The Alchemy of Colour – Group Show

In The Alchemy of Colour, The Melrose Gallery presents a selection of colour-driven works by bold voices in contemporary African art.The exhibition presents a large number of artists from The Melrose Gallery stable, including the likes of Dr. Noria Mabasa, Dr. Esther Mahlangu, Carol Cauldwell, Ndabuko Ntuli, Paul Blomkamp, Mederic Turay, Aza Masongi, Oscar Korbla Mawuli Awuku, Sifiso Ka-Mkame and many others.

Each artist in this exhibition approaches colour not just as pigment but as energy — a living force that shapes space, emotion, and experience. Their works celebrate transformation: of the surface into depth, instinct into structure, imagination into visual harmony, and two-dimensional colour into three-dimensional form.

From Blomkamp’s transcendent abstractions, where radiant hues pulse with meditative rhythm, to Turay’s explosive compositions, textured with soul and complexity — colour becomes a tool of movement and meaning. Awuku’s body-painted forms, captured in photographic stillness, echo ancestral futurism and symbolic power.

The sculptural works add another dimension to this exploration of colour’s power, with Dr. Noria Mabasa’s sculptures demonstrating how colour can emerge from earth and clay, transforming raw materials into vibrant, spiritual presences.

Set in the heart of winter, The Alchemy of Colour offers warmth, dynamism, and contrast — reminding us that colour can shift mood, space, and thought. This is a celebration of visual richness and an invitation to feel deeply and look again, whether experiencing colour’s flow across canvas or its embodiment in sculptural form.

The Alchemy of Colour featured artists: Dr Esther Mahlangu, Dr Willie Bester, Dr Pitika Ntuli, Simon Zitha, Monica van den Berg, Chonat Getz, Carl Roberts, Gavin Rain, Akilah Watts, Mark Swart, Clint Strydom, Marke Meyer, Monica Roos, Stidjom van der Merwe, Keith Calder, Arno Morland, Siyabulela Ndodane, Denis Mubira, Hussein Salim and Jo Steemkamp.

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