HEPTAD- Seven years of Artspace

Regi Bardavid
Regi Bar David is one of the few South African painters who has remained within the genre of abstraction for many years. The inspiration and passion that she manifests in her work demonstrates her sincerity in her conviction, which offers the work integrity and justifies the critical and commercial successes it has garnered through the years.
The artist is inspired by the challenge of creating something out of nothing, the unpredictability of the medium and the thrill of pushing and pulling her medium to make this happen.

Wayne Barker
Wayne Barker's artistic career spans almost two decades, marked by a bitter-sweet mix of politics, poetry, and a passion for subversion. At times part Pop Art, at others a layered deployment of traditional genres and media, Barker's work stands, as much as an indictment of colonialism as of misplaced political correctness. From the first seduction to the twist in the gut, it is as beautiful as it is provoking.

Bongi Bengu
Bengu’s work is a social commentary about her life a black/African woman, and a black woman artist.
Her most recent solo exhibition, in March 2007, although mainly inspired by work previously produced in this country, infused different influences in the work borrowed from her latest journeys in other African countries such as Ghana, Kenya, Zambia, Nigeria and overseas.

Mbongeni Buthelezi
Buthelezi has emerged as a strong force in South Africa’s contemporary art scene. Buthelezi trained at the Funda Art Centre in the mid-eighties  and has since  developed a strong visual aesthetic, working with recylcled plastic to show experiences of a South African life. Buthelezi’s works are a platform for dialogue and social commentary.

Marco Cianfanelli
Marco Cianfanelli was born in Johannesburg in 1970. He graduated, with distinction, from the University of the Witwatersrand with a BAFA in 1992. He lives and works in Johannesburg.
Since 1994 Cianfanelli has been involved in various projects relating to art, architecture and public space. He continues to work in this environment, engaging with other professionals from different fields. Currently, he is a member the design team for The Freedom Park, South Africa’s national monument to freedom, situated in Pretoria.

Dylan Graham
Graham’s art, primarily executed as oil paintings, seems to reference the proto-Renaissance style of Giotto in its flatness and figurative simplicity. He use subdued palates and contemplative compositions that seem to moments if silence, or fragments of thoughts.

Sandra Hanekom
Hanekom has been working as an artist from 1994, participating in various group exhibitions both nationally and internationally. She had her first solo exhibition titles "Waiting" in 1998 at the Open Window Contemporary Art Gallery in Pretoria. In 2001 she had her second solo exhibition, "Muf", at the Bellville Art Gallery.In1999 she curated the "Anima-I" exhibition together with Wilna Coetzer, representing such remarkable artists as Lien Botha, Fritha Langerman, Hannele Benade and Doreen Southwood.She has served on the boards of the Durbanville Cultural Society, the East London Art Society and the Bellville Arts Board

Colbert Mashile
Mashile, a quiet individual, reflects on his use of symbols and icons. He comments that it simply shows the 'truth about the land and its people and thus my existence in South Africa'. This poignant statement reflects someone who has a clear understanding of the prevalent issues in South Africa. Mashile has found an individual way in which to artistically communicate his own concerns and those of society as a whole, and he does so in a remarkable manner. His work references various elements of more traditional art-production techniques (printmaking and painting). But, within this production, he isolates the personal narrative as the loudest voice within a cacophony of layers of meaning and reference.

Antoinette Murdoch
In addition to making art, Murdoch was appointed the CEO of the Art Bank Joburg in 2006 and she is also currently reading for her Masters in Fine Art at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her last solo exhibition: Karaoke Confessions was held at the Gallery Premises at the end of 2007. Her most recent personal accolade is her finalist award by CEO Magazine as most influential woman in business and government for 2007 and she has again been nominated for this award in 2008.

Luan Nel
Nel graduated from the University of the Witswatersrand in 1993 with a BA Fine Arts Degree. He became well known for his paintings of small figures on unconventional surfaces such as paper packets, as well as works on a larger scale such as the inflatable replica he made of his childhood home from his father's old army tent. In 1998 and 1999 he participated in a residency at the prestigious Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam as well as a research residency at the Dutch Institute in Rome.

Jaco Sieberhagen

Sieberhagen is know for his sculptural works, in either wood or metal
The 7th step is all about growing up and the important decisions (steps) a young person needs to make as they prepare to enter the world of adulthood.   In Biblical terms the 7 stands for the perfect number.  A Kings throne will for example stands on the seventh step.  The 7 TH step stands for that all important step a person needs to take to guide himself/herself into the future to climb many more steps.

Alex Trapani
Trapani qualified with a National Higher Diploma in  Fine Arts from the Technikon Witwatersrand.  “
Of his recent works, he says, “ In human beings, “disease” is often used more broadly to refer to any condition that causes pain, dysfunction, distress, social problems, and/or death to the person afflicted, or similar problems for those in contact with the person. In this broader sense, it sometimes includes injuries, disabilities, disorders, syndromes, infections, isolated symptoms, deviant behaviours, and atypical variations of structure and function, while in other contacts and for other purposes these may be considered distinguishable categories. Classifying a condition as a disease is a social act of valuation, and may change the social status of a person with the condition (the patient). Some conditions (known as culture-bound syndromes) are only recognised as diseases within a particular culture. Sometimes the categorisation of a condition as a disease is controversial within the culture….

Gina Waldman
Gina Waldman is a mixed media artist who completed her Masters in Fine Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2002. Her mixed media work explores notions of kitsch, excess, consumerism, taste and decorating. She lives and works in Johannesburg as a full time artist, is the co-owner of Two (formally Boom Factory), a fashion label.

Berco Wilsenach
Sculptor and installation artist Berco Wilsenach exploits the socio-cultural meanings of materials as a central concern in his work. Having obtained the BA(FA) and MA(FA) degrees from the University of Pretoria, Wilsenach has exhibited both locally and internationally, and his work has received several awards. His most recent exhibition titled La gerarchia dello spazio (2004) was presented at the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa, Italy. Wilsenach is the winner of the prestigious ABSA l'Atelier Award 2005