ART lovers are in for a treat as two exhibitions are on display at the artSPACE Gallery. And this is your last chance to see them as they run until Saturday. They include artSPACE Durban’s Inspiration VI Exhibition, Durban – Yesterday, Now and Tomorrow; and Prick! Subverting the Stitch by artist, Swany.
The former exhibition features 19 artists who include Nicole Pletts, Coral Spencer, Grace Kotze, Caroline Birch and more .
The display touches on the notion of a city which is an entity that is constantly changing and mirroring the aspirations and values of its citizens and governing systems. As we live in our cities, we create our own ghettos and thus are mostly unaware and unfamiliar with vast sections of them.
Pletts shares: “I hope my work symbolises the beauty and warmth to be found in townships. People who have never travelled to the townships have an image of abject poverty, litter, dust and dirt. But of the places I have been to, I have it to be delightfully rural with chickens, children, trees, rivers and shrubs. The people are very warm and welcoming. It’s very pretty and refreshingly countryfied. I’m aware that there are areas that may not be attractive, but I took over 100 photos and virtually all of them could have been painted – and all of them epitomising the country feel. The first time I went into Lindelani (eight years ago), on the far outskirts of Kwa Mashu township, my car got stuck in the mud and I couldn’t get out. The people came out of their homes and helped to push my car. I then got lost on the way home. I was out of my depth and quite frankly, scared. A man stopped his van and asked me if I was lost. He then detoured right out of his way so I could follow him to the freeway to find my way home. I have never forgotten that – such generosity and kindness which is seldom found in… city or suburban life.”
Swany says his work represents three years of experimentation with embroidery, stitching and thread: “These explorations of embroidery are also an exploration of gender and reflect my continued struggle against societal constraints and prejudices. If we consider that masculinities and femininities are constructed by the societies we are part of, then our behaviour and perceptions are therefore determined by them. I use specific images and instances from popular culture to illuminate this in an attempt to deconstruct these societal constricts.”
In terms of his creative process, Swany says he is a pro-feminist man: “So my ideas/ concepts are generally generated by this. I have an intense interest in how we construct gender identities in our societies and how inequalities and subjugation are enforced with, ironically, very little force. We play the roles that society dictates to us. So the idea is sparked by gender issues and my awareness of them, informed and underpinned by the research I carry out to understand them, and then the visual is created through a rigorous ritual and presented to the viewer in an effort to deconstruct and disrupt perceptions.”
l The exhibitions ends Saturday at the artSPACE Gallery. Call 031 312 0793.