Artist Statement
The argument exists that all art is political because, however abstract, the art and the artists inevitably exhibit the values of the given culture or social class from which they emanate. I am interested in political art, that is to say, an art of ambiguity.
But first and foremost a work must succeed as an exercise in aesthetic appreciation. To that end, contemporary artists working in the traditional mediums now face what their historic counterparts needn’t contend with, and in a mass-media environment lose to; the draining away of the medium’s potency as reflection and attestation. In part, this is based on the prevailing assumption that photography and its cognate mediums (film, television,) can tell us most about the visual format. Not so. As Robert Hughes once noted, a camera may, if fortunate, capture a different truth about its subject through an unedited, comprehensive transcription of reality, but not necessarily a truer one.
The adroitness and meticulous attention to detail intrinsic to drawing and painting engenders contemplation and can there through transcend the viewer and artist into a deeper and more profound realized experience with the subject. I aim to always create art that isn’t merely sensational, doesn’t present an obvious message and isn’t falsely iconic. Succinctly put, art that is axiomatically opposed to mass media.
Concerning the value judgements in my parables on South African society, I give no definitive answer. Allegorical gestures, epiphanies and symbols remain opaque and contingent on the viewer’s interpretation, since an artist should not pretend to know where the truth lies. I never try to proselytize.
Biography
Ruan Huisamen was born in 1991 in Cape Town, South Africa. He is largely self-taught, having never received any formal education or training in the traditional techniques of painting and drawing. Most of his earlier works were created using graphite pencil, but he has since transitioned to charcoal based works. After returning from a three-month apprenticeship under Louis Jansen van Vuuren he began working as an artist.
In addition to having been nominated for the Absa L’ Atelier, Sasol New Signatures, SPI National Portrait and Sanlam Vuleka awards, his works are also held in private collections in Spain, France, England, Canada and the United States.