South African artist Andile Dyalvane’s solo exhibition Camagu opens at New York gallery Friedman Benda this month.
This is his first solo exhibition in the United States. The collection consists of 30 large-scale clay pieces such as hanging and standing lamps, ceramic screens, shelves and over-scaled vessels.
Camagu (I am grateful) is described as a “spiritual expression of gratitude from Dyalvane to his ancestors”; the ceramic pieces were inspired by ancestral practices and his Xhosa heritage.
Dyalvane was born in the village of Ngobozana in the Eastern Cape. He started out working for the Potter’s Shop and Studio in 1999, where he painted ceramics.
He is a ceramic design graduate and is the cofounder of Cape Town-based Imiso Ceramics. The studio produces crockery, furniture and other lifestyle-inspired products.
His work has been exhibited at the Cape Town Craft and Design Institute, the University of Cape Town’s Irma Stern Museum and Decorex, and as part of the Picasso and Africa exhibition.
Dyalvane’s work is inspired by his environment – relationships between men and women, industrial areas and the African tradition of body scarification.
His body of work includes his Africasso and Scarified collections, as well as his Views from the Studio works.
Dyalvane is highly respected in ceramic art circles for producing proudly South African artwork that celebrates culture and African identity.
The exhibition runs from June 23 to August 19 at Friedman Benda