First Thursdays are like the lucky packets of treats in the Mother City. Look inside the goodie bag and you’ll find buzzing bars, restaurant thrills and art gallery spills. If the last phrase had your art-loving self tingle with excitement and hungry for creative awe, we’ve put together a guide to the galleries for this First Thursdays, November 4th.
Guide to the Galleries
Youngblood Africa
- What’s on:
The vibrant and youthful art hub, Youngblood Africa brings ‘I bought her the Sky’ | ‘FINDING MY NIRVANA’ by Layziehound and ‘CONTOURS, CREVICES & CURVED EDGES’ by Michael Oliver Love and other featured artists.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
Additionally, Sculptures by Louis Chanu will also be on display.
View this post on Instagram
- Where: 70-74 Bree Street
- Time: 17:00-21:00
The Ladder Art Studios
- What’s on:
‘I TALK TO THE TREES’ solo exhibition showcasing artist and composer Attie Esterhuizen.
View this post on Instagram
Following his two previous sold-out exhibitions, ‘I TALK TO THE TREES’ is Esterhuizen’s latest collection of artworks, exploring the journey of life in turbulent times as a walk through an empowering, never-ending forest.
View this post on Instagram
Where: 136 Bree Street
Time: 16:00 – 21:30
- Eclectica Contemporary
What’s on:
‘Art x Lagos’, a celebration of pan-African expression, showcasing artists from South Africa, Congo, Sudan and Egypt.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
“Our selection of artists all echo the vibrancy and energy of Lagos through expressive colours, textures and design while contributing to the larger discussion of Afrocentric identity. Featuring Asanda Kupa, Ley Mboramwe, Loyiso Mkize, Hussein Salim and Ibrahim Khatab,” says Eclectica
- Where: Online |Art X Lagos
131 Gallery
- What’s On:
The opening of artist Oliver Keck’s solo exhibition ‘Playing With Catastrophe’.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
Drinks will kindly be provided t the opening by Hendricks Gin and Monkey Shoulder Whiskey.
- Where: Sir Lorey Road, Shop 2
- Time: 18:00-20:00
Worldart Gallery
- What’s On:
The debut of Norman O’Flynn’s 2021 solo exhibition ‘Always and Always’.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
“Always and always refers to the fact that no matter how extreme the situations we’re faced with, we tend to get through it,” says O’Flynn. “We just try harder, we stay positive and we survive. Lately, we’ve become familiar with the pace of change, but now it is more about how we deal with it. Change is a challenge, but it seems that we’re handling it.”
- Where: 54 Church Street
- When:18:00-20:00
GalleryOne11
- What’s On:
‘Small Worlds’ Exhibition launch featuring artists including Cobus von Bosch, Joubert Stander, Tarien Bruwer, Dina Kuijers, Chloe Obermeyer Carolina Salinas, Sue Kaplan and Helen Elizabeth Smith.
View this post on Instagram
“As the world is ‘shrinking’ on a global scale, our ‘inner-world’ boundaries are getting smaller and as we engage with the world from our desktops and what is in close physical proximity. Becoming quiet and pensive in our reasoning of the shift of our realities, how we choose to click and engage eventually render meaning to inner ‘Small Worlds’.” says Gallery One11.
Where: 111 Loop Street
When: from 18:00
- Artist Admin
The opening of Sujay Sana’s 4th Solo Show, titled “unencountered” .
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
Where: 79 Roeland Street
Time: 18:00 – 20:30
‘Unencountered’ comprises enigmatic creatures of the ocean rendered in precise detail and in a manner that makes them appear to float before the viewer. Yet they are not here, and I was never there to encounter them. The forms of these marine giants are contrasted against a backdrop of a paper cut pattern. The paper cut represents our science – our understanding of ecology. It is a reminder of the hiatus between looking and seeing. The impossibility of seeing something in the real sense with only our eyes is tested through the cut paperwork. Our minds begin to fill in the details through knowledge and experience. These cut-outs are also evocative of discarded fishing nets, one of the many kinds of debris produced in the Anthropocene, encountered by inhabitants of the seas.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
- Where: 16 Buiten Street
- When:17:00 – 21:00
THK Gallery
What’s On:
The opening of a new group exhibition featuring work by Tashinga Majiri, Nyasha Marovatsanga, and Lulama Wolf titled ‘Embodied Cognition’.
View this post on Instagram
- Where: 52 Waterkant Street
Cape Town CBD - Time: 10:00 – 20:00
Also read:
Start First Thursdays the right way with these popular Cape Town bars
Picture: Norman O’Flynn