‘Review’ looks at the cultural shifts that have altered the city. The exhibition focuses on the correlation between past and present in regard to the experience of being in the city.
District Six scenes by Wessel Marais, Kenneth Baker and Gregoire Boonzaier exhibit a nostalgic feel for streets filled with donkey carts, fruit vendors and residents going about their daily business. Gregoire‘s studio in Church Street acted as a hub for many of the New Group’s members. His intention to expand and rebuild an appreciation for fine art and culture heralded a new ethos.
As the longest serving editorial cartoonist for The Cape Times, Tony Grogan spent much time walking through the streets of Cape Town. His watercolours and sketches convey his delight in the atmosphere of a transformed city. The buzzing occupants, informal traders and juxtaposition of historical architecture with modern developments demonstrate a unique character.
The expansion of public space into a digital community challenged the relevance of nodal areas like Gregoire’s studio.
In recent years, its importance has been rejuvenated with new developments and initiatives that draw people back into the city to celebrate the art, the music, the food, the wind, the multicultural building blocks that change the façade of the city. Helen van Stolk and Inge Semple portray current accounts of the city centre’s energy and mobility.
Artists in ‘Review’:
Kenneth Baker, Lesley Charnock, Tony Grogan, Patrick Holo, Grethe Hutt-Schonken, David Kuijers, Lindile Magunya, Wessel Marais, Rinus Muller, Jenny Parsons, Frank Ross, Roelof Rossouw, Inge Semple, David Thorpe, Helen van Stolk, Michael Waters, Laura Wenman
WHERE: THE CAPE GALLERY, 60 Church Street, Cape Town 8001
WHEN: 24 April 2016 – 21 May 2016
INFO: T 021 4235309 visit
PHOTO: Inge Semple
