Lené Ehlers

Lené Ehlers

Lené Ehlers is an artist, illustrator, and florist living in Cape Town, South Africa. Ehlers studied a BA in Graphic Design at the Pearson Institute and subsequently completed an Honours degree in Illustrations at the University of Stellenbosch after discovering an interest and passion for the discipline.

Upon graduation, the artist started working as a florist. Her work with exotic botanicals began to inform her illustration practice and the artist began to develop a rich symbolism within her works by using botanical themes to give voice to internal landscapes. Concepts of journey, self-discovery, and narrative are often explored in her pieces. The emotional value of colours and the careful combinations of hues and tones serve as a start point for many pieces. Ehlers’ works - executed in collage, ink, gouache, and water-based pigments on paper - strike a balance between spontaneous mark-making, chance, and considered details.

Ehlers’ work has been exhibited at the prestigious Bologna Children’s Book Fair in 2017 and at Salon Ninety One for “A Hazy Shade of Winter” in 2020. She has also been accepted to participate in a residency programme in Champagne, France.

Lené is represented by Salon91 in Cape Town and Otomys in Australia and United Kingdom.


 

SELECTED PROJECTS & EXHIBITIONS

2021 - When it’s hot out & you wanna have a good time, group exhibition, Salon 91. 2020 - A Hazy Shade of Winter, group exhibition, Salon 91. 2017- Illustrators exhibition, Bologna Children’s Bookfair, Italy; Up Your Sleeve, group exhibition, MOK Gallery, Stellenbosch.


 

WHEN IT’S HOT OUT AND YOU WANNA HAVE A GOOD TIME

16.01 - 20.02.2021

GROUP EXHIBITION

Salon Ninety One is thrilled to present its first show of 2021, When it’s hot out and you wanna have a good time.

This all female-collection is inspired by the heat and freedom of long, colourful summer days, balmy evenings, and the strange summer we now find ourselves in; a summer which has seen restrictions on festivities, curfews, and the closure of many of South Africa’s beaches.

When temperatures soar above 29 degrees, we become lethargic about our responsibilities and the allure of leisure becomes almost too much to bear; sitting on the beach, surfing, sunbathing, a friendly game of tennis, going to pool-parties, sun-downers, the welcome gust of air-conditioner as you walk into cool museums or galleries in foreign cities, outings with friends, the tang of salt on your skin after a swim in the ocean, and other activities which seem so much more vibrant in the heat of summer. This colourful, quirky, and playful exhibition is a wistful yearning for a long, hot, normal, summer – where a good time can be had at any moment.

When it’s hot out and you wanna have a good time features the very latest works by Berry Meyer, Emma Nourse, Lené Ehlers, Jessica Bosworth Smith, Marolize Southwood, and Tara Deacon. Berry Meyer constructs detailed, and delicate collage works, which combine disparate and discarded paper artefacts to develop thoughtful and arresting narratives on time, nostalgia, race, sexuality, and popular culture. Emma Nourse works with thick oils applied to paper and canvas to render flower arrangements and still lifes which seem to melt and reconstitute over and over again on the picture plane. Lené Ehlers creates intricate abstract and wild botanical shapes in paint, collage and mixed media to explore themes of journey and self-rediscovery. Through the depiction of highly patterned and detailed scenes in bright, flat, colour, Jessica Bosworth Smith expresses her desire to capture fantastical inner worlds which pay homage to her new-found sense of place. Marolize Southwood’s work demonstrates her deep fascination with the human condition and our proclivity to construct our own reality using bold, joyful, and textured brushwork. And Tara Deacon’s playful and bright paintings explore the often-overlooked moments of daily life, where her love of solid colour and simplified shapes give expression to the beauty in the mundane.

ARTWORKS

 

BERRY MEYER

 

EMMA NOURSE

 

 

JESSICA BOSWORTH SMITH

 

 

LENÉ EHLERS

 

MAROLIZE SOUTHWOOD

 

TARA DEACON

 

 

INSTALLATION VIEWS

A HAZY SHADE OF WINTER

08.08 - 05.09.2020

A Hazy Shade of Winter is a salon-style group show including works by represented, associated, and exciting new artists. Exhibiting Artists include Adele Van Heerden, Alexia Vogel, Amber Moir, Andrew Sutherland, Black Koki, Elléna Lourens, Keya Tama, Ello Xray Eyez, Emma Nourse, Gabrielle Raaff, Heidi Fourie, Jade Klara, Jeanne Hoffman, Jessica Bosworth Smith, Joh Del, Katrin Coetzer, Katrine Claassens, Keneilwe Mothoa, Kirsten Beets, Kirsten Sims, Laurinda Belcher, Lené Ehlers, Lili Probart, Linsey Levendall, Mareli Esterhuizen, Marolize Southwood, Matthew Prins, Mona Haumann, Natasha Norman, Nicole Clare Fraser, Nina Torr, Paul Senyol, Sarah Pratt, Tara Deacon, and Zarah Cassim.

The group exhibition inspired by the Simon and Garfunkel song of the same name, seeks to explore subject matters, palettes, and imagery which capture and express the varied emotions, colours, memories, and atmosphere, which this season brings. For some artists, winter evokes icy vistas, cool palettes of blues and whites, and the change to colder and shorter days. For others, the changing season elicits a longing for warmer times, the comfort of staying indoors close to the fire, the use of warm and jewel tones, and the desire to capture nature in full bloom.

Winter provides a milestone for the passage of time through the year. For many, 2020 has felt somewhat surreal; time has moved on and the seasons have changed and yet there is a feeling that normal life was a lifetime ago.

Throughout the collection, the viewer is invited to contemplate the artists’ relationship with the season of winter and how something as simple as a change in weather can have a profound impact on the kinds of work they produce.

ARTWORKS:

ADELE VAN HEERDEN

ALEXIA VOGEL

AMBER MOIR

ANDREW SUTHERLAND

BLACK KOKI

ELLÉNA LOURENS | KEYA TAMA

 

ELLO XRAY EYEZ

EMMA NOURSE

GABRIELLE RAAFF

HEIDI FOURIE

JADE KLARA

JEANNE HOFFMAN

JESSICA BOSWORTH SMITH

JOH DEL

KATRIN COETZER

KATRINE CLAASSENS

KENEILWE MOTHOA

KIRSTEN BEETS

KIRSTEN SIMS

LAURINDA BELCHER

LENÉ EHLERS

LILI PROBART

LINSEY LEVENDALL

MARELI ESTERHUIZEN

MAROLIZE SOUTHWOOD

MATTHEW PRINS

MONA HAUMANN

NATASHA NORMAN

NICOLE CLARE FRASER

NINA TORR

PAUL SENYOL

SARAH PRATT

TARA DEACON

ZARAH CASSIM

 

INSTALLATION VIEWS:

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