'Proximity'
Jake Aikman at SMAC Art Gallery Cape TownThe title of Jake Aikman’s third solo exhibition; Proximity is as ambiguous and mysterious as his atmospheric, meditative paintings. On one level, the artist deals with people’s proximity and connection to nature, whilst emphasizing the insignificance and vulnerability of the individual in relation to the overwhelming power and magnitude of our natural environment; forest, desert or ocean. Vulnerability, emptiness – vast open spaces – the subjects contained in or those standing in close Proximity to Aikman’s paintings are forced to reconsider and contemplate the ultimate solitude of their existence. Intensely conscious of modern-day environmental concerns, a sense of impending danger pervades. Aikman creates tension around the moment he has chosen to capture, the recent, the imminent, the immediate, as well as a tangible Proximity to that which lies beneath, beyond and hidden from view. Despite their monumentality and omniscience, the works are intimate, poetic and enticing as the viewer becomes part of the bigger picture. The relativity of perception and distance serves as a metaphor – the closer one gets to the object (or the truth), the more inaccessible or distant it becomes.
13 October - 30 November













