Programming

With Une chaise: métaphore et monument, John Lindsay Gouws undertook the integration of three-dimensional forms with two-dimensional surfaces, thus merging his experience of painting and sculpture. The problems inherent in this approach have forced him to question the nature and role of the image, as well as the support and environment of the work. The notion of scale and the relationship between the viewer and the work are determining factors in his artistic approach.

Chairs; how dense with hidden meaning. Subtle utensils of civilization, from august divine and royal thrones to the electric chair, not to mention common kitchen, station and waiting-room chairs, they furnish our universe, inviting us to gestures and pre-conceptual, almost thoughtless attitudes. And yet, behind this presence and far beyond its functionalism, are we not guessing at this underlying junction of space, time and symbolism, and its structures branching out into uses among the collective psyche of our societies.