Playoff

Playoff is an extensive travelling exhibition of about 140 works that explore the human condition. Featuring sculptures and etchings by Gordon Froud and paintings by Lance Friedlande, it will be on show at artSPACE Durban from 18 July to 6 August.

Gordon Froud’s artworks comprise four bodies of interrelated sculptures that use the repetition of forms and objects in various configurations to construct meaning around the human condition, particularly with regard to DNA, babies, genetics, bacteria, viruses and self-portraits. He has included a small photographic and etching series too.

Gordon has been actively involved in the South African and international art world as an artist, educator and curator for the last 25 years. He has exhibited in hundreds of solo and group shows in South Africa and overseas and has served on many arts committees throughout South Africa.

Lance Friedlande’s paintings examine the human condition through a series of portraits (some observed and some invented), landscapes and environments, which incorporate figures and animals. His methodology moves from an abstract construction of space and composition into figurative and landscape works.

Playoff calibrates the individuality of the creative process, highlighting similarities and differences between the activities practiced by both artists to produce their work.

Both artists use creativity to resolve self-generated problems, use words to stimulate content, and set up a dialogue between themselves and their work which influences the final product. Gordon and Lance also share a playful approach to their art which springs from the inherent joy they source from the creative process.

In spite of these and other process similarities, the works of the two artists remain very different and offer a duality or “play-off” against each other.

This exhibition has travelled from Potchefstroom University to Oliewenhuis Museum in Bloemfontein and will be shown at artSpace Durban before finishing its run at the Pretoria Art Museum from October to December 2011.

More information: www.artspace-durban.com, 031 312 0793