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\u201cLynda Ballen explores the history of pigments. Ballen is not only an exceptional draughtswoman, but also makes her own paper which she then tints with watercolour pigment and laminates grid of thread which is used as a surface for her gouache and coloured pencil drawings\u201d, Bell continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn Neville Starling\u2019s interactive and somewhat poetic installation, he recontextualises the universal visual, gnostic and temporal dichotomy of the blue of the dusk sky and the bright warmth of the sun, addressing the battle between light and dark that through the ages has deeply moved us through tales of fear and hope\u201d,\u00a0she\u00a0concludes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bell\u2019s curatorial practice is aimed not only towards translating processes, works and exhibitions of artists but also to establish and communicate the histories of these collaborations which often include a multitude of voices \u201cMy exhibition-making process is aimed at storytelling that connects an audience with the artist and their ideas as well as the overall input of the printmakers and other collaborators who have played a part in the creative process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Langtry is the curator of\u00a0The Possibility of a Journey<\/em>. She explains that having worked in a variety of spaces, NPO\u2019s, commercial art spaces, independently and within institutions, her practice has evolved and somehow carries a little bit of each mode of practice. \u201cIn a way it deals with cultural synthesis and our contemporary reality. I am interested in the art historical context and how we define that for ourselves to shed light on contemporary reality. How can art further serve as a community lexicon, building visuals, new words, new ways of seeing and then putting those worlds into action\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For\u00a0The Possibility of a Journey<\/em>\u00a0Langtry worked with the contemporary South African artist Manyaku Mashilo. \u201cMashilo\u2019s work explores complex associations with a journey. Defining the environment in a language of possibility, Mashilo creates an ongoing relationship with topographical patterning and constellations. Writing a black history to land is a tricky and deceptive task. Thinking the Anthropocene is our only history would be just as deceptive. Drawing black journeys through maps is the process of tying dimensions of time. Created as a series of triptychs, the works emphasise the process of walking in a fictionalised landscape, in a dream space. Here, the land is the DNA thread of the dreamworld\u201d, Langtry explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMashilo\u2019s work has such an insightful perspective on spiritual or ancestral mappings and how this tie into our contemporary make up. At the same time this speaks very much to the multiple pandemics we are experiencing and how the work centralises these important conversations between artists, curators, festival managers and then the broader community of the Karoo. I understand the festival theme as a call to hold this community and facilitate conversation and knowledge production\u201d Langtry concludes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vanishing Act<\/em>, curated by Muller, draws focus to the beauty of foliage and flora, whilst attempting to memorialise plant life as we know and understand it today. Due to climate change, plant life is rapidly changing. This exhibition aims to visually capture the fragile beauty of various types of plants, while bringing to light the effect climate change has, and will have on our biodiversity.\u00a0In this sense,\u00a0Vanishing Act<\/em>\u00a0serves\u00a0as a time capsule and keep-sake that commemorates plant life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Muller\u00a0explains that\u00a0this exhibition\u00a0showcases the work of nine artists. \u201cMy choice in selecting artists was simple. Because the narrative is rather specific, I wanted to include artists whose work would enrich the exhibition and narrative. The artists included in this exhibition are mostly young creatives and it is interesting to see their voices come together in one space\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Muller\u2019s interest in creating exhibitions that can engage with audiences through new platforms is evident in her approach to selecting artworks. \u201cI tried to select works in a variety of mediums and sizes to offer the viewer an engaging and textured viewing experience. It is wonderful to see Ian Marley\u00a0and\u00a0Gawie Joubert\u2019s monotone drawings in the same space as Adele van Heerden, Maria Lebedeva\u00a0and\u00a0Kobie Nieuwoudt\u2019s colourful impressions of plant life. JP Hanekom\u2019s experimental photographic complements Ronel de Jager\u2019s ethereal paintings. Jo Roets\u2019 sculptural pieces and Keneilwe Mokoena\u2019s\u00a0collage works bring different textures for the viewer to engage with\u201d, she says. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking to the future Muller explains that she views art \u201cas a fantastic tool for education and that society in general develops alongside the accessibility to art\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\u00a0Kicking Up Dust<\/em>, co-curated by Tlotlo Lobelo, three artists from Oudtshoorn who formed part of the 2019 Absa mentorship programme,\u00a0Zietske Saaiman, Colin Meyer and Earlyn Cloud\u00a0collaborate to evoke emotional and sensorial responses through the representation of their experiences of the drought in the Klein Karoo. The naturally arid environment imbued with qualities of perseverance, hardship and strength forged the backbone of an agricultural community inherently and primarily responsible for sustaining their local economy. The life of every Oudtshoorniet is intricately intertwined with what their landscape has to offer. \u201cUsing various techniques of drawing and materials taken from their immediate environments, the three artists rely on the viewers\u2019 sense of awareness to elicit a collective response.Kicking Up Dust<\/em>\u00a0singles out immediate experience of one place, with the intention to evoke awareness and engage with narratives of the impact of global climate change\u201d Lobelo explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Regarding his curatorial practice, Lobelo says: \u201cas a contemporary curator and as a black body existing in space, I am always in pursuit of finding meaning, investigating and interrogating narratives and concepts that result in unique dialogues that reveal thought process, reaction, intellectual meaning and evoke immersive experiences\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kknk.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tammy-Langtry-The-Possibility-of-a-Journey-1.jpeg\" "\\"\\"")
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