rosenclaireColour Theory
Goodman Gallery Cape Town is pleased to present, for our first show of 2014, an exhibition of new works by rosenclaire titled Colour Theory. The exhibition will feature a characteristic mix of collaborative and individual works by Claire Gavronsky and Rose Shakinovsky, presented in conversation.
The exhibition takes its title from a desire on the part of the artists to open up a discursive space between theoretical engagement and visceral response, between contemplation and surprise. Colour Theory can be understood in a social and political context, referring to racial categorisation and discrimination, as well as the ways in which we have been trained to "read" colour culturally. But colour, and our relationship with it, also exists in a place outside of these linguistic and cultural constructs. As the artists write: "Colour… has a voice and impact of its own, directly on the senses and emotions. It resonates in the silence when language reaches its limits, when words fail in the face of overwhelming joy, great suffering and pure aesthetic pleasure".
Often emerging from a pictorial dialogue, the content – or the question – dictates the shape and medium of the work, which ranges from unapologetically humble ready-made images to site specific installations. The ambivalent authorship of the works resulting from this dialogue – and their conversation, in turn, with the canon of art history – acts as a challenge to the notion of uniqueness and identifiable style as a signifier of artistic integrity.
Children feature prominently in many of Gavronsky's paintings and drawings, acting alternately as a pair of naive and truthful eyes for the viewer to look through, and a source of mischief and daring, unhappy with the status quo and prepared to attempt the impossible. In Shakinovsky's small abstract oils fashioned out of cut and bent canvas and paper, and other mixed media works, she is interested in shifting the viewer's perspective – whether it be visually or conceptually – to notice or think something not thought a moment before. She often uses found quotidian objects and ready-made images, stripped of their original context and placed in unexpected relationships and combinations.
Artworks
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Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, collectively known as rosenclaire, were born in South Africa and now live and work between Florence, and Cape Town. They have exhibited extensively both in South Africa and abroad. Together they established and run a prestigious art residency program in Tuscany, and they regularly conduct artist workshops in the United States, Italy and South Africa. Colour Theory is their third solo exhibition with Goodman Gallery.
Artist Bio
(Photograph taken by Gérard Gazia)
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Live and work in Florence, Italy
Claire Gavronsky (b. 1957, Johannesburg) works in a variety of mediums, most notably in painting and sculpture. Her work often uses visual references to historical paintings, and cues are sometimes taken from events from everyday life. Memory, racism, violence against women and children are some of the themes which run through her oeuvre.
Notable solo and group exhibitions include: Mirror of the Mind: Figuration in the Jorge M. Pérez Collection, El Espacio 23, Miami ( 2024) ; Viewing Room exhibitions, Goodman Gallery, London, (2024), Io e Me. Autoritratti nel Lockdown. Sala 1, Centro Internazionale d’Arte Contemporanea, Rome (2021); Speechless with Rose Shakinovsky, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town (2018); Right to the Future, Museum of 20th and 21st Century Art, St Petersburg (2017); Colour Theory with Rose Shakinovsky, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town (2014); Dakar Biennale, Dakar (2010); and Dystopia, collaboration with William Kentridge, Pretoria, Johannesburg, Ghent (2009-2010).
Rose Shakinovsky’s (b. 1953, Johannesburg) work defies any stylistic category as it consists of work that ranges from the re-presentation and decontextualization of found objects, found images and found situations, to delicately painted abstractions and ironic bronzes. The work concerns itself with current political and social discourses while simultaneously referencing and reconstructing art historical edifices. Her present research is concerned with discourses pertaining to the posthuman, transhuman and the consequences of climate change.
Notable solo and group exhibitions include: Mirror of the Mind: Figuration in the Jorge M. Pérez Collection, El Espacio 23, Miami ( 2024) ; Viewing Room exhibitions, Goodman Gallery, London, (2024); Io e Me. Autoritratti nel Lockdown. Sala 1, Centro Internazionale d’Arte Contemporanea, Rome (2021); Speechless with Claire Gavronsky, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town (2018); Right to the Future, Museum of 20th and 21st Century Art, St Petersburg (2017); COLORI: L’emozione dei COLORI nell’arte, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli (2017); Assessing Abstraction, South African National Gallery (2017); Colour Theory with Rose Shakinovsky, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town (2014); Dakar Biennale, Dakar (2010).
Shakinovsky collaborates with Gavronsky as the artist “rosenclaire”, as dedicated mentors who have run a renowned artists residency program in Tuscany for the past 30 years.
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