A MEETING OF MINDS
Ghana and South Africa may be geographically removed from one another, but 'Conversations', a joint show featuring works by contemporary talents, Accra-based Ebenezer Dedi and Capetonian Juan Stockenstroom, unpacks many of their shared experiences and outlooks on life, both past and present.
This fascinating artistic display and exchange promises to provoke deep thought and introspection through each artist's complex visual media – leaving the viewer with new insights and understandings, and possibly more questions into their own take on the world. 'Conversations' is an intense meeting point of two important contemporary artists and their sharp views of life through their lenses. Each conveys their experience of the worlds and communities in which they operate, influences on their daily lives, commentary on the pace at which the world is moving and a shared pursuit for clarity amidst the noise of modern-day life.
The exhibition is an acute deep dive into shared experience and a showcase of each artist's particular viewpoint on his subject matter. Cape Town based Stockenstroom experiences chromesthesia, where he associates sound with specific colours. His body of work for the exhibition is the result of months of work produced while immersing himself in the upbeat rhythms and tempos of High Life music, a Pan African dance music movement that infiltrates many other global genres such as jazz, samba, swing, reggae and soul. Stockenstroom describes his chromesthesia as an 'organic connection between colour and the notes of the song' and the music that moves him results in a vibrant and highly emotive display of colour, movement and personality. A passionate riot of painterly colour leaps off each work, graphic figurative representations invite the viewer to contemplate his visceral creative processes.
Meanwhile, Ghanaian-based artist Dedi explores how modern existence continues to have a profound effect on both our current realities and potentially, our futures. Born and bred in Accra, he is much admired for his remarkable and multilayered portraiture work; vibrant acrylic strokes take on an emotional weight with powerful figures dominating each canvas and demanding attention. Dedi is deeply entrenched in the intricacies of popular Ghanaian culture, the shift of the world he knew as a child to current modern mores, the tyranny of technology (especially what this means for youth) and what it means to be an African in the 21st century. While Dedi's subjects are undoubted characters of modern Ghanaian life, he acknowledges the deep influence of the masters of impressionist art on his style and painterly reflections and indeed the luminosity and life force of those he portrays through his lens. Likewise, a large part of Stockenstroom's research for his body of work relied on his explorations of chromesthesia and artists (among them Van Gogh and Kandinsky) who also experienced the intense condition where sound and colour meet. For both artists, the past plays an acute role in their view of the present and the future. 'Conversations' is a unique opportunity to engage in their shared narratives as cultural commentators and significant contemporary artists.
Press release courtesy Christopher Moller Gallery.
7 Kloofnek Rd
Cape Town
South Africa
christophermollerart.co.za
+27(0) 21 422 1599
Tuesday – Friday • 10h00 – 16h00
Monday & Saturday • Viewings by appointment
Sunday • Closed