Past Exhibitions
T H E C R E A T I V E B L O C K
6 DEC 2024 – 28 JAN 2025
Colourful, contrasting and ever-evolving, the Creative Block collection is the result of a one-of-a-kind initiative. Each unique Creative Block artwork represents one of more than 250 participating artists; their individual stories, subject matter, and style. It’s when they’re displayed together that they create something magical – a rich and striking expression of South African culture.
E A S T E R N C A P E C E R A M I C S
6 DEC 2024 – 21 JAN 2025
Founded in 1972, Ceramics Southern Africa is the official representative body of potters in Southern Africa. The purpose of Ceramics Southern Africa is to maintain a representative forum for the encouragement and fostering of the art and craft of ceramics in Southern Africa.
F R O M T H E W O O D S T O T H E S O I L
JONATHAN VAN DER WALT
The body of work offers an introspective journey into the complexities of white African identity and an interrogation of heritage, culture and belonging in a postcolonial South African context. As an English-speaker with an Afrikaans surname, he never related to the Afrikaner identity, nor has any direct familial connection to Europe with many generations before him born and raised in South Africa, as he was. As a result, he has felt culturally unfulfilled within a culturally rich country and struggles to find pride in symbols supposedly reflective of his heritage.
U N S E T T L E D
TEXTILE ART PE & KEISKAMMA ART PROJECT – GROUP EXHIBITION
Fibre Art has evolved from traditional crafts to a respected fine art medium. The exhibition encompasses wonderful fibre art pieces that emphasize innovation, technique, and the interplay between traditional and contemporary practices. The theme Unsettled has led artists to explore various visual narratives, multimedia works, and collaborative installations. It has furthermore encouraged them to reflect on the different dimensions of being “unsettled”, signifying a focus on things that disrupt, challenge, or evoke discomfort or unease. Artworks tell stories of displacement, migration, or personal transformation.
E A R T H W I T H O U T A R T I S J U S T “EH”
GROUP EXHIBITION – 15 EASTERN CAPE ARTISTS
This group of talented Eastern Cape artists invite everyone to explore, interpret, and connect with the complexities of life in meaningful ways. Each with their own unique approach. Art belongs to all of us as a tool for expression, reflection, and cultural enrichment. It transcends boundaries and enriches cultures, making EARTH a more vibrant and empathetic place. Humankind would all be much the poorer if we had to live without ART.
A S E M I G R A N T M I R R O R
A SOLO EXHIBITION BY JEFF RANKIN – 30 YEARS IN THE EASTERN CAPE
Metaphor, satire, and the crafted image conspire subconsciously to form Jeff Rankin’s visual language, through which the artist tells visual stories based on South Africa’s unsettled social landscape. In 1993 Jeff semigrated with his family, from KZN to the Eastern Cape. The move coincided with South Africa’s transition to a hopeful democracy. Thirty years have elapsed, and now seemed as perfect a time as any to celebrate these 30 years of creative work. Soon after the move, the artist revisited his early love of woodcut. Working out of a dark field, as you do with the relief mediums, worked well in Jeff’s case.
T H I S I S M E
A SOLO SHOW OF PAINTING AND POETRY BY ANTHONY KEOGH
I believe paintings are like words, powerful, prophetic, and personal, reflecting something of the artist but also of the viewer. And so, I paint my story onto the canvas, not with words, but with colour, shapes and images and when completed and you look deep enough, it says something to someone.
I am influenced by numerous artists and structure my artworks by re-contextualizing existing images and combining them with my own, in a setting of exaggerated perspective, proportion and colour.
D I A N E V I C T O R
A SELECTION OF WORK FROM THE SPIER COLLECTION ON LOAN
Contemporary artist Diane Victor has been at the forefront of the South African and international art scene for many years. Victor offers a cynical social commentary on the darker side of South African society, the human condition, and social norms – often raw and free of subtlety. From corruption to the social difficulties and inequalities that affect the country, often those experienced by women specifically, she implicitly questions the vulnerability of life. Her graphic works, almost exclusively in black and white, use figurative realism to create richly allegorical images – woven through with references to the history of art and mythology. They reveal her extraordinary mastery of printmaking and drawing techniques, and demonstrate her constant exploration of new media, such as ash and candle soot.
