THE LIMINAL SPACE
CURATED BY MORGAN KUNHARDT
31.07.2021 - 23.08.2021
THE LIMINAL SPACE – aims to propel the viewer into a parallel world – a space of otherness that is identifiable but unfamiliar. This exhibition explores the anthropological concept of liminal through space and time and how these intangible states of in-betweeness fluctuate and mutate. Berman contemporary is pleased to present a dynamic group of artists that explore these notions of liminality:
Amogelang Maepa, Chrisél Attewell, Gina van der Ploeg, Natalie de Morney, Nomfundo Mkhize, Odette Graskie, Robyn Denny, Stefan Blom, Thokozani Mthiyane and Tré Mkhabela.
Curatorial Statement by Morgan Kunhardt
THE LIMINAL SPACE – aims to propel the viewer into a parallel world – a space of otherness that is identifiable but unfamiliar. This exhibition explores the anthropological concept of liminal through space and time and how these intangible states of in-betweeness fluctuate and mutate. Berman contemporary is pleased to present a dynamic group of artists that explore these notions of liminality:
Amogelang Maepa, Chrisél Attewell, Gina van der Ploeg, Natalie de Morney, Nomfundo Mkhize, Odette Graskie, Robyn Denny, Stefan Blom, Thokozani Mthiyane and Tré Mkhabela.
It is important to define the word liminal to grasp an understanding of the concept; the word derives from the Latin word līmen, meaning “a threshold”. This can be a space, a moment in time, a situation or an event that ultimately leaves us in the middle of a crossroad of uncertainty and unrest. In other words, it becomes a waiting space.
Liminal – as a transitional space, is a phenomenon that we can all resonate with since the COVID-19 global pandemic which shook us from our habitual lives. Since the beginning of lockdown, 16 months ago, we have been in a state of unrest and uncertainty – a space with no beginning and no end – the ‘in-between’.
This long road of ambiguity has led to desperation and a cry for help in many individuals, such as the civil unrest that South Africa has just bared witness to. These spaces of liminality are not only affecting our social and cultural lives, but also affecting our psychological existence, leaving us in a limbo between one stage of life and the next.
The artists reveal a variety of liminal spaces, which contend to their own periods of change and experiences, which is expressed through their own individual mediums and concepts. The exhibiting artists have brought forward; sculptural interventions and installations as well as imagery in the form of photographs, paintings, and drawings. It also brings attention to how artistic creations have been somewhat hindered by an invisible boundary, due to the COVID-19 protocols, which changes not only the formal functions and qualities of a piece but further human interaction. However, this does not mean that we can not engage, if anything it can only allow for one to reimagine and redefine the way we look at art. THE LIMINAL SPACE is an exhibition that aims to offer a place where one can observe the philosophies that the artists have presented while simultaneously reflecting in one’s liminality. While some themes will be relatable, others will be obscure, ultimately constructing a liminal space for the viewer.
THE LIMINAL SPACE, can be used as a tool to effectively pause time and reflect on these transformational periods. This reflection opens new avenues of perceptions; where one might feel the uncertainties of the present and future, others might try to use the liminal space to reimagine new, positive realities. After all, we are all in some way transitioning and evolving independently and collectively, through this period of time.
While liminal space is the conceptual thread of this exhibition, there are many underlying visual stories that offer a space for reflection and promote engagement with the artworks in different ways; to allow for moments of transition, discussion, and hopefully change. Collectively, we are in the in-between of altering perspectives, routines, social, cultural and environmental situations and now in a position to act; a transformational period to suggest change. These narratives visualised by these artists open new doors as well as new ways of seeing and aims to encourage the paradoxical feelings and ideas of the liminal space.
AMOGELANG MAEPA
Amogelang Maepa (b.1995) is a ceramist and visual storyteller from Mabopane (Gauteng), she first studied art in 2009 at Die Hoerskool Langenhoven, she matriculated in 2013 and furthered her studies in the arts at Tshwane University of Technology in 2014. Amogelang majored in Ceramics and Printmaking during her studies at Tshwane University of Technology and graduated in the year 2017 with a national diploma certificate. In 2019, Amogelang participated in the RMB Talent Unlocked programme at Turbine Art Fair, following a group exhibition: #ARTladies held at Berman Contemporary. At the beginning of 2020, Amogelang joined The New Vanguard group, a mentorship programme that coincides with Berman Contemporary. Amogelang participated in Turbine Art Fair Online, while simultaneously exhibiting in a show: LABYRINTHINE, held at Berman Contemporary. By the end of 2020 Amogelang Maepa was represented by Berman Contemporary.
