A COLLECTION OF DESTINATIONS AND WANDERERS BY MORNÉ VENTER
EXHIBITION CATALOGUE
Person A: Where are you going? Person B: I am going someplace to do something. Person A: How will you know you have arrived? Person B: When I ask myself why I am there. Person A: Where will you be in the meantime? Person B: Between somewhere and nowhere.
ARTIST STATEMENT
‘Places you have been and places you will go’ is a collection of destinations and the wanderers that inhabit them. More accurately, the places on display are the destinations between the place you left and the place you are headed. These are places that everyone must pass through but nobody intends to go. Uncentered, unfocused, uncomfortable and underwhelming. Places that invite nothing other than that of wandering and perpetual ambiguity. These places would not be complete without their inhabitants: odd creatures that never ended up where they were going. This body of work invites you to wander through the places and people on display and contemplate your own searching and unarrivedness. Where are you headed or have you been here all this time?
A MAP TO UNDERSTANDING
To add a sense of wandering and wondering to this exhibition, an entirely new lexicon was constructed for all the artworks featured in the show. Each individual artwork is associated with a unique glyph. Exhibition visitors will be provided with a specially designed map that will allow them to reference the glyphs and associated title of each artwork (see map on next page).
SHOW CONCEPT
A big thank you to Jan Pretorius for the design and consultation on the reference map.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Places you hav e been and places you will go
2019 Ink, acrylic and a sense that you have been here before
32 x 36 cm _
R 3600
There are places you can go to mean nothing at all and you can meet me there right now
2019 Ink, soft pastel and fadedness
22 x 64 cm _
R 4700
This part of the plateau might look different than before, but it’s still the same goddamn place it’s been this whole time
2019 Ink, soft pastel and sameness
22 x 64 cm _
R 4700
I am trying to imagine a future beyond this place but I can’t seem to see anything else
Only a wasteland can be fitting for a waste like me
2019
2019
Ink on paper and pessimism
Ink, oil pastel and dirtiness
22.5 x 32.5 cm
22.5 x 32.5 cm
_
_
R 3450
R 3450
There is no meaning inside this place and there is no meaning outside it either
2019 Ink, acrylic and meaninglessness
22 x 64 cm _
R 4700
This place becomes perfect when you accept it for what it is
2019 Ink, soft pastel and contemplation
22 x 64 cm _
R 4700
No longer am I here to drink. Instead, I am here to drown.
2019 Ink, acrylic, soft pastel, oil pastel and resignation
22 x 64 cm _
R 4700
It was fun to be here until the place started shifting and I no longer fit in
Every place I have been has added another edge and sharpened another corner
2019
2019
Ink on paper and malforming
Ink on paper and wretchedness
22.5 x 32.5 cm
22.5 x 32.5 cm
_
_
R 3450
R 3450
There is something here that I haven’t conquered and I probably never will
2019 Ink, acrylic, oil pastel, soft pastel and wondering
22 x 64 cm _
R 4700
I don’t know how I ended up here but I know it is probably my own fault
2019 Ink, acrylic and castigation
16 x 45 cm _
R 3500
You can feel light here; so light in fact, you might float away
2019 Ink, soft pastel and lightness
22 x 64 cm _
R 4700
I was hoping to find something enlightening in this place but I found nothing instead
If I don’t keep moving I won’t be going anywhere and my flame will be extinguished
2019
2019
Ink and disappointment
Ink, acrylic and burn-out
32 x 45 cm
32 x 45 cm
_
_
R4300
R4300
You can go here to break both your body and your spirit
2019 Ink and chaos
22 x 64 cm _
R 4700
It does not matter which side you might end up, since you won’t be happy either way
2019 Ink, acrylic, oil pastel and the illusion of choice
22 x 64 cm _
R 4700
Here one can neither stand, lie nor sit. There is only discomfort to feel.
2019 Ink, acrylic and a growing sense of discomfort
16 x 45 cm _
R 3500
This place I inhabit doesn’t need a fence because I am my own protector
Only a fool believes that they belong anywhere and I am no fool
2019
2019
Ink and abrasiveness
Ink, acrylic and foolishness
22.5 x 32.5 cm
20 x 32 cm
_
_
R 3450
R 3450
This is a place where you can decide whether you are the rock or the hard place
2019 Ink, acrylic soft pastel, oil pastel and hardship
22 x 64 cm _
R 4700
It was easy to get here but I am finding it surprisingly difficult to leave
2019 Ink, soft pastel and impotence
22 x 64 cm _
R 4700
I have been here too long and now it’s too late to not continue being here
2019 Ink, acrylic and surrender
16 x 45 cm _
R 3500
Problems come and go, but curiously, they always go where I am
Every place has changed me and now I don’t know who I am anymore
2019
2019
Ink, acrylic and pestering
Ink, acrylic and confusion
32 x 45 cm
32 x 45 cm
_
_
R4300
R4300
This is a place to get stuck and never move on from
2019 Ink, soft pastel and suspension
22 x 64 cm _
R 4700
There are some places that can only be reached by not knowing where you are going
2019 Ink and ambiguity
22 x 64 cm _
R 4700
I’ve crawled through so many thorns and brambles but I still hurt more than any wound I gained
I am all over the place, and frankly, I am struggling to pull myself together
2019
2019
Ink, acrylic and woundedness
Ink, acrylic and dishevelment
32 x 45 cm
32 x 45 cm
_
_
R4300
R4300
I come here to think about things that do not matter and things I shouldn’t consider
2019 Ink, soft pastel and space to think
22 x 64 cm _
R 4700
There is nothing to do or see here yet you insist on staying
2019 Ink and persistence in stupidity
22 x 64 cm _
R 4700
Simply be swept where you need to go, there is no point in fighting the stream
This place is made of my dreams and this place is a nightmare
2019
2019
Ink, acrylic and lack of fighting spirit
Ink, acrylic and despair
32 x 45 cm
32 x 45 cm
_
_
R4300
R4300
You can inhabit all these wrecks and celebrate everything that has gone wrong
2019 Ink on paper, dishevelledness
22 x 90 cm _
R 5200