CREATIVE BLOCK
NANDO’S CREATIVE EXCHANGE
CERAMICS EASTERN CAPE: REGIONALS
Colourful, contrasting and ever-evolving, the Creative Block collection is the result of a one-of-a-kind initiative. Each unique Creative Block artwork represents one of more than 250 participating artists; their individual stories, subject matter, and style. It’s when they’re displayed together that they create something magical – a rich and striking expression of South African culture.
Running for it’s 7th year, Nando’s Creative Exchange is an artist career-development programme to enable professional practice. The selected group exhibition for 2023 will be featuring artworks by Mellaney Roberts, Mpho Machate, Robyn Munnick and Tharien Smith.
Ceramics Eastern Cape was founded in 1972, this group of potters promotes ceramics in the Eastern Cape.
SPINNING THE GOLDEN THREAD
GROUP EXHIBITION
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.
THE SEDATED CONSCIOUSNESS
RAYMOND J WESTRAADT
As an artist my mission is to produce thought provoking and consciousness stimulating artwork that pricks at that which is familiar or nostalgic. Art must leave one wondering and curious.
I will always strive to produce work that forces that viewer to develop his or her own narrative. I treat myself as a poet or a writer by committing to canvas the opening line of a play. The rest gets filled in by the viewers imagination.
LANDMARK
LLISE DODD
I have always worked with landscapes and gradually the landscapes I painted became not only a representation of our physical, but also of our spiritual environment. The world around us is constantly changing, and I think a landmark is the one thing that represents a point of recognition which helps to structure our environment.
Through this body of work, I explore the significance of a landmark as a symbol of guidance on our life’s journey and I hope that, through engagement and shared stories, we can shift obsolete boundaries.
ON THE MINES
DAVID GOLDBLATT
Shown for the first time in Gqeberha at the GFI Art Gallery, the Norval Foundation’s collection – On the Mines by David Goldblatt is the last exhibition that David Goldblatt personally helped conceptualize before his death in 2018. Through this exhibition he is revealed as a great chronicler and documenter of South Africa: the quiet observer of how the country, its peoples, its institutions, and landscape have been inscribed by politics and power.
UMBHIYOZO – CELEBRATING PEMBA
The Art & Legacy of George Milwa Mnyaluza Pemba
The GFI Art Gallery passionately believes that the viewing and creating of the visual arts will always be one of the cornerstones of the worlds’ cultures.
GEORGE MILWA MNYALUZA PEMBA is one of South Africa’s great influential artists to have contributed to these foundations and it is our pleasure and honour to celebrate his art and his legacy in his birthplace, the City of Gqeberha, along with our community, who is sensitively depicted throughout his body of work. The exhibition includes 26 original paintings on loan from the Nelson Mandela Art Museum, William Humphreys Art Gallery as well as Private Owners.
PATTERNS IN THE WHOLE
by KARL SCHOEMAKER
“Photography is an art of observation. It has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” – Elliot Irwin
I apply this theory to much of my work, whether it be through the use of a different lens or angle, or simply waiting for the right shadow play, or position of the subject…an inflection if you would, much like the change in pitch or tone of a voice. Sometimes, an image doesn’t need to have a story. Sometimes, an image is about appreciation. For texture, a bold colour or juxtaposition, even a pattern… a hidden abstraction within the world we live in. These abstractions are all around us, you just have to look…and see, the patterns in the whole.
CREATIVE BLOCK
Colourful, contrasting and ever-evolving, the Creative Block collection is the result of a one-of-a-kind initiative. Each unique Creative Block artwork represents one of more than 250 participating artists; their individual stories, subject matter, and style. It’s when they’re displayed together that they create something magical – a rich and striking expression of South African culture.
