Signs

Don't you love it when you're wondering about something, and then, out of the blue, the answer to your question appears, without you even having to ask?

Last week Friday, I was at my friend Paul's house for an evening of board games. His house is absolutely amazing, not only because it's right on the top of a hill and has an amazing view, but also because it's filled with the most unusual art. Paul's grandfather was friends with a whole lot of South African artists, and he collected a lot of their work before they were famous. So, their house is now filled with works by the likes of Cecil Skotnes, and, as I recently discovered, Eduardo Villa. When I went to visit Paul on Friday, I parked in front of a rather strangely shaped green sculpture. I'm still not sure if "sculpture" is the appropriate word. It was about 2 metres tall, bright green and looked rather a lot like a free-standing squiggly T, for lack of a better description. I glanced at it again when I was leaving, and wondered about what it was, and made a mental note to ask Paul about it next time I came to visit.

I was looking through the newspaper yesterday, when I saw an advert for an art exhibition that is being held at the Standard Bank Gallery. There were more squiggly green structures in the picture, and some red ones too! The advert was for an Eduardo Villa exhibition at the gallery, and so the mystery of the green squiggle sculpture was explained! According to the gallery website, Villa is one of the oldest working artists in South Africa (he's 93!) and "his work spans nearly seven decades and comprises thousands of pieces dealing with sexuality, aggression, political unease and confrontation" (which kind of makes me wonder what the squiggles are about). However, "even the most abstract pieces make some reference to human relationships, circumstances, attitudes and postures".

One of Villa's pieces

The exhibition itself is apparently one of the few indoor exhibitions that he has done, because most of his works are too big to be shown indoors. His works ranges "from relatively conservative busts and reliefs to bare, modernist shapes and figurines, to the exuberant and colourful works which typify the latter part of his oeuvre. While some of the sculptures are twisted interpretations of the human form, others are sometimes startlingly phallocentric. It is a testament to an active, creative and open mind that Villa, even after 90, still conceives and produces works which reflect sexual energy and youthful vitality".

Clearly one of the more "phallocentric" pieces!

The ‘Edoardo Villa: Moving Voices’ exhibition is on until the 23rd of May, and I'm definitely keen to go and see it - not least to find out what the squiggles are about! If you're interested in coming along, let me know, or go to http://www.standardbankgallery.co.za/current/default.asp

PS - apologies for the lack of pictures of the squiggles. My Google Image searches proved fruitless.