Civilized Violence at Artspace

Artist Jaco van den Heever presents a new body of work entitled Civilized Violence at Artspace gallery in Rosebank, Johannesburg. Opening on the 23 June 2010 at 18h00, this exhibition of drawings is both visually compelling and intellectually challenging.

In Civilized Violence van den Heever questions the ideological framework of our contemporary society through a series of large scale drawings, rendered with exquisite detail.

Jaco van den Heever says, "This exhibition seeks to explore and comment on the structures that represent the core aspects of our world and all of whom engages within it. It appears as if our contemporary society has been reduced to blinkered participants, actively engaging, never questioning an ostensible 'uncivil contradictory social order".

In our modern-day world, governments strive to find a common humanity amongst the world's disparate populace. However within the realm of these lofty ideals and notions of protecting the rights of all, the cogs of an industrialized, mass consumerist society insensitively churns away.

"Its pulse is mass media, its neural pathways, the realm of virtual information and its breath - humankind. The machine has a desensitized hunger for overload. While perversely feeding and tending to the machine, humankind has become inextricably entwined into a bizarre relationship where the surreal has become the norm."

The term Civilized Violence was coined by American film director Godfrey Reggio in 2002. The concept was explored at length in his seminal experimental documentary, Naqoyqatsi. Taking a cue from Reggio, this exhibition delves further into the notion of what is understood and packaged to be perceived as 'civilized'. While 'civilized' has become a constructed standard in our world, on inspection the cultural relativity of this idea becomes apparent. But why or rather how is it violent?

Describing his work, van den Heever says, "by juxtaposing a series of banal urban structures, all innately part of the Johannesburg landscape: abandoned railway lines, low-cost mass housing units, dilapidated factories, networks of electrical pylons, against a matrix of mechanically stamped binary coding, the relationship begins to take shape".

He continues, "Binary coding both controls and defines the digital landscape that surrounds us today and decoding the matrix is essential. In this instance, the coding is a phrase - a play on polarities, which spells out: Love War, Hate Peace".

After graduating with a B Tech degree in Fine Art from the former Technikon Witwatersrand in Johannesburg in 2004, van den Heever has been lecturing at Vega - The Brand Communication School, where he lectures Creative Development. His first solo exhibition, Habitat, held at the Gordart gallery in 2007 was a sell out.

The exhibition opens at Artspace, 1 Chester Court, 142 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood, 18h00 on 23 June 2010. David Paton, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Visual Art, Faculty of Art Design and Architecture from the University of Johannesburg will open the exhibition.

The exhibition runs until the 14th July 2010.

Please join us at the opening for a glass of wine and to meet the artist.

Gallery hours: Tues- Fri 10h00-17h30
Saturday 10h00 - 15h30

The exhibition closes on the 19 June 2010
For more information about the exhibition:
Artspace
011 880 8802
Artspace@wol.co.za
www.artspace_jhb.co.za

For media enquiries:
Taryn Cohn
083 6715139
taryncohn@artsourcesouthafrica.co.za