Solo Exhibitions
Hugh Upsher, Carol-Anne Gainer, David Lurie and Christiaan Diedericks at AVATHE LONG STREET SHOW: David Lurie
Long Street exhibits many of the dichotomies plainly visible in urban South Africa. The Long Street Show by David Lurie employs the Main and Artstrip galleries of the AVA with a photographic exploration of one of South Africa's most famous streets. Lurie likens himself to "a kind of party-crasher disguised as a photographer", who over a period of months would visit, mingle with the diverse crowd, have a drink, chat and photograph the passing show. In The Long Street Show, so-called unmediated documentary photographs capturing the social and political character of this iconic street are juxtaposed with images that are collaboratively staged, in which the characters "impersonate themselves being themselves" for the photographer. This series is both an original look at Long Street as well as an enquiry into different ways of seeing and representing the urban experience.
BEAUTIFUL WORLD: Christiaan Diedericks
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AND EVERYTHING'S DONE UNDER THE SUN: Carol-Anne Gainer
In the Long Gallery, Christiaan Diedericks and Carol-Anne Gainer present new works on paper. Beautiful World by Christiaan Diedericks is an edition of seven, original hand-made artist's books, and a special extension of a larger edition of fine art prints by the same title. Each unique book contains seven original dry point engravings and seven Afrikaans poems (with English translations) by contemporary South African author Johann de Lange, as well as text by Hayden Proud, curator at The Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town, and Dr. Eugene Vorster, a well-known Cape Town psychiatrist.
In And Everything's Done Under the Sun, Carol-Anne Gainer presents a series of monotypes prompted by her experience traveling, and living in rural France. Gainer's appreciation of the natural world is mediated through a curious combination of 18th century farm implements and the domestic bric-a-brac of the last century, including a heron in a bell-jar, tulip containers and farming implements juxtaposed with images or text about animals. The eclectic mix speaks to a concern with our custodianship/relationship with a nature that is increasingly fragile.
TEN MILLION POUNDS OF SLUDGE: Hugh Upsher
Ten Million Pounds of Sludge, a video work by Hugh Upsher, employs the New Media room. Taximonkey.jpg is trying to claim fabulous prizes as it has been declared the 10 000th visitor. It quickly finds this to be no easy task as it attempts to navigate through a maze of obscure and sometimes obscene content. These found images are collected from a large variety internet sources in an almost random fashion. The animation plays out as a mindless hyper paced consumption of content that demonstrates the impending democracy of images. After pushing through ten million pounds of sludge taximonkey.jpg finds his efforts fruitless and returns to the digital graveyard he came from.
22 March - 15 April
