Bronze sculpture is at home in the grounds and interiors of great houses — and for good reason. The grandeur of this lustrous dark matter lies in its use for works of world art spanning 3,500 years. The earliest known bronze sculpture is the tiny Mohenjo-Daro figurine from the Indus valley, created well before Greek Zeus figures, Chinese crucibles, Inca cogged discs or Landseer’s lions in London’s Trafalgar Square.

Matthew Hindley has extended his series of paintings, entitled 'Resurrection' exhibited at Everard Read in Cape Town last year with its focus on fire and destruction in a new body of work and has developed a slightly different stylistic methodology. His most recent body of work, 'Ruin Lust' at Everard Read in Johannesburg explores the fascination, even aesthetic beauty, associated with violence, explosions, and bomb blasts. In conversation with the artist, what became evident is that in his steering away from the merely 'pretty,' the artist wishes the viewer (and he himself) to confront the shadow side; that a recognition of one's lust for violence and chaos may in fact be cathartic. Tragedy in art may ironically lead to healthier or more profound living.

Read the full article here:

http://artsouthafrica.com/220-news-articles-2013/2809-ruin-lust-matthew-hindley-at-everard-read-johannesburg-by-danny-shorkend.html

C’est une culture, un peuple et ses

légendes que Thania Petersen aborde dans

un travail de mise en scène aux frontières

du kitsch. Prenant la pose en

costume dans des décors décalés, l’artiste

sud-africaine évoque son histoire

personnelle et celle de sa communauté,

issue d’esclaves malais et indonésiens.

Quanta Gauld of Art Throb reviews Everard Read CT's April group show, Pastoral Abstraction.

“all that stuns the soul, all that imprints a feeling of terror, leads to the sublime” (Diderot).

The above quote serves as the opening line for the exhibition guide for  ‘Pastoral Abstraction’. The title immediately harks back to an art historical understanding of the pastoral, a genre of 19th century landscape painting that glorified human dominion over and cultivation of the natural environment. This reference provides a crucial starting point to consider the works on show. Drawing on the concept of the sublime, ‘Pastoral Abstraction’ is a contemporary effort to visualise the place of humans in nature in the context of the current historical moment.

Read the full story here.

Centro Luigi Di Sarro, Rome and Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town are pleased to announce that the South African artist selected for the 2016/2017 Edition of ARP- Art Residency Project - is Zwelethu Machepha.

Financed by MAECI, Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and have the patronage of the Italian Embassy in South Africa and the South African Embassy in Italy, the residency will take place in Rome starting the 3rd of May, 2016, after which the artist will have a solo exhibition, at Centro Di Sarro, opening on May 31st 2016. The exhibition and the residency will conclude on 11 June and 13 June 2016, respectively.

Gallery Artist Shany Van den Berg's Self, 21x30cm, 2016 is one of 50 finalists in this years BP Portrait Awards 2016 at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Tim Liebbrant reviews Nigel Mullin's Retrogressive Propaganda exhibition in the Sunday Argus.

"Seen from a distance, his subject matter is easily recognisable as archival photographs of mostly femaile figures. As one moves closer, what was previously a faithful recreation melts into an indecipherable mishmash of dense impasto paint bursting from its frame.''

With just over a week to go until the opening of CIRCA Gallery in London on March 17th, director Georgie Shields speaks to Siobhan Keam of Art Africa about the new Chelsea gallery.

"...given an appropriate platform, artists from Southern Africa do as well as artists from anywhere else in the world.''

Read more in the March issue of ART AFRICA

Everard Read artist Thania Petersen was featured on the front page of The Next 48 Hours newspaper. Petersen's striking photograph, Queen Colonaaier and her Weapons of Mass Destruction, adorned the front page article detailing the Cape Town Art Fair's Special Project Space, Tomorrows / Today.

Petersen, who describes her work as quite theatrical in style, gives a voice to her community – Indonesian descendants living in South Africa. She will be showing a video titled ‘Baqa’ alongside her ‘Rampies’ installation. Together the two engage the senses and speak of the Cape Malay people’s spiritual rituals. She will also be presenting a second body of work called ‘Botanical Imperialism’, comprised of two photographs highlighting the impact of colonialism both on the natural environment and Petersen’s people.

Read the full article here: http://48hours.co.za/cape-town-art-fair-to-serve-as-showcase-for-tomorrows-artists/

The 4th edition of the Cape Town Art Fair will be showcased at the CTICC from Friday to Sunday. Lucinda Jolly previews. 

Matthew Partridge, the recently elected director of the Cape Town Art Fair says that ''his primary mission is to generate three primary conversations. Firstly, while he believes that the SA art market was consolidated at the Joburg Art Fair seven or eight years ago, he wants to “recenter” Cape Town within the SA art world. Secondly, he wants the fair to engage with neighbours on the African continent by including galleries from Cameroon, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Senegal. Thirdly, dialogue with Europe via galleries from Italy, Germany, France, Belgian and the UK reconfiguring Africa’s place – especially given that contemporary African art is so hot right now. This year’s Amory Show which opens a week after the CTAF has an African focus.''

Read the full story here: http://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/visual-splash-at-weekend-art-fair-1984825