MANDELA Acrylic on canvas 100x100cm 2014
Gavin Rain is a South African artist who was born in Cape Town on 23 March 1971. Gavin Rain lays claim to a very precise objective for his art, one that is also shared by science: broaden people’s visual and cognitive horizons by showing them the fantastic and impossible, but at the same time shake them up and alarm them by declaring the risks of the unrestrained use of digital languages to the detriment of the comprehensiveness of the information conveyed by previous analogic languages. In 2002, weary of naturalistic painting and disenchanted with traditional art, which he perceives as “having nothing more to say”, the artist sets out to find a profound message for his work, one that would be striking and comprehensible to everyone. He takes his first step towards engaging the viewer by working on the style of his creations, which is as important as the content. By combining his origins, his studies, aptitudes and personal talent, Gavin Rain invents an art that is both unique and participative so that all who look at one of his paintings can perceive the convergence of two opposing pictorial styles: the abstractness of the multitude of colourful concentric circles that thicken into dense and imperfect dots in relief, and the figurative aspect of the image that is defined by the sum of these same dots as the viewer takes a few steps back. It is precisely in this backing-off that the artist’s intended message lies: in order to acquire awareness of something that is concealed yet right in front of your eyes, or hidden in plain sight, you must distance yourself by moving backwards. And this is not only true for his art, but also for any social-political-culture context.
RUSSIAN BRIDE Acrylic on canvas 150x150cm 2014
I’m always asked about technique. Always. It’s usually the first thing people ask me. Artists go on a lot about what their work means. This isn’t as interesting to everyone else as they think. So in this essay I’ll talk about how I do what I do. Please – feel free to wander off at any point: The process is a long one, with many steps. It’s probably easier to handle over a period of days (such as it takes me) rather than to get through it all in one go. I mean, I hope you don’t wander off. I just won’t blame you if you do. This method of working took me a year or two to develop. It then took me another year or two to improve. In fact I’m still working on it. Most of the art, at least for me, is in the preparation. The decisions I make before I even go near a paintbrush. In fact, by the time I DO go near one the painting is already done in my mind. Well, not in my mind – that sounds like I’m some sort of mad genius. I’m not. But what I’m trying to say is that it’s all planned out.
ISABELLA ROSSELLINI Acrylic on canvas 180x180cm 2014
NATALIE PORTMAN Acrylic on canvas 120x120cm 2014 BRIDGET BARDOT Acrylic on canvas 100x100cm 2014 ISABELLA ROSSELLINI Acrylic on canvas 180x180cm 2014 GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING Acrylic on canvas 100x100cm 2014 SCARLETT JOHANSSON Acrylic on canvas 100x100cm 2014
SOLO SHOWS Rarity Gallery, Mikonos, April 2015 Bugno Art Gallery, Venice December, January 2015 From A Distance, Leslie Smith Gallery, Amsterdam, July, 2014 Gavin Rain Supernatural part. 1, Bugno Art Gallery, Venice, June 2013 Gavin Rain-Lena, Kyo Art Gallery, Viterbo, June 2013 Cityscapes, WorldArt gallery, Cape Town, 2009 VEO gallery, Cape Town, 2008 Demonstration: Heritage Festival, Kizo Gallery, Kwazulu-Natal, 2008 Patrice Boussekey Eclectic Gallery, Cape Town, 2007 Russian bride, WorldArt gallery, Johannesburg, 2007 VEO gallery, Cape Town, 2006
