NEW BREED ART COMPETITION 2019

EBEN

Art@Africa Gallery 6 June 2019

Written by Briony Haynes Curated by Nadine Froneman

The Provider, 2018, Charcoal pencil, PITT oil based pencil.

Eben is one of South Africa’s new and upcoming artists. At the age of 21 Eben is drawing at a level beyond his years. Having never attended art school and only starting his first hyper realistic drawing in 2018 Eben is already becoming the artists to watch. His raw talent for capturing light and texture in his charcoal drawings allows him to produce thought provoking works addressing the impact the environment has on mankind and the impact mankind has on the environment.

Eben will be exhibiting his first series entitled Generations which is strongly focused on the appearance of hands in art. An interesting choice of subject matter that could be deemed as one of the first appearances of art in history. By looking back to the early prehistoric ages, some of the first recorded cave paintings depict hands of the individuals who inhabited there. In analyzing this representation of hands alongside Eben’s drawings, it can be argued that he is directly juxtaposing the way in which prehistoric individuals imparted themselves into nature by depicting the way nature has imparted itself onto the individual. He does this by drawing attention to minute scars, cuts and blemishes taking the attention away from the

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Previous Page: Time, 2018, Charcoal pencil, PITT oil based pencil. Above: Precious, 2018 Charcoal pencil, PITT oil based pencil.

hands themselves and towards the questions of from where have these wounds have appeared. Eben can be seen in this way to be linking the idea of individuals and nature by interlacing the two. However, in the way Eben presents the hands in a sturdy, stable position despite natures weathering, he is suggesting strength and solidarity in the individual against the harsh realities of the world.

On his work, ‘The Provider’, the image shows a drawing of Eben’s grandfather’s hands. They are weathered and scarred from once building roads as a living making the link between humans and the physical marks they leave upon each other. Eben additionally draws our attention to the small details on the hands to place importance on autobiographical narratives and past memories whereby the marks are a result of experiences which mold identity. Through focusing on his grandfather he is once again linking the idea of inheriting identities from prior generations.

Eben’s series has evolved to hold particular significance to the interplay of the themes of tradition, power and nature. His later works have incorporated aspects of physical natural elements to suggest how we must always return to our roots in a world that is so preoccupied with technology. His work leads to discussions of what mankind has done to the world and provokes thoughts as to how we can return to this more natural and organic way of life. This is similarly suggested in the ways he uses his families hands in his works to highlight the idea of tradition and origines.

Event title: Generations Time: 6:30pm till 10pm Opening date: 6 June 2019 Location: Art@Africa Gallery , Clocktower Centre- V&A Waterfront

Visit Art@Africa’s blog on Eben at: artatafrica.art/insights/human-art-eben-beukes/

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