With Cowbridge being the most affluent town in South Wales, and possibly the entire country, it…read morecomes as no surprise that they have a couple of galleries, despite being a small market town. This is the more conventional of the two in that it is curated by the owners and displays an ever-changing stream of work by local and internationally acclaimed artists. The other, Sue McDonagh Artist Studio & Gallery, as the name suggests, is a personal endeavour on the part of the artist-owner Sue McDonagh. I appreciate both galleries immensely., and feel tat they enrich the creative wealth of the town considerably. These galleries, coupled with the fact that there are a wealth of artisans working in the town also, means that the cultural heritage of the town is assured. The price tags accompanying the work regularly exhibited here can be hefty, but with a good selection of prints, which you can either self-frame, or draw on the services of the gallery, and their expertise in this field, there is an eminently affordable means of putting something fine on your walls.

It's such a shame that Kingfisher gallery is closed on a Sunday because it's exactly the kind of…read moreplace you'd stroll around on a lazy day out in Cowbridge. Still, it's a great little gallery that stocks paintings and sculptures by local and well established artists. If you don't have the budget of a collector, fear not because some prints are available to buy which make excellent gifts. The atmosphere is laid back and welcoming and the space itself has great light (which is sort of what you want in a gallery). There isn't a great deal of edgy/modern pieces (don't expect to see a dismembered doll or a Banksy) but if you like the gentle classics you'll love it here.

The Albany Gallery is a great little commercial gallery that is located above Zio Peppino on the…read moreAlbany Road. There is every reason to visit Albany Gallery at any time of the year, but there's presently an even more compelling reason to make the effort to go there. The current exhibition will be on for the duration of the summer, and features work from some of the best of contemporary Welsh artists. And it's excellent! There are circa. 70 different artists exhibiting, who specialise in all different kinds of media and subject. Prices for work exhibited vary dramatically, starting at incredibly affordable prices. Now is definitely the time to buy fine art. The art market has not been this depressed in a long time, and with galleries exerting pressure on the artists to keep their work affordable, prices have dipped or remained static for a while. It's difficult for an artist to discount their work as it devalues the pieces that have been sold previously, and so there is an unwritten obligation borne by each artist to protect the commercial interests of existing patrons. Nevertheless, galleries are going out of business left, right and centre, and those that remain are doing al they can to preserve the market. Keeping prices affordable is one of the key means of doing this. Artists tend to increase the sale price of their work on a regular basis. It is common to see considerable price increases within a short space of time. Each successful exhibition, of which an artist will have several a year, will prompt them to review the value of their work. A successful exhibition at a high profile gallery that has been met with critical approval in the media may cause an artist to add a nought to their sale price, taking the value fo their work from £500 per piece to £1,500 for example. This means that price increases have been seriously inhibited owing to the fact that the art market has remained relatively static throughout the duration of the recession. Therefore, prices should rocket once the market has stabilised once more, making any investment today a good one. Obviously you have got to buy right, so it pays to know what you are doing, but quite often buyers can make a killing just by buying what they like... (if they like it, it usually follows that other people do too, and demand ultimately regulates the market).

I definatly think this is one of the best galleries we have here in Cardiff. I was introduced to it…read moreby my art teacher and have been a few times when I like the sound of an exhibition the have on. Of course any gallery is only as good as its exhibitions and their website is very good at letting you know whats on when and shows you the kind of art they do. I love the fact that it shows the very best of contemporary British artists. It even hosted an exhibition by the late Kyffin Williams who is arguably one of Wales greatest artists. You can't help but feel inspired and the staff are very approachable and happy to talk to you about the pieces.

BayArt Gallery, situated as its name suggests in the heart of the Bay area of the city, aims to…read moreshowcase the best of Welsh and international contemporary art. It's a relative newcomer to Cardiff's thriving arts scene, but for Cardiffians interested in art it's one to watch. There are a couple of upcoming exhibitions advertised on its website, alongside exciting educational workshops for both children and adults. The gallery is aiming to put on around six exhibitions a year, with the next, 'Vario' taking place from 25 September until 22 October (including work by 48 artists from Australia, Hawaii in the USA, and V-6 artists, printmakers and publishers from Cardiff), followed by 'Urban Delight', an exhibition of work by painter Robert Soden, who is interested in contemporary city scapes and urban regeneration.

