Subscribe to our newsletter for our must-see exhibitions, artists, events and more here
Shop William Kentridge Prints here

Kendell Geers: In Gozi We Trust

23 November - 13 January 2020
Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg

Goodman Gallery Johannesburg 23 November – 18 January 2020

Goodman Gallery is pleased to present In Gozi We Trust, Kendell Geers’ sixth solo exhibition with the gallery in his hometown of Johannesburg. The exhibition follows critically successful solo presentations of Geers’ work in Amsterdam, Dublin, Barcelona and Budapest.

The title might translate as “In DANGER We Trust” or be read as “In Jozi We Trust”, a subtle reference to William Kentridge’s animation Johannesburg, 2nd Greatest City After Paris (1989). This play with words is typical of Geers’ trickster sensibilities and references the Nguni words for danger (ingozi) and God (nkosi) via the slogan ‘In God We Trust’. The works on the exhibition examine the role that threat and danger play in the construction of Johannesburg’s identity and the consoling habit of finding comfort through the beauty of art.

Artworks

Acrylic on canvas
Unavailable
Acrylic on canvas
Work: 100 x 70 cm
Unavailable
Rust on paper
Unavailable
Rust on paper
Unavailable
Rust on paper
Unavailable
Acrylic on canvas
Work: 195 x 125 cm
Unavailable
Acrylic on canvas
Unavailable
Acrylic on canvas
Unavailable
Acrylic on canvas
Unavailable
Acrylic on canvas
Unavailable
Bronze and custom made plinth
Work: 40 x 19 x 9 cm
Unavailable

About

Kendell Geers image

Kendell Geers

South African-born, Belgian artist Kendell Geers changed his date of birth to May 1968 in order to give birth to himself as a work of art. Describing himself as an ‘AniMystikAKtivist’, Geers takes a syncretic approach to art that weaves together diverse Afro-European traditions, including animism, alchemy, mysticism, ritual and a socio-political activism laced with black humour, irony and cultural contradiction.

Geers’s work has been shown in numerous international group exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale (2007) and Documenta (2002). Major solo shows include Heart of Darkness at Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town (1993), Third World Disorder at Goodman Gallery Cape Town (2010) and more recently Songs of Innocence and of Experience at Goodman Gallery Johannesburg (2012). His exhibition Irrespektiv travelled to Newcastle, Ghent, Salamanca and Lyon between 2007 and 2009. Geers was included on Art Unlimited at Art 42 Basel in 2011. Work by Geers was included on Manifesta 9 in Genk, Limburg, Belgium and a major survey show of his work was exhibited at Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany in 2013. Earlier this year Geers held a solo exhibition, The Second Coming (Do What Thou Wilt), at Rua Red in Dublin.

Download full CV