TO THE SUBFUSC

NICOLAAS MARITZ

TO THE SUBFUSC

NICOLAAS MARITZ

TO T H E S U B F U S C An exhibition of still life, landscape & abstract paintings, with three online add-ons

19 Dec 2020 - 30 Jan 2021 MARITZ MUSEUM DARLING Nemesia*Prress_online 2020

CONTENTS Artist’s Preface Sombre Still Lifes

Darkish Landscapes Subfusc Abstracts Lockdown Doodles & Drawings Online Sketchbook

Lockdown Soundscapes Online Album 1 Lockdown Soundscapes Online Album 2 Three Illustrated Children’s Books

Vi e w s o f t h e e x h i b i t i o n

A R T I S T ’ S P R E FA C E Any art that is made today has to bear the ridiculous burden of being viewed through the ‘contemporary art’ filter lens. Nothing really deserves this ghastly piece of art-intellectual patronization. Since traditional categories of art-making have all seemingly been deflated, demoted and generally trashed (one still wonders by whom exactly), and the enthusiasm for notional ‘modern’ manifestations rise and fall like the hem-lengths of the sixties and seventies, who is to say what may ‘be allowed’ to happen.

I’ve never had the leisure to regard progress in any other terms than simply one day of so many hours following another. It seems to me that a sort of neat and tidy art-historical ‘progress’ exists only for the mob of gawpers; the didactical academics, curators, historians or sundry lay persons who don’t and never will get their hands soiled by making art.

Maria Popova writes in her wonderful blog Brain Pickings (Dec 6, 2020, 1:17PM): The paradox of progress is that the more of it we make, the higher the stakes and standards of justice become, and the more we slip into a kind of pessimistic ahistorical amnesia — we judge people and events of the past by the standards of the present and indict them as ignorant; we judge the deficiencies of the present without the long victory ledger of the past and fall into despair. Overwhelmed by all that remains to be done — which must be every epoch’s focus but not its paralysis — we forget all that has been done, and done at the cost of tremendous toil by generations who fought for the incremental triumphs with the totality of their lives.

Although she is writing here about social progress, the sentiments may be applied just as well to the art world. Although despair is a tricky customer, still I trudge on, here in the sticks, doing what I like, and denying the pesky notions of contradiction, irrationality or illogical manifestations. Survival seems infinitely more important than fashionability right now.

SOMBRE STILL LIFES “But these painters of fruit thought only of their own mortality, as though the beauty of their work would somehow soothe their fear of death. There they all were, hanging feckless and candid and meaningless, paintings of things, objects, the paintings themselves just things, objects, withering toward their own inevitable demise.”

- Ottessa Moshfegh, My Year of Rest and Relaxation Still life paintings tend to be painted indoors, where it is mostly darker than outside.

Modern houses of course are all window, but the middle-class Southern African houses I prefer have moderately sized windows, that allow for a somewhat sombre mood and the possibility of summer coolth indoors. Glaring sunlight can be hard on the eyes. Too much light in a painting can turn it into one of those tony ‘statement’ pieces, so beloved by magazine décor editors. Silver paint on a canvas reflects light almost like a mirror. As a colour it acts like a chameleon, taking on the colours of it’s surroundings. Silvering makes the paintings more restless; nearly immortal.

DARKISH LANDSCAPES Landscape painting is the obvious resource of misanthropy. - William Hazlitt Places that resonate in the imagination are often distant, dark and a bit disturbing; located somewhere in a dreamworld. Why else would it stick in your mind? Of course, the fewer people there are in it, the better. In a world increasingly troubled by political uncertainty and global disease, the horizon still offers a stable point of reference. But people must obviously stay at home, not clutter up the landscape.

SUBFUSC ABSTRACTS If you are submerged in normal life, then your view will be normal. So we have to keep separate from normal life in order to be able to say something that is not known. People come to art for something that they don't understand, that's not in their life already. - Gilbert & George The actual subject of an abstract work is mostly difficult to determine. ‘Abstract’ is also not the same as ‘abstraction’. A seemingly small semantic difference, I know, but in this context verbal description or other attempts at elucidation can be unclear. ‘The poetic’ seems to me to be a good departure point for any discussion around an abstract painting. Beauty, a word that has passed it’s sell-by date in today’s art-speak (more’s the pity) is probably not so helpful anyway, but I do think the word ‘lyrical’ may be apt in some cases.

Abstraction is often dark and mysterious. This has always seemed normal to me. The recent abstracts; diptychs and triptychs or single canvasses, take as their departure point the subject of lemons. It is something I have painted often before; either straightforwardly, or as an ironic reference to the bittersweet nature of life. The yellow colour haunts me. With these new works I wanted to move away from a predominantly naturalistic depiction to something decidedly abstract. During the painting process, it seemed as if the works themselves moved even further away from ‘depiction’, to something ambiguously silvered; ambivalently perfect, and beaming with an engaging presence. This seems to be my new normal.

