CREATURE

FEATURE

Creature Feature is a group exhibition exploring the human-animal bond, the relationship between humans and other animals throughout history, and celebrating the significance that our beloved pets bring to our lives. The works on show include prints, paintings, drawings, photographs and ceramic works.

 

From ancient times animals have played an important role alongside humans, ranging from dedicated workers to hallowed creatures. They were considered gifts from the gods to be cared for until their death, when they were expected to be returned to the divine realm from which they had come. The ancient Egyptians kept many animals as pets, ranging from domesticated dogs and cats to baboons, monkeys, fish, gazelle, birds, lions, mongoose and hippos. Domesticated animals were just as popular and deeply loved as they are today.

 

Creature Feature explores the significant connection that humans share with other animals; visually portraying interactions, perceptions of behaviour, and observations of animals by humans, or vice versa.

  

At our premises on Jan Smuts Avenue we have four resident cats, each with their own personality and lovability. They are very much a part of our workplace lives – attending meetings, greeting our guests, wrecking havoc on our desks and providing stress relief and comfort as we go about our days. Significant too is “the Robin” who frequented the garden for a number of weeks, “We had a Robin living here” “Yes I saw him just this week” “Oh really!”. The animals that impact our lives, whether they live with us in our houses, or with which we share a fleeting experience wherein they reveal to us some kind of domesticity (imagined or otherwise), are those depicted in this exhibition.

 

 

6 November – 10 December 2021

Possible extension into January 2022, please contact the gallery

CONTACT THE GALLERY FOR AVAILABILITY

Cabbage tree emperors, 2021

Heidi Fourie

37.5 x 50 cm | Oil on board

Garden Treasures I, 2021

Roxy Kaczmarek

30.5 x 40.5 cm | Acrylic on canvas with goldleaf

Zoom poepol, 2021

Koooooos

39.5 x 51 cm | Mixed media

Cat Eye, 2021

Koooooos

39.5 x 51 cm | Mixed media

Minu I, 2021

Adele van Heerden

41.5 x 55 cm | Ink and gouache on drafting film

Sourdough and Mogwai, 2021

Adele van Heerden

29 x 42 cm

Ink and gouache on drafting film

Axolotl, 2021

Nina Jacobson

28.5 x 18 cm | Drypoint

Bored of all ’em witches, 2021

Marnus Strydom

10.7 x 8.8 cm

Polaroid 600 film

Felix, 2021

Lily, 2021

Lucy, 2021

Steven Bosch

Variable sizes of 14 x 11 x 7 cm

Raku glazed ceramic

Mundo Inverso: They love them like children, 2020

Diane Victor

27 x 35 cm

Ink and gouache on paper

Mundo Inverso: Fables on the feedlot, 2020

Diane Victor

27 x 35 cm

Ink and gouache on paper

Monty, 2021

Marnus Strydom

42 x 29.7 cm

Oriental Seagull 100 lm digitally printed on BT270 Baryt paper

Jackie and Cher Ami, 2021

Richard ‘Specs’ Ndimande

28 x 40 cm

Pencil and ink on paper

Yoko as a puppy 1, 2021

Steven Bosch and Richardt Strydom

33 x 33 cm

Giclee print on Ilford artist paper

Yoko as a puppy 2, 2021

Richardt Strydom and Steven Bosch

33 x 33 cm

Giclee print on Ilford artist paper

Revered Rats I, IIIII & IV, 2021

Claire Waters

From 27 – 40 cm

Basalt clay plate with white clay slip and black ink prints

Enchanting Muse, 2021

Claire Waters

45 x 10 x 10 cm

Terracotta, white and black clay, fabric and paper inclusions, various oxides and glazes

Scowling Spectre, 2021

Claire Waters

48 x 15 x 15 cm

Terracotta, white and black clay, fabric and paper inclusions, various oxides and glazes

