Young Capetonian Jozua Gerrard’s art seems simple. Aren’t we just viewing pleasing images of figures that somehow feel familiar, and strangely normal and comforting? Look a little closer and the truth reveals itself.
First, the works in his new show, In the Present Tense, on at Southern Guild in Cape Town, are, in fact, huge and made by painting enamel on glass.

It’s no coincidence that the glossy finish makes these paintings look like something you’d view on a phone screen. Gerrard has been very intentional about that. He’s also been deliberate about painting these somewhat mask-like figures engaging in the sort of mundane acts we recognise. Sitting on the floor, hair in a towel, or holding a bag, for example.
Again, Gerrard is commenting on how we’ve all become almost intimate with the curated feeds of the celebrities and the people we follow on social media. As the show catalogue puts it, “The hyper-stylisation of each painting elicits the sense that these bodies are conscious of being observed, posing as they would for the lens of a camera.”

For all his commentary on the way we interact with humans and images in this digital age, Gerrard is caught up in the technology too. He first creates scenes using props, and family and friends as models, then photographs them and turns these snaps into digital renderings on his iPad. From there, he transfers them onto glass, in paint, by hand.
Meaning and mark aside, what we especially love is the saturated, flat colour and graphic composition of these pieces. They are smart, joyful and beguiling too.
In The Present Tense is on at Southern Guild until November 7.

Top Image: Jozua Gerrard. Different Day, 2024. Hayden Phipps/Southern Guild.