CERAMICS SA, EASTERN CAPE REGIONAL EXHIBITION
Founded in 1972 and celebrating 50 years, Ceramics Southern Africa is the official representative body of potters in Southern Africa. The objective of the association is to promote ceramics in Southern Africa by improving the work being produced and to foster an interest in ceramics by the general public. This is done by presenting workshops and organising exhibitions regionally and nationally.
HOLD
by Liesl Duthie
Human connection, belonging and closeness – these ideas are fundamental to this body of work. These themes are explored within the context of birth, adoption and family security. A feeling of nurture in the portrait work is juxtaposed with a sense of isolation or abandonment in the cold mechanical forms of the paediatric ward cot. The vintage pram and weathered rocking chair heighten the nostalgic element. The atmosphere and interaction of light and shadow on these objects in the studio led to some interesting experimental work, resulting in a combination of abstraction and realism.
BY WOMEN, FOR WOMEN
by SARAH WALMSLEY
Sarah Walmsley’s work offers a revised approach to the sculptural female nude. Her emotive sculptures gracefully bear the weight of their experience as they communicate with each other and their viewers. Through these sculptures, she aims to represent women, by women, in the way they have elected to be represented. Through the body language and essence of her sculptures combined with the mediums in which they are created, she has addressed themes of memory, absence and presence, loss and the female identity using the female body as an allegory and conduit for expression. These portraits aim to honour and celebrate the power, strength and beauty of women and represent their intersectional identities.
WE SHOULD ALL BE FEMINISTS
Mature Woman Series by MARGOT MUIR
Each portrait seeks to be both liberating and defining of each individual. And it is purely documentary work, hardly directed other than to request each to choose their most comforting, their most favourite space, in their home. The project addresses the systemic absence of older woman. Their presence in this series, their individualism celebrated, and their chosen environments amplify and expand our perceptions of them. Irrevocably, mature women are determining a widening space where patriarchy has no foothold.
Each image serves to both confirm, celebrate (and disrupt) the accepted concept of maturity.
TIME
by ASANDA KUPA
In these artistic depictions of said communities the artist intends to engage in crowd mentalities of openness, will, and drive to move as the energy in the subjects of the artworks, utilizing time as our main resource and source. Humans tend to flock together in large numbers when there is a common urge or desire. Like a ceremony, behind these images there is an urge to state that in the opportunity of these mass collectives, crowd mentality can be based on preservation and expansion of humanity in unity.
Inspiration for this process is drawn from memory of lived experiences and imagined occurrences. These artworks resemble a similar thought process that which we have gone through, a scenery of diverse conversations, sequences and pattens.
PEOPLE, PLACES & STORIES
by LWANDO LUNIKA and SIMON VENTER
The artworks in this exhibition explore how Lwando Lunika and Simon Venter perceive people. Either those they know well, or those whom they met in passing.
It explores the way in which their memory constructs recollections of figures, feelings and places which are often only bits of who they are. Yet in those fragments there lies some truth – however vague it may be.
The viewer may through their own thoughts and ponderings arrive at their recollections of their memories of their own people, places, and stories.
NKOMONI NA?
SOLO CERAMIC EXHIBITION by Sonwabiso Ngcai
“Iyozala nkomoni na?” is an IsiXhosa phrase which loosely translates as “how will it turn out?”
A ceramic artist sits permanently on the edge of unpredictability. It is this uncertainty that propels material exploration and reflection. Clay will always be a platform for enquiry and discovery, for anticipation and mistakes. The phrase “Iyozala nkomoni na?” is never far from a ceramicist’s thoughts.
A deep familiarity is revisited in this body of work. Born and raised in rural Ngqeleni near Mthatha, the surrounding landscape was our playground. We knew all its variations, from valleys and stones to hills and big rock formations. Returning to these landscapes as an older person evokes memories of childhood: sorting through rocks and stones for the foundation of a new home, passing the same rocks every day on the way to school, and the dipping of cattle in the place where I sourced raw clay.
