ANDREW MOGRIDGE FINE ART
Artist Statement
I embrace the absurd and value the power of impulse over preconception. With the help of acerbic humour, I explore themes of power, violence, and the farce of authority.
My process is characterised by an approach that invites the unexpected and takes full advantage of unhappy accidents. Using titles and phrases I attempt to satisfy our innate craving for meaning. Words, no matter how banal or disfigured, are comforting and familiar.
As a multimedia artist, I play to the strengths of each medium. The immediacy of drawing, the directness of painting, the iteration and editioning of printmaking and the temporality of film and music. Canvas rots, paper fades, and music falls out of fashion.
As a medium, ceramics has one notable property, that of durability. Each piece has the potential to last a few thousand years by which time the ideas of ownership or provenance are lost and meaning itself loses traction to history.
Because of the pots three dimensionality the full story doesn’t unfold without a full rotation and at all times there is quite literally another side to the story. As the pot is rotated there is a temporality that is shared with other media such as film or music.
The graphic nature and the highly activated surfaces of my work are, more than likely, the result of having worked in advertising for 20 years. Advertisers demand high impact. The ads themselves are visual hammers, blunt instruments in the service of consumption. “How can I help?”.
Biography
Date of Birth: 06 August 1969
Highest Qualification: NHD, Cum Laude
Born and bred in the Eastern Cape. I attended Selborne College and went on to study an undergraduate diploma in Graphic Design at the Port Elizabeth Technikon.
I then went on to do a honours degree at Walter Sisulu University where I majored in painting for which I obtained a distinction, after which I was offered a lecturing position at Walter Sisulu University.
Subsequently I went on to become the Creative Director at an advertising agency, after which I opened my own design studio.
Currently I am a full-time fine artist specialising in ceramics and painting, my work is exhibited in some of the most respected art galleries in the country.
Exhibitions
People Places & Perspectives: Group, A Selection Of Eastern Cape Artists,1994
The Pigs’ Wing Journal: Dissertation, Ann Bryant Gallery East London, 1995
Eastern Cape Dept of Arts & Culture: Group, Grahamstown, 1996
Volkskas Atelier: Final, 1996
Volkskas Atelier: Final, 1997
Volkskas Atelier: Final, 1998
Land History Self: Group, Standard Bank Arts Festival: Curated Dakawa, 1998
The Root Of All Evil: Solo, Standard Bank Arts Festival, 1999
Scar: Group, Thomas Art Consultancy East London, 1999
ABSA Bank Atelier: Final, 1999
9th International Print & Drawing Exhibition: Taiwan, 1999
Address Redress: Group, Print Collaboration, Grahamstown Arts Festival, 1999
Art & Articulation: Group, 2000
ABSA Bank Atelier: Final, 2000
ABSA Bank Atelier: Final, 2001
Corpus: Group, Art.B Gallery, 2001
ABSA Bank Atelier: Final, 2002
Koester Exhibition: Group, Durbanville, 2002
Clu: Solo, Art B, Belville, 2002
Nedbank Cinema Nouveau: Group, Cape Town, 2002
Salted Lines: Group, Impact International Printmaking Conference, Taiwan, 2004
Off the Wall: Group, Comic / Illustration, Durban, 2007
African Angels: Group, East London, 2008
Mostly Harmless: Group, East London, 2009
Recession, What Recession?: Group, East London, 2009
The Guava Chronicles: Institute of Creative Technology, 2011
The Buffalo Citizen: Collaboration with Jeff Rankin, Grahamstown Arts Festival, 2012
Beyond Skin: Group, The Art Business. Piketberg, 2012
Absa Vuka Festival : Group, East London, 2013
The Most Dangerous Kind: Solo, Smartt Road Gallery, 2015
Ego I Go: Zulu Lulu Gallery, Durban 2016
Playgrounds: Group, Moor Gallery, 2017
When In Doubt: CVD Gallery, 2018
Music by 300 Strangers: Collaborative music project, Online, 2020
Iris: short film, 2020
Home is Where the Art is: Group, Zeits MOCCA 2020
New Beginnings: Group, The Gallery Grande Provence, 2021
Ceramics South Africa: Group, Eastern Cape Regionals, Merit, 2021
True Fall: Group, The Gallery Grande Provence, 2022
unStable: Group, Stowe & So Gallery, Grahamstown 2022
Achromatica: Group, RK Contemporary, 2022
Celebrating 75 Years: Group, Ann Bryant Art Gallery, 2022
National Arts Festival: Group, 2022
Tricolore: Group, The Gallery Grande Provence, 2022
Blue: Group, RK Contemporary, 2022
Ceramics South Africa: Group, Corobrik Biennale 2022
Ceramics South Africa: Group, Eastern Cape Regional, 2022
Lush: Group, RK Contemporary, 2022
Linked Emotions: Group, Limani Gallery, 2022
Seeing Far: Group, Knysna Fine Art, 2022
Rugby: Group, Rust-en-Vrede Gallery, 2023
Chintsa Contemporary: Group, 2023
The Gallery at Steyn City: Group, 2023
Umtiza Arts Festival: Group, 2023
Earth, Wind & Fire: Group, Hermanus FynArts, 2023
DayDreaming: Group, Gallery at Glen Carlou, 2023
Turbine Art Fair: Group, Represented by RK Contemporary, 2023
Vuleka: Group, Art.B Gallery (3rd Prize Winner), 2023
Solo Studios: Group, RK Contemporary, 2023
Harmony in Diversity: Group, Limani Gallery, 2023
CeraMix: Group, Art.B Gallery, 2023
Blooms & Brushstrokes: Group, Bass Property Group, 2023
Zoo/Animalia: Group, Gallery at Glen Carlou, 2023
25th Anniversary: Group, Knysna Fine Art, 2023