Art - Bubblegum Club - Page 18

Ciao Tschau: a campy, nostalgic, queer creative studio visualising the subversive

Born out of a shared love for absurd glamour, ‘80s/90s aesthetics and maximalism, Ciao Tschau is the new Berlin based creative studio and lovechild of collaborative partners German creative director Johanna Rüdinger and Italian film director Savio Debernardis. Ciao Tschau’s model of creative expression synthesises Rüdinger’s and Debernardis’ respective backgrounds in both advertising and film…

Juxtaposition with artist Yonela Doda

The contemporary art space in South Africa is bursting with talent, and I personally believe that there needs to be particular emphasis on engaging with the works of art graduates stepping into the commercial space of art, especially under the strenuous conditions ushered in by the pandemic. Yonela Doda is one such artist, fresh out…

Poetry + the Planet with Wilson Oryema

Whether human initiated, Or solar cycles. The Planet falling ill, Or alien outsiders. Climate change is still happening. “What it is” from WAIT by Wilson Oryema Not everyone that can write; can write poetry. It requires a surrender of syntax and a fluidity of thought. Wilson Oryema — who is a London based artist, poet…

When cynicism meets nostalgia — Callan Grecia’s ‘Laps Around the Sun’ at SMAC

Callan Grecia’s exhibition title, Laps Around the Sun, lends itself to the artist’s hefty post-internet lexicon of signs. Suggestive of the moment when life relinquishes its rose-tint and the arbitrariness of existence begins to take form, the title is both poignantly nostalgic and existential. Birthday… after birthday… after birthday, existence becomes automated: a non-reality considered…

Visual artist Felix Shumba: encounters in a foreign country

Felix Shumba is a self-taught visual artist from Masvingo in Zimbabwe. In this conversation with Barnabas Ticha Muvhuti, Shumba, whose multidisciplinary practices includes figurative drawing and painting, poetry and performance art, talks about his background, his biggest influences and the obstacles he has encountered as an immigrant in South Africa. Let us start with where…

Is the Salvator Mundi real?

The “mark of shame” was a phrase used in 1911 to describe the empty spot in the Louvre where the Mona Lisa once hung after being stolen on 21 August that year. Before its theft, the Mona Lisa was not widely known outside of the art world. It wasn’t even the most famous painting in…

The three balloons

* This body of work was created at the Bubblegum Studio with Kgotlelelo B. Sekiti as the recipient of our Bubblegum Invites open call The three balloons is an extensive body of work that explores the generational and ongoing traumas of Black bodies, the everyday experiences of queer Black bodies and Black body’s ability to…