Exploring diverse artistic dialogues at the Association for Visual Arts
Artists and friends Careshia Esperanza (left) and Kyle Jardine (right) are showing their paintings side-by-side in a new exhibition.
Image: Yazeed Kamaldien
Artists having very different conversations with the world through their work are currently showing at the inner-city’s Association for Visual Arts (AVA) gallery.
The AVA is a non-profit membership-based arts association that dates back to 1850. Every six weeks it shows a new round of exhibitions.
A walk through the gallery’s four spaces — each showing different artists — reveals sculptures made with various materials, bold paintings, and drawings.
Context and content of the work definitely differ, but the concepts inevitably draw on what art does best — imagination.
Cape Town artist Kyle Jardine sums it up when talking about his work as a “combination of imagination and memory”.
“My paintings are a fantastical realm that people can immerse themselves in,” said Jardine at the exhibition opening night this week Thursday.
Artist Jonah Sack’s ‘Kite Diagrams’ plays the idea of floating and flying.
Image: Yazeed Kamaldien
His work stands alongside his friend and artist Careshia Esperanza under the title ‘The Art of Existing’. It is meant to be a “dynamic dialogue between the inner-world and the external landscape”.
Jardine said his large scale paintings in bright colours are “about a sense of joy”.
“It is centred around world-building and finding concepts of home. The (paintings of) rooms or interiors are like a self-portrait of a memory or person recognising themselves in a space. There are personal elements and subtext,” he said.
Esperanza’s work is about cementing her female voice.
“It is about exploring what it is and means to be a woman in today’s society. My figures are very sensual and playful. Some of it is also dark,” she said.
“It’s so important to show women in my work. I come from a very Christian background where I was told to be a reserved woman. I felt that when I became myself more, I could show things. It gives me a voice.”
Artist Pyda Nyariri’s artworks are sculptural and abstract.
Image: Yazeed Kamaldien
Pyda Nyariri’s solo exhibition in the gallery’s largest room is titled ‘Paivapo…(There once was…)’. Her artworks are sculptural and abstract.
“Paivapo… tells the story of how we speak when our mother tongues are taken, and how we dream in the languages we invent to survive,” states the artist.
“The concept of the work is about a mythological character called Pidgin. We know pidgin languages and so this exhibition explores the mythology of where pidgin languages come from. I created a character that leaves behind alphabets. We experience this story through sound pieces and text.”
Jonah Sack’s ‘Kite Diagrams’ plays with opposites. He made kite sculptures that are too heavy to fly and drew heavy shipping containers on light paper.
Showing the sculptures and drawings together is a way of commenting on perceptions and expectations.
“They’re ideas about circulation and flow; about the idea of floating and flying,” said Sack.
The AVA is located at 35 Church Street in central Cape Town. Current exhibitions run until 30 July. This includes a walkabout with artists Jardine and Esperanza on 27 June at 11am.
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