“We have all stood on a dark beach at night and wondered about the lights flickering in the distance. If we went there, how would we be received? Would we be
safe? Will things be better than what they are here?
These seven paintings are about the transients of our society: migrants, outsiders and drifters. These individuals live their lives on the fringes where they are compelled
to pretend and assume identities that are not theirs. They seek out and frequent marginal spaces where they can transact and mingle. Or just find comfort in the
solitude of this liminal place, where the land gives way to the sea.”
“I create work that speaks about the horror of urban existence, albeit with humour and irony. I look for magic in the mundane and I don’t shy away from questions of
mortality and morality. The results are funny, violent, disturbing, surreal, playful and startling. My paintings and drawings recall sketches found in the back of
teenagers’ school exercise books, film storyboards, graphic novels and the etchings of George Grosz and the Chapman Brothers. At once sensitively artful and
apparently artless, these works give vent to the private thoughts that polite society compels us not to speak”.
“In the last year I’ve shifted from drawing to oil painting and also started producing larger format works. This a major progression and one that I’m relishing. Painting is
an incredible joy, being able to convey narratives in this manner is liberating to me.”
Wilhelm Saayman was born in Robertson near Cape Town in 1962. His first solo exhibition was at the Association for Visual Arts in 1990, and his most
recent solo shows were at GALLERY AOP in 2012 and Erdmann Contemporary in 2013. His work has been acquired by the Johannesburg Art Gallery and the Iziko
South African National Gallery. Saayman lives and works in Johannesburg.
safe? Will things be better than what they are here?
These seven paintings are about the transients of our society: migrants, outsiders and drifters. These individuals live their lives on the fringes where they are compelled
to pretend and assume identities that are not theirs. They seek out and frequent marginal spaces where they can transact and mingle. Or just find comfort in the
solitude of this liminal place, where the land gives way to the sea.”
- Wilhelm Saayman
“I create work that speaks about the horror of urban existence, albeit with humour and irony. I look for magic in the mundane and I don’t shy away from questions of
mortality and morality. The results are funny, violent, disturbing, surreal, playful and startling. My paintings and drawings recall sketches found in the back of
teenagers’ school exercise books, film storyboards, graphic novels and the etchings of George Grosz and the Chapman Brothers. At once sensitively artful and
apparently artless, these works give vent to the private thoughts that polite society compels us not to speak”.
“In the last year I’ve shifted from drawing to oil painting and also started producing larger format works. This a major progression and one that I’m relishing. Painting is
an incredible joy, being able to convey narratives in this manner is liberating to me.”
- The artist quoted in ‘Wilhelm Saayman’ by Chad Roussouw, 2011
Wilhelm Saayman was born in Robertson near Cape Town in 1962. His first solo exhibition was at the Association for Visual Arts in 1990, and his most
recent solo shows were at GALLERY AOP in 2012 and Erdmann Contemporary in 2013. His work has been acquired by the Johannesburg Art Gallery and the Iziko
South African National Gallery. Saayman lives and works in Johannesburg.
