THE COLOUR IN DARKNESS

BY RENIER SPIES

Lizamore & Associates is pleased to present a one-night event - a solo exhibition by Renier Spies, The colour in darkness,  in May 2019. The exhibition opens on 3 May 2019 at 18:30. Spies is an expert attorney and artist based in Johannesburg. He has a diploma in photography, which he obtained from the National College of Photography in 2007. A few years later, in 2010,  he established Renier Spies Attorneys. At his first solo exhibition in 2013, he experimented with mixed media,  and at his second solo exhibition in 2016,  titled “2”, his medium was photography. In 2016 Spies was under the tutelage of Thea Soggot, where he accomplished the technique of drawing and painting.

Abstract art has created an experimental space for artists to investigate the harmonious qualities of line, colour and form, whilst often incorporating other creative ideas and realities which influence art-making. In a contemporary landscape this notion gives artists the opportunity to activate an experimental space within the Abstract genre by creating emotive visuals. The artist explains that: “Man's conscious mind is bound by its perception of reality, a reality more often than not, occupied by the dark shadows within the self, cast by past experiences. A reality which may eventually become void of light, in which the shadow within self becomes the self. By entering the creative process as a meditation, unmediated by the restrictions of thought, structure and perception, the artist allows himself to descend into the self where he reconnects with his soul. The meeting between self and soul is expressed on the canvas through the physical act of painting, of intimately engaging all the senses with the material”.

This exhibition consists of large-scale acrylic paintings on paper. Spies masterfully combines abstraction and colour that ultimately creates a burst of colour. These elements and different shades of colour become clues through which the viewer can explore Spies’ work. Spies says that “the resulting work gives form to the idea of freedom;  freedom to express, to imagine and to play. It carries the ability to shift perception and to change the artist’s reality”. This ultimately leads to the artist who finds ‘colour in the darkness’.

The colour in darknessimplies that the viewer might learn about the underlying truth of something, a truth that the artist observes in his milieu and daily life, which manifests itself in the artist’s work. To the artist, these walks become a journey towards self-consciousness and the awareness of his thoughts; it portrays the perception of individual truth and reality.

This exhibition opens on 3 May 2019 at 18:30 and closes on 4 May 2019 - 4 May from 09h00 – 17h00 - at the Lizamore Gallery, 155 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood, Rosebank.  Join Lizamore gallery for a glass wine and to meet the artist.