September: Gavin exhibits solo at WorldArt, Cape Town

For the first time, Gavin exhibited a show of works entirely from his landscape style. 4 works were on show at WorldArt Gallery in Cape town on the 23rd of September. click here to see more photos from the event.

July: Gavin takes part in an art workshop in Langa, Cape Town

Gavin took part in an art workshop in Langa with Ed Gray. “The value of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ to South Africa should never be reduced to just lists of infrastructure, improved tourism numbers or better retail revenues.  As important as these are to our country, much of the real value of the first-ever African FIFA World Cup™ lies in using the tournament to create new opportunities,” said Rob Spaull, General Manager of 2010 Fine Art, speaking on Wednesday at a 2010 Art Legacy Workshop being hosted at the Guga S’Thebe Community Arts Centre in Langa, Cape Town.

June: Gavin exhibits in Trieste and Venice - Italy

The next stop of the SOUTH AFRICAN WAVE exhibition took Gavin to Trieste and Venice. Below are pictures from the shows. Next stop: Milan.

The top three photos are from the Trieste show, with the bottom four from Venice.

April 2009: Fifa World Cup endorsement

Gavin has been chosen by the 2010 Fine Art consortium as one of the African artists to participate in the 2010 African Fine Art collection – the first time in the eighty year history of the FIFA World Cup™ that fine art on this scale has been officially licensed.  This month's 2010 Fine Art News features fellow 2010 Fine Art participants Keith Calder, Peter Phillips, Gavin Rain and Taju. An excerpt from this month's newsletter:

One of the most important balances to strike in assembling the 2010 African Fine Art Collection has been to identify art deeply rooted in African fine art traditions – and to match a selection of these more cerebral works with similarly authentic, but more readily accessible works of African pop art. The need to reconcile this apparent duality has led to 2010 African Fine Art assembling a two-part collection encompassing an important Pan African contemporary exhibition as well as more readily accessible works – especially those that lend themselves to ranges. The unifying constant being that they have all been created by exceptionally talented African artists inspired by the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ and its spirit: Ke Nako. Celebrate Africa’s Humanity. The African contemporary exhibition has been recognized as an Official
Parallel Event by one of the Host Cities. The exhibition will be curated by a team of five highly respected South African curators. To read more, view the newsletter here.

Gavin is currently working on 12 paintings that will become a series of limited edition prints and merchandising with the potential to become truly iconic images of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. 2010 Fine Art will be officially launching at Decorex Cape at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from the
24th – 27th April 2009.

March 2009: Design Indaba & Magis puppy

Gavin was asked by Sean Weldon of ID Solutions to paint a puppy (originally designed in 2005 by iconic designer Eero Aarnio for Italian contemporary design brand Magis) along with 50 other artists and design companies. The puppies were displayed at the 2009 Design Indaba Exhibition at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) in March 2009. The project will culminate in an auction, with 50% of the proceeds going toward bursaries awarded to design students through the Design Indaba Trust, and 50% going toward the commissioning of a public sculpture for the Greenpoint Stadium Precinct.

Click here to bid on Gavin's puppy.

February 2009: Gavin exhibits in Gas, Treviso - Italy

The next stop of the SOUTH AFRICAN WAVE exhibition in Treviso, Italy, was the GAS stores: A leading premium apparel brand operating in more than 56 countries with over 3,000 stores. GAS Jeans is the official clothing sponsor of the Repsol Honda Moto GP team.

The above photos were taken inside the Gas store, during the exhibition.

February 2009: Gavin exhibits in Piola, Treviso - Italy

As part of a teaser, the SOUTH AFRICAN WAVE exhibition was partly displayed in Piola, a trendy upmarket restaurant in Treviso.

February 2009: Gavin exhibits in Treviso - Italy

The SOUTH AFRICAN WAVE exhibition, curated by Luca Carniato, kicked off in Treviso, Italy. Angelo Pauletti interviewed Gavin about the show:

AP: South Africa is the place where you were born and grew up. Has this shaped you?

GR: I think that all people who live in Africa are shaped by the continent. This is especially true of South Africa – which has gone through many difficult hours. One of my prime interests in art is around the notion that we seldom recognize the way people contribute to our lives. This is all the more relevant in a country that has had so many unsung heroes, that people barely remember, but that have been so important in our social landscape. This has always had a profound influence on me and on my art.

AP: How do you know Richard Scott?

GR: I’ve known Richard for many years. We met through business, although we never got around to doing any together. We became friends that way.

AP: What kind of relationship do you have with Richard? Are you just friends or do you collaborate together?

GR: Richard is the kind of friend that I can ask anything, no matter how strange – and some art questions are indeed very strange. We bounce a lot of ideas off each other. I guess this is a form of intellectual collaboration. We’ve also exhibited together, which was a lot of fun.

AP: Your portraits are based on neo-dot philosophy. Which is the most direct source of your work?

GR: People, Culture, Technology and the way these interact. There is so much of our culture and technology that’s hidden in plain sight. There’s so much that we see, but take no notice of. Most of the inspiration for my work comes from this dynamic.

AP: Do you think we can talk about an artistic South African revolution called The South African Wave?

GR: It’s interesting to me that in recent times a number of South African artists have achieved international fame. South Africa can feel so isolated from the global village sometimes. Having been on the edge of society for so long (and hence observing) through the necessary sanctions imposed on the country to end the apartheid regime of the past, South Africa formed its own way of understanding and dealing with the world. The concepts evolving from South African art are therefore unsaturated with traditional Western ideology. This fresh and potent take on things I think is a revitalizing voice in the world of art. I’m not sure I would describe this as a revolution within South African art (which remains largely unchanged in flavour) but perhaps this wave brings about an evolution within the world culture of art, as people are exposed to it. In any event it stimulates us as a species, and that’s definitely a good thing. We need to think more, and from different angles.

You can get the full interview in English and Italian here.

You can get the catalogue of the show here.