National Arts festival now in PE too!

I can't believe it is May already! That means that it is just over a month until the National Arts Festival begins...hence the feverish work behind the scenes and the silence online! (Well, that and the fact that I have been doing a lot of travelling and photography lately, lol, tons of new albums on facebook if you are interested...)

Dorelle and I were delighted by the positive response, both in sales and comments, to our show at artEC which ran until 8th March. A reminder that the work from that show can be seen on my facebook page. I seem to find it easier to upload pics there than on blogger, so if you would like regular updates on new work, or what is happening in the art world in PE, please 'like' the page.




Some interesting developments and shows have taken place in the last few months since my last update. and the great news is that it is not just in Grahamstown this year. A partnership was announced which means that several Port Elizabeth venues are included in the NAF Programme this year, and PE is officially branded as the Gateway to Grahamstown. You can find details of all the PE shows on the Arts Journey- Nelson Mandela Bay website, and the full NAF Brochure for Grahamstown and PE can be downloaded here.

I will be exhibiting in Grahamstown again this year with Jimmy Ndlovu and Ayanda Mji, and this year we have a 4th partner joining our group, Litha Ncokazi who is a brilliant ceramic artist from East London. We also have a bigger and better venue, in Seminar Room 4 of the Steve Biko Building, which  is right next to the busy Village green., so I am looking forward to a great show.  The festival takes place from Thursday 27th June to Sunday 7th July 2013.

Litha Ncokazi

Ayanda Mji

Jimmy Ndlovu

Sue Hoppe.

In the next few days I'll post pix of some of my new work that you can see at the festival.... but for now, back to the studio :)

at last i can show the new work

Well, it's up and running! My exhibition with Dorelle Sapere called 'on the (t)horns of a dilemma: protecting what we value' has opened at artEC Gallery in Bird St, Central, and runs until 8th March. I uploaded albums of the artworks and the opening on my facebook page, and it seems silly to reload them all here, so please pop across to those links to view them there. The work has received gratifyingly good reactions and it feels good to have them there, touching people's lives.

i was interviewed for Bay TV just before the opening, thanks to Alan Grobler for the photo!

almost here, new exhibition

Hi, I have been very (uncharacteristically) quiet lately, not because I want to, but because I have had a bit of a dilemma... I am working flat out for a new exhibition, which opens at the artEC Gallery in Port Elizabeth on 26th Feb (more about that in a moment) and I have a TON of new work, which I have been dying to post here. But it did not seem to be a good idea to preempt the opening by letting the cat out of the bag too soon, and so I have avoided posting any pics. However, I can no longer restrain myself, and as I have over 50 works completed so far, I am sure showing a few won't do any harm :)

I described the idea behind the exhibition in a previous post.

It comprises a very mixed bag in terms of size and media, some huge, some tiny, some groups, some pure painting, some mixed media painting/drawing and photography, collage and some pure photography (well, even that might not be pure in the traditional sense, as much of the work is digitally manipulated in some way.)

boy amongst thorns 300x300mm 3D layered photos behind glass

horns and thorns 1 500x500mm mixed media on canvas ... I had in mind the abuse of women in this country, a "thorny" and painful issue, whilst a man counts his wealth in cattle and they are fiercely protected. Women in rural life in this case suggested by the traditional Xhosa design used on women's clothing, in contrast with the cows protected in a box. One has to ask, which is valued more, women or cows?

Milkshake 1 400x400mm mixed media on canvas. In direct contrast with the 3rd world rural attitude to cattle in the painting above, in 1st world  we are able to have an altogether more frivolous and playful attitude, they are fun or cute or just the next rare steak, rather than life and death and symbols of wealth.

Kiss with Care  digitally altered photograph.  Again thinking of women in the context of protecting what we value, and how many women have had to put up protective barriers due to the rampant abuse in our society.

Basotho Herdsman  photograph  

cows and thorns. 700x950mm painting and photograph on canvas

tree of life-cycle 200x200mm each, 4 photographs on board,

protecting our heritage digitally manipulated photograph: in urban areas the thorny issue of  protecting our  valued property and heritage involves living behind razor wire and fences.


I will be exhibiting with my friend Dorelle Sapere, whose wonderful paintings also deal with protecting what we value, but in a less 'thorny' way than mine :) OK, so now I have given a tiny glimpse of  some of my new work, I take great pleasure in inviting you to the opening, and if you are in Port Elizabeth any time from 26th February to 8th March i would be delighted if you would visit the exhibition! 
 

more pix to savour at the forthcoming Facing the Future exhibition

As promised in the previous post, here are more little nibbles of forthcoming delicacies...
by the way note some have a 'spot the deliberate mistake', the opening is on 6th December at 6.30pm

Facing the Future:Portraits for Africa

It is a great privilege to be included amongst the august list of 55 artists who are participating in this exhibition of 550 works at Liebrecht Gallery in Somerset West. Some friends and I will be going down for the opening and I'll post pix as soon as I can... I have seen some exceptional work in the sneak previews... if you are anywhere near the Western Cape in the next 2 months this one is really worth a visit.

Works are all 180x180mm on board and will sell for the same price of R1001.

Participating artists are:

Ambrose, Katharine

Badenhorst, Philip

Bakker, Martin

Barlow, Andrew

Bateman, Tom

Bestbier, Carien

Bester, Kareni

Beyers, Heidi

Bodenstein-Booyens, Anita

Bothma, Alida

Briers, Salome

Bruce, Bronwyn

Coetzee, Jaco

Coetzee, Maritha

Du Plooy, Bert

Frier, Gary

Gaybba, Wendy

Gendall, Glenda

Goosen, Esme

Goussard, Jani

Greyling, Mien

Harmer, Kathryn

Harris, Anthony

Hoppe, Sue

Kruger-Grundlingh, Susan

Lemmer, Deon

Louw, Marina

Marais, Eugenie

Maritz, Marius

Matthews, Sharle

Menck, Clare

Meyer, Liza

Miller-Vermeulen, Elizabeth

Moolman, Bretten-Anne

Nightingale, Rita

Pentz, Jan

Poole, Tanya

Pretorius, Mariette

Rafi, Mike

Sampson, Sharon

Schraader, Elaine

Sinclair, Kennett

Smook, Solly

Schoeman, Marna

Stroud, Zelda

Swart, Hazel

Vale Xenos, Helen

Van Biljon, Karel

Van Coller-Louw, Paula

Van der Walt, Louis Stroh

Van der Walt, Lize

Van der Westhuizen, Anne-Marie

Van Zyl, Frieda

Venter, Alet

Watkins, Miche

Another thing that has made participating in this exhibition so enjoyable has been the fun attitude of the Gallerist, Avril Gardiner, who has kept us informed and on our toes with some very entertaining newsletters throughout the process. Professionalism blended with fun..... now that's my kind of art encounter! Watch this space, I'll share more sneak previews of the work by various artists as it arrives!

Art cards

I have had quality art cards printed, blank inside (the sort of card that is only matt coated on the outside, so still easy to write on inside without the ink smudging.)

There is a wide variety, some older works, some more recent, paintings and photos, a variety of sizes, individually wrapped with envelopes, but can be packed in mixed batches of 5 or 10 if needed. If you are interested, you can e-mail me on sue at elgecko dot co dot za for details.

Emerging

Emerging 800x800mm oil on canvas