TRANSITIONS by Dave Robertson

On exhibition from 2 November

“Transitions” presents a selection of over-painted photographs created over several years, exploring themes around receptivity, imperfection and the need to embrace alternative perspectives.

Initially inspired by Gerhard Richter’s small over-painted photographs from the late 1980’s, the show’s title “Transitions” refers to the journey the artwork undergoes from its origin as a photograph to an original piece of art - after the addition of ink and acrylic.

Driven by a synthesis of gestural brushstrokes, expressive smears, and the chance-driven application of paint in search of serendipitous confluences, Robertson takes the viewers into a liminal space where our so-called physical reality seemingly invites aspects of the metaphysical world to show themselves in the work.

This intuitive process was something of a transcendental experience, strengthening Robertson’s belief in the need for new mythologies and in the existence of multi-dimensional realms, found beyond our limited, linear view of the physical here and now.

About the Artist

Born in Zimbabwe and based in Cape Town, Dave Robertson is a self-taught abstract painter, photographer and printmaker, who spent the early part of his artistic journey, working in the film industry as an art-director. In between film projects he would follow his passion for photography, which was primarily a form of social commentary often concerned with documenting marginalised lifestyles.

After winning a national award at Spier Contemporary 2010, for 'Paper Trails’, a photographic project documenting urban recyclers in Johannesburg, he took a break from both photography and the

film industry to focus on painting. His first solo exhibition of abstract paintings was with Worldart Gallery, Cape Town in 2011.

Since then Robertson’s artworks have been acquired by a variety of international collectors from Sweden, the USA, Australia and the UK. Local collectors include the South African Foundation for Contemporary Art (SAACA), AFDA, Nando’s and Spier Arts Trust.