Not only is this year’s 2019 New Breed Winners Group Exhibition on show in the foyer of Phatshoane Henney Attorneys’ offices in Bloemfontein – but as of 1 October 2020 it is also being showcased online as an innovative virtual exhibition to allow for art-lovers worldwide to enjoy this exciting immersive art experience.
Over the last eight months the five winners of last year’s New Breed Art Competition had been hard at work creating an entire new body of artworks as part of the prize offering of this annually held art competition presented by Phatshoane Henney Attorneys in association with Oliewenhuis Art Museum.
Due to the physical constraints induced by lockdown and the Covid-19 pandemic, these five artists and mentors Pauline Gutter, award-winning Free State artist, and Karen Brusch, founder of the Free State Art Collective, convened on a regular basis via Zoom-meetings to successfully put together this exhibition.
The challenging circumstances brought about by Covid-19, however, provided the New Breed Art Competition with the ideal opportunity to not only display the Winners Group Exhibition in a physical space, but to also present it as 3D virtual exhibition that can be entered online from any place in the world. Hereby the artistic talents of Neo Theku (overall winner), Kay Fourie (runner-up), Miné Kleynhans and Bokang Nkejane (Merit Award winners), and Bongani Tshabalala (Public Choice Award winner) can be admired up-close by a much larger audience.
The exhibition comprises a total of 25 works which include paintings, photographs and sculptures. Theku’s gut-punching digital prints on aluminium, as well as Tshabalala’s alluring digital photographs all comment on the male psyche and untreated and suppressed depression in especially the male black community, which, based on own personal experience, they each strongly connect to gender-based violence and its knock-on effect on children born within abusive households.
A highlight of the exhibition is Fourie’s massive installation of 29 hanging resin bats commenting on man’s intrusion on the eco-system and the misplaced blame on bats for causing the Covid-19 outbreak. Furthermore, she has created several other intricate and visually striking charcoal drawings drawing on a variety of subject matter.
Kleynhans’ finely finished and colourful sculptures zoom in on topics around social interactions, codes, intellectualism and emotions – adding various playful, yet deeply thought-provoking elements to the exhibition that is sure to draw in the viewer. Nkejane’s unique style of painting lends the final playful yet serious touch to this expansive body of works.
The virtual exhibition is accessible without charge via www.newbreedart.co.za. Artworks are for sale for the duration of the exhibition and more information can also be found here.
The public is welcome to view the exhibition at our offices at 35 Markgraaff Street, Westdene on weekdays between 08:00 and 17:00. The exhibition runs until the 31st of October 2020.