Stevenson Gallery Johannesburg: ‘Between Two Palms: New works from Durban’ by Georgina Gratrix

Georgina Gratrix is getting her first solo exhibition in several years at Stevenson Gallery in Johannesburg. Between Two Palms: New works from Durban are all about leaning into what she considers her home and channelling the journey into art. The exhibition opens on 18 May and will run through until 29 June 2024.

Georgina Gratrix taps into her formative art roots for her first solo show at Stevenson Gallery

Born in Mexico City in 1982, Georgina grew up in Durban and now lives in Cape Town. With Between Two Palms: New works from Durban, she returns to reconnect with her base and space in which she first discovered the practice of painting.

Georgina took up residence in the studio of her first art teacher, Pascale Chandler, where she received extra lessons as a teenager. Gratrix turns this environment into her subject matter for the exhibition, describing how the light from the surrounding garden seeps in to saturate the ‘metaphorical white space of the studio’.

Central to the exhibition is Between Two Palms: A Painters Lunch, a group portrait that includes some of Georgina’s muses and the personalities that surround her. The work is the artist’s response to the question ‘who would be your dream guest for lunch?.’ Here, Gratrix presents the gathering of an extended art-historical family.

Some of the characters are sourced from other paintings such as Robert Hodgins’ Ubu and the Commanders in Chief (1981/2), Maud Sumner’s unfortunately titled Fat Lady (1936) and Irma Stern’s Argentinian Woman (1941). Painters themselves also make the cut with Gladys Mgudlandlu, Andrew Verster and Marlene Dumas standing in a huddle to the left. In the centre of the bottom row sits Penny Siopis, with a self-portrait of Gratrix hiding behind a bouquet of flowers beside her.

The collection of works in Between Two Palms; New works from Durban ranges between the genres of still life and portraiture. An intimate view of home, objects and the landscape, the exhibition speaks to Gratrix’s sense of belonging and locating herself both in a physical place and as part of a community of painters.

Essential details

Cost: FREE entry

When: Running until 29 June 2024. Tuesday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Saturday, 10am to 1pm
Where: Stevenson Gallery, 46 7th Ave, Parktown North, Randburg, Johannesburg

Website: stevenson.info
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 011 403 1055
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Facebook: @Stevenson.Gallery