Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi wrote about the Gavin Jantjes exhibition at Sharjah Art Foundation

Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi wrote about the Gavin Jantjes exhibition at Sharjah Art Foundation

IranArt : Sharjah Art Foundation hosts the works of Gavin Jantjes in galleries 4 , 5 and 6 of Al Mureijah Square. This exhibition started on November 18 and continues until March 10, 2024.

Organised in collaboration with The Africa Institute, Sharjah, this exhibition is curated by Salah M. Hassan, Director, The Africa Institute, and Distinguished Professor, Cornell University.

Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, President and Director of Sharjah Art Foundation, wrote the foreword to the exhibition catalog.

You can read parts of the text of Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi below:

"Born and raised in Cape Town, Gavin Jantjes has tirelessly reinvented his modes of artistic expression, continuously defying prescribed expectations. Jantjes' five-decade artistic trajectory, which included moves between cities in Europe, is reflected through his politically charged screenprints, symbolic works inspired by African oral traditions, and his most recent non-figurative paintings.

It is with great pleasure that we present the largest solo presentation of the artist's work to date: Gavin Jantjes: To Be Free! A Retrospective 1970-2023, organised in collaboration with The Africa Institute, Sharjah. The exhibition title To Be Free!' reflects the artist's spirit of liberation, both in politics and art, which has been the driving force of much of his practice.

The exhibition offers audiences a rare opportunity to view Jantjes' major works, including those from institutional collections across three continents, in one place. A rich archive of books, films and photographs accompanies the works, bearing witness to Jantjes' multifaceted roles as an artist, activist, curator, historian and organiser. We are especially proud to exhibit for the first time two large paintings produced during the artist's three-month residency in Sharjah in 2022."