Exhibition

Wim Botha’s artwork – commissioned for the 2014 National Arts Festival – is a room-sized installation within which viewers become immersed. Composed of a multitude of sculptural and architectural elements, the work demonstrates Botha’s fascination with traditional materials including marble, bronze, wood, paper and paint, and also those of a more ephemeral nature such as cardboard, polystyrene and fluorescent lights. These materials are classical on the one hand and contemporary on the other, and these surprising juxtapositions create lines of communication from the dogmatic towards the artist’s recent exploration of spontaneity, improvisation and coincidence.

The installation’s central component is 'Study for the Epic Mundane' (2013), commissioned for
'Imaginary Fact: Contemporary South African Art and the Archive', the South African Pavilion at the
2013 Biennale di Venezia. Constructed of books bolted together and sculpted into two figures that may be either warring or loving, dancing or fighting (and any of their permutations), this composition
provides a central hub around which existing and hitherto unseen works come together in an environment that applies Botha’s technical mastery and conceptual elegance to create an experience that suspends disbelief.

The exhibition is curated by Brenton Maart, and is accompanied by a catalogue that demonstrates the development of Wim Botha’s interest in immersive, room-sized installations.

Presented by the National Arts Festival in association with Stevenson Gallery

03 July - 13 July