New Exhibition: Art of Paper & Ceramics

The Kalk Bay Modern is pleased to be presenting an exciting new exhibition:  Art on Paper & Ceramics, which will open on Wednesday 11^th August at 6:00PM and run until August 31^st. The concept behind this exhibition was born when KBM received some exciting new work from David Krut, The Artists Proof Studio and Tim Foulds.

The Artist Proof Studio is a quality Art Education Centre that specializes in printmaking through a variety of diverse partnerships with creative young artists, established professional artists, community groups, patrons and funders.

Paul Molete

An unusual and sensitive curatorial process has brought together an eclectic mix of artists and methodologies. The exquisite ceramics of John Bauer, Christina Bryer and Katherine Glenday sit alongside the edgy, disquieting work of Dumisani Mabaso and Deborah Bell and the charming kitchen-sink-inspired prints of Zak Benjamin. 

Dumisani Masabo

The ethereally delicate prints of David Koloane sit shoulder to shoulder with the lucid, limpid work of Charles Gassner. Some powerful and often disturbing work from Paul Molete and Colbert Mashile add further food for thought.

Deborah Bell

Look forward to a truly stunning array of work from some of South Africa’s most established and respected artists – with so many big names all together in one room this is a show to be visited more than once!

David Koloane

Nicolaas Maritz: Mermaids and Mountains:

As the end of Nicolaas Maritz’s exhibition, Mermaids and Mountains, draws to a close we will be taking a closer look at the some of the themes this exhibition explores.

A portion of the work features a child-like dreamy version of Table Mountain, depicted in his characteristically vivid and unusual colours.

It seems as if Nicolaas Maritz has always painted the mountain. Since his first Table Mountain ‘post-card’ paintings of 1988/89, he has often re-visited the subject, each time looking at it with a fresh eye, and starting from a different point of view. This time round he is less concerned with the actual topography of this large piece of Cape rock, than with the emotive atmosphere created by different artistic colourings.

In a quirky and wry body of work, his mermaid paintings are certainly the epitome of his special brand of humour and artistic discourse.

With these quirky new works Maritz seems to investigate the thin sardonic line that exists visually, between figurative confrontation, and overt painterly aggression. Three artistic species of sublime mermaid is depicted, rural Swartland Mermaids, sophisticated Cape Mermaids and evanescent Darling Pond Maids.

As is customary with Maritz, there is a disturbing undercurrent of wry humour, something ambivalently demonic and possibly unwholesome present, all of which lends a pressing ‘moral’ and ‘modern’ aspect to the otherwise febrile pictorial aesthetic.

Mountains and Mermaids ends this Sunday the 25^th July. Some of Maritz’s work will be on display Clarke's Bookshop stand at the Cape Town Book Fair at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from 23-25 July.

Nicolaas Maritz: 'Cape Lizardgy'

In Kalk Bay Modern’s current exhibition by Nicolaas Maritz, Mermaids and Mountains, we see examples of the artist’s three painting ‘themes’, namely those of mermaids, mountains and flowers.

Featured in this blog are some of the smaller and more intimate series of ‘Cape Lizardgy’ paintings -  playful foreground lizard shapes encircle the vision of  Table Mountain in the distance. Like good omens, these guarding reptilian presences act as auspicious cryptographic symbols of permanent and prevailing life; representing pre-historic, contemporary, and future existence on these southern mountains, as opposed to the quick ‘shutter snap’ encounter; the fleeting ‘few-second moment’ engagement of the passing tourist-consumer.

Make sure you schedule in a visit to the Kalk Bay Modern before the 25 July when this intriguing exhibition closes.

 

New Work at KBM: Zak Benjamin

The Kalk Bay Modern has recently acquired some exciting new work by the artist Zak Benjamin.

The etchings featured in this blog, now part of the KBM collection, are intricate depictions of the most ordinary household scenes, naturally occurring still lives. There is however, something delightfully quirky about them, elevating them far and above a simple study. Their humbleness is the basis for an extremely genuine quality that, to me, seems to stem from a deep love of life and shrewd sense of humour.

Born in 1951 in Pretoria, the son of a typical Afrikaans family, Zak Benjamin’s artistic and spiritual path has led him to struggle enormously with the social systems he grew up under. Though at one point a member of the Voortrekker movement and the Nationalist Party Youth Movement, his deep seated Christian values could not coexist with the policies of the Nationalist Government.

He dropped out of University and spent the next few years doing odd jobs and living in Europe before returning to South Africa and university where he did a BA in Fine Arts.

