Jenna Barbe

Jenna Barbe is an artist who transforms her materials into a metaphorical framework for the body. Her sculptural forms reveal or uncover a notion of the inner body as one governed by emotional states and characterised by vulnerability. Barbe’s relationship with the ocean provides the main inspiration for her transformation of surfing equipment into an exposition of self-inquiry, identity and the human condition. Her works reflect the conflicts, coping mechanisms, protective barriers and fake coverings that humans construct in order to cope with society.

In her surfboard series, Barbe carves an intricate network of coral and seashells into reject surfboard blanks. The surf industry discards many polyurethane foam boards, these Barbe repurposes in the production of her works. By carving the surfboard, she renders the object too vulnerable for its traditional use in the ocean. In its new fragility, the board is transformed from a functional to a metaphorical object.

Barbe’s transformation of materials is an activity that seeks to bring hidden forms of suffering and distress into consciousness. She addresses the conflict that occurs between an inner emotional state and a projected external physical image in her artistic act of revealing an imagined beauty beneath the perceived skin of an object. Her works reflect her own healing process and seek to restore dignity to suffering.

2020 - Private Commission for Table View Cabanas, Cape Town. 2019 - Water Wars Exhibition at Art@Africa Gallery, Cape Town; Private Commission for Salon 91 Gallery. 2018 - Turbine Art Fair, Johannesburg; Private Commission for Salon 91 Gallery, Cape Town. 2017 - Wavescape Artboard Charity Auction, Jack Black Brewing Co. Cape Town; Adult Education Programme Art Exhibition at Peter Clarke Art Centre, Cape Town; Private Commission for The Beekman’s in Kwa-Zulu Natal; Commission for Responsible Research at Old Castle Breweries in Cape Town; Private Commission for Edwin Stokes, Australia. 2016 - Wavescape Artboard Charity Auction, Tiger's Milk, Cape Town. 2014 – ‘Out of the Blue,’ Ceramic Exhibition at Rust-en-Vrede and Mervyn Gers Studio, Cape Town; ‘In Minima Forma,’ Pop-Up Exhibition at Ruth Prowse School of Art, Cape Town.

12.07 – 15.07.2018

Booth Number GH13 | Turbine Hall | Johannesburg

Salon Ninety One is a Cape Town based gallery, presenting works by emerging and established contemporary artists of all disciplines, passionate about developing a new brand of local talent. The gallery specializes in accessible contemporary South African Art, Design and illustration. Founded during 2008 by Monique du Preez, (Married name, Foord), curator and director to the space and its highly energized exhibition program. The gallery presented a selection of contemporary work ranging from painting, textile, print, drawing, and to a smaller degree photography and sculpture, with a special emphasis on collaborative projects and bridging the traditional divide between disciplines. Salon91 offered international and local collectors, as well as first-time buyers unique investment opportunities into the emerging South African art market.

Salon Ninety One exhibited at the Turbine Art Fair at the Turbine Hall in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the fifth consecutive year. Visitors to the gallery’s booth did enjoy works by their regular Salon Ninety One TAF favourites such as Amber Moir, Andrew Sutherland, Black Koki, Bruce Mackay, Cathy Layzell, Georgina Berens, Kirsten Beets, Kirsten Sims, Mareli Esterhuizen, Paul Senyol, Heidi Fourie, and Zarah Cassim, to mention only a few, as well as exciting newcomers to the fair, including Chloe Townsend, Berry Meyer, Katrine Claassens, Lili Probart, Matthew Prins, NEBNIKRO, Renée Rossouw, Sarah Pratt, Tara Deacon & more. Expect to see collage, painting, photography, ceramics, monotypes, reverse glass works, and drawings, executed in a rich winter’s palette, articulated with cool midnight hues, and bursts of warm jewel colours. The space did feature large and medium sized works by the various exhibiting artists, as well as two group projects, including a collection of diminutive works.

INSTALLATION PREVIEW IN TURBINE #3 | ‘SHEATHED’ by JENNA BARBE