Development grant recipient ROOM to present exhibition

ROOM is a new, independent, multi-disciplinary exhibition and project-based space, based in the vibrant design hub of Braamfontein in Johannesburg. The gallery will host the artist Mandy Johnston's debut solo exhibition of sculptural works, titled Subject to Change.

ROOM aims to be a part of an interrogative and constructive urban culture, which draws its references from its surrounding environment and by doing so, informs its visual sensibility, creative programming and values. The project has recently been selected for a development programme grant by the ACT board of trustees. The programme is designed to enhance the continued
development of arts and culture in South Africa and provide support for the development and presentation of new work, professional development and training for the youth.

More than financial support

Maseda Ratshikuni, head of cause marketing at Nedbank says the awarding of an ACT development grant to ROOM represents the continued commitment of the trust to developing and showcasing South Africa's plethora of artistic talent. "The development grants are far more than just financial support for arts and culture initiatives," says Ratshikuni. "They are a vital way of ensuring that all forms of South African art enjoy the profile and importance they deserve as promoters of dialogue, cultural unity, and national pride."

This forms a strong alignment of synergies with the vision of Maria Fidel Regueros, founder and artistic director of ROOM and Urbanart Projects. "It hopes to be a context, which increases awareness of the multitude of creative production, through the projects it engages with - be they visual art, poetry, music, performance based - and a platform for young, emerging and established artists, collaborative projects, inter-disciplinary dialogue and exchange. What we aim to showcase at ROOM are exhibitions like Mandy's which are challenging in nature, encourage debate and thus add dimensionality to what we perceive as Art," says Fidel Regueros.

Investigating the formation of value

Johnston's exhibition investigates the formation of value, through the use of materials that have both present and historical references. These are substances for which people have given their lives and for which lives have been traded. A series of sculptures incorporate the use of salt, sand,
copper, diamond and ruby dust, poppy seeds, ivory, abalone and cowrie shell, steel, silk and plastic. The artist expresses her interest in the notion that things are often defined by their antithesis and that at times the formation of a value is around the threat of absence.

Johannesburg-born Johnston graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand in 2003 with a Masters Degree in Fine Arts, and currently teaches art part-time. She has been involved in many inner city initiatives and is the workshop co-ordinator for Assemblage - a not-for-profit artist facilitation organisation, with whom she has participated in a number of group shows including the Joburg Fringe Art Fair. She has also been selected for Absa L'Atelier and Sasol New Signatures, and was a 2011 merit award winner in the PPC Young Concrete Sculptor Awards.