Great turnout at In-Response: Art of the Space Age exhibition

GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - The opening of the In-Response: Art of the Space Age took place on Thursday 3 November at the Jan Rupert Art Centre in Middelstreet.

The artworks on display are all for sale and was created in response to a call to the public in February when the Rupert Museum invited artists to take inspiration from and respond to the In-Motion: Art of the Space Age exhibition from the collection of the Huberte Goote Foundation.

Over 200 entries were received, with only 39 chosen for the In-Response exhibition.

The artists sought symbolic meaning while exploring the possibilities of their chosen subject, material and execution.

Mediums include painting, printmaking, ceramics, textiles and digital displays with various materials including recycled plastic, wood and steel to the more traditional.

Space Age is a notion that has captured the imagination since the 1950s. Line, movement, form and colour were, and still is, at the centre of mankind's fascination with the new and the unknown. Advances in technology, especially post-war, gave artists access to new materials such as perspex, plastic, moulded glass, transparent screens, and electric motors. The In-Response artworks demand close inspection and may push the viewer, either by chance or deliberate design, to doubt as to what is really "seen".

The Ilukuluku Collective
Members of the Ilukuluku Collective, in collaboration with the Imibala Trust and 20 learners of Isibane Primary in Graaff-Reinet, painted a mural on the outside wall of the Jan Rupert Art Centre.

The isiXhosa word "Ilukuluku" means curiosity and awakening curiosity. Creating happiness are very important to Ilukuluku.

"When working with these children, aged 10 to 13, we asked: What do you feel when you look at your art? and the unanimous answer was: Happiness. It makes us happy. This is exactly what we want for the community of Graaff-Reinet," said Shaun Sebastian of Ilukuluku.

The Collective allowed the children to express themselves on grid paper using geometric patterns.

"We explained to the kids that things do not have to look the way we believe them to look – you are allowed to express yourself freely," said Sebastian. The pattern designed by the children was adapted and used to create the mural. "The purpose of the mural is to appreciate kids for the way they see shapes. The reality is that this is a relatively conservative community, and we are bringing strange and new shapes and colours and emotions completely different to what the community is used to."

The Ilukuluku Collective thanked Rupert Museum Curator, Eliz-Marié Schoonbee for the incredible opportunity to be associated with this great gallery.

Schoonbee said 100% of the selling price will go to the artists. The art will be on display until 21 May 2023.

Members of the Ilukuluku Collective are from left: Johann Oliver, Daniel Conradie, Shaun Sebastian and Johnathan Pitt.