NANDO'S CREATIVE EXCHANGE
LIFE – WE GET THE PICTURE
In a time where the world is continually flooding us with digital media broadcast via the internet, through text, audio, video and graphic transmissions, the capturing and sharing of meaningful and impactful images has become an important and increasingly challenging means of communication.
Brought together by their mutual selection as the 2021 Nando’s Creative Exchange artists, Adrian Owen, Eric Rantisi, Llise Dodd and Mongezi Ncombo, come from four very diverse backgrounds shaped very differently within the South African context. With their individual perceptions of the world at large, they have sought to find commonality within their union.
The title “Life – We Get The Picture” suggests that we are driven to respond to how abnormal, challenging, happy and frustrating life used to be before Covid-19 moved the world; that all of us were predisposed to a certain sense of hope or possessed an innate natural optimism for a better future, only to find ourselves, over the last two years in abnormally difficult times.
CREATIVE BLOCK 2021 & REGIONAL CERAMICS
THE CREATIVE BLOCK
Colourful, contrasting and ever-evolving, the Creative Block collection is the result of a one-of-a-kind initiative. Each unique Creative Block artwork represents one of more than 250 participating artists; their individual stories, subject matter, and style. It’s when they’re displayed together that they create something magical – a rich and striking expression of South African culture.
CERAMICS SOUTHERN AFRICA – EASTERN CAPE: REGIONAL CERAMIC EXHIBITION
Founded in 1972, Ceramics Southern Africa is the official representative body of potters in Southern Africa. The objective of the association is to promote ceramics in Southern Africa by improving the work being produced and to foster an interest in ceramics by the general public. This is done by presenting workshops and organising exhibitions regionally and nationally.
OUT OF THE BLUE
TEXTILE ART PORT ELIZABETH & THE KEISKAMMA ART PROJECT
Out of the Blue is an exciting exhibition to showcase the emergence of Fibre Art as a recognised fine art medium. The exhibition encompasses wonderful fibre art pieces from members of Textile Art Port Elizabeth (TAPE), The Keiskamma Art Project as well as national Fibre Art groups: Textile Art Group Gauteng (TAGG), Textile Art Group Southern Cape (TAGS), Fibre Artists Cape Town (FACT) and Fibreworks, as well as individual fibre artists.
The theme of the exhibition Out of The Blue includes a wide range of media and thematic applications and establishes TAPE’s important influence on textile art in South Africa. Guest artists from other national fibre art groups and individuals were invited to participate. This exhibition aims to showcase textile work and create awareness of local fibre art techniques.
TAPE is an Eastern Cape group of fibre artists established in 2019. Their purpose is the fruitful exchange of ideas amongst textile artists living in the Eastern Cape.
THE KEISKAMMA ART PROJECT is a non-profit organization, part of the Keiskamma Trust based in Hamburg and was established to address the holistic needs of the communities living alongside the Keiskamma River.
CHANGING THE NARRATIVE
IN CELEBRATION OF WOMEN’S MONTH 2021
A shared language is alive and evolving everyday among society about WOMEN; what they are, what they do and what they embody. A shared interpretation of WOMEN all over the world gets told over and over from one generation to the next. Stories, sayings, metaphors, and myths about WOMEN have existed since Adam & Eve. Our artists can play an essential role in forming & changing narratives that shape our basic concept of women’s identity and their place in the community.
The GFI Art Gallery challenged a group of Eastern Cape female artists to select an outdated or false narrative, saying, story, myth about WOMEN and change it into a new positive one which embodies and inspires the narrative to replace the old. Each artist wrote a short paragraph about their thoughts and inspiration behind their artwork.
