Doyle Wham is delighted to announce the launch of The Venus Effect, an exhibition of South African artist duo
WATER DIXON.
Water Dixon’s first solo show in Europe will feature new work that demonstrates the extent of their interdisciplinary artistic practice, from sculpture to photography.
The exhibition runs from 15 September – 12 November and is an official partner of London Design Festival, also coinciding with Frieze and 1-54.
Water Dixon are simultaneously artists and alchemists. Through years of collaboration and experimentation with materials such as copper, glass and brass, they have developed unique metallurgical processes that accelerate the natural chemical reactions caused by time, oxygen and heat.
The title, The Venus Effect, refers to the art historical tradition seen in the paintings of Rubens, Titian and Velazquez of depicting the goddess Venus in the form of a mirror reflection. A symbol of pleasure and femininity, Venus has also come to represent the gap that exists between observation and reality. The artists push the boundaries of modern alchemy in the series Supernovae and Vibrant Matter, where the viewer witnesses catalytic reactions that have taken place on the surface of the artwork through carefully timed exposure to chemical solutions. The resulting abstract designs that are both natural and unnatural.
Water Dixon play with the balance between design and nature in every aspect of their work, including through photography and film. This exhibition will feature the photographic series The Four Doors, which captures the presence of Water Dixon’s light sculptures, temporarily installed at Spier Wine Estate in Stellenbosch beside bodies of water, to create hauntingly beautiful reflections. These images explore the nature of impermanence and human interventions in natural landscapes.
Throughout the exhibition, the relationship between material, person and environment will be celebrated more intimately through a series of performances: dinner parties where food will be prepared directly on copper slabs using flame-based methods. The surface of these slabs will transform throughout the time-bound performance as a result of these interactions, until they are rendered complete artworks at the close of the event – capturing a special moment in time.
“We are fascinated by the obscure and magical journey that a material such as copper has been on: from an exploding star, to a
primitive tool. Copper is found in our soil, our blood and our respiratory system. It has hidden stories to be revealed.” – Water
Dixon
ABOUT WATER DIXON
Water Dixon are an artist duo whose work explores perceptual questions around the themes of time, identity
and spirit. They hope these questions create an embodied learning of self and soul in viewers. Caitlin Warther
is an interdisciplinary light artist whose practice encompasses sculpture and photography in an ongoing
investigation into what it means to inhabit space.
ABOUT DOYLE WHAM
Doyle Wham is the UK’s first contemporary African photography gallery. The gallery was founded in October
2020 with an itinerant programme of physical and digital exhibitions, as well as participations in art fairs such as
Photo London and Abuja Art Week. As of March 2022, Doyle Wham has launched its first permanent location in
Shoreditch, London.
The gallery exhibits both emerging and established artists from Africa and across the African diaspora, with a
focus on supporting early-career artists. Highlighting innovative and experimental expression is at the core of
the Doyle Wham’s ethos. Its exhibitions celebrate photography in all its forms and its 2022 programme sees the
gallery explore this further by expanding into mixed media exhibitions that show the versatility and influence of
photography, from commissioning sculptural responses to photographic works, to presenting the entire
multimedia range of an artist’s practice.
Check the flyer for further details, all are cordially invited!!!!
