Rosenclaire

Rosenclaire is an artistic duo comprised of Rose Shakinovsky (b. 1953) and Claire Gavronsky (b. 1957). They moved to Italy in 1985, where they have established an international artist’s residency workshop in Tuscany, though nowadays they spend their time between Florence in Italy and Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa.   They frequently visit South Africa to discuss and create artworks with William Kentridge, who through the print medium is the third component of the collaborative team, as well as conducting workshops in Venda and Cape Town.  They have exhibited extensively both locally and internationally, and their work has featured at major events such as the Dakar Biennale and Spheres in France. Prominent public sculpture commissions include their Soap Boxes at the South African National Gallery in Cape Town.    Expectant Fluid was created collaboratively at the Nirox Foundation, in February 2009. Each of the three artists drew a self-portrait from their reflections on the copper plate. Above the three artists’ portraits are pots pouring liquid – expectant fluid – that correlate with the words Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. These are the names of three sisters, from Greek mythology, who each deal with controlling people’s lives from birth, life expectancy and death. The circle under the first pot represents life, while the scissors underneath the third pot represents death.   The process and the close interaction between the artists played an active role in the creation of Expectant Fluid. Interlaced within the portraits and symbolism are various other references shared and understood by the three artists. Other editions created through this collaboration include Lesheba (2005), History of Art (2005), and another new work in progress for release in the coming months. 

Rose Shakinovsky’s (b.1953) work defies any stylistic category as it consists of work that ranges from the re-presentation and decontextualization of found objects, found images and found situations, to delicately painted abstractions and ironic bronzes. The work concerns itself with current political and social discourses while simultaneously referencing and reconstructing art historical edifices. Shakinovsky is interested in the structure as well as the morphology of all seemingly coherent visual and nonvisual languages from the prelinguistic to the post-linquistic and the digital. Her present research is concerned with discourses pertaining to the Posthuman, Postanthropos, Transhuman, Migration and the consequences of Climate Change. Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky collaborate as the artist “rosenclaire”, as wives and as dedicated mentors who have run a renowned artists residency program in Tuscany for the past 30 years. Shakinovsky has over the past decade given contemporary art history courses to collectors, philanthropists and business leaders hoping to inspire them to contribute to fostering the arts in their respective countries. She lives and works in Florence, Italy

Claire Gavronsky (b. 1957) works in a variety of mediums, most notably in painting and sculpture. Her work often uses visual reference's to historical paintings, and cues are sometimes taken from events from everyday life. Memory, racism, violence against women and children are some of the theme's which run through her oeuvre. Her work also bridges sometimes complex narratives through overlaid images, and stories which link the past to the present. In 1981 Gavronsky received a Master of Fine Art in painting, and she moved to Italy in 1985 and has since lived between Cape Town and Tuscany. In Florence, Gavronsky established, with fellow artist Rosemarie Shakinovsky, an international artist’s residency workshop in Tuscany. After the success of these workshops they founded workshops in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Venda and Botswana. Gavronsky and Shakinovsky often collaborate under the name Rosenclaire. They also collaborate on occasion with William Kentridge. She has exhibited extensively in South Africa, Europe and the United States of America.