Exhibiting Artists include:
Veronica Betani, Natasha Bezuidenhout, Kathy Botha, Kayakazi Citwa, Sandy Coffey, Lorinda Coombs, Cleone Cull, Debra De Beer, Beverley De Lange, Llise Dodd, Lez Dor, Liesl Duthie, Victoria Flowers, Nompumezo Gubevu, Theresa Hardman, Nozeti Makhubalo, Ndileka Mapuma, Bongiwe Maqungo, Estelle Marais, Sanela Maxengana, Billie McNaughton, Bretten-Anne Moolman, Robyn Munnick, Ruth Nesbit, Nosikhumbuzo Jali, Jennifer Ord, Joanne Reen, Nonnie Roodt, Sanelisiwe Singaphi, Jessica Staple, Tori Stowe, Shayla Tricam, Christine Van Aardt, Sarah Walmsley, Lynnley Watson, Andrieta Wentzel, Bianca Whitehead, Monique Wiffen Rorke.
FROM WITHIN THE CHRYSALIS
An exhibition of work by the postgraduate Fine Arts students at the Department of Visual Arts, School of Visual and Performing Arts, Nelson Mandela University.
The body of work on show has been created by the postgraduate students in Fine Arts at the Department of Visual Arts, Nelson Mandela University. The themes (identity, sustainability, culture and narrative to name a few), media (ceramics, painting, printmaking, sculpture, book arts and more mixed media and interdisciplinary approaches) and materials which appear in this exhibition are as varied and numerous as the participating artists. The collaboration itself, beset by the challenges of working during the time of pandemic, is also an underlying theme, characterizing the entirety of the exhibition.
A Chrysalis refers to a protective shell for an animal or being that is going through a transformation or developmental stage. A home to all the creatives whose work is showcased in this exhibition, the art department can be perceived as a kind of ‘Chrysalis’, also symbolizing the artists in their various stages of development within their chosen artistic directions and careers.
Coming from diverse influences and backgrounds, the exhibitors hope to create a space where reflection and discussions can take place, and also share in the creative energy of others to further their investigations. An important milestone in their studies, the exhibition also serves as an opportunity to celebrate the students’ achievements thus far. Viewers are encouraged to read the abstracts accompanying each artist’s work to engage more closely with the artist, the artworks themselves and as well as the various messages contained within.
List of Exhibitors:
Angel Mey, Ansu Feiertag, Darren Brecht, Erin Smith, Gloria Makochieng, Grettel Osorio, Jeanie Steyn, Jeffrey Allan, Jessica Leach, Micaela Human, Nicole Bailey, Pwavidon Mathias, Quintice Esterhuizen, Royston de Jongh, Sarah van Appel, Sisca Carelse, Tinotenda Makota, Victoria Flowers, Vuyokazi Khanya Cewu, Wandile Msipa
Before Dawn - Artists Include: Marius Lourens (1956-2020); Marc Pradervand; Dolla Sapeta
A WELL LIT COAST by Jessica Staple
Work towards this exhibition began some years ago following the creation of an artwork titled Lighthouse that was gifted to someone I felt represented this symbolic structure. From then on, the lighthouse began to show itself more frequently in my practice, as well as other like forms.
These light sources represent many things to me. Sometimes the light source itself is the inspiration for the work of art, such as Cape Recife and Lighthouse II. In others, such as Out Out, The Golden Bough and Ghosted, the light source is symbolic of something else. Often that something else is what I have taken away from historical texts, literature, poetry, folklore or mythology, in which I respond to certain phrases, figures, events, objects and places or the imagery that they bring to mind. Many of these stories are characterised by themes of creation, transformation and death. My intention is never to illustrate the stories. Rather, they move me to create, and the resulting works of art carry something of their point of origin with them.
I primarily work in the medium of printmaking. In certain pieces, such as Of Lift II (The Lesser Gods) and The Story of the Glass-Seller I and II, the very materials, equipment and histories of the techniques I work with become part of the subject matter and content of the artworks. While these works, and others, initially drew inspiration from oral stories, the actual materials used to make them also mimic the throw-away materials generated during the printing process itself (such as inky bits of newsprint, masking tape and acetate). In my practice, it is the act of making that drives the work on and, sometimes, a finished piece will tell the story of how it was made.
