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Peanut butter and gherkins seem an unlikely food combination. As do Oreos dipped in orange juice, however they are in fact a delicious combination. By definition Folly is the lack of good sense, foolishness, or a costly ornamental building. Much like the theatrical interpretation ‘follies’ take the stage at SMITH for a group show including 11 artists.
The need for a deeper understanding in ones own life seems to fall away once we embrace the dizziness of spontaneity and play. Each artist included in Folly has either through their own methodology or their own concept ‘let go’ to create a sense of folly in their work. They have either combined unlikely mediums or combined subject matter in an ‘absurd’ way. This element of absurdity creates a wonderfully playful interpretation of the worlds around them or the dream worlds created by them, breaking free from any form of repression from societal norms.
Artists have interpreted Folly in their own unique way - from acknowledgment of the surface itself as an important means of exploration to a medium that is unfamiliar as with Lucy Turpin’s works that embrace found veldt and a reaction to a summer spent in Iceland.
Katherine Bull closes her eyes and chooses pages from old National Geographic magazines and upon opening them embraces the act of chance by reinterpreting the images through collage. Gitte Möller investigates a complex array of foreign symbols and archetypes and places them in suspension. From ancient mythology, manuscripts, prayer paintings, motivational images and functional graphics we are introduced to a visual feast of combined culture. Renée Rossouw works within a similar head pace, interpreting the delights of the studio that surrounds her as colour samples transform into small animated compositions. Michaela Younge flirts with the idea of the uncanny and something that is both familiar and unknown, even sinister surfaces as a result.
This combination of image and visual language can be seen clearly in Nicole McComb and Jeanne Hoffman’s work. McComb creates a surreal platform by separating and linking scenes of everyday life to create a painted collage. Jeanne Hoffman revisits her interest in the mish mash of fragments that wash up literally and metaphorically on her canvas. Rosie Mudge and Pierre Carl Vermuelen have used unlikely materials to push the boundaries of absurdity. Mudge uses automotive paint and glitter glue on canvas, while Vermeulen explores the truly unconventional in Sweat Print 17 - a Diptych which forms part of an ongoing series ‘Sweat Prints’ whereby the body, drenched in sweat, becomes the mark maker. Both artists have explored these mediums on a monumental scale. From sweat to automotive paint, smiling croissants and pastel cows, ‘Folly’ showcases an exciting group of emerging contemporary abstract artists.
Artists included are Io Makandal, Jeanne Hoffman, Pierre Carl Vermeulen, Amy Ayanda, Rosie Mudge, Renée Rossouw, Lucy Turpin,
Katherine Bull, Gitte Möller, Nicole McComb and Michaela Younge.