HUSSEIN SALIM

HUSSEIN SALIM’S

Garden of Carnal Delights Tours to Cape Town

www.themelrosegallery.com

The Melrose Gallery is pleased to present ‘Garden of Carnal Delight’ in Cape Town following on from a well-received run in Johannesburg. The exhibition will feature several of Hussein Salim’s artworks that were originally presented together with new works created in 2022. The exhibition opens to the public on 5 May and runs until 3 July 2022 at our space in the One & Only in the V & A Waterfront.

Hussein Salim’s paintings are a dialogue between different cultures that represent his spirit articulated through art as a tool that both affects and initiates the conversation. Salim left his home country of Sudan as a refugee, and his works awaken in us an appreciation of our differences and diverse reactions, but bring us back to the shared foundation of mankind. A sense of displacement and a longing to return to his country has imbued his artworks with a sense of nostalgia. His richly textured canvases employ an extravagant layering technique to create a dense impasto feel, using personal symbolism that is both ancient and contemporary.

Painting is an act of life not separated in its association with my self-reflection, which takes its own momentum and material. This way I create my identity as I work technically while trying to draw. I want my inner impressionist to constantly create a painting with me, depending on the cognitive and aesthetic space. – Hussein Salim

Adam & Eve, 2021 Acrylic on canvas 150 x 150 cm

Garden of Carnal Delights, 2020 Acrylic on canvas 136 x 106 cm

“Painting is an act of life not separated in its association with my self-reflection, which takes its own momentum and material.”

Foggy Cities III, 2021 Acrylic on canvas 110 x 75 cm

‘Garden of Carnal Delights’, represents the marriage of the world, and the manifestation of thought all bound to the circle of life. Salim’s painting by the same name depicts the love child of the world and thought. The twins named consciousness and existence represent the void which is the absence of idea, its birth, and its death.

The ideas of my drawings today need to be moved to a place where they can reverberate. I believe that it is not important for the artist to see their work receiving attention and curiosity, but rather to see it fertilizing some ideas and growing them. Therefore, I seek the logic of the quest to create common foundations for culture as an independent universe. – Hussein Salim

For Salim, it is always a process to fully create the replicas of his view of space, atmosphere and the “ins-and-outs” of these microcosms. Most people today are living for the next moment thereby devaluing the present moment and the sacred essence of who we are as people. We can enjoy this world of form but true satisfaction does not come from there. The world cannot make you happy. Things cannot give you happiness. Because happiness comes from a deeper place within you. Therefore, this exhibition is a call for a coming into or stepping into the acceptance of a present moment. As Salim says there must be a full mindset movement from the paradigm to carry out this task to another level of inner spirituality.

The desire to source and reveal intimate personal emotions and stories is not to replicate more of life, but more from life. If one can put their eyes and their minds on the wounds and secrets of their intimate personal stories that they try to conceal through Salim’s works of art, their desires to search for their own character grows, because painting is always a process of creating a place depicting the inside and the outside of an artist’s mind and their audience. It is an extreme effort that tries to respond to the simple and beautiful little things that are absent from us but simultaneously can heal us. It is the silent conversation, which is the teaching of the careful listening of things and their observance The journey that I took (and I still am on) has shown me what I truly want. Not more of life, but more from life. – Hussein Salim

For more information contact: craig@themelrosegallery.com or visit www.themelrosegallery.com

ABSA L’ATELIER 2022

Applications for the 36th Edition of Absa L’Atelier are now open!

www.latelier.absa.africa

Ayobola Kekere-Ekun, 2021 Absa L’Atelier Ambassador Adelheid von Maltitz, 2021 Absa L’Atelier Ambassador

Proudly African bank Absa, in partnership with the South African National Association for the Visual Arts (SANAVA), officially opened applications for the 2022 Absa L’Atelier, inviting artists from across the African continent to enter.

Since its inception 36 years ago, the Absa L’Atelier has showcased and continues to invest in some of the finest young artists from the 12 African countries where Absa has a presence.

“With this year’s theme ‘From start to L’Atelier’, we are calling on our continent’s fearless creators to take a step towards taking their finished artworks to the world by entering the Absa L’Atelier. This competition will once again provide an opportunity for visual artists to respond and make their voices heard. We are committed to putting the basic building blocks in place to ensure that young artists from across the African continent can reimagine their futures and bring their possibilities to life,” says Dr Paul Bayliss, Senior Specialist Art Curator at Absa Group. The Absa L’Atelier has built a legacy, providing the next generation of young African artists with the support, recognition, and exposure they need to cement their burgeoning careers.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Absa L’Atelier was re-envisioned in 2021. “The pandemic forced and challenged us to do things differently. In our efforts to lead the charge in being digitally progressive and making sure that artists still get the opportunity to showcase their work, we went entirely digital. For 2022, we have continued to work on improving our digital system and user-experience” says Dr Bayliss.

The adjudicators of the competition select 3 artists as ambassadors of the competition who will each receive a laptop, data and exposure to intensive virtually hosted mentorship and masterclasses geared towards upskilling and enabling them to take their careers to the next level.

“In addition to the masterclasses and mentoring, the artists will have a collaborative exhibition in the Absa Gallery which will open

Dr Paul Bayliss - Senior Specialist Art Curator at Absa

in November 2023. This will then travel to their respective countries in 2024. They will also have an option to take up a solo exhibition within a five-year period within the Absa Gallery. To us and our partners, the Absa L’Atelier is no longer just about giving artists an amount of money but affording them with the skillset to develop and thrive as artists in a forever changing world,” explains Dr Bayliss.

The most deserving South African artist aged 25 to 35 will be eligible for the Absa L’Atelier Gerard Sekoto Award, made possible through the Absa and SANAVA’s partnership, with the Embassy of France in South Africa, the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS), and the Alliance Françoise network in South Africa.

“These artists are the future of African contemporary art, and we are very proud to be part of this project. For over a decade, we have been supporting this award which grants a talented young South African artist an amazing opportunity; to expand their horizons with a 3-month artistic residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris and gain greater international exposure as a result. The artists are

Michael Blebo, 2021 Absa L’Atelier Ambassador

inspired and inspire. They learn, and they teach. They explore, and exhibit, allowing people in France and elsewhere in Europe to learn more about their individual style and vision. In doing so, we hope to create a true dialogue between our two countries,” says Aurélien Lechevallier, Ambassador of France to South Africa.

SANAVA President, Dr Avitha Sooful, commends the enduring partnership between Absa and SANAVA, aimed at creating a positive impact in the African visual arts scene for years to come. “Our partnership with Absa has grown from strength to strength and it bodes well for the development of African artists whose work will influence the continent’s creative economy, now and in the future. With this year being our 36th year of existence, we hope to double the number of entries from our continent’s young and fearless creators, and we call on all artists to act on their art and become part of the Absa L’Atelier legacy,” concludes Sooful.

For further information about the Absa L’Atelier, please visit https://latelier.absa.africa