Collaboration | Salon Ninety One Contemporary Art Collection

21.09 – 12.10.2013

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Two Person Exhibition – Andrzej Urbanski & Paul Senyol.

There is a beautiful synergy that exists between Paul Senyol & Andrzej Urbanski’s paintings. A VACANT PASSAGE is the story of two artists traveling and leaving behind remnants and legacies, told and expressed through powerful & uniquely abstracted artworks. Andrzej Urbanski [Pol/Ger] and Paul Senyol [Zar] first met during Urbanski’s residency in Cape Town in June of 2012. Soon they began to discover the many similarities, which exist across their individual artistic practices and approaches, even though the execution of their work differs radically.

A VACANT PASSAGE presents an all-new body of work from Urbanski and Senyol respectively, as well as some collaborative pieces, all of which relate to their history and the common happenings of the years when both artists’ families experienced the repercussions of The Second World War. The works on exhibition reference a time and a place, which no longer exist. Both artists having experienced this particular location in a different context, come together to seek out and construct a narrative from the puzzle pieces of a past, which neither has any actual recollection of, other than a shoebox filled with photos, newspaper clippings, essays as well as stories handed down from generation to generation. To the artists, Germany is a vacant place, Poland is a vacant place, and some day, South Africa too might become a vacant place.

While the subject matter may seem very specific, the works carry a truly universal message. The exhibition will feature a unique AUGMENTED REALITY aspect, which will further enhance the level of accessibility, as well as the viewer’s experience of the exhibition by means of user-friendly computer software & technologies. Visitors will be able to download the software to devices such as Smartphones & Ipads to enjoy an enhanced experience, which will offer further insight into the artists, their stories and the works on show. The exhibition flyer, the shopfront and the artworks will be layered with interactive digital content. Viewers can expect to see medium to large-scale paintings varying from monochrome black and white, to beautiful hues of colour on paper and on canvas, as well as a number of collaborative works.

vacan passage — Watch “A Vacant Passage Introduction’

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ANDRZEJ URBANSKI | ARTISTS PROFILE

Andrzej Urbanski (Born 1983) is a German visual artist of Polish ancestry, currently residing in Cape Town. Andrzej’s early artistic background has developed and evolved over the course of 16 years spent painting, creating sculptures, being involved in several art projects, exhibitions and teaching positions around the globe. The artist holds a Masters Degree in Fine Arts, attained during 2012 from the EAE (European Art Ensemble) at the ECAL (University of Art & Design) in Lausanne, Switzerland and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Design/Graphic Design from BTK-FH in Berlin since 2010. In June of 2012 Andrzej completed a residency at /A WORD OF ART as a part of his studies. The mandate for the EAE program states that students must engage in dialogue with foreign scholars and institutions, holding at its core the need for interpersonal connection and foreign travel to gather experience and exchange ideas between art professionals, educators, and students. Aside from his finished thesis research, Andrzej is interested in exploring the process of creating work in different social environments around the globe, drawing influence and inspiration from architecture, landscape, photography, design elements and media/advertising & of course from the other artists he encounters on his journey. His main artistic focus is on human social behaviour and learned or innate reactions to varying shapes and colours.

PAUL SENYOL | ARTISTS PROFILE

Paul Senyol was born on the 25th of October 1980 in Cape Town, South Africa. Paul has been drawing and painting since his early high school years, however never pursuing any form of artistic or graphic training. At age sixteen, he discovered the freedom of skateboarding and punk rock music in the beautiful suburb of Welgemoed, where he grew up. This naturally became a key influence in his early drawings, sketches and paintings, while skateboard graphics, album covers, magazine layouts and illustrations played a role in developing his aesthetic eye. Around the same time, he also became exposed to the creativity of graffiti and street artists such as Marc Gonzales, Ed Templeton, and Barry McGee – all of this forming part of his early art education. A few years later Paul was introduced to and moved by the creative thought and artistic genius of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, and Cy Twombly respectively. Senyol’s lack of formal training and schooling has given him the freedom to break away from traditional notions of painting, to explore genres and styles, and to meld mediums, allowing him a creative freedom that flows so evidently through his work. Senyol’s art lingers gracefully and intentionally between beauty and honesty and brings a surreal, yet abstract world into being. His current work focuses heavily on narrative, shape, line, form, composition, colour & texture. Each faint line, bold brushstroke and shape is carefully composed to breathe life into its environment, reflecting something of light, serenity, experience and thought. His finished work seeks to engage the viewer through translating his own experiences to canvas, allowing an open discussion and translation of his work. Senyol has exhibited extensively throughout South Africa and abroad. This year Paul has been nominated as a finalist to the Absa Atelier Competition 2013. He currently works from a studio in Woodstock, Cape Town.

Capture — Watch the video invitation, meet the artists,

Opening Event: Daytime Opening, Saturday 21 Sept from 11h00 till late! Show concludes 12 Oct at 14h00.

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ART EXHIBITION WITH AUGMENTED REALITY CONTENT

Important Visitor Information:

1. Items to bring along: Ipone / Ipad / Android Phone / Blackberry & Earphones.

2. For Iphone, Ipad & Android phones: Download the Layar app before visiting the show: http://get.layar.com. You can also scan the QR code below in order to download the Layar app.

3. For all devices: Download a QR scanner app as there will be QR codes as well.

QR Code to Download Layar

DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS PDF HERE

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Exhibition view: A Vacant Passage

Artworks: Paul Senyol

Artworks: Andrzej Urbanski

Artworks: Collobaration Paul Senyol and Andrzej Urbanski

Opening – A Vacant Passage

courtesy of THE ART TIMES

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Ice cream sponsor:

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SEE RELATED ONLINE ARTICLES HERE:

http://www.revolution-daily.com/a-vacant-passage-exhibition/

http://www.revolution-daily.com/paul-senyol-interview-2/

04 – 21.04.2012

An exhibition by Louis Minnaar & Maaike Bakker

From the minds of two young thinkers in a purple-flowered-city
This fantastic tale emerges, mysterious and gritty:
A sloth, on a terrible journey, hoping to recover what he’s lost;
banks will be flooded, lines will be crossed.

