02 March 2015

Renowned global “Mining Artist” Jeannette Unite exhibits her latest work at KwaZulu-Natal Society of Arts Gallery and Pretoria Art Museum

Submitted by: Candace Conradie

Known as the “Mining Artist”, Jeannette Unite travels around the globe and researches what she refers to as the industrial sublime. Mining the earth for inspiration, she brings its minerals to life by incorporating them into large-scale textured artworks on canvas and paper. Working with earth materials, mines and maps, Jeannette’s geological paintings and drawings incorporate the metals and matter that defined and continue to shape the mineral and industrial revolution.

In March 2015, Jeannette will be participating in the “Blowing in the Wind” group art exhibition at the KwaZulu-Natal Society of Arts (KZNSA) gallery in Durban. The exhibition is curated by respected curator Carol Brown and aims to remind us how intolerance, fanaticism and violence have little changed since the 1960s.  Rooted in two famous song titles from that era – “Blowing in the Wind” by Bob Dylan and “Imagine” by John Lennon - the curatorial intention of this exhibition is to revisit these lyrics in the light of the last half century, where little progress has been made.

The exhibition will run from 03 – 22 March 2015 and includes works by other artists such as Bongani Khanyile, Wonder Mbambo, Fran Saunders, Derrick Nxumalo, Paul Botes, Siobhan O’Reagain, Lerto Shabi, Akiko Nakaji and the portfolio of Images of Human Rights. Several of the works that form part of “Blowing in the Wind” deal with environmental and human exploitation issues including those surrounding the cornerstone of our country’s material wealth – the mining industry.

Thereafter, Jeannette will participate in an exhibition entitled “Industrial Karoo – Fear & Loss”. Curated by Katie Barnard du Toit, the exhibition presents over 80 artists who explore themes of conflict, capitalism and the environmental destruction of the Karoo. The show brings together artists from various disciplines, including renowned contemporary artists, and the works span different media including painting, photography, sculpture and multimedia. Some of the participating artists include Ingrid Bolton, Willem Boshoff, Jan van der Merwe, Diane Victor, Manfred Zyella, Gordon Froud, Guy du Toit and Minnie Gerber, to name but a few. “Industrial Karoo – Fear & Loss” will run from 04 March until 26 April 2015 in the South Gallery of the Pretoria Art Museum.

For more information visit www.jeannette unite.com

For more information regarding the KZNSA ‘Blowing in the wind’ exhibition visit http://www.kznsagallery.co.za 

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS 2015

“Blowing in the Wind” at KZNSA, curated by Carol Brown, 03 – 22 March 2015.

“Industrial Karoo - Fear & Loss” at Pretoria Art Museum, curated by Katie Barnard Du Toit;04 March – 26 April 2015.

‘Between Conceptual and Spiritual’, at FynArts Festival, curated by Ortrud Mulder, 05 – 16 June 2015.

“Geo-Seam” at Open Studio, Ellis House, Johannesburg, April 2015.

“Complicit Geographies’  a traveling exhibition to be shown at the Exeter Innovation Space as part of the Centre for Curating the Natural  World. Curated by Clive Adams and Martyn Windsor, 22 October 2015 – 22 January 2016.

IMAGES:Images supplied by Jeannette Unite Studio. Available in high resolution upon request. 

ABOUT Jeannette Unite:

Jeannette Unite has exhibited on five continents and has participated in the art  biennales of Lyon, France; Beijing, China; and Tashken, Uzbekhistan. Numerous grants have made her empirical research travels into the African industrial landscape possible. She was awarded a scholarship to do her Masters degree at Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town, for which she received the highest academic accolades. Jeannette’s  work has been presented at numerous institutions and art museums in Africa as well as at the AICA (Art Critics International Association) in Dublin, Ireland; Innsbruck, Austria; and  Madrid, Spain.

Jeannette is currently building up to an international exhibition that opens on 22 October 2015 in Exeter, United Kingdom.  For this project, she has begun collecting matter from Britain’s subterranean mineral wealth for a British geological seam that responds to a 200-year-old map, the first ever geological map, that she is passionate about. This map was published in 1815 by palaeontologist and hydrologist William “Strata” Smith (father of geology). He single-handedly constructed the map from observations of fossil and mineral deposits found in the soil that was cut into for the canal system that transported the coal that fuelled the Industrial Revolution.

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY:

Lauren Shantall (Pty) Ltd

Contact:
Roxanne Sonnenberg
Cel: 084 591 2712
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