The renovation of Gallery 1 also marks an important step in the development of Keyes Art Mile 2.0, and it is apt to look back at the work of these past visionaries as Keyes Art Mile looks to expand their vision of making culture integral to everyday life in Johannesburg.
With newly installed museum-grade lighting systems and beautifully curved wooden walls, Gallery 1 promises to elevate the art experience in Johannesburg. Looking Back, Seeing Now is perfect as a first exhibition for the space, and there are few better ways to appreciate the work of some of South Africa's finest artists.
“This exhibition reflects how South African artists reimagined modernism to speak to local experience,” notes Ann Roberts, Keyes Art Mile Curator. “It's a fitting inaugural show for a space designed to foster ongoing cultural dialogue in our city.”
While many of the artists on show are known for their individual achievements, the exhibition brings together the vibrant networks that shaped the South African modernist movement. With works highlighting the radical ideals of The New Group, the Amadlozi Group's reworking of traditional African sculpture with modernist form as well as the space that Polly Street and the Jubilee Art Centres gave to Black artists under Apartheid, the artworks transcend the gallery walls to tell the history and stories of 20th-century South Africa.
Featured artists in Looking Back, Seeing Now: Walter Battiss, Giuseppe Cattaneo, Bettie Cilliers-Barnard, Christo Coetzee, Ruth Everard-Haden, Robert Hodgins, Alfred Krenz, Erik Laubscher, Maggie Laubser, Ezrom Legae, Ephraim Ngatane, George Pemba, Jacob Hendrik Pierneef, Alexis Preller, Cecily Sash, Gerard Sekoto, Lucky Sibiya, Cecil Skotnes, Irma Stern, Maud Sumner, Hannatjie van der Wat, Maurice Van Essche, and Edoardo Villa.
Looking Back, Seeing Now runs until Sat, Aug 31 in Gallery 1 at Keyes Art Mile.