Pretorian visual artists Louis Minnaar and Maaike Bakker present a twisting narrative exhibition of collaborative visual artworks complemented by the words of Jaco van der Merwe

LOUIS MINNAAR
Based in Pretoria, Louis Minnaar operates as a director, animator, illustrator, graphic designer and general visual artist. He has been practicing as a freelance visual artist since 2005. Since completing his degree in Visual Communication (majoring in video) Louis has produced music videos for artists such as VANCOKE KARTEL, DIE HEUWELS FANTASTIES, FLASH REPUBLIC and AKING, as well as taking part in over 40 exhibitions locally and internationally. Louis received the animation prize at the 2008 Mnet Edit Awards for “Henri”, and has been nominated as a finalist in several local and international film & video festivals.

Louis Minnaar returns to Salon91 after his phenomenally successful multi-media solo exhibition Originale hosted by the gallery during June 2009

MAAIKE BAKKER
Salon91 is thrilled to welcome the multi-talented, Maaike Bakker from Pretoria, to the gallery for the first time. Bakker holds a BA in Visual Arts, and an MA in Fine Art from the University of Johannesburg. The artist’s creative output ranges from installation & conceptual art to more light-hearted, offbeat illustrations & raw paintings.

Maaike has exhibited in Johannesburg, Cape Town, London and Berlin.
She was selected as a finalist for the Sasol New Signatures competition during 2005 and 2009, and also made it to the top 10 of the prestigious Absa L’atelier art competition during 2009.

“THE RIVER STORY”

One particularly gloomy day, in what may well have been morning
A gentle sloth knew that he was awake, as he heard himself yawning
And, whilst stretching out his tender limbs to meander through the timber
A sudden pang cut through his heart; a dreadful, aching shiver
“I’m done for! All is lost!” he cried, and nearly lost his grip
He saw the wound his claws had made; the wood was bleeding syrup
“What’s the matter, young climber?” boomed the Tree’s golden song
“I’ve never heard you speak before, something must be wrong!”
“It’s hard to s-s-say,” groaned the sloth, in an awful, hoarse stutter
“A piece of my heart has disappeared, a part I c-c-cannot utter”
“I know the feeling, I was once a seed,” hummed the tree compassionately
And then, rather mysteriously, muttered something about a journey
The sloth looked down, his brooding frown reflected in a mirror
And then he knew that what he sought lay below him, in the river

He clutched the water by the tail and plunged into its depths
The currents pulled with all their strength and tried to steal his breath
But he held his nerve, never losing his hold, for sloths are awesome swimmers
And so began his lonely odyssey in the slipstream of the river

Two glowing eyes rose from the deep, a sea monster with razor teeth!
Defeat? Well, if you thought a sloth was always slow, you’d be deceived
With lightning jabs the sloth swung arms designed in ancient warfare
In a matter of moments the leviathan’s corpse sank unknowingly back into its lair

A storm swelled suddenly in the sky above the slippery, silky surface
Sapping the sloth’s self-belief, slowly suffocating his sense of purpose
Storm clouds sliced the river into a ragged, jagged snake, spitting and hissing
As the tempest raged, the sloth regained a small part of what he had been missing

For what seemed like weeks the clouds maintained their shattering downpour
Electric bolts shot through the sky, screaming through the terrible ring of thunder roaring
There was one specific noise that seemed to echo into the sloth’s shuddering chest
A vibration of sound waves that urged him deeper and farther into his quest

Reluctantly, one afternoon the sun peered through the clouds
The sloth rejoiced, he was weak and weary from his efforts not to drown
But within minutes the fiery ball had blazed the riverbank’s mud into dry soil
And fate’s pendulum swung through another dark arc as the river began to boil

The heated silt began to drift haphazardly between the bubbles
Colliding and tangling with debris from the storm in piles of floating rubble
The river swelled, and broke its banks, spilling out to form a giant lake
As the sloth steered for shore, with an empty heart, he wondered if his journey had been a mistake

An undercurrent grabbed his heel, reeling him suddenly outward, just inches from the land
The sloth’s resistance had at last been broken; and the river led him by the hand
The droning voice of breaking water surged from around the approaching bend
And the shattered sloth stretched out limply in the current, ready to embrace his end

It took a while for the sloth to realise that the voice was droning words
The River had been calling his name, waiting patiently to be heard
With faded courage, the sloth succeeded in stammering a faint reply
And, to his greatest surprise, found himself staring into a tremendous eye

“It is I,” said the watery voice, “that you have been swimming in for a time;
I am not what you think I am, in fact most of me is in your mind.”
The sloth recoiled in disbelief as the River gushed into the massive form
Of a silvery blue Snake with glistening scales, war-torn and weather-worn
“I know what it is that you’re missing,” hissed the Snake, “and I might be wrong,
But the thing that you’ve been looking for has been very near you all along.”
The Snake exposed its dripping fangs, drawing its jaws open wide
And with no hesitation, the sloth drew new strength and leapt inside
Being swallowed whole was much like swimming, and the sloth sunk swiftly
Eventually reaching a glimmering Object that he had no difficulty in lifting
And as he held it up in wonder, the River howled out the deepest moan
For underneath the thing the sloth had found was an abyss of ancient stone
And in a few amazing seconds, as only such a body of water could,
The River disappeared, leaving the sloth, alone, feeling relatively good.

Exhibition shots The River:
Courtesy of revolution daily.