reviews

Intimate and Personal Revelation

An exhibition of new works by Andries Gouws

Marianne Meijer - artist and art columnist, The Mercury, Durban

September 2003

Originally published on Artsmart website

To find a painter such as Andries Gouws is a thrilling discovery.

In his second solo show at the NSA Galleries, the artist did several walkabouts which were enlightening to both his fellow artists and the public. He described his work with great lucidity and sketched the formation of a painting (the way he works) from initial idea to completed work.

An interesting aspect of Gouws's work is the choice of subject matter - his particular way of seeing things. A plug, close to the floor, once intrigued him when he was injured and was forced to stay on the floor for some time. Since then he has painted several plugs. An espresso coffeepot and other items wrapped in plastic on top of a cupboard, bottles on cupboards, a medicine cabinet, a bar of soap in a soap dish, empty steps at a swimming pool, drawn curtains with just a shimmer of light. He paints his own intimate and personal revelations.

He paints with great distinction. His technique is such that few artists will be able to match it. Each work takes many months to paint. There are never any lines in his paintings, background flows into object without a visual beginning or end. Like the old masters Gouws's work is about light. Shapes rest against shapes or in space without an obvious division between space and object. His palette is consciously kept very limited. He paints reality, but his vision makes reality seem unreal and surreal. He creates moods through his almost poetic content. The fact that he is a philosophy teacher may help explain the clarity of intent of his work, as well as its contemplative quality. This is evident in the sometimes sombre but always meditative pathos of his paintings.

Gouws's emotional response to strange objects and places creates a similar emotional connection with the viewer.

Therefore I love his paintings

Review of Andries Gouws's Work

Marianne Meijer

Durban art columnist, artist and secretary/ex-president of the NSA (Natal Society for the Arts)

1999

In his first solo show held at the NSA Galleries in 1998 Andries Gouws presented a series of small still life paintings and interiors. There was an immediate reaction and the art community took notice.

What made these delicate works so thought provoking? Was it the mundane subject matter, or was it the artist's observation of these ordinary things, or the angle from which he chose to portray them?

There is little serious still life painting practised today.

Gouws is an artist who understands "things" that naturally exist in his surroundings, objects ordained to purposes that do not change - wall plugs, basin, filing cabinet. He is technically very skilled.

In January this year he was invited to take part in the Story Board exhibition held at the NSA - a fine opportunity for the Durban public to see more of this talented artist's work. Gouws showed three monumental heads, beautiful Indian ink drawings. Even with a scarcity of lines their presence infiltrated the entire gallery space and they became the focal point of the Story Board exhibition.

With just one solo show Andries Gouws already is an artist of note. Keep an eye on him!




		Intimate and Personal Revelation An exhibition of new works by Andries Gouws Marianne Meijer - artist and art columnist, The Mercury, Durban September 2003 Originally published on Artsmart website To find a painter such as Andries Gouws is a thrilling discovery. In his second solo show at the NSA Galleries, the artist did several walkabouts which were enlightening to both his fellow artists and the public. He described his work with great lucidity and sketched the formation of a painting (the way he works) from initial idea to completed work. An interesting aspect of Gouws's work is the choice of subject matter - his particular way of seeing things. A plug, close to the floor, once intrigued him when he was injured and was forced to stay on the floor for some time. Since then he has painted several plugs. An espresso coffeepot and other items wrapped in plastic on top of a cupboard, bottles on cupboards, a medicine cabinet, a bar of soap in a soap dish, empty steps at a swimming pool, drawn curtains with just a shimmer of light. He paints his own intimate and personal revelations. He paints with great distinction. His technique is such that few artists will be able to match it. Each work takes many months to paint. There are never any lines in his paintings, background flows into object without a visual beginning or end. Like the old masters Gouws's work is about light. Shapes rest against shapes or in space without an obvious division between space and object. His palette is consciously kept very limited. He paints reality, but his vision makes reality seem unreal and surreal. He creates moods through his almost poetic content. The fact that he is a philosophy teacher may help explain the clarity of intent of his work, as well as its contemplative quality. This is evident in the sometimes sombre but always meditative pathos of his paintings. Gouws's emotional response to strange objects and places creates a similar emotional connection with the viewer. Therefore I love his paintings Review of Andries Gouws's Work Marianne Meijer Durban art columnist, artist and secretary/ex-president of the NSA (Natal Society for the Arts) 1999 In his first solo show held at the NSA Galleries in 1998 Andries Gouws presented a series of small still life paintings and interiors. There was an immediate reaction and the art community took notice. What made these delicate works so thought provoking? Was it the mundane subject matter, or was it the artist's observation of these ordinary things, or the angle from which he chose to portray them? There is little serious still life painting practised today. Gouws is an artist who understands "things" that naturally exist in his surroundings, objects ordained to purposes that do not change - wall plugs, basin, filing cabinet. He is technically very skilled. In January this year he was invited to take part in the Story Board exhibition held at the NSA - a fine opportunity for the Durban public to see more of this talented artist's work. Gouws showed three monumental heads, beautiful Indian ink drawings. Even with a scarcity of lines their presence infiltrated the entire gallery space and they became the focal point of the Story Board exhibition. With just one solo show Andries Gouws already is an artist of note. Keep an eye on him!