Zander Blom

PAINTINGS. DRAWINGS. PHOTOS.

9 September - 16 October 2010

Michael Stevenson is pleased to present new work by Zander Blom in his first solo exhibition at the gallery.

Blom writes:

There are few things as gratifying as waking up to the smell of linseed oil and paint, and stumbling through the chaos of torn-up books and empty tubes with a freshly squeezed palette of colour in hand. Figuring out your next move, brushstrokes staring back at you from the tussle of the night before. At home in Johannesburg my focus has shifted from making photographic works to working on oil paintings, having naturally gravitated towards a medium that I've loved from afar but previously only skirted around, flirted with and examined endlessly. Oil painting, which is not without its fair share of historical baggage, has finally ended up right in the centre of my life. In turn my house has evolved into a ramshackle painter's studio. Now I find myself in my ever-changing swamp, knee-deep in references, smeared with paint, avoiding email, watching the paintings paint themselves, and seeing all the little degenerates pile up in the garage.
Within the chaos of the painting mire, which sees that nothing in my house retains its original colour, or value, drawings are creeping around in every corner as they usually tend to do. Undisturbed, they collect and pile up under the bed.
Every now and then I tear myself away from the house to visit different cities abroad, where I produce the different chapters of a new long-term photographic project: the first chapter done in São Paulo, the second in Berlin, with Antwerp, Miami and Istanbul on the way.
PAINTINGS. DRAWINGS. PHOTOS. introduces these three new bodies of work in progress.

Blom was born in Pretoria in 1982 and lives in Johannesburg. His first exhibition, The Drain of Progress, was included in Frieze magazine's survey of 'the most significant shows of 2007'. In 2009 he was included in the Younger than Jesus artists' directory published by the New Museum, New York. He currently has a solo show, The Black Hole Universe, at 5x6x9, Berlin, and is included on the group show Ampersand at Daimler Contemporary, Berlin.

The exhibition opens on Thursday 9 September, 6-8pm. Exhibiting concurrently as part of the FOREX series is DJ Spooky.

Blom will give a walkabout of his exhibition in support of the Friends of the South African National Gallery on Friday 10 September at 11am; cost is R20 members and non-members.