Humourless Tumours – Hendrik Gericke

26th November – 9th December, 2012

Opening Night:
Thursday 29th November 6.00 – 8.00pm

The seed for this new body of work by Hendrik Gericke was sown several years ago when the artist was producing a number of ink drawings for a show in New York. The content was a repeating pattern of billowing clouds underscored by ominous growths emanating beneath. The motivation behind this was to illustrate the manner in which the First World, with its much-touted standard of living, often has a detrimental effect which goes largely unseen within first world borders. These effects range far and wide, leading to a recurring imbalance, from the volumes of waste produced to the spread of inhumane labour conditions in poorer countries.

Hendrik is a South African fine artist currently residing in Australia, dividing his time between Cape Town and Sydney. Having grown up in the political powderkeg that was South Africa during the eighties on a diet of European comic books, terrible images on the daily news and an incredible natural environment, his views and interests are as diverse as the complex and incredibly vibrant nation that shaped him.

“It is this often elusive interconnection which I have sought to explore in a visual language which is neither literal nor judgemental, but rather metaphorically observant. The subject matter ranges from cultural exchanges and the migration of clashing ethnic groups to the manner in which the world’s great economies are adapting both internally and externally to the current state of the world.”