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NOW SHOWING: WHO WE SHOULD NOT BE Navel Seakamela

22.06.2022 - 28.07.2022

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GUILD Residency opens in Cape Town

TALES OF THE EARTH: Andile Dyalvane at The Met

Now representing: Patrick Bongoy

Jun 29

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'iZembe' (An Axe) by @fanimadoda and 'Cornish Wall' by @andiledyalvane are included in the @loewefoundation 2022 Craft Prize exhibition opening at @seoulmuseumofcraftart on 1 July. The two works are finalists in the Madrid-based cultural foundation’s annual prize-giving, the winner of which will be announced tomorrow, 30 June. The achievement is all the more remarkable because this is the first year that work by African artists has been included, and both are Southern Guild-affiliated. This makes us very proud indeed, regardless of whether either of them wins.Congratulations, Andile and Madoda!#SouthernGuild #MadodaFani #AndileDyalvane #LoeweFoundation #loewecraftprize #loewe #craft #art #ceramics #ceramicart #vessel #sculpture #Africanartists #craftsmanship #artprize #handcrafted #handmade #seoul #madrid #seoulmuseumofcraftart

Jun 28

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“A being who has awakened to themselves” is how artist @sisonkepapu describes the subject of this photographic work. Its title, 'Ukuvuma Ukufa', can be translated as “the acceptance of death” – a meditation on what it means to let go of the ego’s attachment to the material world.Papu, an igqirha (healer) based in Mthatha, notes that the character depicted in the photograph is neither male nor female, but a being that occupies an androgenous state. Each item they are wearing or holding carries specific symbolism.For example, the character carries an "imvubu" in their left hand and an "itshoba" in their right, tools through which the ancestors enable diviners to channel healing energy. Their eyes are covered to denote the fact that they no longer rely on the five senses, but on the inner knowing of the soul.The artist notes: “Upon arriving on the planet, each of us carries something in our closed hands. That which we carry inside of us is hidden and it is the soul’s journey through the body/physical realm to realise and manifest. During the course of the journey, the soul sends particular information so it can remember itself. The signals that the soul sends to awaken itself are often distracted/distorted by the ego’s attachment to the individual/ material/ physical world.”“Thus, ‘ukuvuma ukufa’ as a ritual is a portal to attune individual consciousness with cosmic consciousness by surrendering to the intuitive soul. It is through the acceptance of death as a necessary point in the evolution of one’s soul that we transcend the fetters of duality/polarity, synchronising the masculine and feminine aspects in order to embody an androgynous god-self.”#SouthernGuild #SisonkePapu #photographicart #photograph #art #spirituality #Africanspirituality #spiritualart #spiritual #igqirha #healer #healing #xhosa #heritage #xhosaculture #symbolism #androgynous #soul #soulawakening #ritual #portal #consciousness #conscious #energy #healingenergy

Jun 27

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Artists inspired by their indigenous spiritual belief systems are the focus of “Art Trance”, a feature in the latest @houseandleisure written by @misszan and compiled by @thelookbook. Featuring the work of @andiledyalvane, @zizipo_poswa and @atangtshikare’s first sculptural pieces made for our 2016 @designmiami booth.#SouthernGuild #HouseandLeisure #AndileDyalvane #Ziziphoposwa #AtangTshikare #spiritualart #ceramicart #ceramics #Africanceramics #africanspirituality #heritage #ancestors #sculpture #sculptural #artist #Africanartist #xhosaculture #sothoculture #Africanart #spirit #spiritual #spirituality

Jun 24

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There's a beautiful and unexpected conversation between @adam_birch_sculpts' ebonised timber seats, carved from tree forks, and @naveldnav's vibrant portraits. Come in and see for yourself 😉Here are 'Siamese Lounger I' and 'Siamese Lounger I' by Adam Birch, both carved from eucalyptus.#SouthernGuild #NavelSeakamela #AdamBirch #sculpted #sculptural #sculptor #treefork #timber #seating #sculpturalfurniture #functionalsculpture #functionalart #ebonised #eucalyptus #wood #carved #woodfurniture #timberfurniture #exhibition #gallery #woodworker #woodworking #wooddesign

