Props

a solo exhibition
by
Sulette van der Merwe

The dazzling assumption Acrylic paint on board 49cm X 59cm 2020

Sulette van der Merwe’s latest exhibition, titled Props, will be her first solo exhibition hosted by WORLDART.

The paintings presented in the exhibition are composite images influenced by pop art, surrealism and digital art. Though elements appear to be collage, every single mark is hand painted with acrylic paint.

The title of the show alludes to a term which has multiple uses.

In slang “props” can be interchangeable as a word that means respect. It is used as a  casual response to give a person status in a congratulatory form of positive reinforcement amongst one’s peers. According to The Rap Dictionary ("the oldest and ultimate resource for looking up hip-hop slang"), props is: An abbreviation of "propers" or proper respects. A show sits on physical and non-physical props. At an award ceremony the winner gives props: Jul 5, 2012.

Props, therefor, is optimistic and speaks to the artist’s excitement to be exhibiting in her first solo exhibition.

Besides the slang use of the word “props”, it is also used in theatre and film production. A prop is an object or piece of furniture on stage or used to enhance a scene that has a specific purpose for an actor.

“The visual spaces depicted in my paintings are intuitively constructed from exposing myself to internet images as well as photographing live models. The images are  dioramas translated into paint. My work is a staged scene where physical and digital worlds are enmeshed and interchangeable,” van der Merwe says. “The artworks start as a digital composition and is then painted in acrylic on board. Now that the exhibition is online my process has come full circle.”

Props by Sulette van der Merwe will be on view online at www.worldart.co.za/props  from 5 – 31 August 2020.