A Painting Today proposes an encounter with painting, the most traditional of media, filtered through the contemporary logic of Instagram.
Because of social media, the most common way to view pictures today is sequentially. This has triggered a fundamental shift in how we think about images, emphasising their place in the fourth dimension, time, over a timeless two-dimensional existence. The exhibition is conceived as a slideshow, or Instagram feed, in the flesh: it will open with one work, and every day a painting will be added. Over the run of the show, from 6 March to 22 April, a total of 47 paintings will accumulate on our walls. The sequence will emerge from an interplay of external factors, such as the date of acceptance of the invitation, painters’ schedules, and logistics such as stretching, shipping and framing. The list of invited painters will reflect the personal interests of our curatorial team, and will include young artists who we have never exhibited before alongside people we represent, international visitors alongside important historical figures. The range of work will reflect the breadth and depth of painterly concerns in contemporary art, and will mimic the jumble of social media where the sacred sits next to the profane, and the monumental and miniscule both fit on the screen of one’s phone. As so much has been written and theorised about painting, we would like to propose a divertissement. A Painting Today offers a twist on traditional exhibition-making, creating a blank canvas on which painting is invited to roam more or less freely for 47 days. Instead of making a grand statement about painting today, we simply offer a painting each day. The show includes artists such as Etel Adnan, Francis Alÿs, Turiya Magadlela, Penny Siopis, Mduduzi Xakaza and Portia Zvavahera.
Stevenson Gallery hours are Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:00, and Saturday 10:00 to 13:00. The daily additions will be documented on their website and various social media platforms in real time, from 6 March 2017 coming full circle with a finissage on Saturday 22 April from 10:00 to 13:00, where all the works will be on display.
Keep checking this post to see the latest in the exhibition series:
08.04
08.04 | Barthélémy Toguo | Déluge XII | 2016 | Ink on paper mounted on canvas | 200 x 200 cm
06.04
06.04 | Retha Erasmus | Sphere | 2017 | Ink and oil on paper | 72 pages, 27 x 36.5cm each
05.04
05.04 | Turiya Magadlela | Nkoliso | 2001 | Mixed media on workers’ overalls | 220 x 22cm
04.04
04.04| Robel Temesgen | Sacredscape III | 2016 | Acrylic, spray paint, ink, nail paint, permanent marker, sticker and Tipp-Ex on semi-matte photopaper | 500 x 223cm
03.04
03.04 | Gabrielle Sanson | Rag | 2016 | Oil on Belgian linen | Dimensions variable
02.04
02.04 | Yadichinma Ukoha-Kalu | Other Worldly | 2016 | Acrylic on canvas | 104 x 91.5cm
01.04
01.04 | Mmakgabo Helen Sebidi | The Grandmother Receives the Lost Children | 2014-2015 | Oil on Canvas | 112 x 100cm
31.03
31.03 | Wim Botha | Untitled 22 (More’s the pity) | 2017 | Oil on linen | 41.5 x 55cm
30.03
30.03 | Gerda Scheepers | Measures of a shy | 2013 | Acrylic on fabric and wood | 51 x 40.5cm
29.03
29.03 | Dada Khanyisa | What is this patriarchy you speak of? | 2017 | Acrylic and mixed media on mdf | 123 x 127 x 14cm
28.03
28.03 | Zander Blom | Untitled [1.903] | 2017 | Oil on linen | 60.5 x 90cm
27.03
27.03 | Mawande Ka Zenzile | Now I become death the destroyer of the world | 2014 | Cow dung and oil on canvas | 50 x 50cm
26.03
26.03 | Olu Ajayi | Untitled | Oil on canvas | 132 x 100cm
25.03
25.03 | Alexandra Karakashian | At half-mast | 2017 | Used engine oil on canvas | 240 x 170cm
24.03
24.03 | Joshua Williams | Plaster | 2015 | Cement, white cement, filler, acrylic paint, and tissue cloth on board | 201 x 121cm
23.03
23.03 | Kimathi Mafafo | The Wasted Fall 2 | 2017 | Oil on canvas | 149 x 119cm
22.03
22.03 | Odili Donald Odita | X | 2016 | Acrylic on canvas | 178 x 228.5cm
21.03
21.03 | Anna Boghiguian | Untitled | 2008 | Oil on Canvas | 100 x 100cm
20.03
20.03 | Penny Siopis | Restless Republic | 2016 | Ink and glue on canvas | 90 x 120cm
19.03
19.03 | Mduduzi Xakaza | Mist out Mphise | 2017 | Oil on canvas | 61 x 91,5cm
18.03
18.03 | Anastasia Pather | The performance of fucks and a history of eyes | 2017 | Glue, ink, acrylic, enamel on canvas | 170 cm x 100 cm
17.03
17.03 | Richard Mudariki | Theatre Triptych | 2017 | Acrylic on canvas | 199 x 85.5cm
16.03
16.03 | Sepideh Mehraban | Palimpsest II | 2017 | Mixed media on canvas | 60 x 40cm
15.03
15.03 | Portia Zvavahera | I Can Feel It in My Eyes [20] | 2015 – 17 | Oil based printing ink and oil bar on canvas | 202 x 236cm
14.03
14.03 | Francis Alÿs | CUT | 2015 | Painting cut with Chainsaw | 14 x 19,5cm
13.03
13.03 | Etel Adnan | Untitled | 2014 | Oil on Canvas | 30.5 x 35cm
12.03
12.03 | Rory Emmett | Laaitie | Oil on paper | 21 x 21cm
11.03
11.03 | Serge Alain Nitegeka | Mass II | 2017 | Paint and charcoal on wood | 60 x 90 x 2.5cm