CREATIVE BLOCK
4 Dec 2020 – 19 Jan 2021
The Creative Block, administered by Spier Arts Trust invites professional artists to participate in this artist career development opportunity.
The project provides a fun platform for experimentation, with many emerging and established artists continuing to participate. Regular hand-in days take place (Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth) at specified locations. At this time, artists receive blank blocks to transform in the media of their choice for presentation and critique at the next hand-in day.
Artists are encouraged to attend the hand-in day in person. Many are self-taught and it is through the curator’s individual critique – similar to master class feedback – that artists develop further. When work is accepted by the curator, artists are paid immediately according to the number and size of blocks. The size and associated price of Creative Block artworks are set, regardless of artist tenure or medium. Each Creative Block carries a short artist biography on the back. This allows the artists to enjoy significant exposure as these artworks are displayed around the globe, travel to art fairs and are in the collections of private owners, patrons and corporate offices. We invite you to see how a collection of Creative Blocks displayed together becomes a newly created, single “work” that honestly and sometimes brutally expresses contemporary South African society.
BIANCA & CREATIVE BLOCK
Creative Block
Colourful, contrasting and ever evolving, the creative block collection is the result of a one-of-a-kind art initiative. Each unique Creative Block artwork represents one of more than 250 participating artists; their individual stories, subject matter and style, it’s when they’re displayed together that they create something magical – a rich and striking expression of South African art.
The GFI Art Gallery is proud to be associated with this inspirational project and has once again partnered with SPIER ARTS TRUST to bring you an exciting exhibition of local and national artists currently participating in the Creative Block project.
Bianca Whitehead – Artist Statement
My work stems from an interest in naturally occurring forms, patterns, and textures. I make forms that nudge the boundaries of utility. I particularly enjoy an object that has an unclear narrative – its ultimate purpose may just be to be enjoyed and admired. My colour palettes are influenced by trends in interior, fashion, and textile design. The ceramic surface is my design canvas.
Make = Design = Create
Bianca Whitehead has recently started working as a full-time ceramist at her home studio in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape.
She previously worked as a Lecturer in Ceramics Fine Art at the Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, from 2004 – 2018.
She has been making ceramics since 2001, participating over the years in local, national, and international exhibitions.
ABOUT RAIN
Bretten-Anne Moolamn grew up in the Karoo, where water and rainfall have always been a determining factor in the lives of the people and communities which inhabit it.
The fascination with land and rain is an integral part of her practice, and as such it has prompted her into internal and external discussion around the impact of climate change, the effects of drought and excessive rainfall.
HAIRY TALES
“Hairy Tales” – an exhibition of mixed-media, multivalent messages opened with the telling of a tale by Jennifer Ord.
PEOPLE PLACES TEXTURED SPACES
01 Aug 2019 – 01 Aug 2019
CONFIGURATION
31 Jul 2019 – 31 Jul 2019
7UP EXHIBITION
Over 25 years ago we were all teaching at the Art School, Port Elizabeth with Hunter Nesbit at the helm!
There were 7 of us exhibiting in Cape Town, and he was doing a stained glass sketch called 7UP… so now, over 25 years later, 7UP are finally having a homecoming, to show you that we are ‘rocking on’, doing art and still a little crazy!
THE CREATIVE BLOCK 2018
The Creative Block, administered by Spier Arts Trust invites professional artists to participate in this artist career development opportunity.
The project provides a fun platform for experimentation, with many emerging and established artists continuing to participate.
Regular hand-in days take place (Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth) at specified locations. At this time, artists receive blank blocks to transform in the media of their choice for presentation and critique at the next hand-in day.
Artists are encouraged to attend the hand-in day in person. Many are self-taught and it is through the curator’s individual critique – similar to master class feedback – that artists develop further.
When work is accepted by the curator, artists are paid immediately according to the number and size of blocks. The size and associated price of Creative Block artworks are set, regardless of artist tenure or medium.
Each Creative Block carries a short artist biography on the back. This allows the artists to enjoy significant exposure as these artworks are displayed around the globe, travel to art fairs and are in the collections of private owners, patrons and corporate offices.
