Cape Town - Bergvliet High matric pupils transformed the Blue Route Mall into a gallery this week at their Art Expo launched on Tuesday.
The school proposed the idea of an exhibition at the mall to allow young aspiring artists to showcase their work to a wider audience.
“I named this piece ‘Timeless’ because my utopia is one where there is no time. Time defines how we live our lives as most people focus on the past and the future, so I wanted to create a place where we can live in the moment and appreciate the beauty that is around us,” said Nicole Solomon, a pupil at the school.
Solomon hopes to study architecture next year.
Josh Abrahams, another pupil, said that his art focusses on darkness and new light. For his final PAT, Abrahams merged the concepts of dystopia and utopia.
Abrahams often draws animals, and his most eye-catching piece is one of a tiger.
“I love animals. I have three cats,” said Abrahams. “I like to experiment with different art styles and so during the December holidays I tried out charcoal. Charcoal is really interesting. It took me 16 hours to draw this tiger with charcoal.”
Abrahams who also creates architectural structures as a form of art intends to study architecture next year.
Abrahams was inspired by his artistic grandfather from a very young age.
Abrahams’ mother Tania said that art was a healthy means of stress relief for teenagers and that she was always so fascinated by what her son’s artwork. She observed that artistic learners were often quiet and spoke much less than their peers as they tended to share what was going on in their mind through their art.
The exhibition also showcased the best of grades 10 and 11. Two pupils from the school, Jamie Poggenpoel and Beah Share, had their artwork displayed at the Irma Stern Museum in Rosebank. Poggenpoel explained that the idea was to be inspired by the art style of Irma Stern and create pieces that re-imagined her works.
Principal Stephen Price said that the school’s music and dance pupils had always had the opportunity to perform for the public but the school’s talented artists had not had a similar opportunity until now.
“What these youngsters have produced is in their heads. It is absolutely mind blowing to see the work on the boards around us today that comes out of the minds of these young artists,” said Price.
Price also thanked the school’s art teacher Saroj Shukla who helped advance and hone the pupils’ skills.
Shukla has been teaching art for 35 years, with the last five years at Bergvliet High School. She said that she enjoyed being part of the pupils’ journey from conceptualising their art pieces all the way to the final product, sometimes guiding them along the way or simply letting them go with the flow.
Shukla encourages her pupils to pursue careers in art and related fields.
“When I graduated the opportunities for art were very limited,” said Shukla. “But today the whole wide world is open to artists. In first world countries, artists, graphic designers and architects can be paid more than doctors and engineers.”
Last week, the school’s matriculants completed their final practical assessment task (PAT) over a period of four days, six hours per day. The prompt this year was ‘utopia’.
The exhibition also featured a tribute to Price, who will be retiring as school principal early next year. Price served as deputy principal since 2005, and as principal since 2009. He was also once a pupil at the school.
“We are so fortunate to have such a wonderful sense of community at Blue Route Mall and have been overwhelmed by the quality of work presented and have received such positive feedback from our community and customers,” said Bronwyn Rabie, marketing manager of the mall.
The exhibition is on show until Sunday, October 23. at the entrance of the mall’s food court.