Art and About
Everard Read donates 50% of proceeds from its latest online exhibition to Covid-19 relief
“Staring Straight to the Future” features the brilliant work of almost 50 South African artists — and can be viewed digitally right now
Created in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s establishment of the Solidarity Fund, Staring Straight to the Future is presented by Everard Read galleries. It’s an online exhibition of works by eminent South African artists, with 50% of the gallery proceeds going to the fund, after artist payments.
Staring Straight to the Future, explains curator Charles Shields, takes its title from an artwork by Bambo Sibiya, and “aims to resonate as a tender anthem, giving succour in some way, encouraging gratitude for what we’ve had and —hopefully — inspiration for what we will seek out when this time is over”.
In his exhibition notes, Shields evocatively writes, “Could… Deborah Bell, whose Sentinels (2020) were conceived as gatekeepers for humanity — holding the centre in a chaotic world — have imagined the scale of the tsunami from which we might need protection? Could Ricky Dyaloyi have imagined how his depiction of the clamouring streets of Khayelitsha titled Feisty Survivors might become both an ode to resilience and a prayer for clemency?”
Says the Everard Read group, “As South Africa confronts a health and economic crisis unlike any other in the history of its democracy, our artists and staff wish to contribute to the collective effort to help prevent the spread of the virus, care for those who are ill, and support those whose lives have been disrupted by the pandemic.”
• To view the Staring Straight to the Future exhibition online, click here and to donate directly to the Solidarity Fund, click here.