We invite you to see how a collection of Creative Blocks displayed together becomes a newly created, single “work” that honestly and sometimes brutally expresses contemporary South African society.
THEMBALETHU MANQUNYANA
Inspired by Picasso, Jean-Michel Basquiat and the exaggeration of African expressionism, Thembalethu’s work is a breath of fresh air pregnant with positive energies.
Fuelled by creativity lived in his experience with a lovely sense of joie d’ vivre, Thembalethu is very spiritual and paints from the heart, a space breathed upon him by his ancestors. His art pieces come from inside, painted out for the naked eye to see.
Thembalethu skilfully and purposefully brings together a host of disparate traditions, practices and styles to create a fresh and unique visual narrative. He exemplifies how emerging African artists today reintroduce the human face and human figure in their work, (inspired by the African mask) after the wide success of modern conceptualism.
The African mask, is a way in which he paints, as the ancestors have always hidden their identity. His beliefs, values and way of life are depicted in his non-conformist way of bringing his paintings to life.
Thembalethu’s Free Form art style is a true depiction of himself, that of being a free-thinker and free spirit in a modern world.
His latest offering entitled “Western African Ideology” intertwines Western theory and African theory, which compels the two to reflect on identity.
Thembalethu believes that by bringing these two cultures together, total rebirth of humanity is conceived.
Moments in Time
Presented by the Port Elizabeth Camera Club and the Photographic Society of South Africa
MOMENTS IN TIME is a selection of photographs created to express the artist’s perceptions and emotions and includes more than 240 images by 127 photographers from 14 different countries.
The exhibition was opened by Diane Skinner, an award-winning photographer from Canada who was a guest speaker at the PSSA Congress held in Port Elizabeth from the 30th of September to the 5th of October.
Forming part of the exhibition were images from the International Federation of Photographic Art, FIAP, the only photographic association recognized by UNESCO. They hold a Black and White Biennial competition open to all member countries every second year – This year South Africa hosted the competition. Each country submitted 10 black and white prints by 10 different photographers with Scotland taking the Trophy for the most successful entry.
The Photographic Society of South Africa (PSSA) awards Honours to those of its members who achieve excellence in photography. This exhibition also included work by members of the Port Elizabeth Camera Club who achieved PSSA Honours this year.
The plight of the Rhino is a major concern and photographers generously donated images to form part of the Rhino Exhibition which was available for sale, the proceeds going to the Wilderness Foundation.
FORGET - ME - NOT
An exhibition of Fine Art responding to Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease
GFI ART GALLERY in collaboration with the EASTERN CAPE REGION of ALZHEIMER’S SOUTH AFRICA NPC invited artists to submit works responding to Dementia & Alzheimer’s disease.
The exhibition provided the non-profit with an opportunity to raise funds and a portion of the Gallery proceeds went towards these great cause.
The Exhibition was opened by Psychiatrist, Dr Reino Verster and Clinical Psychologist, Mark Eaton.
MARC PRADERVAND
Marc Pradervand was born in East London and grew up in the Eastern Cape. He has lived in various parts of South Africa and briefly in the UK. Presently he lives and works in the rural hamlet of Riebeeck East.
A painter and photographer, Pradervand , who holds a Higher Diploma in Education and a National Diploma in Photography from the NMMU, has to date had 8 solo exhibitions.
Most of his work deals with social issues such as violence, power and the abuse thereof and societies obsessive “wealth at any cost” mentality.
He has been an ABSA L’Atelier finalist three times, Association of Visual Arts, Cape Town, 2007 Portrait Finalist and has been a finalist in the NMM Art Museums 2008 and 2014 Biennials. Some of his work forms part of the NMM Art Museum’s permanent collection.
THE RED FOREST
Artists, Lushan Turner, Nonnie Roodt and Riaan Opperman share their experience of the Red Forest and invite you to share the journey and explore the theme of loss, dispossession, memory and absence.
