White River Gallery hosts Worlds Apart exhibition
An exhibition featuring works by Linda and Willem Pretorius is running at the White River Gallery until July 11.
The White River Gallery is hosting the third exhibition of married artists Linda and Willem Pretorius, called Worlds Apart, from June 25 to July 11.
Although their lives are intertwined, Linda and Willem portray their worlds in very different ways. Linda was a florist and her expressive floral paintings have an immediacy that reflects her busy life, spontaneous nature and the fleeting nature of floral arrangements. Willem’s work is carefully considered. His acute observations of nostalgic locations document a particular moment in time that is both transient and enduring.
Linda works in oil on stretched canvas. She hopes to give a fresh, contemporary feel to the very traditional subject of floral still lives. She finishes all of her paintings in one sitting and prefers not to go back afterwards to correct anything, capturing a feeling or mood in a specific time you cannot go back to.
The oil paint is applied very thickly (impasto), and her work is more impressionistic than realistic.
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Willem’s medium is oil on canvas and his style can best be described as contemporary or observational realism. He finds inspiration in the smells and sights of small towns and his depiction of them on canvas is that of a local and not merely a tourist or casual passer-by. His work has a strong South African vernacular and his reference is taken on the many road trips he takes with his family.
His theme is mainly concerned with the platteland and its changing landscapes. It can be seen as a type of visual diary in which he documents a specific time and place in our history and in doing so, remembers. It also reminds us of our own transience and mortality. Everything is temporary.
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The opening of this joint exhibition was coupled with the launch of the book, Willem Pretorius, iewers, êrens, with a reading by Sandra Jacobs of Innibos.
The book contains colour copies of 50 of Willem’s works. Each is accompanied by a written piece by a well-known musician, writer, poet or artist.
Individuals who were involved in this project include Gert Vlok Nel, Deon Meyer, Marita van der Vyver, Angus Taylor, Johan Myburg, Toast Coetzer, Nathan Trantraal, Ronelda Kamfer, Deon Maas, Richard van der Westhuizen, Lochner de Kock, Coenie de Villiers, Rian van Heerden, Cas Wepener and Lien Botha.
Andries Bezuidenhout wrote the foreword.
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