David Krut Projects is pleased to present a solo project entitled Selfie Fulfilling Prophecy by Olivié Keck, at 142A Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood from the 4th– 30th of April, as an extension of her solo exhibition in 2016 at David Krut Projects, Cape Town.
The exhibition showcases a series of watercolour monotypes and a limited edition artist book that prompts conversation about the philosophy of the digital self. The works were created during the artist’s residency at the Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, California, the USA in 2016.
Keck has sourced a multitude of images – predominantly profile pictures – from online dating platforms which inform the subject matter of her work. The artist investigates the culture and construction of online identities through self-portrayal. The figures are depicted without facial features which create anonymity to the portraits and entrenches a conceptual point of view of the online self as an illusion.
Whilst creating these watercolour monotypes, Keck was influenced by the works of Pierre Bonnard, having viewed the exhibition Painting Arcadia at the Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco. Keck’s work is impacted by Bonnard’s use of patterns, drawing on Japanese prints, and his portrayal of decorative interweaving lines with effervescent patches of colour. Keck depicts the figures amidst their everyday life which would otherwise remain private if it were not for the digital social universe. This further relates to Bonnard’s portrayal of private life and intimate scenes in his work. For Keck, these scenes comprise elements of curated voyeurism that are “equivalent to the digital eye that we have today”.
Finally, Selfie Fulfilling Prophecy is linked to a Virtual Reality (VR) project that Keck describes as a “quest narrative” involving the role player navigating a host of different, often abstracted environments. This project inverts the watercolour monotype process by taking the monotypes as a fine art medium and turning it into a digital experience.
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For pricing and availability contact Ame Snyman at [email protected] | t. +27(0)11 880 6368
For Media inquiries contact Claudia Dougherty at [email protected] | t. +27(0)11 880 6368