Well-known artists explore diversity of ink

Collective Ink became a good kick-off exhibition for the year at the GFI gallery, attracting both new and existing audiences as well as artists.

Artists from the Bay and nationally were invited to participate in a group show, focusing on the thrill of ink as used in illustrations, drawings, paintings, printmaking, news media, photography and, interestingly, ceramics.

Curator Hayley Grinstead proved herself knowledgeable and adept in creating an interesting group exhibition.

Stephen Rosin has two subtle and skilfully executed ballpoint pen drawings, Arcadian Hive and Dreams of Zeus, that are powerful social commentaries.

The Union Buildings in Arcadian Hive allude to a type of power edifice.

In contrast, Dreams of Zeus is an allegory that deals with the theme of human arrogance. Technical subtlety and intellectual rigour make it a contemplative work with allusions to astrology and constellations – the realm of Zeus.

Bleik (Bleach), by Amanda de Wet, is another intriguing image. It looks like a bleached lightweight fabric but the intensity of the manual work using an ordered and systematic painting manner mimics the operating systems of digital media.

In the series of portraits titled Father’s Day, New Brightonbased artist Dollar Sapeta isolates the figure from the background by using unusual viewpoints and positioning the subject almost as a fragment of the page.

The fathers look tired, worn out and terribly alone. Many fathers have either been abandoned by their families or their deep sense of guilt and failure to become successful providers have made them withdraw into this state of isolation.
Sapeta seems to share a closeness and compassion with these men, which he also feels helpless to do anything about, beyond drawing and painting them.

Departure, by Karl Schoemaker, is a large-format photograph of a cell at the notorious Baakens Street Police Station. Schoemaker focuses his seeing on the space, graffiti and light on the walls instead of what the cell actually represents.

Reflecting historical continuity and something new to see in the provincial arts arena are the works of three of the “first phase” Grahamstown Group artists from the 1960s and early ’70s: Estelle Marais, Hilary Graham and Cleone Cull.

Graham invents himself as a mythological character, this time as Hilare Tang, who is on a mission and in search of adventure.

In the new Pastoral Dissonance Series, his fascination for the ancient Chinese art making manuals sees him applying speed and brevity in his line work to articulate ideas, story or thoughts in the most succinct manner.

Cull’s Sound bite seems a semi representational carrier of a moment or message from a deeper consciousness or historical time that surrounds us almost as a form of intuition. The changing forms and light of the Karoo and Klein Karoo has become a renewed and even more powerful theme in Marais’ recent work.

The small and quick drawing, Karoo Sheep, indicates her hand, heart and head co-ordination have almost become a subconscious visual language or script.

Cape Town artist Hanien Conradie’s small, monochrome ink landscapes in the series The Subjective Herbarium seem to capture a place as an act of remembering and respect.

Popular art has been clustered into one gallery space with some works playful, others more graphic or slightly esoteric. They are predominantly by a younger generation of artists who fetishise or adapt objects and ideas to become part of an alternative reality.

Grinstead’s eye for design is exciting in her selection of ceramics from Donve Branch and porcelain artist Kate Malan. Branch uses basic firing methods to explore how fire and earth can create wonderful ranges of African inspired shapes and textures.