PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
Neil Badenhorst | Karin Basel | Kim Berman | Bevan de Wet | Gordon Froud | Cameron Harris | Alison Kearney | Paigen Kotze | Mariapaola McGurk | Sachin Narain, Shonisani Netshia | Alexa Pienaar | Paton | Deirdre Pretorius | Landi Raubenheimer | Ruth Sacks | Minette Vari | Diane Victor | Colleen Winter
This exhibition of recent works by staff from the Faculty of Art, design and Architecture (and some collaborators from other universities), in response to the quote from Alice in Wonderland, when Alice exclaims,
“I have been known to believe six impossible things before breakfast”
(Queen of Hearts, in Lewis Carroll, 1871).
In the book, Alice follows her curiosity, and finds herself in several unexpected situations. Her curiosity, and willingness to follow the process without knowing the end point, is a characteristic that artist-scholars share with Alice. The artworks on this exhibition highlight the belief in the impossible that attends the creative process, which is essentially about making the impossible tangible. Working across a range of media and topics, the artworks foreground the absurd, the improbable, playfulness and making as thinking and a response to the world. The works therefore embody the spirit of curiosity and uncertainty of Alice in Wonderland, without directly referring to the text. Underlying all of this, is also a tongue-in-cheek celebration of how the participating artist-scholars have managed the impossible: to make artworks, despite our truly impossible teaching commitments. The exhibition is testament to our commitment to artmaking, even if it means making art before breakfast.
