Nelson Mandela Bay
South Africa
GFI Art Gallery
About Us
The Ron Belling Art Gallery was established in 2000 in Port Elizabeth. The focus has gradually shifted over the years with the changing times and the growing interest in the visual arts arena. The Gallery name has since been changed to the Gutsche Family Investment Art Gallery (GFI Art Gallery) and the building has over the years been sensitively adjusted to accommodate its ever changing role.
The Gallery is a landmark building on Park Drive in Port Elizabeth and is one of the finest examples of Art Deco architecture in the city. In 1936, Axel Stockelbach, then managing director of Ford South Africa, commissioned the first woman Architect to qualify in South Africa, Gertruida Brinkman, to design his house, “Ridgewood”.
The house was purchased in 1988 by Port Elizabeth businessman, Philipp Rowland Gutsche Senior. On his death in 2000, leaving behind a legacy of charity and goodwill, it was his wish that the residence be converted into an art gallery.
The purpose at the time was to house the Ron Belling Military Aviation Collection of Oil Paintings which had been acquired by the Gutsche family.
To this day Mr Gutsche’s daughter, Dorothea Moors, chairs the Gallery Board and together with the Board Members and Gallery Staff, Mr Gutsche’s legacy is upheld through the passionate promotion of visual arts in the Eastern Cape and beyond.
Current Exhibition
SPINNING THE GOLDEN THREAD
GROUP EXHIBITION
The title of this exhibition derives from (visual) art teaching where the student is encouraged to find the thread in their bodies of work and to use this thread (euphemistically) to bind the flow, continuum, context, substance, material, and concept within their artwork. This grouping of 17 artists consists of over twenty years of contact in and through the sculpture studio, primarily sculpture graduates and including an engineer turned photographer, an agency exec who makes films (music and sculpture) and another agency creative who sculpts, paints, makes music, fronts a band, and produces murals. The Golden Thread is the binding between us all, connected and holding our own threads and how these have grown and developed.
Exhibitors: Jeff Allan, Joff, James Collins, Fanjan Combrink, Lelo Dassie, David Jones, Justin Lucas, Angel Mey, Danica Ridgway, Erin Smith, Jeanie Steyn, Jonathan van der Walt, Beatrice van Wyk, Sarah Walmsley, Michael Wedderburn, Andrieta Wentzel and Jesamine Zeelie.
Dates: 3 NOV – 28 NOV 2023 for public viewing
Upcoming Exhibitions
SPINNING THE GOLDEN THREAD – GROUP EXHIBITION
CREATIVE BLOCK & NANDO’S CREATIVE EXCHANGE & EASTERN CAPE CERAMICS
DIANE VICTOR
ANTHONY KEOGH
JEFF RANKIN – PRINTMAKING
DUNCAN STEWART
TEXTILE ARTS PORT ELIZABETH (TAPE) & THE KEISKAMMA ART PROJECT
NANDO’S CREATIVE EXCHANGE – SPIER ARTS TRUST
CREATIVE BLOCK & EASTERN CAPE CERAMICS