GROUP SHOWS Contemporaneamente Bugno Art Gallery Venice May 2015 Gallerie des Lices Saint Tropez May 2015 Contini Art UK, London, November - December 2014 Cerruti Arte, Genova, December 2014 Nassau Museum, Long Island NY, November 2014 Unix Gallery, New York, November 2014 Bugno Art Gallery, Venice, October 2014 WorldArt, Cape Town, September 2014 Galerie Alfredo Ginocchio, Mexico City, September 2014 E-Modern Gallerie, Philadelphia , June 2014 Automne Art Gallery, Brussels, May 2013 Belair Fine Art, Saint-Tropez, May 2013 Supernaturalism, Bangladesh Pavilion for the Venice Biennale, Venice, June 2013 Galerie Bartoux, Antibes, July 2013 Leslie Smith Gallery, Amsterdam August 2013 Arte per Capita, Sardegna, July - September 2013 La bellezza salverà il mondo, Cerrutti Arte, Genova, December 2013 Metamorfosi, Palazzo Firenze, Rome, December 2013 Ruffino Art Gallery, Cortina D’Ampezzo, December 2013 Costa Rica Pavilion for the Venice Biennale, Venice, 2011 Per Capita, Tuscany, 2011 ART van der brugge, Zug, 2011 Per Capita, Arezzo, 2011 FineArt 2010, Kizo gallery, Kwazulu-Natal, 2010 With Keith Calder, E-Piphany Fine Art, Cape Town, 2010 Angels, Grand Provence, Franschhoek, 2010 Erotica Exhibition, Kizo Gallery, Kwazulu-Natal, 2008 African Wave exhibition II, Venice, 2009 African Wave exhibition I, Trieste, 2009 African Wave exhibition 0, Treviso, 2008 Group exhibition: in the Flesh!, KKNK, 2006 VEO gallery with Richard Scott, Cape Town, 2005
RECENT ART FAIRS Tefaf with Leslie Smith Gallery, Maastricht, March 2015 Armory Show with Leslie Smith Gallery, New York, March 2015 Cape Town ArtFair with WorldArt Gallery, Cape Town, February-March, 2015 Art Miami with Leslie Smith Gallery, December 2014 Context with Galeria Alfredo Ginocchio, Miami, December 2014 PAN Amsterdam with Leslie Smith Gallery, Amsterdam, November 2014 India Artfair with Villadelarte Mumbai October 2014 Art Silicon Valley with Leslie Smith Gallery, San Francisco, October 2014 Arte Padova with Per Capita Art Gallery, Padova, November 2014 TEFAF with Leslie Smith Gallery, Maastricht, March 2014 Cape Town ArtFair with WorldArt Gallery, Cape Town, February-March, 2014 Art Los Angeles with Leslie Smith Gallery, L.A. , January 2014 Immagina Arte Reggio Emilia with Per Capita Art Gallery, Reggio Emilia, October 2013 Cape Town Art Fair with World Art, Cape Town, October 2013 Arte Padova with Per Capita Art Gallery, Padova, November 2013 Amsterdam Art Fair with Leslie Smith Gallery, Amsterdam November 2013 Miami Art Fair with Leslie Smith Gallery, Miami, December 2013 Cape Town ArtFair with WorldArt Gallery, Cape Town, February-March, 2013
FROM MY STORIES... Lunch with Mary The first thing I did when I left school was study. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life, so I took a number of subjects like psychology and art. My first year psychology teacher was great, and we became firm friends. At some point she invited me over to attend her daughter’s 10th birthday party. I think I was to man the cooldrink stand and generally help out. There were tons of kids at the party – the noise levels were akin to a space shuttle launch. There was one little girl at the party however that was painfully shy. Her name, I discovered, was Mary. She must have been about 6 years old. Just looking at her caused her to squirm. I’d been pretty shy myself as a kid so I immediately felt some or other connection to her predicament. Mary was completely closed off though; there were rumours that she was autistic. At the time though, I had no idea what this meant or what to expect. I sat next to her on the grass under a huge tree and we ate in silence. I couldn’t think how to bridge this, but not trying to force her to speak possibly relaxed her a little. I pretended to speak to myself and she simply listened. I talked about the trees, and the wind, and the wonderful food we were enjoying at the party. Without looking at her I placed one of my sweets on her plate. After a few minutes she returned the favour. We carried on in this way for the entire lunch. And, you know, at one point she looked up at me – and she really looked at me. She was there. For the briefest moment Mary and I connected. Connections are important. Connections make us who we are. Connections are a gift. We should value them a lot more than we do.