(1971 – )

Mary Visser
Contemporary
Overview

I see the painting not as a window looking out, but rather as a container in which I can freely arrange and rearrange things.

 Painting is entertainment for me, so it’s got to be fun! I start with one mark or a set of delicious colours. This begins a conversation of sorts between myself and the canvas. This is super exciting and I’m thrilled by the possibilities. As I make decisions to keep this mark or obscure this shape, problems start to emerge. I try to keep a cheerful attitude even when the painting starts looking terrible. At some point I think ‘oooh yuck, ok great, nothing to lose now’. This gets me excited to try something completely different and risky in order to salvage the painting.

 The varied experience of the everyday is the aesthetic filter through which I approach painting. I bring what I have in the moment as I meet the painting; torn magazine shards, photos, song lyrics, doodles, notes and sketches of street life, fragments of other artist’s paintings, Instagram glimpses, drawings and collages. I juxtapose and layer many disparate things much like thoughts, events and memories that might be arranged in a dream.

 In the safe solitude of the studio, I find I can let go of traditional ideas of good painting and be free to explore my idea of visual delight.

Education

1992 Bachelor Fine Arts, Rhodes University, Grahamstown
2013 Postgrad Diploma in Art(with distinction), University of Cape Town

Exhibitions

2023
Optimal Vibration, Group Ehibition, Graham Contemporary

2020
Group Show, 131a gallery, Cape Town

2019
Group Show, Eclectica Gallery, Cape Town

2018
‘Assembly’ Circa Gallery, Cape Town

‘Funny Things are Everywhere’, Association for Visual Arts, Cape Town

2017
‘Out of Nowhere’ Smith Gallery, Cape Town

AVA Summer Salon, Cape Town

2016
‘Colours’ Imibala Gallery, Somerset West

2015
‘Shades of Moods’ Eclectica Gallery, Claremont, Cape Town

2014
‘Modern Painting’ Kalk Bay Modern Gallery, Kalk Bay

2014
‘What Lies Beneath’ Equus Gallery, Cavalli Estate, Somerset West

2013
‘Site’, Carol Lee Fine Art, Joburg

 ‘Possession’ Everard Read, Cape Town

2011
‘Along These City Streets’, Association for Visual Arts, Cape Town

2010
‘On the Rhodes’, These Four Walls, Observatory, Cape Town. ‘The Weight of Light’, The Bay Hotel, Camps Bay, Cape Town.

2009
‘Scenario’, Carol Lee Fine Art, Upstairs at Bamboo, Johannesburg2009 ‘Origin’, Carol Lee Fine Art, Upstairs at Bamboo, Johannesburg

2009
‘Review’, Carol Lee Fine Art, Upstairs at Bamboo, Johannesburg

2008
New Paintings, These Four Walls Gallery, Observatory, Cape Town.

New Works (with Nic Bladen & Marieke Prinsloo), The Gallery at Grande Provence, Franschhoek. Group Show, Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch.

‘Expression’, Carol Lee Fine Art, Upstairs at Bamboo, Johannesburg. ‘Diminutive’, Artspace, Durban.

2007
‘Water’, Carol Lee Fine Art, Upstairs at Bamboo, Johannesburg. Recent Work, UCT Irma Stern Gallery, Cape Town (together with Jenny Parsons).

‘Impression’, Carol Lee Fine Art, Upstairs at Bamboo, Johannesburg

2006
‘Portraits’, Selected exhibition, The Association of Visual Arts, Cape Town.

‘Wine made Art’, Tokara Wine Estate, Stellenbosch. ‘Absolut Secret 10’, The Association of Visual Arts, Cape Town.

2005
‘Nocturnes’, UCT Irma Stern Museum Gallery, Cape Town

1999
Amalgamation Exhibion, National Library of South Africa, Cape Town

1998
Solo Exhibition, Ruth Prowse School of Art, Cape Town. Boudoir Biscuits Group Exhibition, UCT Irma Stern Museum Gallery, Cape Town

1991
Degree Show, Rhodes University, Grahamstown1997 Boudoir Biscuits Group Exhibition, Ibis Art Centre, Nieu Bethesda. Boudoir Biscuits Group Exhibition, King George VI Gallery, Port Elizabeth

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