Dimakatso Mathopa
Beings Becoming
Van Dyke Print
The future of South African visual art is a selection of student work recently at the Arts Association. What I like about going to group exhibitions is that there is a better likelihood of seeing good art (i.e art that I liked) and The future of South African visual art is no exception. The works were technically well-executed and conceptually thorough. There was a big emphasis on process, using some interesting materials like rust and Van Dyke photographic printing. In a small subset of the work, process was all there was. I would like to discuss some of the works that went further, where process was in aid of the bigger concept.
Alexia Ferreira
Mixed Media
These teacups are by far my favourite. They were accompanied by a large, detailed, realistic painting. We had to stop our two-year-old from touching, but I really wish we could. Oh to feel that dragon latex, and the hair. Eeck. The thought sends shivers down my spine! What a commentary about the legacy of Victorian proper manners that we still carry with us – at what cost are we so nice to each other?
Karen Pretorius
PSTD
Heirloom Objects
This sculpture of a healthy individual’s torso is made from a damask linen tablecloth, a family heirloom. The artist is directly referencing their experiences as a nurse at a military hospital: first she violently tears her past apart, alluding to the original traumatic event. The scraps are lovingly stitched and glued again – women’s work, the stitching. Is it really the mother’s job to recreate the innocence of her son? Especially because the threat continues to loom, a grenade where the soldier’s logical function used to reside.
Alecia van Rooyen
Oil on Canvas
Alecia van Rooyen
Oil on Canvas
Through our hands we reach: to touch, to create. We stretch out beyond our minds to experience the world. These sensually painted surreal hands invite us to explore the imperfections of our physical forms.
Cara du Plessis
It was almost easy to walk past Cara du Plessis’s sculptural installation. On the day we visited, the water in the glass case had caused condensation, so one had to really get down and peer to see these illuminated feet. I wonder what happens in the different seasons, and I can’t help but wonder whether it was intentional on the artist’s part or whether it is just a happy accident, that this work changes with the weather.
Goitseone Moerane
Shweshwe cloth played a role in more than one artist’s work, but these silkscreen portraits by Goitseone Moerane are the most successful, questioning what it means to be a woman, a black woman, a Tswana woman. From the artist’s statement: “multiple layers of history with aspects of removing layers and adding back different layers which inspired me to create the series ‘Seego sa Metsi’ which is a Tswana reference to a woman being the drawer of water, the provider in the most basic forms.”
Alexa Pienaar
Charcoal on Paper
Alexa Pienaar
Charcoal on Paper
I was happy to read in the artist statement that the mangled proportions in these otherwise exquisitely executed charcoal works are deliberate. The artist is exploring their own psychology through images: giving their inner wild natures the wings to be free, letting intuition reign.
Odette Viljoen
Odette Viljoen
Soap on a rope! Each one is infused with a different smell to create a sensory delight.Lots of religious statements can be made here, but what struck me was the fact that there were so many of them, and that some had been used. Using soap degenerates the original form, eventually eroding it altogether, and just a piece of rope remains.
If this is the quality of work coming out of our art institutions, there is some exciting art-times lying ahead of us! I hope this exhibition becomes a yearly event.