Cape Town designer Porky Hefer’s larger-than-life work comes to the Southern Guild Gallery from 29 October, 2015.
Porky Hefer focuses on conceptual precepts that manifest in three-dimensional forms, in a variety of executions from public sculptures and installations to product and furniture design.
Fascinated by the reactions and energy a piece can generate in a space, he embraces Africa and the skills and processes that are readily available indigenously, rather than trying to emulate foreign processes. Hefer strives to produce work that elicits a smile and sticks in your head.
Recently returned from the Grains of Paradise exhibition at R & Company in New York, Making Africa exhibition at Vitra Design Museum in Germany, and with record sales at Design Miami/Basel in June, Porky has been garnering extensive global recognition.
‘Not many people are doing environmentally inspired pieces of this nature, especially at this scale,’ explains gallery co-founder Julian McGowan. ‘Porky’s work pushes boundaries and perceptions of what art and design are, and ultimately what furniture is and can be.’
Sponsored by Woodhead’s leather merchants, the monumental show will highlight a new selection of the designer’s fantastical leather-enrobed underwater animal-inspired hanging nest seats, transforming the double-volume space into a magnificent faux waterscape. From a killer whale adorned with black-and-white nguni cow hide, to a crocodile donning moss-green leather, these creatures will welcome gallery visitors on an intriguing journey of discovery.
‘This solo show is long overdue,’ says McGowan, elaborating on how it will offer South Africans the rare opportunity to see Porky’s work in a way that international audiences have been viewing it for the past five years.
Porky Hefer is the 2013 Southern Guild Design Foundation Icon Award winner.
WHERE: Southern Guild Gallery, Unit 1, 10-16 Lewin Street, Woodstock, Cape Town 7925
WHEN: 29 October to February 2016.
