WORDS Debbie Loots
Filling the public spaces in our cities with art and design is something close to VISI’s heart as it invites us to engage with our surroundings – just like this is a quirky range of sport-inspired sculptures in Green Point.
The works are by husband-and-wife team Teresa Jo and CP Wessels from Artvark, a Kalk Bay-based art gallery and steelwork design company. They were commissioned by the City of Cape Town to celebrate the recently upgraded Green Point Track situated alongside the Green Point stadium.
The work portrays the sport and recreation culture of the area over the years. Drawing their inspiration from past and current events, and guided by landscape architect Darryl Pryce-Lewis, the couple designed and manufactured all ten of the cutout figurative sculptures.
Darryl suggested that the positive and negative panels of the metal be visible on either side of each work and that they are all placed in a single file as he felt it would invite visitors to physically interact with the figures. This friendly approach was also an important facet of the project to Theresa Jo who says that she specifically wanted the cutout figures to be near-life size and not imposing.
Apart from the many symbolic and historic overtures apparent in some of the sculptures, the portrayal of sheer childlike abandon in others make for a body of work that tells the different stories of Green Point and its people.