CIRCA Gallery
1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair London 2016

Everard Read I CIRCA Gallery presents Colbert Mashile at 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London

Everard Read I CIRCA Gallery will present an exhibition of new work by South African artist Colbert Mashile at 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair at Somerset House, London, 6-9 October 2016.

The exhibition entitled Man in the Arena, includes 10 new works in charcoal, pastel and ink on paper which reflect a confluence of narratives influenced by western art conventions on the one hand, and traditional African society, ritual and culture on the other.

The works are rich in symbolism and encompass layers of socio-political and cultural commentary. Mashile incorporates neoclassical themes and juxtaposes these with deceptively familiar objects from the artist’s everyday life. These are carefully chosen and charged with meaning, giving equal materiality to both western and African aesthetics. In so doing, he creates contemporary vanitas drawings which give a fabulistic voice to his own story, perspective and place in the world.

Born in South Africa in 1972, Colbert Mashile has developed a unique iconographical language within South African art, often dealing with the mystical, mythological and archaic elements of traditional African culture and its legacy in present-day life. Mashile draws on his own experiences and memory in an intuitive process, creating vivid and arresting imagery and recalling both Surrealism and the satirical Pop art of artists such as Phillip Guston or, more recently, George Condo.

Mashile’s work has been exhibited in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Senegal, South Africa, the UK and USA and is held in private and corporate collections in South Africa and internationally.

For more information, please contact:
Georgie Shields, info@circagallerylondon.com, +44 77 8522 7581

-ENDS-

About Everard Read CIRCA London
The Everard Read I CIRCA group of galleries was established in South Africa in 1913, making it South Africa’s oldest commercial gallery. The group has flagship galleries in Johannesburg and Cape Town and CIRCA London opened in March 2016.

The galleries present modern and contemporary art from Southern Africa. Although contemporary artists from the UK, Europe and the USA are also exhibited, Everard Read I CIRCA retains at its core, an impressive stable of South African artists. The galleries each present a year-round programme of solo and group exhibitions, advise both public and private collectors around the world and have an ongoing commitment to nurturing South African talent.

CIRCA London is located at 80 Fulham Road, London SW3 6HR and is open weekdays, 10am – 6pm and Saturdays, 12pm – 4pm. www.circagallerylondon.com

About Cobert Mashile
b. 1972, South Africa
Colbert Mashile is an artist who has developed a unique iconographical language within South African art, often dealing with the mystical, mythological and archaic elements of traditional African culture and its legacy in present-day life.

Mashile’s early work dealt primarily with the traumatic, cruel and highly controversial circumcision rituals practised widely upon young black initiates of both sexes, in different guises, as ceremonial, tribal, coming-of age rites of passage. These practices are criticized and condemned locally and internationally as cruel and inhumane, especially in terms of their long-term psychological impact.

Mashile draws on his own experiences and memory in an autonomous and intuitive process, creating vivid and intricate imagery, recalling both Surrealism and the satirical Pop art of artists such as Phillip Guston or more recently, George Condo.

Mashile’s work has been exhibited in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Senegal, South Africa, the UK and USA and is held in private and corporate collections in South Africa and internationally.

Solo Exhibitions
2016
Solo exhibition at CIRCA Gallery, Johannesburg
2015
Beast of Burden NIROX Projects, Johannesburg, South Africa
S'Ka Motho (Just Like Man) SMAC Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2013
Messages from our Ancestors Art Eye Gallery, Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa
2006
Mmawaka Montedi AVA, Cape Town, South Africa
2004
Tsa Bagale ,Gallery On The Square, Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa
Selected Group Exhibitions
2016
CIRCA Gallery Opening Exhibition, London UK
2015
FNB Jo-burg Art Fair, Everard Read Gallery Booth, Johannesburg, South Africa
2006
Les arts de la Coexistence? Alliance Francaise, Paris, France
Les arts de la Coexistence? Musee des Arts Derniers, Paris, France
New Painting, KZNSA Gallery, Durban, South Africa
New Painting, Unisa Art Gallery, Pretoria, South Africa
DAK' ART, Dakar, Senegal
New Painting, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2005
Brett Kebble Awards Exhibiton
ABSA L'Atelier Competition Exhibition, Absa Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Johannesburg Sasol New Signatures Competition Exhibition, Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, South Africa
Les arts de la Coexistence? Migrations Culturelles, Bordeaux , France
Les arts de la Coexistence? Médiathèque, Biarritz, France
Florence Biennale, Florence, Italy
2004
Brett Kebble Awards Exhibiton
ABSA L'Atelier Competition Exhibition, Absa Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
A Decade of Democracy: Witnessing South Africa: 2004 -2005, Boston, Smithsonian, Gibbs Museum, Detroit USA (Traveling Show)
The ID of South African Artists, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
A Decade of Democracy: South African Art 1994 -2004 from the Permanent Collection, South African National Gallery,Cape Town, South Africa
Making Waves (A selection of works from the SABC art collection) Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Negotiated Identities - Black Bodies , Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2003
Circumcised/ Circumscribed, Axis Gallery, New York, USA
Show Me Home, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
A New Collection, Gallery On The Square, Sandton, South AfricA
2002
Insider/Outsider, Art on Paper Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Klein Karoo National Arts Festival, Oudshoorn, South Africa
2001
Museum Africa Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
The Art Space Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2000
ABSA Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Malangatana in South Africa, Sandton Civic Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Bill Ainslie Art Gallery, South Africa
Klein Karoo National Arts Festival, Oudshoorn, South Africa
1998 & 1999
Martienssen, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa
1994
JHB Art Foundation, Johannesburg, South Africa
Awards
2000
ABSA l'Atelier Merit Prize
1999
Certificate of First Class: Painting IV, Johannesbur Art Foundation
1998
Certificate of Merit: Outstanding Results in Drawing & Design III
1992-1994
Certificate in Art Foundation Course
1989
Tladishi High School Matric
Selected Public and Private Collections
3M
African Life
BHP Billiton (Gencor) Daniel Erasmus Attorneys Durban Art Gallery
De Beers
E. Oppenheimer & Sons Johannesburg Art Gallery IBM