Art Blog

Acclaimed Artist Arlene Amaler-Raviv returns to Johannesburg

The Melrose Gallery is pleased to present a captivating solo exhibition, the din of daily life by acclaimed artist Arlene Amaler-Raviv.

Arlene is excited to be returning to her home town after a break of 11 years since her last solo. The exhibition will run at The Melrose Gallery from 13 April to 13 May 2018 after a well-received run at the Oliewenhuis Art Museum in Bloemfontein.

Arlene Amaler-Raviv's artistic trajectory spans four decades of dedication and prolific output as evident in numerous exhibitions locally and internationally. She is a dedicated teacher of the arts.

This artist voices the sounds of protest, lamentation, joy and quiet conversation. Her voice is singing, calling, longing, weeping and shouting in its engagement with the viewer.

Her paintings track the movement of displacements, transitions and relocations while trying to anchor herself in a world of flux and transition.

For Amaler-Raviv, everything is 'terribly important' and intensely felt. This fragility and passion becomes her strength. She appears in her paintings at many different times, in many different guises.

"I try to give a voice to the voiceless ? to translate the din of our daily lives, through the painted mark. The archetypal figure, who is any person in survival mode, strides with purpose through my canvasses, repeating like a mantra: keep going, keep walking, keep striving, keep hoping, keep overcoming, keep living," Amaler-Raviv stated.

The artist cherishes the following quote by Pearl Primus in her notebook: "My life has been like travelling up a river. Every now and then I would hear singing around the bend and so around the bend I would go and become occupied with living".

Arlene Amaler-Raviv was born in Johannesburg and received a Bachelor of Arts degree (Fine Arts) from the University of the Witwatersrand under the supervision of Robert Hodgins. In the 1970s she was involved in art education, workshops, teaching and teacher training programmes.

Craig Mark, The Melrose Gallery Director says "Johannesburg plays an integral role in Arlene's work and we are pleased to be assisting in presenting this exciting exhibition to her large base of loyal collector?s and art enthusiasts in her home town".

Vodacom commissioned Amaler-Raviv to create an installation of seventeen oil paintings on aluminium in 2000. In 2002 Spier acquired a 2m x 2m portrait of Mandela for their collection. Many of her paintings and works hang in private collections around the world and publicly in major art collections in South Africa.

The exhibition opens at The Melrose Gallery from 13 April to 13 May 2018 at 10 High Street, Melrose Arch, Johannesburg.

For more information, contact Craig Mark on craig@themelrosegallery.com or 083 777 6644.