CHRISÉL ATTEWELL
Chrisél Attewell (b. 1994) is a multidisciplinary artist from Johannesburg. She received her BAFA (Fine Arts, Cum Laude) from the University of Pretoria in 2016. Her work has been represented locally and internationally in numerous exhibitions, residencies and art fairs. Attewell was selected as a Sasol New Signatures finalist (2016, 2017) and a Top 100 finalist for the ABSA L’Atelier (2018). Attewell was selected as a 2018 recipient of the Young Female Residency Award, founded by Benon Lutaaya. Her work was recently showcased at the 2019 Contemporary Istanbul with Berman Contemporary. Inspired by the traces people leave behind, Attewell’s living environment is often reflected in her work. Her work is experimental in nature and often takes a performative approach to the process of making.
GINA VAN DER PLOEG
Gina van der Ploeg (b. 1994) is a sculptor and textile artist from Cape Town. In 2017 she graduated from Michaelis Fine Art School, winning an award for her body of work wear | we’re. She has participated in several group shows and art fairs while completing a post graduate degree in Religious Studies at the University of Cape Town. Her studies into how the materiality of religious objects shapes ideas of the sacred and of human beings informs how she engages with her own chosen materials. She received a bursary from UCT to travel to Japan in 2019 where she worked with weaver, Toyomi Harada, and completed an apprentice program with weaver and indigo dyer, Bryan Whitehead. Gina has been part of The New Vanguard group since 2020, a mentorship programme that coincides with Berman Contemporary.
NATALIE DE MORNEY
Natalie de Morney was born in Cape Town in 1980 and raised in Elsies River, a township in the Cape Flats. She currently lives in East London. She is a fine art graduate with majors in painting & ceramics from Walter Sisulu University. A successful civil engineer until at the age of 33, she left this career behind to follow her passion of becoming the artist she always dreamt of since she was a little girl. After a year of exploring with little to no experience, she was led to join a drawing class held by a retired fine art lecturer who encouraged her to go back to university & study fine art. Into her late 30’s she started tapping into her intuition and connecting to nature and the spiritual realm, capturing her introspective and healing journey. This led her to conduct her post-graduate research on how to use art, spirituality and nature to heal. Her works illustrate her journey of healing and transformation.
NOMFUNDO MKHIZE
Nomfundo Mkhize (1996), was born in Newcastle, South Africa. After completion of her studies at the Durban University of Technology in 2017, Mkhize now holds a National Diploma in Fine Arts, where she majored in Art History, Drawing, Sculpture, Painting, Communication and Management Studies. In 2017, Mkhize was selected as one of the top 100 finalists for the Sasol New Signature Art Competition. Mkhize is now a Johannesburg based artist, who is currently focusing on a variety of mediums that focus on her heritage. Her work has an earth-toned aesthetic and is culturally focused, which is heavily influenced by her isiZulu background and oral traditions.
ODETTE GRASKIE
Odette Graskie (b.1993) is an artist living in Johannesburg, South Africa. She works with paper and drawing. Her artworks revolve around human interaction and connection. To her, drawing is a way of really seeing those around her, and she creates intimate moments while drawing. Graskie graduated with a BA in Fine Arts from the University of Pretoria in 2015 and is currently doing her MA in Visual Arts at the University of Johannesburg. She has been on artist residencies in Guernsey, London and Poland and had solo exhibitions in Pretoria and Cape Town. Her recent exhibitions include group shows at the Camden Arts Centre in London, PAPER ADVENTURES, the ANNUAL SUMMER SHOW, LABYRINTHINE and PAPER ADVENTURES at Berman Contemporary, and a Youth Day exhibition hosted by Nedbank’s art collection.
ROBYN DENNY
Robyn Denny born in South Africa in 1972, is a painter and video artist known for her visceral, compelling multimedia installations. She majored in painting at Michaelis School of Fine Art, Cape Town, then attained a Master of Fine Arts from Goldsmiths College in London, where she graduated primarily in video art. Soon after, Robyn cocurated the critically renowned group show, JUNCTURE, in London and Cape Town, creating her own video installation for its Earth, Air, Fire, Water.
In LARGE BLACK INKS, the underground floor of The Hudson building was emptied to make way for a cavernous installation of subterranean darkness pierced by vaults of light. This series marked the artist’s pull towards fully immersive installations.
