Picture & Paper

Barnard Gallery present: Picture & Paper – an exhibition that re-invigorates contemporary discourse around the signs we make and the surface on which we make them. Picture & Paper brings together works on paper by selected South African contemporary artists whose imagery engages with this material in unique, provocative ways. South African art has a rich and diverse history of works produced on paper, whether through graphics and printmaking, as a mainstream means of communication or as a politicised, coded – even subversive – medium. After all, paper is regarded as a ‘democratic’ material. Its accessibility and affordability enables it to traverse the socio-cultural and political landscape. But paper as artistic material is also wrapped in ethical issues, its endangered status steadily accelerating in an increasingly environmentally conscious world. Today the medium is used by artists to address new and complex issues such as consumerism, the implications of the digital world on art making and to demonstrate a renewed engagement with various artistic processes. And even in the paperless world of smartphones and ipads, paper continues to serve as the primary medium through which information is transferred. Whether through drawing, printmaking, the photograph, cartoon or comic book, the ancient art of making signs on papyrus has come a long way and looks here to stay. Picture and Paper includes work by William Kentridge, Anton Kannemeyer, Brett Murray, Michael Taylor, Sanell Aggenbach, Diane Victor, Deborah Bell, Virginia Mackenny, Lien Botha and Robert Slingsby amongst others. Opening reception: Tuesday 30 June at 6pm Guest speaker: Zhané Warren http://barnardgallery.com