Are you a fan of contemporary art with a unique fervor for troubling issues and problematic relationships of humanity with the planet? “Skemer,” a new exhibition by Juria Le Roux at the Cape Town-based art gallery Nel, is a great opportunity to embrace such works and get acquainted with the artist’s iconic style and method.
Nel, which is famous for its attention to subversive themes and challenging art perspectives, will open the new show for public view on August 31. There will be a celebrative preview on August 30 (all day long) and August 31 (10am-11am), with Professor Elizabeth Gunter giving an opening address to this cultural event. Cape Town’s art enthusiasts and collectors can attend the exhibition until October 10, 2024.
Meet Juria Le Roux
So, who is Juria Le Roux, and why should you get acquainted with her artistic creations more closely? Juria Le Roux was born in Zimbabwe in 1963, moving to South Africa in 1976. She received a formal education in Arts from the University of Stellenbosch in 1986 and founded a cooperative workshop in Cape Town one year later.
Le Roux has been working on paintings and unique jewelry collections since 1986, borrowing much of her inspiration and creative themes from her stay in Belgium and the USA from 1995 to 2003. The artist is known for her passion for the elements of nature, such as fire and water, and her skilled metaphorical fusion of eternal natural motifs with pressing socio-political issues.
Juria Le Roux’s best-known solo exhibition of the past years is “Elegie” / “Reeksmoord,” held at the US Art Gallery in Stellenbosch in 2011 and Absa KKNK in Oudtshoorn in 2012, featuring the portraits of South African murder victims. The exhibition was aimed at bringing the unfairness of human oppression and violence against South Africa’s people to the spotlight, and its reception by the artistic community was very high.
Highlights of Juria Le Roux’s New Exhibition “Skemer”
On August 31, Juria Le Roux presents her new solo exhibition of recent paintings, which includes such works as Onomstootlik II (2024), featuring a man turned upside down, with a part of his head under water, and Now I Am Become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds, depicting a destructive bomb explosion looking like a fire tree. With this show, Nel continues its line of solo exhibitions of African artists with a unique perspective.
If you’re in Cape Town or are planning a visit there, it’s worth including the new exhibition by Juria Le Roux in your must-visit list. Her works won’t leave you indifferent by touching the delicate strings of your soul and making you reflect on the intricate relationship between humankind and the elements of nature. “Skemer” will be on view at Nel at 117 Long Street, Cape Town.