In 2015, Robyn Denny codirected a multi panel film projection with Mamela Nyamza : HATCHED 2015. In their collaboration, a proscenium arch effect served as a filmic backdrop for Nyamza’s live performance. HATCHED 2015 was selected as a video piece at LOOP Art Fair, Barcelona. In Madrid, Marta Moriarty’s Slowtrack gallery reincorporated Nyamza’s live performance. The integration into the space of Robyn’s paintings completed the installation.
Paintings from Robyn Denny’s INDIGO Passage to Healing were selected for AKAA Art Fair Paris, 2017. Another collaboration, the experience was heightened by Nyamza’s performance. In 2018, Robyn Denny’s solo show, EASTCOAST GOLD, followed at Berman Contemporary, again threaded through with Nyamza’s live performance.
STEFAN BLOM
Stefan Blom (1963) is a South African sculptor and printmaker, who resides in Cape Town. Blom studied graphic design at the Witwatersrand Technikon in Johannesburg and began his career in advertising. Over the years he gained knowledge and insights from artists around him, which formed an instinctual urge to peruse his passion in contemporary art. His works often include embossing, etching and sculptural construction, which express various forms of storytelling in a subtle and ambiguous way, often relating to suffering in a disquieting manner.
Stefan Blom had his first solo exhibition in 1995 at the Karen Mc Kerron Gallery in Johannesburg. Thereafter Blom was nominated for the FNB Vita Art Now Awards in 1996 which ultimately lead to his exposure mostly in European and American galleries and Museums. Stefan has been part of several Solo Exhibitions, which include – In your Face, which was held at Galerie Frank Hänel in Germany in 2001 and then in 2003 opened with Dressed for your Love at the Galerie Frank Hänel in Germany and the Hänel gallery in Cape Town. In 2014, Blom exhibited an installation at the AVA gallery titled “sweetie” and the following year had a presented DShK at Gallery Commune.1 in Cape Town. In 2017, Stefan Blom won the Tollman Bouchard Finlayson Art Award, later following his Solo Show “a life story” held at Berman Contemporary.
In January 2016, Blom was honoured to have one of the sculptures from the “DShK” series, “Brynhildr” acquired as part of the permanent collection of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA) in Cape Town. In 2017, The Constitutional Court Art Collection was gifted and loaned two sculptures from the “DShK” series. Blom has taken part in various group exhibitions at Berman Contemporary, which include: #30days Exhibition in 2019; Learning to Breathe Differently in 2020, the ANNUAL SUMMER SHOW and ANNUAL WINTER SHOW in 2021. Stefan Blom is now a represented artist by Berman Contemporary.
THOKOZANI MTHIYANE
Thokozani Mthiyane (b.1969) is a Johannesburg based artist. He has been influenced by his time spent under the tutelage of artists Sfiso KaMkame and Thami Jali. Mthiyane has experience in children’s theatre with the Madcap’s Educational Theatre Company, after which he had his first solo exhibition at the Flat Gallery in Durban.
Thokozani is self-taught as an artist and began painting only when he was in his early 20s and has led an interesting life that has taken him from the streets of Claremont in Durban to working behind the counter at Exclusive Books in Rosebank, to a residency in Normandy, France, and the bustling streets of Dakar (Senegal), Accra (Ghana) and Lagos (Nigeria).
He has exhibited for Alliance Française and Resolution Gallery in Johannesburg. In 2015 he had a solo exhibition titled “Whetin dey happen Lagos/ Jozi” at Mzansi Gallery Johannesburg and a solo show in 2017 titled “Soul Songs: The shape of my head” at Art Eye Gallery in Johannesburg. Thokozani is currently based at Ellis Art Studio’s and represented by Berman Contemporary, Candice Berman Gallery in Johannesburg.
TRÉ MKHABELA
Tré Mkhabela (b.1999) is a mixed media artist who was born in Johannesburg. In 2019, he completed Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) in Art and Design, resulting in best academic results in the world. In 2020, Tré was selected as one of the top 10 finalists for UJ Art Gallery Moving Cube Launched with Willem Boshoff’s Blind Alphabet, the project was hosted online, but will be hosted by the UJ Art Gallery in real space and time during 2021. Tré is currently studying a BA in Film and Television at the University of the Witwatersrand, whilst practicing scriptwriting, drawing, painting, photography, and printing. His work is tied to his identity, which is linked to his type 2 bipolar disorder which is represent in a variety of techniques and experimentation. At the beginning of 2021, Tré joined The New Vanguard group, a mentorship programme that coincides with Berman Contemporary.
