| |
||
|
|
||
| Danny Shorkend - Zero's work is a jigsaw of colours | ||
| A multiplicity of stylistic methods, a booming play of images and yet a softer, almost silent space in which such images are housed, and an adept use of acrylic paint marks this exhibition by artist Asha Zero. One is immediately struck by the fact that the various apparently collaged images are in fact handpainted. The illusion of a cut and paste method is heightened by the continuous sense of tearing and smearing, curious juxtapositions and fragmented spatial arrangements. Indeed, it is a matter of trompe l'oeil effect. It bespeaks a post-modern, hyper reality wherein images from different ends of the world are drawn together, where in a digital age accessibility and image manipulation are the order of the day. In these respects, one will notice in the paintings the reference to " old world " wall paper; and the continuous sense of a kind of street art subculture. The plethora of images-apparently disjointed, even unrelated - make reference to a world wherein there is an eclectic, pluralistic mixture of world views, symbols and cultures. This hodgepodge of imagery is difficult to decode, but perhaps the most telling clue is the perenial inclusion of the photo-realist figurative parts. There is also an interesting "war" between painting and drawing.Zero often simply scribbles and creates wall paper- like designs - mere lines. On the other hand, he executes with deft precision a realistic surface image, coloured with quite exact proportions. Perhaps the "war" somewhat abates in his video work where a painting/drawing is in the process of forming/creating and erasing/deconstructing. There is an interesting sound byte that complements the art, such that sound coheres with speed or slowness of line. There is a real sense of playful assemblage as the work takes shape and loses it at the same time. Yet Zero's work overall has shape and coherence, as the images create an on/off electrical signalling within a white and cream patchwork of space. Zero's work recalls Rauschenberg's pop interventions while expanding on that. He eschews overt references to popular culture, instead creating a jigsaw of shapes, colours and patterns that are themselves fragments like posters torn off a city wall, wherein what remains becomes the focus. And yet what remains is a remnant, a trace and a clue. In such respects, Zero's work is not just about what makes up an image, but about reconstituting images, placing difference side by side - surely an argument against the simple monotony of a one-size-fits-all mentality. The implications are that complexity, difference and local, individual minorities are as significant as the larger overall whitish space in which the action takes place. This reading ot the embace of difference is perhaps sound if one considers his use of realism together with scribble. Yet in both cases this is a conscious effort; at the same time unexpected surprises occur as various combinations, as unpredictable as the permutations of an intriguing position in a chess game. | ||
| Cape Times , December 19 , 2016 Exhibition: Errr_Evvz, SMAC Gallery, Cape Town, 10 December 2016 - 21 January 2017 | ||
| |
||