UNVEILING — THURSDAY, 10H00 STRAND TOWERS. CNR LOOP & LONG STREETS
From the Press Release: “According to World Design Capital (www.worlddesigncapital.com) with more than half the world’s population now living in urban areas, design has become an increasingly fundamental tool to make cities more competitive, attractive, livable and efficient. The World Design Capital designation is a city promotion project that celebrates the accomplishments of cities that have used design as a tool to reinvent themselves and improve social, cultural and economic life.
Off the back of Cape Town’s recent bid for World Design Capital 2014, Jacques Osse, hotelier and owner of Strand Towers, commissioned one of his favourite contemporary artists, Paul du Toit, to create a sculpture for his new hotel.
Du Toit, known for his linear, playful work, focuses on a personal interpretation of the human form and had to ensure that the dimensions of his new commission were worked out perfectly to the nth degree. Wind strength and direction, location, positive & negative spaces, shadow angles, weight & height of the sculpture itself posed many restrictions for creating his latest work. The human form, sitting overlooking the hotel swimming pool, has been named, “Me on the Corner”, a play on the REM acclaimed hit “Losing my Religion”, one of Paul’s favourite performers.
Often compared with the likes of Dubuffet and Basquiat, Du Toit’s creations have been exhibited, sold and awarded all over the world from Soho to Sotheby’s. What people don’t know is that sculpture is actually Paul’s first love, and that among the many awards he has received is a medal from the city of Florence in the Biennale Internationale Dell’arte Contemporanea. He has also been nominated for the Daimler Chrysler Sculpture Award in 2002.
Looking to reposition the stereotype of the contemporary South African visual artists, Paul is forever challenging the norms and restrictions local artists face on a daily basis. Leaving his legacy behind in the form of public sculptures, amongst others, will be a constant reminder of what can be achieved; despite hurdles life throws at one.”
