Arcadia

This artwork featured in BorderLands (2026).

Arcadia uses the familiar form and visual style of road signs, but Fitzmaurice’s playful artworks invite us to replace factual information and directions with an abstract ideal.

Named after a region in Greece, Arcadia became a by-word for a simple, unspoiled and perfect place. It has come to describe an imagined natural and harmonious environment, a utopian vision of a rural idyll where native populations live in perfect harmony with their rural surroundings.

Placed on the large terrace of Hay Castle the signs refer to the beauty of the landscape and hint at the view some visitors may have of attractive rural places like Hay-on-Wye.

Image: Leo Fitzmaurice, Arcadia, metal road sign. Installation view, BorderLands, Hay Castle, 2026. Image courtesy of Meadow Arts. Photographer, Finn Beales.

 

About the artist

Leo Fitzmaurice

Leo Fitzmaurice exhibited in BorderLands (15 May – 31 August 2026).