REMEMBERED LANDSCAPES by Michael Tietz-Geldenhuys

On exhibition from 6 February to 1 April 2025

"My work begins with the experience of landscape, filtered through an emotional response to capture its drama, mood, and the vastness of space. These landscapes are part real, part remembered, and part imagined—constructed from the essence of what I feel when immersed in nature. The process is one of layering, using both opaque and translucent paints, where a subdued palette and textured glazing evolve to create subtle colour shifts that evoke the play of light and shadow."

"I aim to convey the transient luminosity of early evening or the vastness of a sweeping vista, where the shifting skies or the intensity of a storm seem to demand a pause, inviting the viewer to reflect and lose themselves in the moment. Drawing inspiration from the atmospheric drama of J.M. Turner and the serene, evocative landscapes of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, my work seeks to balance the tension between movement and stillness, capturing the ephemeral beauty of the natural world”.

Michael Tietz-Geldenhuys is a Cape Town-based artist who enjoys blending classical realism with a dash of abstraction. Born in Durban, he earned a Fine Art degree in 1999, and then spent a few years capturing Mozambique through his lens, leading to a successful photography exhibition in 2003. A serendipitous trip to Florence in 2002 led him to discover the world of academic ateliers, prompting multiple return visits to study figure, portrait, and cast drawing. Since studying Michael has had work selected for the Rust en Vrede Portrait Award in 2015 and 2017 and taken part in numerous group and solo shows in South Africa and abroad including five highly successful exhibitions at Ground Art Café since 2017. Not one to sit still, he also dabbles in art education, teaching at UCT and creating workshops to breathe new life into classical art techniques for modern times.