Скачать или смотреть Helena Hugo discuss her artworks as part of the group exhibition, Performing Wo/Man

Performing Wo/Man explored how a changing post-apartheid socio-political environment is causing South African men and women to create new conceptions of identity, and comments on how South Africans are breaking down previously imposed and pre-conceived identities. The exhibition featured work by 30 well-known artists and consisted of paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculptures, installations and video art. The group exhibition curated by Derek Zietsman, was on show from 26 May until 26 June 2016 in the Reservoir at Oliewenhuis Art Museum.

Participating artists: Allen Laing, Anton Kannemeyer, Bambo Sibiya, Bevan de Wet, Christiaan Diedericks, Collin Cole, Daandrey Steyn, David Paton, Derek Zietsman, Diane Victor, Doris Bloom, Gerrit Hattingh, Gordon Froud, Grace da Costa, Helena Hugo, Izanne Wiid, Jaco van Schalkwyk, Janine Allen, John Robbertse, Karin Preller, Kevin du Plessis, Kim Berman, Pauline Gutter, Peter Mammes, Richardt Strydom, Setlamorago Mashilo, Shonisani Netshia, Sybrand Wiechers, Tanisha Bhana, William Kentridge, Yannis Generalis, Zanele Muholi and Paul Mantzios.

About Helena Hugo and her artwork

Helena Hugo has been a full time artist since graduating from the University of Pretoria in 1996, majoring in painting. After working almost exclusively in oils for ten years, she made a transition to the more direct medium of pastel. Hugo creates highly finished, detailed, realistic expressions of people – mostly South African labourers. She recently started exploring fibre art, using as her medium re-appropriated old clothing previously worn and owned by South African labourers. Through fibre art Hugo investigates, and attempts to visualise, the universal human condition of birth, death and resurrection.

Hugo has exhibited in South Africa and internationally in London, Holland, France, America and China. Her works have been bought by corporate collectors such as Standard Chartered Bank (London), The University of Johannesburg, The Johannesburg Eye Hospital, Vulisango Holdings, The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, Ukwazi Mining Industry Consultants, UNISA, William Humphreys Art Gallery, The National Museum of China as well as private collectors around the world.
Her merits include finalist for the BP Portrait Awards, London, the Momentum/Top Billing lifestyle awards, for ABSA L’Atelier, Sanlam Portrait, Eukurhuleni, Brett Kebble and New Signature Art Awards.

She is a past ABSA KKNK festival artist and a past recipient of the Bettie Cilliers-Barnard Award, a Rendezvous project which won her a month long residency at the Cité International des Arts in Paris.

The fibre art works Hugo is exhibiting in Performing Wo/Man, refer to the line “Everybody knows that the naked man and woman are just a shining artefact of the past”, from the Leonard Cohen song Everybody knows. She also references the preceding line in the song that mentions a 'plague', Cohen says it refers to “A plague of alienation and separation and lassitude and panic; a sense of not being in control.”

The materials used for the 'artefacts' works are clothes previously worn by a man and a woman worker. Clothes are in direct contact with the wearer's body and serve as protection, separating and concealing the wearer from other (otherwise naked) bodies.