Matiyane's paintings present fertile ground for an interdisciplinary reading of his works from the visual arts and architecture to urban planning and other related spatial practices.
The University of Johannesburg Art Gallery will present a solo exhibition, entitled CITIES OF THE WORLD with panoramic works by Titus Matiyane from 10 March to 15 April 2009.
Titus Matiyane (1964), artist, sculpture and musician, lives and works in Atteridgeville, a township near Pretoria. He creates huge panoramic drawings of cities and landscapes all over the world from a bird’s-eye view. The drawings, which vary in size from 6 to 46 meters long, take viewers on an journey through urban landscapes, which Matiyane depicts with a great sense of technique and visionary craftsmanship.
Matiyane's work focuses on the growth, evolution and transformation of cities. Although only flying for the first time in 1998, the panoramas he draws and paints since 1990, create the impression that the artist has observed the cities from the air. Allied by Matiyane's unique approach to representing cities on a global level, the paintings present fertile ground for an interdisciplinary reading of his works from the visual arts and architecture to urban planning and other related spatial practices.
This exhibition, curated by Annemieke De Kler from the Netherlands and Stephen Hobbs from South Africa, will mark the conclusion of an international tour of his works, from Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture in the Netherlands, to AedesLand, Berlin and National Museum of Mali, Bamako, Mali and back to Johannesburg, South Africa.
The exhibition at the UJ Art Gallery will showcase a selection of the works from the international tour as well as three new panoramas completed by the artist in the past six months, namely: Dubai Panorama (UAE): 9m x 0.5m, Cape Town Panorama (SA):7m x 1,5m and Berlin (DE):10m x 1m. The UJ Art Gallery, therefore provides excellent conditions for a more interacitive engagement with the works, both from the distinct spatial characheristics of the gallery itself to the broader academic campus context engaged with the above mentioned subjects.
The book on the artist’s life and work, “Titus Matiyane. Cities of the World”, is published by 010 Publishers, Rotterdam, and will be presented at the opening of the exhibition. In the book Melinda Silverman, architect (Johannesburg), analyses the artist’s work from the perspective of architecture and urbanism. Stephen Hobbs describes Matiyane’s work from the context of art in South Africa and Annemieke de Kler sketches the artist’s background.
Titus Matiyane
"CITIES OF THE WORLD"
10 March – 15 April 2009
@ The University of Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa
Opening: Tuesday 10 March 2009, 18:00 for 19:00
For more information please contact: Annali Cabano-Dempsey: 011 559 2099
