Fashion and design website Skattie has been piloting a new way to give emerging artists exposure with their Celebrates parties. The concept is that a gallery space is hired out for one night only and turned into an exhibition/party. There previous exhibitions looked at Laura Windvogel and Unathi Mkonto, while this weekend’s will focuses on Cape Town artist Rose Gelderblom Waddilove.
Rose trained in print media, but works across painting, performance and new media. As she told us- ‘Stories of art and pain have motivated much of my research’. A recent trip to occupied Palestine had been especially significant- ‘it has allowed me an opportunity to reflect on the state of the nation in South Africa, the symbolic ending of apartheid and issues of solidarity and identity’. This focus on the contemporary moment in South Africa incorporates a particular fascination with ‘the position of an individual within the crowd’.
For her Skattie show she will be showing a broad spectrum of her prior work. These will include prints she made while studying at UCT and performance piece collaborations with artist Adam Jon Williams. A particular highlight is the painting she made on the border wall in the West Bank. The party will also showcase some of her new work, dealing ‘with major statistics, crowds, trauma and loss. This year marks 50 years since the declaration of District 6 as whites only area. 2016 marks 40 years since the 1976 Soweto Uprising as well as 20 years of the Constitution. My most recent work aims purely to begin to locate creative self-expression at this moment in time’.
Alongside the exhibition, Skattie will be providing a downloadable online publication of Roses work, created in partnership with Art Africa magazine. The party will also feature a wide line up of dj’s for the evening. It starts at 6PM on Saturday at the Ava Gallery, 35 Church Street, Cape Town.
