After the stampede

a solo exhibition by

Norman O’Flynn

When a group of people act in a sudden or rash impulse, it often causes a stampede. Whether it is an innocuous craze for fidget spinners or air fryers, or feverish social media support for a political movement, we all get caught up in it. Usually it doesn’t last very long, but it is never too long before the next stampede begins.

The title of Norman O’Flynn’s latest solo exhibition is After the stampede. It opens at the WORLDART gallery on 2 November.

In his paintings, O’Flynn makes use of popular culture iconography to tell us more about ourselves. Well-known slogans, movie posters, pop icons, popular artworks and familiar objects are either prominently featured or subtly placed in his paintings to serve as a language that mirrors the world we live in. “I’m just observing the glitch,” is an often repeated remark he once made.

People usually are presented as individuals battling with pressure from everywhere to understand who they are and what they believe in. Faces with covered mouths remind us that we should say less and do more. His paintings of interiors feel like safe havens away from the madness and show the rare moments of calmness between stampedes. Spaces with no people but rich in personality.

After the stampede will be on show from 2 – 30 November at WORLDART (54 Church Street, Cape Town cbd).

Norman O’Flynn (b. 1971), lives and works in Cape Town as a painter, sculptor and all-round constructor.

EDUCATION

1988-1992 BA Fine Arts, Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, South Africa

RECENT SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2022 Rules for rebels, WORLDART, Cape Town, South Africa

2021 Always and always, WORLDART, Cape Town, South Africa

2020 LOVESICK, WORLDART, Cape Town, South Africa

2019 Cool and composed, WORLDART, Cape Town, South Africa

2018 Timekeeper, Art Supermarket Asia, Hong Kong

2018 GNOMON. WORLDART, Cape Town, South Africa

2016 The good, the bad and the boom! WORLDART, Cape Town, South Africa

2015 BANG BANG BOOM. Diedericks Faber. Johannesburg & Cape Town, South Africa

2010 Deep Down we all want to rob a Bank. Erdmann Contemporary. Cape Town, South Africa.

2007 Never Too Late To Be A Man, Bell Roberts Contemporary, Cape Town, South Africa

2005 Currency, AVA, Association for Visual Art, Cape Town, South Africa

COMPETITIONS & AWARDS

 2007 ABSA L’Atelier finalist

 2006 Pro Helvetia Swiss Residency Fellowship

 2005 ABSA L’Atelier finalist

 2004 Brett Kebble Art Awards finalist

More information:    Charl Bezuidenhout   |   charl@worldart.co.za   |   +27 21 423 3075