Exploring the Multifaceted Artistic Practice of Gavin Jantjes: Printmaking, Painting, Activism, and Institutional Influence
The premiere of Gavin Jantjes’ retrospective in Sharjah marks a significant milestone in his career, showcasing his enduring influence as an artist, activist, and advocate for social liberation. This retrospective delves into Jantjes’ artistic evolution, from his figurative representations of the global quest for freedom to his recent transition to non-figurative painting. The exhibition features a new series of large-scale paintings created during his 2022 residency at Sharjah Art Foundation, reflecting his ongoing artistic innovation and the cultural exchange fostered by his residency experience. Curated by Salah M. Hassan, Director of The Africa Institute, the showcase highlights Jantjes’ contributions to art and activism, drawing parallels between freedom movements in Africa and worldwide. Born in Cape Town in 1948, he experienced the apartheid era; Jantjes’ interdisciplinary approach challenges Eurocentric norms, engaging with diverse narratives of slavery, civil rights movements, and postcolonial resistance. Structured thematically, the exhibition invites visitors to explore Jantjes’ journey through prints, drawings, paintings, films, and archival material.
© Brendon Bell-Roberts
As a Hochschule für Bildende Künste Hamburg student in the early 1970s, Jantjes explored screen printing despite lacking formal training. Mastering this technique became central to his art; his early prints documented socio-political struggles. His activism led to his seeking political asylum in Germany, and his prints gained recognition from organizations like the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
South African Colouring Book, 1975. © Suzette Bell-Roberts
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Gavin Jantjes used screenprints to express his activism and artistic vision. His works, such as “A South African Colouring Book” and “It Is Our Peoples,” combine evocative imagery and poignant quotations to critique apartheid’s historical narrative and depict the harsh realities of oppression. These prints challenge systemic injustice and affirm the humanity and resilience of black people, particularly in response to pivotal moments like the 1976 Soweto Uprising, vividly capturing the brutality of apartheid and the courage of protestors.
Gavin Jantjes, The Dream, The Rumour and The Poet’s Song, 1985. © Brendon Bell-Roberts
Created in 1985, “The Dream, The Rumour and The Poet’s Song” commemorates Britain’s Afro-Caribbean community’s resilience. Spanning 7,500 cm, commissioned by the GLC, it depicts the Windrush generation’s struggles amidst racial tensions. From migration to the New Cross Massacre of 1981, it portrays community challenges yet celebrates artistic resilience. Despite its destruction in the mid-1990s, its legacy underscores public art’s role in preserving cultural heritage and fostering shared identity.
Untitled No.2, 1986. © Suzette Bell-Roberts
The retrospective highlights Jantjes’ transition into figurative painting, portraying complex compositions against symbolic landscapes and conveying political intrigue and social upheaval narratives. His Korabra series reflects a departure from the narrative, driven by his response to historical injustices. This shift signifies Jantjes’ move from screenprinting to figurative art, embracing visual imagery as ‘picture poems,’ inviting viewers to interpret rich symbolism and narratives. His artistic practice defies boundaries, incorporating diverse mediums like sand and commodities, anticipating contemporary explorations of transatlantic slavery in British art.
Gavin Jantjes, Amaxesha Wesikolo ne Sintsuku. © Suzette Bell-Roberts
Through Amaxesha Wesikolo ne Sintsuku, Jantjes delivers a potent visual narrative of resistance and sacrifice during apartheid-era South Africa. The painting serves as a poignant testament to the 1976 student uprisings. Jantjes incorporates cubist influences, featuring geometric elements like a dark blue square intersected by intense yellow light. The composition integrates photographs and collage techniques, devoid of discernible brush marks, reflecting Jantjes’ unique painting style and hinting at his future exploration of non-figurative painting.
In other works in this series, Jantjes ventures beyond traditional figuration, employing vivid colours, intricate patterns, and flattened forms. Symbolic figures encircling a piano challenge Western power structures, while an overturned African sculpture questions the relationship between Western modernity and African heritage. Works reimagine Cape Town through primary shapes and colours, exploring apartheid’s complexities. These early paintings reflect Jantjes’ displacement, resistance, and cultural identity struggles, serving as poignant reflections on South Africa’s historical landscape.
© Suzette Bell-Roberts
Vaal, painted in 1987, juxtaposes Boer settlers represented by ox wagons with Africa’s indigenous population symbolized by a stone circle. The bluish-grey palette references the Vaal River, symbolizing historical land appropriation. Jantjes challenges colonial injustices, urging viewers to confront the legacy of dispossession and ongoing struggles for justice.
The ‘Zulu Series’, from the early 1980s to the 1990s, marks a pivotal phase in Jantjes’ artistry and activism against apartheid. Departing from conventional figuration, these works delve into politically charged themes, reflecting his personal journey and commitment to narratives of identity and decolonization. The series challenges Western norms through vibrant hues, interlocking patterns, and flattened forms, advocating for art and identity decolonization.
