An animate earth
PARKHURST - An evocative exhibition highlights the relationship between the artist and the planet.
On 6 September, an exhibition exploring the dialogue between the artist and a dynamic earth opened at Gallery on 6th in Parkhurst.
Karin Preller, contemporary South African still life artist, opened the show – called The Animate Earth – with commentary on how landscape painting is changing.
“These artists succeed in refocusing our attention, in estranging the landscape; in making the very familiar suddenly seem unfamiliar. And the longer you look at some of the paintings, the more apparent it becomes that we are dealing here with complex engagements with the landscape. We do not have to be able to pinpoint each scene,” said Preller.
“The enigmatic strangeness of the work lies in the interplay between the real and the fictional. It becomes an imagined view of the known, but still absolutely known to us. It is the ‘sense of place’ that makes them so compelling, so indicative also of that which we know falls outside of the frame.”
The exhibition features landscapes in a mix of styles and mediums from artists Laurel Holmes, Kirsten Mumford, Carol van Tonder, Jan van Schalkwyk and Belinde Fourie.
The exhibition’s theme plays out in a heightened awareness of textures, colours and forms within the landscapes depicted.
While Gallery on 6th is a well-known Parkhurst landmark, not many people are aware that the gallery is directed and run by the artists themselves.
Artists curate and hang each exhibition, allowing for some interesting exhibitions.
The exhibition runs until 27 September.
Gallery hours are Monday to Saturday, 10am to 3pm.
