Press: | Brett Murray talks with Caterina Pereira and Alexander Matthews of Tongues.cc about free speech, social media and his latest exhibition with Everard Read London, Limbo.

Sat in the gallery of Everard Read London, the pair talk through the colour and light of South Africa that comes through in the artist’s paintings, the poetic titles of Let there be Light, and the musical inspiration behind the work.

‘Well this work here at the Everard Read gallery absolutely sings with life and you can hear the music, you can see the figures dancing to it and moving to it, the colour just pops out at you’.

Okuro uses Fleeting Moment, an artwork made for Hartslief’s recent exhibition with Everard Read London, Shadows and Reflections, to discuss the decisions we make in the quiet moments of the everyday –

‘I love the quiet, dimly lit painting “Fleeting Moment”, by contemporary South African artist Sasha Hartslief. She employs deft brushstrokes in muted tones to create atmospheres where light and shadow play off one another, tenderly capturing moments plucked from daily life. Moments that remind us of the inherent complexity of living with ourselves. Her characters are rarely aware of a viewer, immersed in their own worlds, but worlds any of us might easily slip into — because they feel like fragments from the simple but layered business of being human.

In “Fleeting Moment”, a slim, solitary woman stands in a pocket of a softly lit room with her back to us. Everything is painted in soft hues of brown, yellow and green. The woman’s hands are on her waist and her head is slightly bent. Her posture suggests a certain disquiet. Pausing to stand in the middle of the room reveals she’s lost in thought about something. Whatever it is, it is likely to require a decision from her on what to say or do next.’

Having walked through Bailey’s Let there be Light at Boughton House with the artist, Forbes travel and culture contributor, Joanne Shurvell writes –

‘The works at Boughton House and in the London gallery are eclectic, both in themes and materials used, which include enamel, oil and house paint and varnishes. The paintings show figures within imaginary landscapes yet there is a strong link to Beezy’s South African heritage with near extinct African animals in the paintings and a common motif is spheres representing fallen angels. These fallen angels can be seen as representative of the country Beezy came from as well as of those whose actions have contributed to the problems of our planet as a whole. These fallen angels are transformed into bronze sculptural works reminiscent of Alberto Giacometti, including the upside down angel sculpture on the lawn, in a brilliant Yves Klein blue. Beezy Bailey describes his art as “balm for a mad world” and we can all use some of that.’

As part of a continuing series showcasing the best of London’s public and commercial art exhibitions,  Chaundy considers how the South African multi-media artist has come to exhibit at the ‘English Versailles’.

From learning to draw at the Byam Shaw School of Art through to exhibiting in New York with Dave Matthews, the podcast reveals how Bailey’s fascinating encounters and experiences have made him the established artist that he is today.

With the backdrop of two concurrent exhibitions in London and Boughton House, the article explores Bailey’s journey to becoming one of SA’s most prolific and interesting artists.

“I’m a peddler of beauty. That’s my job. It might sound a bit corny, but I try to find light and magic in my work. This has been an ongoing theme throughout my life.”

Sothebys select renowned painter and sculptor, Guy Ferrer, to feature in the current issue of International Realty: France | Monaco. 

The article comments on Re-Vival's quest for meaning in a world in which we are constantly challenged by the unknown - 

'International painter and sculptor, Guy Ferrer negotiates with matter, convinced that you get what you give. His approach oriented towards the symbolic quest always leaves for intuition and chance. "It is a subtle relationship, harmony is temperamental and when it is revealed in a work of art, it is always a surprise because I do not pretend to master what will emerge from my tools"'.

Gordon Glyn-Jones selects six exhibitions across the world to highlight how African art and culture are enriching people’s lives on an international stage.

Glyn-Jones heralds Daniel Naudé’s patience and consideration in creating The Bovine Prophecy – 

‘Over a period of ten years, Naudé travelled to the beaches of the Wild Coast, South Africa, to photograph the indigenous cattle that frequent these shores. The process called for patience, with Naudé scouting the area, waiting for a particular animal to be in just the right place at the right time. The shutter release would signal that moment when Naudé would, after careful consideration, transform the animal into an iconic image’.

Daniel Naudé’s The Bovine Prophecy features in ‘African Art: South African artists making a global impact’ for TheSouthAfrican.

Click here to read the full article.
Photography courtesy of the artist.

During November 2021 Jeffrey Deitch and Black Rock Senegal present Self-Addressed, an exhibition of self-portraits by contemporary African artists curated by American artist, Kehinde Wiley. For this landmark exhibition, Wiley invited a selection of contemporary African artists living throughout the world to each produce a self-portrait. Together these portraits present a new exploration of identity, perception, and self-regard within the global stage through the lens of figuration, exploring notions of perspective, authorship and control within acts of expression that directly address the self. The exhibition of self-portraits offers an examination of the myth of the monolithic ‘Africa’ and an exploration of contemporary artists’ visual definitions of what it means to be ‘African’ or ‘of Africa.’

Teresa Kutala Firmino’s self-portrait The Imagined Self was selected to be included in this exhibition. Her portrait is concerned with the life-changing event she recently underwent with the premature birth of her first child, the physical changes to her body and the psychological impact of becoming a mother.

Bob Chaundy interviews Brett Murray in the final week of Limbo at Everard London. Last chance to view 1st November.⁠
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The pair discuss Murray’s upbringing in apartheid-era South Africa, his political activism and use of satire, his early work and setting up the Stellenbosch University sculpture department, before turning their attention to this recent body of work that strikes a more empathetic tone and sees the artist looking inwards, towards his family and his role as a father. The podcast continues Chaundy’s series of Considering Art interviews which explore the best of London’s commercial and public art exhibitions through conversation with the artists.⁠