Arts
OFM Artbeat: Viral Images - solo exhibition by Johandi du Plessis─── 09:00 Thu, 12 Jan 2023
Free State conceptual artist and researcher Johandi du Plessis’s new exhibition titled Viral Images beckons questions about the nature and characteristics of images.
In the OFM Artbeat, Mid-Morning Magic’s Yolanda Maartens is joined by Du Plessis to chat about this exhibition that is currently on at the Oliewenhuis Art Museum in Bloemfontein.
The “housecat” figure–most popular pet (on the internet) that cannot be fully tamed–is the metaphor for images’ paradoxical and ambiguous qualities, according to Du Plessis.
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Images can ‘go viral’; leap and get out of control suddenly, gaining a sense of agency.
Installation shot of ‘playing dead LOL' that forms part of VIRAL IMAGES.
Similarly, unpredictable, yet playful leaps that Du Plessis takes between mediums, materials, and concepts result in diverse artworks that range from installation to GIFs, cellphone and pinhole photography.
The undermining and challenging characteristics of cats problematise topical South African viral events and attempts at ‘managing’ images as part of diversion strategies, such as in the case with Bell Pottinger in aiding the post-apartheid capturing of the state.
The exhibition runs until 12 February 2023.
