Walkabout & Catalogue Launch of the solo retrospective exhibition Terugblik by Ben Botma

Описание: Event: Walkabout & Catalogue Launch of the solo retrospective exhibition Terugblik by Ben Botma
Venue: Main Building, Oliewenhuis Art Museum Date and Time: 19:00 on Thursday 27 July 2017

Ben Botma is a visual artist and a specialist in meticulous mark making, in a variety of media such as etching, scraperboard, charcoal and pencil drawings, and paintings. Botma is currently showcasing a Retrospective exhibition, Terugblik, that comprises of artworks he made from the 1970’s until his most recent work completed in 2017 in the Main Building, Oliewenhuis Art Museum.

With the catalogue foreword, written by Professor Naòmi Morgan (Head of the French Section in the Deparmtent of Afrikaans, Dutch, German, and French at the University of the Free State) some insight is being shared about this Retrospective exhibition:

A retrospective is much more than an exhibition. It is an exercise in artistic time travel, an opportunity for the public and especially the artist himself to follow the evolution of theme, medium and experimentation over decades, of rediscovering past works and re-uniting for a few minutes with images which once kept him awake at night as he tried to solve the challenges they posed. These images which were almost extensions of himself for a few months, which he relinquished to collectors who gave them good homes, but also removed them from his view. I hope that Ben Botma’s re-union with some of the works on loan will give him joy and pride as he moves from frame to frame of what is essentially his life in pictures. He has provided the viewer with aesthetically satisfying and emotionally bearable equivalents of so much that is part of our history, our landscape and our society, whether it be the Anglo-Boer War, roadside memorials or the preservation of the rhino. This quintessential landscape artist reveals his deep love of the veld in his chosen perspectives, from wide-angle panoramas to close-ups of blades of grass, painstakingly and lovingly depicted with brush, pencil and pastels. His landscapes bring the veld into our homes and give us a portable version of the great African savannha, a moveable feast of memories to accompany us throughout our lives.


To celebrate this outstanding achievement in Botma’s artistic career, a special evening walkabout will be presented by Ben Botma in collaboration with a catalogue launch. This event will take place at 19:00 on Thursday, 27 July 2017 in the Main Building of Oliewenhuis Art Museum.