PRESS
RELEASE
WATER – Solo exhibition by Willie Bester
15 December 2009 – 16 January 2010
34 Long Fine Art presents an exhibition of watercolor paintings by well-known South African artist Willie Bester from 15 December 2009 to 16 January 2010. The exhibition title
Water refers as much to the medium as to the socio-political issues around water in urban areas, addressed in the works.
Willie Bester, one of South Africa’s top artists, is no newcomer to 34Long. His previous solo show in this gallery, in 2005, was a display of metal sculpture, the medium for which he is best known.
His extensive use of found objects and recycled materials in his monumental metal sculptures and his assemblages, which combine sculptural elements and painted sections in innovative ways, have earned him recognition and numerous awards world-wide. Willie’s work has always been concerned with political and social issues. He became known as a ‘struggle artist’, but has transcended the label post-1994 by his steady exposure of the complexities of contemporary South African society. Willie’s passionate belief in dignity as a basic human attribute, present in each and every one of us, is a strong aspect of all he makes. It transforms his medium, be it metal, paint or paper, into messages of beauty, goodness and hope amid social injustice and squalor.
Given his reputation for unflinching points of view, muscular sculpture and intense color, viewers are sure to be awestruck by his mastery of watercolor, which displays a sensitivity and delicateness acquired over many years of experimentation. This is the first time that Willie has dedicated an exhibition to watercolor. Included will be some of the artist’s very early watercolor works on loan from private collections as well as a current body of work dealing with water as a political and social question.
Many communities still lack running water as a basic amenity. As always, Willie observes the realities behind television news, newspaper articles and political posturing and converts these into powerful works of truth and beauty. In hands like his, art is a medium for social awareness, for potent action, for deep contemplation, uncomfortable as the subject matter may be.
The time-honored genre of still life takes on a new dimension in Willie’s work. Placed in the harsh splendor of township surroundings, fruit and other everyday objects are laden with meaning to become iconic images of life itself.
34 Long Street Cape Town South Africa
For more information contact Andries Loots: tel. +27 82 354
1500 fineart@34long.com
Gallery
hours Tuesday - Friday 10h00-17h00 Saturday 10h-14h00
or by appointment tel. +27 21 426 4594
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