Jun 23

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Southern Guild has opened a 350-sqm live-work space for artist residencies in Cape Town’s CBD. Pretoria-based artist @naveldnav recently wrapped up a six-week stay at the GUILD Residency where he completed a body of work for his solo debut exhibition, 'Who We Should Not Be'.The GUILD Residency offers artists the freedom, material resources, and critical encouragement to explore their practice. The objective is for the experience to result in a focused body of work that will be shown at the gallery or at a local or international art fair. The space is ideal for artists who can work indoors and without the need for heavy-duty machinery, but Southern Guild can facilitate any assistance from its network of specialised manufacturers and artisans.The GUILD Residency is open to artists on the African continent, international applicants wanting to collaborate with local artisans and designers, and Cape Town-based artists seeking a different space in which to work.Click the link in bio for more information.#SouthernGuild #artistresidency #navelseakamela #capetown #gallery #artresidency #artistinresidence #artist #art #artiststudio #workingspace #artistworking #workinprogress #africanartists #africandesigners #artfromafrica #collectibledesign #functionalart #fineart #painting #painter

Jun 22

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"For Seakamela, portraiture is a way of capturing human emotion and digging deep into one's own subconscious. In 'Who We Should Not Be', exaggerated portraits become a way for him to reflect on a sense of self through tender representations of love and courage in relation to others. Moments of grace and beauty take hold through a careful unfolding of gestures — a hand on the bare body, eyes shut tight inspiring a dreamlike state, eyes resting on a loved one." - Nkgopoleng Moloi'Who We Should Not Be' by @naveldnav opens tonight at 6PM.Pictured here is
Navel Seakamela
“malapa ga a lekane” I, 2021
Charcoal, acrylic, pastel on paper
126 x 214 cm#SouthernGuild #NavelSeakamela #painting #painter #mixedmedia #artwork
#art #artist #wallart #portrait #portraitpainting #portraitpainter #figurativeart #figurativeartist #figurative

Jun 20

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OPENING THIS WEDNESDAY Southern Guild presents 'Who We Should Not Be', a solo exhibition of mixed-media portraits by @naveldnav, opening on 22 June (until 28 July). The artist reflects on the role of leisure in this series of large-scale works depicting people in moments of quietude, repose and vulnerability. 'Who We Should Not Be' contemplates both the joys and difficulties of existence in a world where bodies are inscribed with meaning, read and misread. This body of work, Seakamela’s first solo with the gallery, was completed while he was the first artist in residence at the GUILD Residency.#SouthernGuild #NavelSeakamela #portrait #portraitpainting #painting #painter #artist #artwork #art #artist #figurativeart #figurative #figurativepainting #Blackportrait #pink #leisure #quiet #SouthAfricanartist #Africanartist #contemporaryartist #contemporaryart

Jun 14

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@shakilsolanki_studio's gouache painting, 'Fall of Ophelia IV', was inspired by British Pre-Raphaelite artist Sir John Everett Millais’ iconic painting of Ophelia. Long inspired and haunted by the artwork, Solanki was taken by the the tension of Ophelia’s grief-stricken body surrounded by lush blossoming flowers and verdant greenery. In his own rendition of this deeply melancholic scene Ophelia is absent, referenced only by the drifting pleats of her robes. Drawing on his South Asian heritage, Solanki depicts her presence in the form of a swirling silk sari tangled with flowers. The flowing lines of fabric and the delicate ornamentation of Indian textiles are a recurring interest for him.Solanki also swaps out Millais’ lush setting for another liminal garden, which he describes as “a twilight landscape of homoerotic desire and yearning”. The presence of pomegranates carries multiple, rich associations, symbolising fertility and eternal life in some traditions, and blood and death in others. “This is an environment of beauty and stillness, permeated with its own sinister undertones, one in which Ophelia becomes a motif of doomed love and failed eroticism,” says Solanki.Shakil Solanki
'Fall of Ophelia IV', 2022
Gouache on Fabriano Rosaspina
52 x 36 x 4 cm
One-offOn view in 'Spring Awakening' until tomorrow, 15 June.#SouthernGuild #ShakilSolanki #SpringAwakening #ophelia #ornamentation #fabric #sari #gouache #pattern #patterned #painting #painted #painter #artist #SouthAsianartist #SouthAsian #artwork #art #gallery #lush #garden #desire #fertility #erotic #textiles #Indiantextiles

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