Bay Art is a spacious contemporary ground floor art space in Cardiff Bay exhibiting a programme of…read moreWelsh and international artists. The white-wall gallery measures a sizeable 1,926 square feet with 228 hanging wall space allowing for large pieces whether solo shows of group exhibitons like the touring exhibition for the excellent annual Jerwood Drawing Prize. The building that hosts Bay Art Gallery has been an arty place since the late seventies. From 1979 the space housed artist's studios, and as such it is one of the longest running studio buildings in Wales. By the mid nineties the premises had deteriorated to quite a sorry state. All was feared lost, until in 1997 Butetown Artists came to the rescue, initating a capital project of £1,052,660 to repair and refurbish the building as a public art gallery and 16 artist studios. The project was completed in 2002 thanks to funding from the Arts Council of Wales Lottery Fund, with other substantial contributions from Cardiff City Council, CADW, Foundation for the Sports and Arts and the now disbanded Cardiff Bay Development Corporation.

Lovers of the contemporary this one is for you…read more The quiet shop front of G39 hides behind it's glass buzzing televisions, cardboard cut out meat, art things of all description and a curator waiting to answer your profoundest of queries. This quirky art gallery in the middle of the city centre attracts both accidental visits from curious passerby's and deliberate visits from those in the arty know. G39's petite gallery space provides a platform for the work of early to mid career artists. There are three floors to explore, but I have also seen a secret cellar open up for some 'special' exhibits. If you attend an opening here expect to be squashed like sardines, spill out into bustling Mill lane with wine stained lips and when the doors close migrate to Chapter to continue your schmoozing.

G39 is an artist-run organisation - part gallery, part community and part resource. Established in…read more1998 by artists Chris Brown and Anthony Shapland it hosts exhibitions in the permanent 'white cube' space as well as organising public art that uses offsite temporary venues including digital display boards, billboards, shipping containers, warehouses and empty shop units. The ethos? They say this: "The idea of providing independent or new ways of working acknowledges a certain ideological belief that the self-empowering nature of artist-run spaces could be used to shape culture. A willingness to be open to change, being flexible enough to adapt and respond to dominant political or cultural trends - whether for or against - has ensured that these spaces have maintained a key position in the mechanisms of the artworld." G39 certainly has a key foothold in the Cardiff artscene. The narrow three-storey townhouse has housed many fantastic exhibitions and the independent gallery has gained a reputation for flexibility and innovation, as well as giving exhibiting space and support to emerging artists and curators. Long may it continue.

This is one of Wales's leading private, commercial art galleries, housed in a 19th century extended…read moretownhouse and specialising mainly in showcasing well known Welsh artists or Wales-based artists, both past and contemporary. The exhibition space is split across three levels, with a purpose built extension, and holds monthly solo exhibition in the Main Gallery alongside a changing temporary exhibition of art work across the remaining two floors - incorporating paintings, sculptures and prints. The gallery is currently holding its Summer Exhibition, then from 12 August there's an exhibition of new paintings by Sigrid Muller, running until 4 September. The website offers full details of what's coming up, but generally you can expect to see works by highly respected and well-established Welsh artists such as Gwilym Prichard, Shani Rhys James and Kevin Sinnott, as well as some of the best works by the younger generation of Wales's artists. Alongside these contemporary works, the gallery features work by past, 20th century leading Welsh artists such as Sir Cedric Morris, John Piper, Graham Sutherland, Gwen John, Augustus John, Ceri Richards, David Jones, Josef Herman, Peter Prendergast and Sir Kyffin Williams. It's a lovely, light exhibition space, and well worth a regular visit if you love discovering art both old and new.

