South African Art and Artists

I have in the last month added many South African artists and international artists to the Arcy Art Artist Directory and I invite everbody to browse through the excellent work on display at the directory. I have also updated the upcoming exhibitions page for may, visit the South African art exhibitions page to plan your art viewing for May.

Todays featured South African artist is Retha Buitendach.

Retha Buitendach was born in Vereeniging in 1968 and matriculated in 1986. From 1987 to 1989 she studied B (Arch) and from 1990 to 1993 she studied and completed her BA (FA) degree at the University of Pretoria.

Retha Buitendach's artworks deals with nature in both its macrocosmic and microcosmic detail. The hidden interconnectedness of all living things is an important underlying theme, as is the chance connections between seemingly unrelated things or even words. Unusual and microscopic life-forms as well as those seen everyday are sometimes portrayed in unusual contexts, thereby inducing the onlooker to discover them anew. The human figure is seldom directly visible in her artworks, although man's presence is often implied. Man is shown to be unique in his ability to experience nature as a supremely beautiful artwork and to be unique in his ability to destroy it all. Retha Buitendach's work is both naturalistic and surrealistic, combining the recognisable with what the imagination can add to it.