Art Eye Gallery directed its focus on being a platform for great expression and storytelling. Our artists were not only dedicated to their individual practices but also expressed narratives that were directly focused on what it meant to live in South Africa. With great diversity and cultural miscellany, South African Contemporary Visual Art communicated a continent of richness, not only of being but also of art-making, to an international audience.
In an age where our traditions, ideologies, and socio-political stance could affect and disable the often fragile interaction with those around us, we were constantly in flux as we tried to negotiate our individual realities while simultaneously exchanging those differences through interactions and various mediums. Visual Arts within Contemporary South Africa seemed to highlight this interplay as artists used their own narratives as subject matter for their works. Contemporary Visual Arts transcended its object(ness) as a commercial commodity and often existed as a signifier of the space and time we occupied.
ART EYE GALLERY was an independently owned company that developed beyond exhibition and gallery functionality. The gallery included various studios in New Doornfontein, Johannesburg.
AE The Launchpad, was a pristine exhibition space where guests were invited to experience art sensually. The visuals placed on the walls were complemented by hints of ylang-ylang, amidst a cacophony of instruments filling the room. The moody dark space allowed our visitors the room to intimately and quietly engage with the work. The space hosted an array of different art forms, from video, performance, musical, and installation artists, broadening our scope while still maintaining a direction toward original production and creativity.
