Is it me, or have all of you noticed that there appears to be a continual stream of notable artwork coming out of South Africa right now? From the cinematic game-changer District 9, to my newest art crush Ruan Hoffman and his lustful ceramics- I'm ready to head out to South Africa in search of this new tide.
Last week, Martin stumbled upon the recent art show of Naretha Pretorius that opened this past June at artSpace Durban. Her works currently chronicle her memories of a childhood quaked by the realities of apartheid.
Leafing through some of those memories - her show titled Onthaal Onthul - is filled with the mundane visuals of church hall gatherings. Naretha's thoughtful imagery begins to take on an extra melancholy (that borders on eerie) as she effectively shares a childhood sheathed in the niceties of such traditional church hall festivities while all of South Africa was steeped in conflict.
For Tile Envy's purposes, Naretha's show also had some of the best "tiles" we've stumbled upon lately-
