Dual exhibit deals with experience of war
The socially conscious works of two artists depicting the world’s darker aspects will be on show at RK Contemporary in Dixon Street, De Waterkant, from Thursday July 18 to Saturday August 10.
The two exhibitions, running in tandem, tackle similar themes and are visually complementary, but are otherwise markedly different: one in paint, the other largely in fibre; one about a current conflict, the other about a historic war; one by a living artist, the other by an artist who has passed on.
Ade Kipades’ Massacre of the Paint Tubes was inspired by the Israeli bombing of Gaza and the mass killing of children in 2023. “I felt compelled to speak about what to me is the effect of a supremacist ideology that has gained impunity from the West to do whatever it likes. I wanted to say something, using the best vehicle of expression that I had, painting, but without making a political statement,” he said.
Kipades referred to painter Philip Guston for inspiration. This Jewish Canadian-American artist, born in Canada in 1913 to Ukrainian immigrants, depoliticised his work in a humorous yet deeply moving way. “I had been looking for a way to change from abstract to figurative in my own work and I found a kindred spirit in Guston. The subject is my motivation to paint, but the work itself is about the action of painting and not about the subject.”
Kipades adds that his intention is to portray his subject in a way that is ambiguous so that his audience can create their own dialogue, depending on their point of view.
Ingrid Piprek’s Aftermath: Making Art from War is a series of fibre artworks that document her experiences in Europe during the Second World War, vividly capturing her journey as Soviet forces advanced from the east. Piprek, who was born in Berlin, and died this year in Riebeek Kasteel in the Western Cape at the age of 93, only discovered the practice of textile art when she turned 70. It became her passion, and through it she explored a variety of themes related to her eventful life, focusing on issues of war and the environment.
In a book written by Ingrid’s son Klaus, that accompanies the exhibition and tells the story of the artworks, the artist recalls long periods of near-starvation when “women became hyenas” in their search for food for themselves and their families. These privations and other challenges, as well as rare small personal triumphs, are illustrated in the intricately stitched, painted, appliqued, woven and bleached works.
“It was astounding to discover how much suffering our mother had endured in her childhood yet managed to conceal from my siblings and me during ours – we only discovered this chapter of her life many years later, in her emotive art,” says Klaus Piprek.
“The experience must have brought some closure for her, and some satisfaction that she could contribute in a small way towards alleviating the suffering of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees through proceeds of the book.”
The dual exhibition will be opened by Max du Preez on Thursday July 18 16 Dixon Street, De Waterkant, at noon. All proceeds from the sale of the book go to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Krakow, Poland, specifically for Ukrainian refugees.
The dual exhibition can be viewed Monday to Thursday, from 9am to 3pm, and Fridays from 9am until 2pm. Entry is free. For more information call Astrid on 083 653 3697.