In the mid 1980’s Zak experienced a profound religious conversion that led to his friendship with sculptor Gert Swart. Together they have worked on many projects, continually working through what it means to be committed Christians and contemporary artists.

In 1991 Zak was able to start working as a full time artist. His work is varied in theme, some involving a personal iconography set in fantasy, whilst others look into the simplest aspects of everyday life and unearth their subtle poignancy. 

Mermaids and Mountains: Nicolaas Maritz

Mermaids and Mountains, an exhibition of paintings by Darling-based artist Nicolaas Maritz, will be opening this Wednesday June at the Kalk Bay Modern.

Maritz is a recognised South African artist whose work features in every major public and private collection in South Africa. His work is bold, brightly coloured and most often tongue-in-cheek – he finds humour to be a vital tool as an artist or ‘visual synthesizer’ and his 30 year career has allowed him to accumulate the rich and somewhat esoteric artistic code or language. Over the years these visual narratives have grown and multiplied in an organic manner enhancing the depth and complexity of his work.

He has worked with a variety of media but has a longstanding passion for enamel on board, often using simple house-paints as he did when experimenting in his parent’s garage when he was young. He has a particular fondness for certain traditional colours and has a deep interest and rich knowledge of their origins.

Maritz has been having annual studio exhibitions at the MSG, (MARITZ STUDIO GALLERY) in Darling since 1992. He won the NCSS CBC Notable Children's Trade Book Award (USA) in 1992 and the Parents' Choice Illustration Honor (USA) in 1994.  He has exhibited widely, including the Valparaiso Biennale and the Cape Town Triennials.

New Artwork at Kalk Bay Modern

The Kalk Bay Modern has recently acquired some new artwork by the exciting, upcoming artist Michael Chibogo.

He is passionately inspired to be the voice of the homeless and expresses their plight through the media of printing, painting and poetry.  His intensely atmospheric work also speaks out against the abuse of drugs and alcohol that are the downfall of many homeless people, pointing out how these substances can lead any of us down their sad path. His work is inspired by a deep empathy and desire to ease the suffering of our less fortunate fellows.

Chibogo has participated in a number of exhibitions many at the Artist Proof Studio, in Newtown where he now works as an assistant facilitator. He also works for the Creative Inner City Initiative were he facilitates silkscreen printing workshops.

KBM is in the throes of preparation for a particularly exciting exhibition featuring art on paper to open later this year as well as the upcoming Nicolaas Maritz exhibition entitled Mermaids and Mountains which opens on Wednesday the 9^th of June.

Be sure not to miss out on any of these exciting events!

Ardmore Exhibition (A Tribute to Cecil Skotnes)

The inspiring origins of the Ardmore Ceramic workshop make their beautiful pieces a fitting accompaniment to the work of veteran South Africa artist, Cecil Skotnes, in the Kalk Bay Modern’s most recent exhibition, A Tribute to Cecil Skotnes. The Ardmore section of the show was opened by Jonathan Berning, the son of Fée Berning who started the workshop after taking the now legendary Bonnie Ntshalintsha on as an assistant to her own private work.

Over time the workshop grew and a second workspace was established, providing a large group of self-employed  previously-disadvantaged artists the infrastructure to make their livings.


To view the Ardmore Ceramic Art website click on the link below
 http://www.ardmoreceramics.co.za/index.php

This beautiful piece below, currently on display at KBM, is entitled Ukwashela – The Proposal and was sculpted by Petros Gumbi and painted by Mickey Chonco. 

It depicts a traditional Zulu ceremony in which a man proposes to a woman and she accepts him by donning white beads. The figures dancing around the piece are symbolic of the couples coming of age as newlyweds. Other traditional symbols used are a wooden stick – induku, and a spoon -  ukhezo. The stick is the groom’s symbol indicating that he has reached the maturity to be a husband while the spoon is symbolic of the woman’s role in her future marriage – that of nurturer, care-giver and home-maker.

Petros Gumbi is a highly talented and skilled craftsman, taught under Fée Berning, and now one of Ardmore’s most successful artists.
Mickey Chonco has a passion for painting although he is also highly skilled in ceramic sculpture. His work is immediately recognizable by his particular sensitivity for colour which results in a distinctive harmony and elegance

The Kalk Bay Modern always has a selection of beautiful Ardmore Ceramics on display and is proud to have some particularly notable pieces on exhibition at the moment.

These beautiful ceramic sculptures coupled with the powerful prints of Cecil Skotnes make this an exhibition not to be missed.