Sarah Pratt

ONLY IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY

24.02 - 27.03.2021

A solo exhibition of new paintings by Sarah Pratt

Sarah Pratt’s latest body of work explores themes of camouflage in the animal kingdom. The pieces on exhibition were initially inspired by the bold and dominant colours of the seasons. However, as the artist delved deeper into the mysterious world of mimicry, concealment, disruptive colouration, and disguise, she became excited about exploring the patterns, hues, spots, and stripes found in nature. The act of camouflage within the natural world evokes the constant flow between preservation and danger. In nature, deceit can mean both survival for prey and hunting method for predator; the duality of the stripes found on both the zebra and tiger, to hide their form within the long grass, highlights the ingenuity of nature and evolution. Using colour-blocking as a starting point, and by grouping together animals of a similar hue, Pratt intentionally places the focus on what may be hidden. The artist often stacks natural foes together to create dynamic and unusual conversations where appearances are deceiving. The concept of visibility versus invisibility is one which the artist continues to muse on from previous bodies of work; Pratt also seeks to explore themes of extinction, the relative invisibility of the plight of the natural world, and our disconnection from our environment.

ARTWORKS

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

IF IT WASN’T FOR US

NIGHT AND DAY

23.01 -23.02.2019

A solo exhibition by Sarah Pratt.

Sarah Pratt’s latest solo exhibition continues to explore themes that were introduced in Migration last year. In Night and Day, nocturnal animals hang out with diurnal animals in unlikely friendships. Her titles hint at the possible gossiping that might ensue between the animal characters in Autumnor At Midnight. The series makes a stronger reference to wallpapers of the eighteenth century than her last exhibition, with a striking use of flat colour backgrounds and Art Nouveau-style decorative foliage design.

Pratt’s artistic world relishes the unlikely meeting of birds, mammals and plants separated by habit, biology and habitat. She encourages an imaginative viewing and light-hearted musings on the comical potential of her characters meeting in a two-dimensional space. In a Noah’s ark-like confrontation of personalities, one might be reminded of the meeting of early morning office commuters on the same train as nightclubbers returning home. Habitually worlds apart, such confrontations in a contained space mark a humorous crossover of incongruent realities facilitated by human-made environments.

Sarah Pratt is a Zimbabwean born artist who currently lives between Wales in the United Kingdom and Kamieskroon in South Africa’s Northern Cape. Her works communicate her own personal struggles with space and place, the loss of a beloved pet or humanity’s tenuous link with the natural world.

ARTWORKS:

Sarah Pratt is a highly skilled printmaker and painter specialising in copperplate etching, linocut, collograph, and monoprint as well as gouache paintings rendered in fine detail.

She begins her work with a subject or animal that interests her and then imagines what unexpected relationship to build with another. The results are mapped in the final artwork where pen, paint, print, or ink materialise her subjects. Her current interest is in drawing and painting with gouache, pen and ink; but it is the process of layering (so fundamental to printmaking) that continues to influence her aesthetic. Pratt relishes the juxtaposition of unusual or discordant subjects and the absurdity and humour of dreams. Witty and endearing, Pratt’s works also communicate her own personal struggles with space and place, the loss of a beloved pet, or humanity’s tenuous link with the natural world.

Born in Zimbabwe in 1972, Pratt spent ten years teaching printmaking part-time at UCT’s Michaelis School of Fine Art where she completed her MFA. The artist currently spends her time between Wales and South Africa. She often works on projects that take her to places renowned for their natural beauty and wildlife - such as Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and Tanzania - where the landscape, flora, and fauna are so inspiring that it is unsurprising that they find their way into Pratt's exhibitions. She is an extremely prolific artist, constantly creating, and actively participating in exhibitions.

Selected Exhibitions: 2018 – ‘Migration’ solo exhibition at Salon91; ‘Turbine Art Fair’, Johannesburg, Salon91 Booth. 2017 – ‘The Dark Forest’ at Rust en Vrede Gallery; ‘Oracle’ at Salon91. 2016 – ‘The Fox, The Owl and the Robber’, solo exhibition at Salon91; ‘The Grand III’ at Rust en Vrede Gallery. 2015 – ‘Dog Days’, solo exhibition at Salon91; ‘Narratives’ at Rust en Vrede Gallery. 2014 – ‘Away', solo exhibition at Salon91. 2013 – ‘I’d Rather be Swimming’, Salon91; Lytton Street studio Exhibition, Cape Town; ‘Shoes from Chinese Ships’ at Salon91.

SUNDAY TIMES ART TALK | ARTIST SARAH PRATT

Sunday Times. Lifestyle, Home. 3 June 2018

TURBINE ART FAIR 2018

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