Gallery Hans Mayer, Düsseldorf presents “New Works,” a solo exhibition by South African artist Zander Blom. Zander Blom’s sustained explorations into the developments of abstraction in 20th century Modernist art movements have, until now, resulted in a diverse range of strictly non-figurative experiments in painting, most recently taking the form of geometric and minimalist abstraction. This exhibition of new works marks an important point of departure for Blom as the figurative elements from his drawing practices have entered the realm of his paintings for the first time, symbolizing a critical disengagement with pure abstraction. At the center of this exhibition is a large format installation of pages torn from old Mondrian catalogues and defaced with Blom’s drawings of dinosaurs, aliens, and other childishly rebellious icons. These iconoclastic scribbles have now moved across to his paintings, to deface his ordered geometric abstractions, and to question his own approach to painting. Also on display are the artist’s characteristic abstractions of oil on raw Belgian linen, with his signature technique of making painting that look digitally rendered.Zander Blom was born in Pretoria in 1982 and currently lives in Cape Town. His first substantial series of work, “The Drain of Progress,” was exhibited in Johannesburg (2007), Cape Town (2008) and London (2009). In 2014, Blom received the third Jean‐Francois Prat Prize for contemporary art in Paris. He has had solo exhibitions take place at, among others, the Institute of Contemporary Art Indian Ocean (ICAIO), Mauritius (2017); the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia, USA (2011-12); the Galerie van der Mieden in Antwerp; and 5x6x9 in Berlin (2010).The exhibition is on view through September 2, 2017, at Gallery Hans Mayer, Düsseldorf, Grabbeplatz 2, 40213 Düsseldorf, Germany.For more details, visit: www.galeriehansmayer.deClick on the slideshow for a sneak peek at the exhibition.
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