, whose live performances and installations deal with Welshness, otherness and difference. ‘Welsh people are born on the back foot, but as a result of having a second language we’re able to look at the world in a slightly different way,’ he remarks. ‘That’s what my work’s all about, really – it’s how I view the world from my place on the periphery.’ Often described as a stand-up comedian, Williams refutes this claim, explaining that ‘what I do is funny, but there aren’t any jokes as such.’ His work has included the Blaenau Vista Social Club, a travelling night-club in the back of a caravan, and performances featuring a Celtic bard and a ranting, fire-and-brimstone preacher. Williams won the Gold Medal for Fine Art at the National Eisteddfod in Wrexham in 2011 and will represent Wales at the 2013 Venice Biennale.