ONLINE ADDENDA TO THE EXHIBITION: LOCKDOWN DOODLES & DRAWINGS 2020 – an online sketchbook.

SOUNDSCAPE ALBUMS 1 & 2 – free listening by following the links.

T hos e who fe ar th e da r kn es s ha ve no idea wha t th e ligh t c an do .

K atasai Raks hasa

SOMBRE STILL LIFES

1.

RED LEAVES IN BLACK VASE 2018, Enamel Paint on Board.

600 x 605mm

2.

TWO AUTUMN LEAVES IN A SPECKLED VASE 2018, Enamel Paint on Board.

600 x 600mm

3.

TWO SPECKLED LEMONS IN A RED BOWL 2018, Enamel Paint on Board.

600 x 600mm

4.

MANGO AND LEMON ON A RED PLATE 2018, Enamel Paint on Board.

600 x 715mm

5.

ICE CREAM LEMON 2015, Enamel Paint on Board, 590 x 620mm

6.

LEMON SPLASH 2015, Enamel Paint on Board. 592 x 620mm

7.

BLUE AUBERGINES AND TOMATO 2015, Enamel and Silver Paint on Board. 685 x 592mm

8.

AFTERNOON ARUM LEAF 2018, Enamel Paint on Board. 730 x 600mm

9.

RED BOTTLE AND FRUIT VIEW 2018, Enamel Paint on Board. 605 x 720mm

10.

RED BOTTLE VASE AND FIG VIEW 2018, Enamel Paint on Board.

720 x 600mm

11.

RED PLATE WITH FRUIT AND SEED PLUMES 2018, Enamel Paint on Board. 610 x 600mm

12.

THREE SPECKLED FRUIT VIEW 2018, Enamel Paint on Board. 600 x 600mm

13. GREEN BOWL WITH SPECKLED FRUIT 2016, Enamel Paint on Board with artist’s frame. 500 x 700mm

14.

RED VASE WITH SEED PODS 2018, Enamel Paint on Board. 720 x 605mm

15. WHITE FRUIT DISH AND BOTTLE VIEW 2016, Enamel Paint on Board with artist’s frame. 590 x 835mm

16. SPECKLED SEED PODS AND FRUIT VIEW 2016, Enamel Paint on Board with artist’s frame. 600 x 985mm

17.

18.

TWO BLUISH LEMONS 2020, Enamel Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 252 x 358mm

RED GLOW LEMONS 2020, Enamel Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 252 x 358mm

19.

20.

THREE GLOWING LEMONS 2020, Enamel Paint on Canvas.

Unframed. 252 x 358mm

TWO PETRIFIED LEMONS 2015, Enamel Paint on Board. 248 x 300mm

21.

22.

OCHRE LINE LEMON 2015, Enamel Paint on Board. 248 x 247mm

WHITE LINE LEMON 2015, Enamel Paint on Board. 248 x 245mm

23. THREE BLUE-RED SPECKLED LEMONS 2020, Enamel and Silver Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 358 x 252mm

24. TWO GRAND AUBERGINES 2020, Enamel and Silver Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 358 x 252mm

25.

TWO SPECKLED MANGOES IN WHITE BOWL 2018, Enamel Paint on Board. 490 x 600mm

26.

GREEN BOTTLE VIEW 2018, Enamel Paint on Board. 600 x 490mm

27.

28.

TWO SPECKLED BOTTLES 2016, Enamel Paint on Board. 278 x 233mm

SPECKLED BOTTLE VIEW 2016, Enamel Paint on Board. 200 x 237mm

29.

30.

THE LESSER SPOTTED YELLOW LEMON 2016, Enamel Paint on Board. 211 x 264mm

LONELY BLUE SPOTTED LEMON 2016, Enamel Paint on Board.

210 x 276mm

31. SIX LEMONS ON A TABLE 2020, Enamel and Silver Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 252 x 358mm

32. FOUR BLUE LEMONS 2020, Enamel Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 405 x 510mm

33.

GREEN BOTTLE LEMON VIEW 2016, Enamel Paint on Board.

350 x 385mm

34.

35.

ORANGE WITH BLUE AURA 2016, Enamel Paint on Board. 210 x 260mm

SPECKLED LEMON BLOB 2016, Enamel Paint on Board. 209 x 260mm

36.

RED BUTTERNUT 2020, Enamel and Silver Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 252 x 358mm

37.

THREE OLD LEMONS 2020, Enamel Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 485 x 610mm

We wo r k in th e da r k - w e do wha t we can - we g ive wha t we ha v e. O ur doub t is ou r pa s s ion , and our pa ss ion is ou r ta sk. Th e res t is th e madn e ss o f a r t.

H enr y J a me s

DARK LANDSCAPES

38.

RED KOPPIE WITH BLUE DAM 2020, Enamel and Silver Paint on Canvas.

Unframed. 405 x 510mm

39.