The little dog laughed, 2021

Nina Torr

14 x 28.3 cm

Softground etching on silkscreened monotype

Edition of 20

Garden Treasures II & III, 2021

Roxy Kaczmarek

30.5 x 40.5 cm

Acrylic on canvas with goldleaf

Kitty, 2020
Elize de Beer

8.5 x 9 cm | Drypoint

Edition of 5

Head under heels, 2019

Nina Torr

28.5 x 30 cm

Hand drawn digital artwork

C’mon chameleon, 2021

Zhi Zulu

36 x 27.5 cm | 7-colour silkscreen

Dog idea 1, 2021

Maja Maljević

22.5 x 31.3 cm

Mixed media

Dog idea 2, 2021

Maja Maljević

22.5 x 31.3 cm

Mixed media

For more information, please contact 

Diane Victor’s They love them like children and Fables on the feedlot belong to her growing series Mundo Inverso, or ‘The world upside down’ as it translates. Victor’s typical use of parody is translated to a more intimate scale in these works. The idea of an upside down world relates to the medieval concept of the absence of an ordering presence of God. The works depict the everyday craziness in our society with recognisable events. These events – both real and imagined – seem so out of place, almost belonging to a world turned on its head. Crazy as they are, these scenes are almost acceptable through their frequent occurrence and society’s desensitization thereof.

 

Read more about Diane Victor…

The human mind has inherited a great deal of the animal. Both humans and animals share similar characteristics and they are both conscious about themselves and how they should live. Some of the qualities that humans share with animals is; they both have emotions, memory, abstract and logical thinking, they both can communicate and hunt to survive. There are many elements and characteristics which both humans and animals share, but in this artwork the artist uses the animal as a metaphor for the younger generation of humans. The drawing is an examination of society manipulating its younger generation into carrying the sins of their elders.

 

Depicted in ‘Jackie and Cher Ami’ is Jackie the baboon, who served in the South African army during World War I, and Cher Ami, who served in the United States army during World War I. Jackie and Cher Ami are seated at a table, having a discussion on living a life of purpose and duty to serve in a war which is violent and cruel in the name of love for their country; a life that was imposed to them by their masters.

 

Which brings us to the question of what it means to be a new generation. Is it new and different, or is it a modified continuation of a society that conforms to older societal patterns with its violent, greedy and selfish ways?

 

– Richard ‘Specs’ Ndimande

The idea of Rat-Human relations came to me when I read the National Geographic Magazine “Cities.” One of the stories is about the “Shadow of the City.” Rats have lived side by side with humans for centuries despite the human intolerance of them. Rats are recognised in different cultures as prized pets, edible delicacies, holy beings, and indispensable science subjects. My plates depict the revered rats of Karni Mata Temple, Rajasthan, also known as the Temple of Rats.

 

– Claire Waters

Through archaeological evidence, we know mummies were used for votive offerings to the associated deity, mostly during festivals or by pilgrims. Like the Sacred Ibis, Cats were systematically bred to be killed and to be mummified as sacrifices to the gods.

 

Roman Emperors in the 4th and 5th centuries AD banned the practice of paganism and pagan rituals in Egypt. Pagan temples were impounded and sacrifices prohibited by 380 AD.

 

What we’d like to believe:
Egyptians believed cats were magical creatures, capable of bringing good luck to the people who housed them. To honour these treasured pets, wealthy families dressed them in jewels and fed them treats fit for royalty. When the cats died, they were mummified.

 

– Claire Waters

Typical to Torr’s visual language, The little dog laughed captures a colourful and open-ended narrative, which takes the viewer on an exploratory journey. To create the rich colourful backdrop for Torr’s narrative to play off against, printer Roxy Kaczmarek silkscreens a colour layer onto delicate Hosho paper. Softground and liftground etching techniques allow the artist to create a range of gestural marks on copper. These are printed on top of the colourful silkscreened layer after which the paper has glued applied to the back and is then cut to size and adhered to the backing sheet of Hahnemühle paper to give the work the traditional etching print border.

 

Read more in: “A Torr(ent) of Creativity: New work by Nina Torr and others in Creature Feature exhibition

The city is a disorienting space for anyone – humans and animals alike.

Johannesburg is one such city and has been known by many names – Joburg, Jozi, the city of gold – but most suitably in this scenario as the concrete jungle. A mix and match of natural and urban, old and new, home-grown and cosmopolitan.

Chameleons are known to be masters of disguise but this fellow has decided it’s time to make his presence known. Inspired by his King Kong predecessor, Chameleon asserts his feelings about SA airways and the current Covid travel bans.

Inspired by the artist’s experience of African stories being told for tourists and foreigners, The Curious Five series is a humorous take on stereotypical, inaccurate and fantastical tales that foreigners sometimes believe  of wild animals walking in the streets of Johannesburg, or people keeping them as pets.

 

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