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A prospect of icons, Judith Mason’s retrospective exhibition at Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg opens on 2 October 2008, running until 6 December.
The title of Mason’s show is drawn from her essay in a book dedicated to Prof. Heather Martienssen on her retirement from the University of Johannesburg in 1973. In her essay, Mason reflects on the use of religious imagery in painting, a cornerstone of her own work, particularly in regard to Christianity and eastern religions.
Mason, ”an agnostic humanist possessed of religious curiosity,” as she puts it, once said, ”The painter of religious themes, whether he does so as a reflection of his faith or as an exploration of his doubts, makes icons.”
According to the curator of the show, Wilhelm van Rensburg, A prospect of icons ”is in a sense an inventory of her icons. The list vacillates between a painterly exploration of conventional, if not collective iconography to the development of a highly personal iconography”This personal iconography includes her many self-portraits made throughout her artistic career, such as Not being able to Paint (1992); and recurrent and ambiguous symbols, such as the wing, the eye and the female breast. These symbols are widely used in what Van Rensburg calls Mason’s ”trajectory suite of religious iconography.”
While Mason’s work draws extensively on religion, it is also informed by her exploration of mythological figures and creatures, such as the Minotaur and Arachne, the spider symbol of creativity and aggressiveness.
Animals, like the leopard, hyena, ape and monkey, in fact feature widely in Mason’s work, and one understanding of them is that they symbolize our baser instincts.
Mason’s work, which is sometimes imbued with lyrical and poetic overtones, and sometimes informed by the poetry of Christopher Smart and Wilfred Owen, is often understood as having ’psychological insight’ into her subject matter.
Another important aspect of her work is that it reflects on such iconic socio-political issues as the homeless, street children, HIV/Aids, abortion, war mongering and the politics of conflict under apartheid.
As a retrospective exhibition, A prospect of icons covers the expanse of Mason’s work and is a testimony to a lifetime with art. It includes paintings, drawings, installations and artist’s books.
Click here to see more exhibitions.
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