Absa L'Atelier Art Award winners announced

Ian Grose

Now in its 26th year, the Absa L'Atelier Art Awards pays homage to both established and emerging young local artists and their artistic vision. That vision was a predominant theme this year. Quality and the growth of quality in the work of new artists are two of the primary focus areas of the competition.

Thematically, the winners' works explore a wide range of subjects, but with a clearly growing introspective on the part of the artists to the world they live in. To this end, matters of absence, home, origin and individuality feature prominently in these works.

This can clearly be seen in Grose's winning work - colour, separation - an oil on fabriano, a triptych, that speaks to the concepts of visual language, translation and loss.

The idea of loss and the traces left behind

"As a painter, the idea of loss and the traces left behind, became, for me, inextricable with a more personal kind of loss. Thus, the work features a bed - the arena of love, death and loneliness - and a comma in the title, suggesting separation as a subject in itself. I liked that the creases in the linen and imprint of the human figure in the beds reflected the function of painting and photography as a trace of the departed," Grose explained.

Isable Mertz

Similarly, Mertz's highly praised mixed-media piece, Anthropomorphic Spaces III, represents South Africa's inner cities, using maps of the country combined with the artist's own interpretation of these spaces. The piece comprises panels created out of cast Lego pieces made from a wax-and-cement mixture. While cement is an inherently strong material, by mixing it with melted wax instead of water, the Lego pieces become delicate, fragile and can easily be distorted. This reflects the constant transformation one finds in cities.

Grose and Mertz were chosen as the first and Gerard Sekoto winners, respectively, out of 78 finalists. Mertz also earned herself a Merit Award. The three remaining Merit Awards were awarded to Amber Jade Geldenhuys, Alice Gauntlett and Sarah Spring.

A six-month sabbatical

As part of his prize, Grose wins R110 000 in cash and a six-month sabbatical at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, courtesy of Absa. Mertz wins a three-month sabbatical at the Cité, French language classes and nationwide touring exhibitions sponsored by the French Embassy, French Institute and the Alliance Française. Both prizes include airfare and free access to galleries and museums in Paris.

All four merit award winners receive R25 000 and the remaining five top-10 finalists: Sofia Stodel, Gerhardt Coetzee, Jesse Hammond, J van Schalkwyk and Bambo Sibiya receive a R2000 award.