Two big milestones at Zeitz MOCAA
AN EMERGING artist’s solo exhibition at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) will mark two important milestones for the contemporary art museum.
The exhibition Human Nature, by artist Ruby Swinney, will be the first time her work is exhibited at a museum, and the first time an entire floor at Zeitz MOCAA undergoes a change of artworks since the institution’s grand public opening in Septemberlast year.
Her work consists of a comprehensive collection of oil-on-tracing-paper paintings curated by Zeitz MOCAA Curator Julia Kabat.
Swinney’s exhibition invites the viewer on an existential journey through various curated rooms, each representing a different terrain, and named The Province, The Cityscape, The Garden, Water and Nature, respectively.
The artwork comprises six gallery spaces situated on Level 4 of the museum, presenting an extensive body of ethereal paintings created by Swinney following her graduate show at the Michaelis School of Fine Arts in 2015.
“I am intrigued by Swinney’s alternative approach to painting, using oil paints on tracing paper,” said Kabat.
“As a viewer, one is profoundly affected by Swinney’s ability to encapsulate the multiple facets of the human soul and condition, its fragility and vulnerability. These qualities are expressed through the bare paintings that appear to float on the walls in a liminal state,” she said.
Each painting depicts people within various landscapes, to express the idea that humans actively seek to establish a place in nature, a space that is often vastly unknown and uncontrollable.
A first for Zeitz MOCAA and accompanying Human Nature will be a carefully edited exhibition shop created to present an array of art-led lifestyle products that take their point of departure from Swinney’s work.
The new Swinney-inspired range includes items such as limited-edition signed prints, posters, tote bags and handrolled silk scarves, all specifically developed from the paintings included in the show.
The exhibition runs until October. Visit www.zeitzmocaa.museum or contact 087 350 4777.