Dis juste “oui” / Just say “yes”
The Alliance Francaise du Cap presents an exhibition of colourful Neo-Pop paintings, short films, and fashion by multi-media artist, Gordon Ross, re-imagining elements of Pop Art, graphic design, and geometric abstraction into works that are a blast of colour and fun. The art extends beyond the walls of the gallery, on to the audience, many of whom will be wearing clothing designed by the artist. There will be a continuous screening of the artist’s film clips from the past 35 years.
Past Events
Makuded’Ubumnyama (When the darkness cease)
“I have been hiding behind my art, instead of allowing it to heal and guide me. I can’t wait to share visually what I have been feeling lately”.
Ras Silas Motse chooses to look at his journey through what he is experiencing in the present moment. The body of work explores 4 different series of works that seeks to understand the state of mind that he is immersed in while sparking curiosity about what other people are going through and how are they dealing with it. This journey invites true to self-communication for the next step/s of our daily lives.
HOMECOMING
As part of the August House Cape Town Collab, Vivien Kohler presents his solo show curated by Igsaan Martin.
‘This body of work is a direct evolution of my previous abstract body of work which was centred around the idea of pareidolia. “Pareidolia” being the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern. I have used this as the impetus for the geometric backgrounds in these new pieces. This pattern illustrates the tenacity of the people of the continent of Africa who make the best of their circumstances to reach their hoped for goal.
As an extension of this background idea is the addition of the foreground figure at this point in my work. The included figures are a personification of my Pareidolia geometry. They are individuals who esteem Africa and its people. They are determined to overcome and persevere.
Some of the titles which have been specifically chosen, refer to ancient Roman and Greek statues. I have selected these titles to elevate the African concept of self. It is the instilling of African pride amidst an external imposed persona.
The Kingdom of Aksum (100 to 940 CE) and the Songhai Empire (c. 1464–1493) were 2 dominant African empires, which at the time rivalled the civilisations of their European counterparts, have now been relegated to the annals of unconscious history. Much of their knowledge has been lost in our contemporary consciousness degrading the African notion to that of living in huts and that of slavery. These 2 works endeavour to imagine what life was like during the times of these majestic African empires by showing their particular ruling elite as esteemed contemporarily identifiable characters.
The Kingdom of Aksum (or Axum; also known as the Aksumite Empire) was a trading nation in the area of northern Ethiopia and Eritrea that existed from approximately 100 to 940 CE.
The Songhai Empire (also transliterated as Songhay) was a state that dominated the western Sahel/Sudan in the 15th and 16th century. At its peak, it was one of the largest states in African history.Initially, the empire was ruled by the Sonni dynasty (c. 1464–1493).’
– Vivien Kohler
>Download the catalogue of Vivien Kohler exhibition
A LA MER
Obermeyer is inspired by the natural world, South Africa’s shoreline and marine life in particular. Her works in this exhibition are characterised by the use of ‘cyanotype’ (an alternative photographic means of printing that results in a distinctive blue tonal range) and the use of organic debris such as sand, collected plant or algae matter and ocean water. Certain pieces in this exhibition are the result of Obermeyer’s experimentation with other materials such as ink and watercolours.
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Chloe Obermeyer is a rising artist based in Cape Town. She graduated from Michaelis School of Fine Art in 2014 and has recently completed her Masters in Visual Art through UNISA. Her art has been featured at a number of galleries over the past few years, such as State of the Art Gallery, Art B Gallery and even The Gallery Riebeek Kasteel.
A finalist for the Bouchard Finlayson Tondo Art Award in 2017, 2018 and 2019 as well the 2018 State of the Art Gallery Award, Obermeyer currently works from her home studio as she experiments with alternative photographic printing and other mediums.
Naked Faces
The Alliance Française du Cap has the great pleasure to exhibit the Woodstock Art Gallery’s Portrait exhibition “Naked faces”. Each one of the portraits has been carefully selected to represent a cross-section of great South African artists.
Today with social media, selfies and portraits are the most common form of photography due to peoples fascination with either their own appearance or that of people they know. Portraits have always been fascinating to art lover/collector and undoubtedly one of the most important genres in the history of art.