Untitled, 1989. © Suzette Bell-Roberts
Untitled (1989), from Gavin Jantjes’ ‘Zulu’ series, depicts a white umbilical cord emerging from a mask’s mouth, symbolizing the breath of life. Encircling a masked female figure from Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907), the cord reconnects with the source mask. This juxtaposition underscores Jantjes’ mission to elevate classical African art, challenging its marginalization in Western modernism. By integrating African art elements, Jantjes offers a postcolonial perspective, transcending cultural appropriation and exclusion.
Untitled, 1988. © Suzette Bell-Roberts
Untitled, 1988, is a striking diptych incorporating formal elements of West and Central African sculptural traditions. It is influenced by cubism, which critiques the European trope of “primitivsm.” Flanking the paintings, the ceramic eggs symbolize the egg as the beginning of creation; the cone, sphere, and cube allude to the origins of cubism.
Still from the Korabra Film, produced by Pogus Caesar for British television in 1988. © Suzette Bell-Roberts
The Korabra Film, produced for British television in 1988, delves into the thematic significance of Jantjes’ “Korabra” series, exploring the complexities of the slave trade. Incorporating excerpts from “The Arrivants” by poet Edward Kamau Brathwaite, the documentary enhances viewers’ understanding of the series’ narrative. Visual explorations of the paintings and an interview with Jantjes offer valuable insights into his artistic vision and the historical themes he explores.
© Suzette Bell-Roberts
The archival materials provide a comprehensive glimpse into Gavin Jantjes’ life and artistic journey, capturing pivotal moments and achievements. Personal photographs offer insights into various life chapters, including his Cape Town studio in 1968 and his UK debut exhibition at London’s Institute of Contemporary Art in 1976. Interactions with fellow artists underscore his engagement with the art world and cultural discourse.
© Brendon Bell-Roberts.
Gavin Jantjes’ recent non-figurative paintings signify a shift towards artistic freedom and exploration, departing from figural representation towards allegory and metaphor. He employs uninterrupted fields of colour and dynamic compositions to immerse the viewer, evoking sensory experiences and introspection. Titles fade away, enabling direct engagement with visual elements, while larger scales deepen the viewer’s interaction. This reflects Jantjes’ ongoing exploration of artistic expression and the boundaries of visual language.
‘The Exogenic Series (Aqua)’. © Brendon Bell-Roberts.
In ‘The Exogenic Series (Aqua)’, Jantjes explores the theme of water using lines, dots, and smudges to evoke its essence. Displayed sequentially, the large untitled canvases invite contemplation of the visual landscape. Jantjes’ use of transparent hues emphasizes his work’s ethereal qualities. Eschewing narrative, he encourages viewers to engage with the artworks intuitively, fostering self-reflection. Jantjes began his non-figurative journey in 2015, aiming to liberate himself from conventional forms and narratives, inviting viewers to engage freely for self-reflection.
‘The Witney Series’. © Brendon Bell-Roberts.
In ‘The Witney Series’ (2019-ongoing), Gavin Jantjes delves into non-figurative painting on a smaller scale, enabling an intimate exploration of space, temporality, and emotion. Faced with space constraints in Witney, Oxfordshire, Jantjes turned to smaller canvases, sparking new approaches to colour and mark-making. Despite their small size, these works paradoxically liberated him from conventional expectations. With delicate palettes and thinly applied layers, they exude openness and freshness, influencing Jantjes’ recent larger-scale works while pushing the boundaries of his practice and engaging viewers intimately.
‘The Sharjah Series’, 2022. Image courtesy Suzette Bell-Roberts.
In Gavin Jantjes’ ‘The Sharjah Series’ (2022), created during his residency at the Sharjah Art Foundation, the artist pushes painting boundaries in a postmodern, digitally influenced context. Using thin layers of paint, he seamlessly blends marks, lines, and colours in large-scale works, offering a mesmerizing visual experience. The absence of a discernible horizon prompts viewers to contemplate emotions and spatial relationships, fostering a deeply personal and reflective encounter. Through this series, Jantjes challenges traditional painting norms, urging viewers to explore limitless possibilities of visual expression in contemporary times.
Gavin Jantjes’ impact extends beyond art as he utilized leadership roles in cultural institutions and engagements with organizations to amplify marginalized voices and foster cross-cultural dialogue, advocating for social transformation through art globally. As a writer and curator, he influenced discourses on internationalism and contemporary South African art, enriching scholarly understanding of the intersections between art, politics, and identity. His multifaceted contributions have left an enduring legacy, inspiring artists and activists worldwide and establishing him as a luminary in the global art community dedicated to social justice and artistic excellence.
Suzette Bell-Roberts is the Co-founder and Digital Editor of ART AFRICA magazine.
