56 Church Street
Cape Town CBD
Monday - Friday
09:30 - 17:00
Saturday
10:00 - 13:30
First Thursdays
18:00 - 20:00 Visit Website
With an increasing focus on African Art around the world, Eclectica Contemporary aims to present a carefully selected and focused collection of art from the continent that interrogates the issues facing us in a globalized world. The art at Eclectica often shows practices and materials familiar from art history but which push these boundaries and explore uncharted territories of representation, technique and theory.
Based in Cape Town, South Africa, Eclectica Contemporary sees itself as an African gallery with an international vision. We celebrate the diversity and depth of art making on our continent while aiming to contextualize this for a growing global market.
Our program of exhibitions shows a mix of solo shows by gallery artists alongside curated group shows. In addition, the Eclectica Contemporary exhibition space has facilities for experimental, new media and project-based works.
Eclectica Contemporary is delighted to present Justin Dingwall's first solo exhibition with the gallery, titled 'When I Stare At The Night Sky'. Dingwall’s latest series embodies a profound exploration of memories, investigating the transformative impact of actions, events, interactions, and experiences on our recollection and response to the world.
The full title, "When I Stare at the Night Sky, I Don't See Any Stars", serves as a metaphor for the obscured and nuanced nature of our memories.
The significance of family is an important part of this series; it highlights its pivotal role in shaping future generations. This is conveyed through the incorporation of remembered objects into the photographs. Within our physical spaces, objects serve as silent narrators, communicating volumes about their owners and the memories they encapsulate. Often enriched with emotional resonance, these objects become vessels of personal history, connecting us to the people and moments that have shaped our lives.
The choice of printed fabric as an artistic medium is a deliberate effort to bridge the intangible realm of memories with the palpable world. The way that memories are woven into our minds is depicted in the physical weave of the material, sewn together by threads of time. It is a metaphorical stitching together of past and future memories.