“Everything leaves a mark. Every blow echoes in the forest inside. Every injustice cuts a branch…and every loss is a fallen tree. The beautiful courage of us, the hope that defines our kind, is that we go on, no matter how much life wounds us. We walk. We face the sea and the wind and the salted truth of death, and we go on” – Gregory David Roberts, The Mountain Shadow
I grew up in a forest. It’s like a room. It’s protected. Like a cathedral… it is a place between heaven and earth. Anselm Kiefer
SOLLY SMOOK - OJO
Solly Smook unveils with his solo show “OJO”, a process of creation that is exposed with raw, earthy canvas and acrylics, building towards his emotional images with oils and palette knife.
In creating this body of work he reconsidered the conventions of portrait painting through a continued pursuit of combining classic portraiture with contemporary techniques, tools and colour. With his goal to create paintings that engage with matters beyond what is immediately visible, quite often consciously and reflexively questioning the nature of spiritual identity as something deconstructed, created and tangible.
Solly unveils with this solo show “OJO” , a process of creation that is exposed with raw, earthy canvas and acrylics, building towards his emotional images with oils and palette knife.
SANLAM PORTRAIT AWARD TOP 40
Sanlam celebrates top South African artists with a biennial competition, the only one of its kind in South Africa.
While South African art reflects the country’s social and political evolution, Sanlam’s passion and investment interest in art is also growing. This is why they established the Sanlam Portrait Award in partnership with Rust-en-Vrede art gallery.
The competition celebrates and showcases the best original portrait artwork in South Africa. It gives top local artists the opportunity to get invaluable exposure – the top 40 entries are displayed at an exhibition – and the winner walks away with R100 000.
To win this award is clearly not a simple matter. It requires skill, historical insight and also daring. This year there have been many such portraits and it’s gratifying to see the commitment of the broader visual art community to this competition growing. The next award in 2019 will undoubtedly present another challenge, which I’m sure both artists and audience are looking forward to.
The GFI Art Gallery is once again proud to be associated with Sanlam and Rust-en-Vrede Art gallery to bring you an exhibition of the Top 40 Artists.
COLLECTIVE INK
Over 40 Artists explore the dramatic monochrome richness in an exhibition showcasing the diversity of INK as a medium.
It all starts with PEN AND PAPER…….
BLOCK PRINT – LINOCUT – ETCHING – MONOPRINT – DRYPOINT – INK DRAWING – INK PAINTING – FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY
THE CREATIVE BLOCK
The Creative Block, administered by Spier Arts Trust invites professional artists to participate in this artist career development opportunity.
The project provides a fun platform for experimentation, with many emerging and established artists continuing to participate.
Regular hand-in days take place (Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth) at specified locations. At this time, artists receive blank blocks to transform in the media of their choice for presentation and critique at the next hand-in day.
Artists are encouraged to attend the hand-in day in person. Many are self-taught and it is through the curator’s individual critique – similar to master class feedback – that artists develop further.
When work is accepted by the curator, artists are paid immediately according to the number and size of blocks. The size and associated price of Creative Block artworks are set, regardless of artist tenure or medium.
Each Creative Block carries a short artist biography on the back. This allows the artists to enjoy significant exposure as these artworks are displayed around the globe, travel to art fairs and are in the collections of private owners, patrons and corporate offices.
We invite you to see how a collection of Creative Blocks displayed together becomes a newly created, single “work” that honestly and sometimes brutally expresses contemporary South African society.
Visit Spier Arts Trust
RON BELLING
ART IN FLIGHT
Celebrating 100 years since the first aircraft arrived in Port Elizabeth.
This privately owned collection of 154 oil paintings by the late Port Elizabeth Artist, Ron Belling, covers the history of military aviation in South Africa from 1917 to about 1976 and at the same time reflects some of the many changes that have taken place within Port Elizabeth and the Eastern Cape, a region important in the history of aviation in the sub-continent.
Limited edition prints of 1/50 are available printed on fine art, water colour paper.