ARTISTS
Louis Khehla Maqhubela: A Vigil of Departure: A Retrospective 1960鈥�2010
18 Oct, 2010 - 13 Feb, 2011
Louis Maqhubela鈥檚 exposure to European artists and abstract painting offered him a decisive means to break out of the conventions and stylistic mannerisms of a genre labelled 鈥楾ownship Art鈥�. This new direction meant the end of figurative expressionism and the beginning of a personal engagement with modernist abstraction. His work became less about recording views of his environment and more about using line, form, shape and colour as expressive means in and of themselves.
The freedom euphoria of 1994 gave renewed impetus to the artist鈥檚 work, both thematically and technically. Curator, Marilyn Martin, writes, 鈥�In spite of trials and challenges he faced during his life, Maqhubela鈥檚 art is characterised by a profound humanism, inner joy and affirmation of life; [his works] spring from a deep spiritual and metaphysical well.鈥� The exhibition assesses Louis Maqhubela鈥檚 (1939鈥�) place in, and contribution to, South African art history. It is a public reminder of a great artist, and returns Maqhubela from obscurity to re-inscribe him into this country鈥檚 history of art
The freedom euphoria of 1994 gave renewed impetus to the artist鈥檚 work, both thematically and technically. Curator, Marilyn Martin, writes, 鈥�In spite of trials and challenges he faced during his life, Maqhubela鈥檚 art is characterised by a profound humanism, inner joy and affirmation of life; [his works] spring from a deep spiritual and metaphysical well.鈥� The exhibition assesses Louis Maqhubela鈥檚 (1939鈥�) place in, and contribution to, South African art history. It is a public reminder of a great artist, and returns Maqhubela from obscurity to re-inscribe him into this country鈥檚 history of art
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Louis Maqhubela鈥檚 exposure to European artists and abstract painting offered him a decisive means to break out of the conventions and stylistic mannerisms of a genre labelled 鈥楾ownship Art鈥�. This new direction meant the end of figurative expressionism and the beginning of a personal engagement with modernist abstraction. His work became less about recording views of his environment and more about using line, form, shape and colour as expressive means in and of themselves.
The freedom euphoria of 1994 gave renewed impetus to the artist鈥檚 work, both thematically and technically. Curator, Marilyn Martin, writes, 鈥�In spite of trials and challenges he faced during his life, Maqhubela鈥檚 art is characterised by a profound humanism, inner joy and affirmation of life; [his works] spring from a deep spiritual and metaphysical well.鈥� The exhibition assesses Louis Maqhubela鈥檚 (1939鈥�) place in, and contribution to, South African art history. It is a public reminder of a great artist, and returns Maqhubela from obscurity to re-inscribe him into this country鈥檚 history of art
The freedom euphoria of 1994 gave renewed impetus to the artist鈥檚 work, both thematically and technically. Curator, Marilyn Martin, writes, 鈥�In spite of trials and challenges he faced during his life, Maqhubela鈥檚 art is characterised by a profound humanism, inner joy and affirmation of life; [his works] spring from a deep spiritual and metaphysical well.鈥� The exhibition assesses Louis Maqhubela鈥檚 (1939鈥�) place in, and contribution to, South African art history. It is a public reminder of a great artist, and returns Maqhubela from obscurity to re-inscribe him into this country鈥檚 history of art
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