LIZA GROBLER, Ncongolo #1 (Cat Tail #1)
Glass Beeds on Board, 120 x 145 cm (47 3/16 x 57 1/16 in.)
Liza Grobler in collaboration Qubeka Bead Studio
Liza Grobler’s paintings spill over with runaway scribbles and vigorous mark-making, their composition evoking morphing landscapes - perhaps echoing the artist’s own relocation from urban to rural - and the immediacy of their energetic brushstrokes and dribbles of paint harking back to Abstract Expressionism.
In Grobler’s words, “These landscapes are directly related to my recent body of work, Disobedient Landscapes, but the works point - at least in spirit - to the very tactile textures of the Klein Karoo.*
The most valuable lesson I have learnt from the Covid landscape is: 'the only constant is change'. And as I have always been preoccupied with the route, rather than the destination, the uncertainty of the present has brought about a heightened sense of awareness of our actions and environments. It is this quality that I wish to capture - momentous fractions of the present. We became aware of the temporal nature of all our 'securities' and in a sense this is liberating!
The work is also a final curtsy from my urban studio. For the past 20 years, the suburb of Woodstock, Cape Town has been my base camp. In May 2021, my family and I relocated to Oudtshoorn, the capitol of the Klein Karoo. It seems that the emotional shifts in our environment necessitated a physical shift too. This work marks the start of that journey.”
* The Klein Karoo is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa -the southern sibling of the larger Karoo - the Great or Groot Karoo.
Contact: info@everardlondon.com
Image credit: Dan Weill Photography / Artist portrait: Frans Smit
Liza Grobler’s paintings spill over with runaway scribbles and vigorous mark-making, their composition evoking morphing landscapes - perhaps echoing the artist’s own relocation from urban to rural - and the immediacy of their energetic brushstrokes and dribbles of paint harking back to Abstract Expressionism.
In Grobler’s words, “These landscapes are directly related to my recent body of work, Disobedient Landscapes, but the works point - at least in spirit - to the very tactile textures of the Klein Karoo.*
The most valuable lesson I have learnt from the Covid landscape is: 'the only constant is change'. And as I have always been preoccupied with the route, rather than the destination, the uncertainty of the present has brought about a heightened sense of awareness of our actions and environments. It is this quality that I wish to capture - momentous fractions of the present. We became aware of the temporal nature of all our 'securities' and in a sense this is liberating!
The work is also a final curtsy from my urban studio. For the past 20 years, the suburb of Woodstock, Cape Town has been my base camp. In May 2021, my family and I relocated to Oudtshoorn, the capitol of the Klein Karoo. It seems that the emotional shifts in our environment necessitated a physical shift too. This work marks the start of that journey.”
* The Klein Karoo is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa -the southern sibling of the larger Karoo - the Great or Groot Karoo.
Contact: info@everardlondon.com
Image credit: Dan Weill Photography / Artist portrait: Frans Smit
LIZA GROBLER, Spirits of the Klein Karoo
Oil and mixed media on handspun cotton stretched over board, 30 x 30 cm
Liza Grobler’s paintings spill over with runaway scribbles and vigorous mark-making, their composition evoking morphing landscapes - perhaps echoing the artist’s own relocation from urban to rural - and the immediacy of their energetic brushstrokes and dribbles of paint harking back to Abstract Expressionism.
In Grobler’s words, “These landscapes are directly related to my recent body of work, Disobedient Landscapes, but the works point - at least in spirit - to the very tactile textures of the Klein Karoo.*
The most valuable lesson I have learnt from the Covid landscape is: 'the only constant is change'. And as I have always been preoccupied with the route, rather than the destination, the uncertainty of the present has brought about a heightened sense of awareness of our actions and environments. It is this quality that I wish to capture - momentous fractions of the present. We became aware of the temporal nature of all our 'securities' and in a sense this is liberating!
The work is also a final curtsy from my urban studio. For the past 20 years, the suburb of Woodstock, Cape Town has been my base camp. In May 2021, my family and I relocated to Oudtshoorn, the capitol of the Klein Karoo. It seems that the emotional shifts in our environment necessitated a physical shift too. This work marks the start of that journey.”
* The Klein Karoo is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa -the southern sibling of the larger Karoo - the Great or Groot Karoo.
Contact: info@everardlondon.com
Image credit: Dan Weill Photography / Artist portrait: Frans Smit
LIZA GROBLER, The Last Dance
Oil and mixed media on canvas, 130 x 170 cm
‘Reality is always shifting and, as an attempt to make sense of it, so am I.’
– Liza Grobler
After many years of living in Cape Town city centre, Liza Grobler now resides in Oudtshoorn in the Klein Karoo. As a compulsive constructor of alternative landscapes and realities, she explores ideas that bring together physical and psychological spaces and historical and ecological scapes. Her practice is built around process; creating a tension between the materiality and ephemerality of media. She invites the viewer to take a leap of faith and step into these constructive worlds alongside her.
Grobler is the recipient of a KANNA Award for her Visual Contribution to the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival (2023). In 2022, she was awarded the Centre Luigi di Sarro VAA Award (Italy) for her short film ‘Voices From a Divided Fountain’. In 2016, she was a recipient of the Africa Centre Award and Iziko Museums commissioned a site-specific work for the exhibition ‘Women’s Work’ at the South African National Gallery.
Liza Grobler’s paintings spill over with runaway scribbles and vigorous mark-making, their composition evoking morphing landscapes - perhaps echoing the artist’s own relocation from urban to rural - and the immediacy of their energetic brushstrokes and dribbles of paint harking back to Abstract Expressionism.
In Grobler’s words, “These landscapes are directly related to my recent body of work, Disobedient Landscapes, but the works point - at least in spirit - to the very tactile textures of the Klein Karoo.*
The most valuable lesson I have learnt from the Covid landscape is: 'the only constant is change'. And as I have always been preoccupied with the route, rather than the destination, the uncertainty of the present has brought about a heightened sense of awareness of our actions and environments. It is this quality that I wish to capture - momentous fractions of the present. We became aware of the temporal nature of all our 'securities' and in a sense this is liberating!
The work is also a final curtsy from my urban studio. For the past 20 years, the suburb of Woodstock, Cape Town has been my base camp. In May 2021, my family and I relocated to Oudtshoorn, the capitol of the Klein Karoo. It seems that the emotional shifts in our environment necessitated a physical shift too. This work marks the start of that journey.”
* The Klein Karoo is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa -the southern sibling of the larger Karoo - the Great or Groot Karoo.
Contact: info@everardlondon.com
Artist portrait: Frans Smit
Specialists in contemporary art from South Africa. Established in 1913. South African artists are part of the global conversation. We seek to make their voices heard.