DEBORAH POYNTON’s exhibition at the Irma Stern Museum in Cape Town spans four years. Her new works are predominantly large canvasses that have an immediate visual effect, leaving one to peel back the layers of textured meaning.

Her use of rich colours and attention to detail attract the eye like a lamp does a moth, and lulls one into a false sense of security.

The Waiting Room (Oil on Canvas, 2002) is a work asking to be understood: people dressed in freshly starched white are seated on a brilliant green lawn. The overall image is one of harmony — a group on an outing, faces smiling. However, a sense of unease prevails.

Celebration is similarly ambiguous. A group of people stands against a city skyline, laughing, yet the meaning and intent of the work competes for attention with the enjoyment of simply watching them.

In The Show (1999, oil on canvas ), the artist, her back to the viewer, faces a large audience in a self-portrait, only her hands revealed behind her. A halfeaten plate of food is placed on a table with deep pink roses. The lush detail in these images contrasts with how little the painter reveals of herself.

Landowners (2000) is a complex work. A landscape carved by proprietary markings appears insignificant against the shadows three figures cast across it. The dream-like scene contrasts humans and their surrounds through the tension evoked by their placement on the canvas.

Boundary (Oil on hardboard, 2002) is probably my favourite work. An angled lens looks up towards Simons Town’s mountains at daybreak. A grey cloud obscures the peaks, broken shards of browns and yellows fill out the detail of the rocks, while in a corner of the painting is the roof of a house. The effect is simply beautiful.

Works range in price from R9500 to R57000. This not-to-be-missed exhibition runs until March 15.

 

© 2003/03/10 Suzanne Joubert