Established in 1989, Martin Tinney is a private commercial art gallery in a central Cardiff…read moretownhouse location. They have gained themselves a good reputation for showing some of the best known Welsh and Wales-based artists across their three floors of exhibition space. Artists who have been exhibited in the space include Harry Holland, Sally Moore, Gwilym Prichard, Shani Rhys James, Kevin Sinnott, Evelyn Williams, Gwen John, Augustus John, Ceri Richards, David Jones, Sir Cedric Morris, John Piper, Graham Sutherland, Josef Herman, Peter Prendergast and Sir Kyffin Williams. The emphasis is on quality portraiture and landscape by leading names, and, as a commercial gallery you will not see the innovation of the newer artist-led gallery spaces such as TactileBosch, G39 and Swansea's Elysium Gallery. Less exciting, in my eyes then, certainly, but still worth a regular visit. There are monthly solo exhibitions in the main gallery, and a constantly changing exhibition of paintings, prints and sculpture on the other two gallery floors. The gallery also have an archive of work in their store, which may be viewed on request. Bonus Points? An Arts Council of Wales interest-free credit scheme is available for purchase of work by living artists.

Capsule Artt Gallery is a new gallery offering contemporary art from urban clothing designers Acid…read moreCasuals. It's new, it's different and is offers some exceptional fresh talent from across Wales. It's definitely worth checking out if you like more of the modern arts and viewing the younger side of how artist perceive things.

I think this is a truly amazing idea; a relatively safe space in a bustling city centre used to…read moredisplay artwork of all kinds made by the art department of one of the local universities. A place where artists can be exposed to the often cruel gaze of the public to get their first taste of subjective appraisal outside of the relative safety of the university walls. And what's more, it's free for the public to enter and look about. This is a hugely beneficial experience for the artists in question; not only do they get their work displayed as professional artists, potentially for the first time, they also receive criticism and plaudits from the appreciating public. They get to gauge what pieces of their art touches an audience in a way they have never been able to before this, and it is placed there without the pressure of sales, or of professional criticism; it is a purely artistic endeavour. And apart from the artists, this is a tremendous benefit for the city. To have a small, secluded space to view the work of potential artists is one of those incredible little points of interest that keeps the city unique and prevents Cardiff from drifting into the same high street experience as everywhere else.

Shoving art into high street shopping spaces is no new thing. Sometimes it is done badly (The awful…read moreBlue Dot 'Gallery' upstairs in the Capitol Centre), and sometimes it is done well - think the TactileBosch invasion of performance art into disused shop fronts and commercial units a couple of years back. UWIC 's new gallery outlet in the Capitol centre lands somewhere in the middle of the spectrum what with being a showcase for Freshers and second year undergraduate art and design students from UWIC. Still any way you look at it , it serves a useful learning experience for both artist and Joe Public on showing and experiencing art in the public eye away from your usual white spaces. An interesting experiment.

Certainly not a fancy gallery, the building itself is if anything slightly run down; none of that…read morereally matters though, as I was most impressed by the actual exhibitions and the staff, which make this gallery worth a visit. The building is not too large, there are only really three rooms with art on display (one of them is rather minuscule). Whilst this inevitably makes the exhibitions small, I believe the available space is effectively used and the work on display is integrated seamlessly. The gallery generally houses exhibitions with pieces focusing on the topic of pre and post apartheid South Africa. Whilst mainly works of photography, there are one or two sculptures, and there are two installations which feature a projector. I found the present exhibition to be: - fascinating, evocative, odd, thought provoking, and on occasion slightly disturbing; reactions that I'm sure the gallery and the artists featured would desire. I was particularly impressed by the staff, who were both incredibly knowledgeable yet un patronising (they really offered a wealth of information). Unless you're particularly fascinated by art of South African origin, I wouldn't recommend making a trip to Penarth solely to visit this gallery, advice which is not issued in criticism, but due to the small size of the gallery (it would only take you 30mins at the most to explore). Penarth however is a fantastic little area of South Wales, so I recommend that you combine a trip to this gallery with a visit to other local attractions.

I'm a big fan of this gallery…read more Despite living just down the road from it for a number of months, I only really ventured in for the first time last week. I was pleasantly surprised by the modern and professional atmosphere that I suddenly found myself in. I'm not entirely sure what I had been expecting, but it was certainly not the wonderful photographic presentation before me. Although the gallery is small, they do a lot to maximise their space and put their artwork together in a thought provoking and interesting way, rather than just hanging it on the wall. This is a lovely gem not far from the train station, Penarth Pier and lots of cafes. I advise you to make a day of it.