DARK STONE RIDGE 2020, Enamel Paint on Canvas. Unframed.

405 x 510mm

40.

GREEN SKY KOPPIE 2020, Enamel Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 405 x 510mm

41.

GREEN HILLS AND RAINWATER POND NEAR DORDABIS 2020, Enamel and Silver Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 458 x 610mm

42

KAOLIN HILL 2019, Enamel and Silver Paint on Board, 1600 x 1180mm

43.

SILVER DEWSCAPE NEAR DORDABIS 2019, Enamel and Silver Paint on Board, 1420 x 1200mm

44.

DRAMATIC WINTER SKY 2020, Enamel Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 353 x 763mm

45.

DARLING HILL VIEW 2020, Enamel Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 258 x 353mm

Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it.

Terry Pratchett

SUBFUSC ABSTRACTS

46.

LEMONY (TRIPTYCH), 2020, Enamel and Silver Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 252 x 1061mm

47.

SILVERED LEMON TRIPTYCH 2020, Enamel and Silver Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 610 x 1372mm

48.

BROWNISH LEMON TRIPTYCH 2020, Enamel and Silver Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 358 x 768mm

49.

BLUE LEMON TRITYCH 2020, Enamel and Silver Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 358 x 768mm

50.

GREEN-GREY LEMON TRIPTYCH 2020, Enamel and Silver Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 510 x 1220mm

51.

WINTER GRASS TRIPTYCH 2020, Enamel and Silver Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 915 x 1830mm

52. AUTUMNAL LEMON DIPTYCH 2020, Enamel and Silver Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 1200 x 1523mm

53. SILVERED GREY DIPTYCH 2020, Enamel and Silver Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 610 x 920mm

54.

ABUNDANT LEMON TRIPTYCH 2020, Enamel and Silver Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 610 x 1372mm

55.

GREYISH LEMON TRIPTYCH 2020, Enamel Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 510 x 1220mm

56. BROWN WINTER GRASS DIPTYCH 2020, Enamel and Silver Paint on Canvas. Unframed. 915 x 1225mm

Pain and pleasure, like light and darkness, succeed each other.

Laurence Sterne

Link to Lockdow n Doodles & Draw ings 2020 - Online Sketchbook: https://issuu.com/nicolaasmaritz/docs/lockdown_doodles_and_drawings_2020

A mantra is a kind of magic formula that, once uttered, can entirely change a situation. It can change us, and it can change others. But this magic formula must be spoken in concentration, with body and mind focused as one.

What you say in this state of being becomes a mantra.

Thich Nhat Hanh

L I N K TO D I R G E A L B U M O F S O U N D S C A P E S : h t t p s : / / s o u n d c l o u d . c o m / n i c o l a a s - m a r i t z - 1 2 6 0 3 2 4 11

In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.

Francis Bacon

L I N K TO ‘ W H O S E P E R F U M E D G AR D E N I S T H I S A N Y WAY ? ’ A L B U M O F S O U N D S C A P E S : https://audiomack.com/nicolaas -maritz

Meet the mammals, reptiles, insects and birds who populate the veld, desert, forests and ponds of South Africa. From the ant-eating aardvark to the zebra spitting cobra, there is a new friend on every page. Packed with vivid and charming illustrations and includes the scientific name of each animal. A unique A-Z of South African Animals - exquisitely subversive

Frogs are simply fabulous. From seemingly grouchy toads who croak all night in raspy voices, to smaller, more delicate frogs, who squeak or squeal or whistle endearingly – all frogs are madly personable. The frogs in this counting book have been arranged from 1 to10 of those brilliant frogs that can be seen by day, and then backwards from 10 to 1 of those secretive frogs that are only active under cover of darkness. A celebration of southern African frogs in all their glory.

Illustrator: Nicolaas Maritz Language: English Formats: Paperback, Hardback, eBook ISBN: 978 1 4856 2960 3

Illustrator: Nicolaas Maritz Language: English Formats: Paperback, Hardback ISBN: 978 1 4856 2975 7

Like many other places in the world, Southern Africa is becoming increasingly polyglot. If there is the notion of a rainbow nation, then the current diversity of languages resembles multi coloured confetti thrown in the air at a wedding. But not being able to speak other languages is what keeps people apart (and who wants that?). After all, so much of what we understand and communicate is said.

An introduction to the animals and over 20 languages of the southern African region.

Illustrator: Nicolaas Maritz Language: Multilingual Formats: Paperback, Hardback, eBook ISBN: 978 1 4856 2977 1

*** These books are available online from the David Philip Publishers website and Takealot. In Southern Africa also in store, at CNA, Exclusive Books, Bargain Books, Clarke’s Bookshop and Book League.

Views of the exhibition

Title: ©TO THE SUBFUSC

Text: ©Nicolaas Maritz Illustrations: ©Nicolaas Maritz Publisher: Nemesia*Press_online 2020 Other online catalogues / publications by the same publisher at https://issuu.com/nicolaasmaritz