Fried Contemporary is proud to present a group exhibition curated by Dr. Johan Thom opening Thursday 30 August from 6pm-8pm.
Black Humour is meant to refer to idea of ‘Black Humour’ both formally and conceptually. In our contemporary South African context the term ‘Black Humour’ may be read politically too – even as the concept continues to make reference to the darker side of humour generally. In this way notions of humour and blackness may simultaneously be explored as a formal property of things, paint on a canvas, a traumatic situation, and conceptually as a signifier of race, sex, death, the unknown, the macabre and the laughable.
The resulting tension serves for a highly charged situation where politics, the (inter)personal and the practice of art-making all stand precariously balanced on edge. It is here where humour may cheekily intervene, deflating pretensions and momentarily leveling the playing field by introducing the unexpected, the as yet unthought possibility.
The entire exhibition is conceived as an installation in which artworks exploring different aspects of the concept of ‘black humour’ will be placed together in order to generate a dynamic spatial and conceptual dialogue. Artists forming part of the exhibition include:
Bumba & Andre . Cazlynne Peffer . Conrad Botes . Cow Mash
Dylan Graham . Hannalie Taute . Johan Thom . Raimi Gbadamosi
Ricky Burnett . Shenaz Mahomed . Vusi Beauchamp
Fried Contemporary gallery
Flashback Friday= opening night: Grimm Needle
Art portfolio- my workThe Grimm Needle exhibition at Fried Contemporary Gallery close tomorrow.
It is with fond memories that I revisit the opening night on this “Flashback Friday”….
During the evening everyone who attended the opening were asked to write their names and telephone numbers on a piece of paper and put it in one of Johan Thom’s hats. Later in the evening Mika Thom the owner of the gallery drew one name from that hat…
The one’s whose name were drawn received this piece below, which I especially made for this event (in this case Sarel Petrus received it- who is a fellow artist whom I have never met until that evening and whose solo exhibition is up next at this gallery!)
Thank you to friends, colleagues and everyone who visited my exhibition (in the flesh or via the web) and to the patrons who are taking some work home with them. To those of you (you know who you are) who helped, listened, talked, supported and pampered me before and after the show…a heartfelt thank you.
Radio inteview about my solo exhibition. (sorry my English speaking friends, this is in Afrikaans)
One more sheep..I mean sleep
Studio newsTomorrow!
The opening of my solo exhibition: The Grimm Needle at Fried Contemporary gallery, in Pretoria – South Africa…
I hope to see you there! x
Photo credit: Anli Botha