cotton twine, braided jute and polyester rope, cotton fabric, wooden, glass, stone, plastic and metal beads and tiger tail wireblank projects
Description
Human-crafted. AI-refined.
This large sculptural work features a prominent triangular mound composed of a vast accumulation of raw, unprocessed materials, primarily straw or hay. The overall shape and textured surface create a striking visual impact, evoking a sense of the natural world and the primal elements that shape it. The artist's use of unconventional materials and the monumental scale of the piece challenge traditional notions of sculpture, inviting the viewer to consider the interplay between the natural and the constructed. The work's minimalist aesthetic and its focus on the inherent properties of the chosen medium suggest a commentary on the relationship between humanity and the environment. ...
Igshaan Adams’s practice coalesces performance, weaving, sculpture and installation. Born in Bonteheuwel, a township in Cape Town, South Africa, Adams draws upon his background to contest racial, sexual and religious boundaries. This intersectional topography remains visible throughout his practice and serves as a palimpsest upon which traces of personal histories are inscribed and reinscribed. He explains; “I’m interested in the personal stories recorded on the surface. What is recorded is not necessarily always a factual account but can be what is imagined - a combination of myth-making and meaning-making”.
Adams approaches materiality through his own subjectivity. Often, cultural and religious references are used in conjunction with surfaces that have always been present throughout his life; thread, beads, wire, linoleum, cotton twine, fabric. His interest in the material oscillates between the intuitive process of handling different substances as well as a formal inquiry into how various materials behave in different contexts and how they transfigure or evolve depending. Likening the material’s potential for evolution to his own potential for evolution, Adams is engaged in broadening his ideas of selfhood in an ongoing process of covering and uncovering, doing and undoing. ...
Based in a 360 sqm gallery in Woodstock, Cape Town, blank was founded by Jonathan Garnham as a project space in 2005 and transitioned into a commercial gallery during 2012. The gallery represents emerging and increasingly established artists from the region in a critically engaged programme that emphasises contemporaneity, with a focus on concept and abstraction in the African context. With an exhibition programme that has a reputation for shaping the discourse around contemporary art in South(ern) Africa, and participation in prominent local and international art fairs, we seek to place our artists' work in a wide range of private and institutional collections. In addition, blank continues to promote the visual arts in our community through ongoing projects that support the sector. ...
