First Retrospective of South African Artist and Activist Gavin Jantjes Opens this November

Overview

This November, Sharjah Art Foundation and The Africa Institute present the first retrospective of acclaimed South African artist and activist Gavin Jantjes. Featuring over 100 works from 1970 to the present, Gavin Jantjes: To Be Free! A Retrospective 1970–2023 underscores pivotal phases in the artist’s life and career over the last 50 years. The exhibition includes his early work in printmaking, painting and anti-apartheid activism; his transformative role at art institutions in the UK, Germany and Norway; his figurative portrayals of the global Black struggle for freedom; and his recent transition to non-figurative painting. The exhibition also debuts a new series of large-scale paintings that Jantjes created during his 2022 residency at Sharjah Art Foundation. The exhibition is on view at Galleries 4, 5 and 6 in Al Mureijah Art Spaces from 18 November 2023 through 10 March 2024.

‘Gavin’s prolific career in artistry and activism draws connections between freedom movements in Africa and around the world. This long-overdue retrospective spotlights the work that he has done for decades to help preserve histories threatened by erasure, shed light on the effects of colonisation and protect freedom of expression,’ says exhibition curator Salah M. Hassan, Director of The Africa Institute. ‘It is especially exciting to premiere this exhibition in Sharjah, where Gavin’s recent residency at Sharjah Art Foundation cultivated exciting new work that builds on his recent explorations in non-figurative painting.’

He spent his formative years under apartheid in Cape Town, from where he was exiled at the age of 22 for his work as an artist and activist. Jantjes has long pursued a quest for artistic emancipation free from Eurocentric perspectives and expectations. His cross-disciplinary practice incorporates printmaking, sculpting, writing and most frequently painting, employing a wide range of motifs and palettes to engage with histories of slavery, civil rights movements and post-colonial freedom struggles around the world. Currently based in the UK, Jantjes is regarded as one of South Africa’s most important artists and is internationally recognised for his work as a human rights activist.

Providing a framework through which viewers can examine the system of apartheid and its contemporary legacies, To Be Free! encompasses each aspect of Jantjes’ polymath career—his curatorial initiatives, writings and wider role as an advocate for social liberation. Organised in chapters that mark significant moments in Jantjes’ life and unfurl various threads of his practice, the exhibition brings together more than 100 prints, drawings, paintings and film works as well as an extensive collection of archival material such as books, photographs, newspaper clippings and videos from the past five decades. The final chapter presents his most recent non-figurative series ‘Sharjah.’ These paintings, some of his largest to date, conjure ethereal realms that provoke self-reflection and leave viewers free to draw their own interpretations.

Gavin Jantjes: To Be Free! A Retrospective 1970–2023 will travel to the Whitechapel Gallery, London, where it will be on view from 12 June to 1 September 2024. Organised by Whitechapel Gallery and Sharjah Art Foundation, in collaboration with The Africa Institute, Sharjah, the exhibition is curated by Salah M. Hassan, in collaboration with Gilane Tawadros and Cameron Foote.

ABOUT GAVIN JANTJES
Activist, painter, printmaker, curator and writer Gavin Jantjes was born in Cape Town just as the apartheid regime in South Africa was beginning its ascent. Drawing on personal experience, he explores the role of art in furthering human rights, freedom of expression and cultural understanding. He has exhibited internationally, and his works can be found in the collections of the South African National Gallery, Cape Town; Tate, London; and Museum of Modern Art, New York. He has received commissions from the United Nations Refugee Council and the UN Commission on Apartheid. He has lectured at Chelsea College of Arts in London and served as artistic director for the Henie Onstad Art Center, Norway (1998–2004), and senior curator for the National Museum, Oslo (2004–2014). His many books include A Fruitful Incoherence (Iniva, 1998) and the four-volume Visual Century: South African Art in Context 1907–2007 (Wits University Press, 2010). He lives and works in Oxfordshire.

ABOUT THE CURATOR
Salah M. Hassan is the Director of The Africa Institute, Sharjah, and Distinguished Professor of Arts and Sciences in Africana, Cornell University, USA. He is an art historian, curator and art critic and founding editor of Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art (Duke University Press).

ABOUT SHARJAH ART FOUNDATION

Sharjah Art Foundation is an advocate, catalyst and producer of contemporary art within the Emirate of Sharjah and the surrounding region, in dialogue with the international arts community. The Foundation advances an experimental and wide-ranging programmatic model that supports the production and presentation of contemporary art, preserves and celebrates the distinct culture of the region and encourages a shared understanding of the transformational role of art. The Foundation’s core initiatives include the long-running Sharjah Biennial, featuring contemporary artists from around the world; the annual March Meeting, a convening of international arts professionals and artists; grants and residencies for artists, curators and cultural producers; ambitious and experimental commissions and a range of travelling exhibitions and scholarly publications.

Established in 2009 to expand programmes beyond the Sharjah Biennial, which launched in 1993, the Foundation is a critical resource for artists and cultural organisations in the Gulf and a conduit for local, regional and international developments in contemporary art. The Foundation’s deep commitment to developing and sustaining the cultural life and heritage of Sharjah is reflected through year-round exhibitions, performances, screenings and educational programmes in the city of Sharjah and across the Emirate, often hosted in historic buildings that have been repurposed as cultural and community centres. A growing collection reflects the Foundation’s support of contemporary artists in the realisation of new work and its recognition of the contributions made by pioneering modern artists from the region and around the world.

Sharjah Art Foundation is a legally independent public body established by Emiri Decree and supported by government funding, grants from national and international nonprofits and cultural organisations, corporate sponsors and individual patrons. Hoor Al Qasimi serves as President and Director. All exhibitions are free and open to the public.

ABOUT SHARJAH

Sharjah is the third largest of the seven United Arab Emirates and the only one bridging the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Reflecting the deep commitment to the arts, architectural preservation and cultural education embraced by its ruler, Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Sharjah is home to more than 20 museums and has long been known as the cultural hub of the United Arab Emirates. In 1998, it was named UNESCO's 'Arab Capital of Culture' and has been designated the UNESCO ‘World Book Capital’ for the year 2019.

MEDIA CONTACT

Alyazeyah Al Marri
+971(0)65444113
alyazeyah@sharjahart.org