Nudes from the nineties

The first posthumous exhibition of artist Jan Visser’s works opens at the 101 Dorp Street Gallery in Stellenbosch this month.

The Gallery will showcase a selection of Jan Visser’s artworks with an exhibition entitled “Nudes from the Nineties”. The works featured date from 1994 to 1996 and haven’t been shown in public before.

Visser, arguably one of South Africa’s leading painters of nudes, held more than 30 one-man shows and participated in over 40 group shows in South Africa in a career spanning 40 years. His controversial work referenced events and discoveries made by the artist during his lifetime.

“It’s not that I want to paint a philosophy or message,” said Visser. “I’ll put it this way: Just as a landscape or a nude creates the urge to depict it and therefore say without words: ‘look and enjoy’, so I want to say on a deeper level: ‘look and be moved by the indescribable, incomprehensible state of being human’.”

101 Dorp Street isn’t only a state-of-the-art gallery, but also houses Slee Architecture and Interiors. The venue’s raw, unpainted finishes and simplified detailing provide the perfect backdrop to Visser’s artwork. 

The exhibition will run from 12–30 September 2011.

More information: 021 887 3385 or email 101dorp@slee.co.za