Cape Town based artists David Kuijers and Tania Babb are the focus of The Cape Gallery’s current exhibition. There is no one more qualified to talk about their art than the artists themselves, so here is their work in their own words.
David Kuijers
“Painting for me has to do with being energised through both the process and the reinterpretation of the subject – and when viewers identify with this experience through the work it is all the more satisfying.
Cape Town is unusual. It seems staged. Oceans and mountains conspire with the weather to create a dramatic and sometimes moody setting. It is a city with a view, an outdoors, a leisurely pace, and evocative place. In short a good place to paint.
Through painting, I can engage with this physical environment in ever new and fresh ways. For me, the city is an external departure point for a journey of unknown and tantalising possibilities. At the end of every painting, I am a little different. When I paint I leave for a place of exaggerated awareness, of relaxed concentration, a friendlier place.”
Tania Babb
“My work is about people. People and their relationships to themselves, to others and to animals. I use buttery porcelain clay, which I feel conveys the vulnerability of human flesh and the human condition. It must be said that there is humour in this exposure and the solidity of clay juxtaposes the lightness of spirit.
I try to capture, in the subtlest and most feeling way, gesture and movements that silently reveal inner attitudes. My figures are archetypal and recognisable in their frailties and strengths.
Venusians women sitting astride hulking African beasts, Rhinos, Elephants, seem to allude to a quiet, almost subconscious, strength inherent in the feminine archetype.
I have great fun unleashing my imagination onto clay.”
WHAT: David Kuijers & Tania Babb
WHERE: The Cape Gallery, 60 Church Street, Cape Town 8001
WHEN: Open until 24 January 2021. Doors open at 10 am and close at 4 pm
INFO: T +27 21 4235309 | eb@capegallery.co.za | website
PHOTO: ARTWORK BY DAVID AND MAX KUIJERS & AND TANIA BABB
