Pushing Thirty is Jody Paulsen’s first solo exhibition with the gallery and features a significant body of work that the artist has been developing over the course of the past year.

The exhibition sees Paulsen presenting not only his signature felt collages, but an array of new works including taxidermy-adorned bronze sculptures and photographic compositions. The artist combines this assortment of three-dimensional media with his indulgent felt assemblages that flaunt salient juxtapositions of image and text, setting the stage for an immersive and mesmeric experience.

The translation of vernacular icons, clichés and slogans, combined with the iconographic imprints of consumerism, is extended through Paulsen’s use of collage and sculpture to arrange such motifs in a conceptually pronounced manner. Cues that range from luxury branding to political motifs and nostalgic childhood animations, all illustrate Paulsen’s layered conceptual premise in which text plays a vital role. The phrases and words, that appear seemingly flippant or humorous in these felt wall-hangings, together form literary statements that act as amalgamations of poetry, chronicles and soliloquies abstracted from the artist’s personal experience. These new collages show Paulsen’s practice flourish in the literary proficiency that has become his forte.

Paulsen’s practice expertly sustains the dialogue and relational trajectory between art, fashion and consumption within contemporary visual culture, evidencing his seamless assimilation of these otherwise divided practices. Enhanced by the plasticity of the synthetic felt material, vivid colour variations and gleaming finishes, Pushing Thirty evokes a mixture of fascination, irony and disquiet, alluding to the experience of time passing. This show offers audiences the opportunity to commiserate, celebrate and appreciate the coming-of-age experience.

Opening on Saturday, 11 February at 11h00 in Cape Town, the exhibition runs until 25 March 2017.

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