Simon GUSH (b. 1981)
Books: Lights And Dust
2005
lambda print
edition 1/5
63 x 84 cm
‘I have always had a fascination for books. Within my work they often represent education, information and the accumulation of knowledge.
‘Access to information through books is always mediated through power. I felt that the relationship to the lights in this case drew out some of these issues, both literally and metaphorically. The picture is, in a sense, an image relationship of power (electric lights) and information (books).
‘The dust, which is visible on the shelves, refers to accumulation and human presence. Within the dust there is a contradiction in that the dust is a representation of human presence (as dust is largely… Continue Reading
Moving House I
2006
lambda print
size unknown
Moving House II
2006
lambda print
size unknown
Moving House II
2006
lambda print
59 x 76.5 cm
Moving House III
2006
lambda print
59 x 76.5 cm
Moving House IV
2006
lambda print
59 x 76.5 cm
Moving House V
2006
lambda print
59 x 76.5 cm
Moving House V
2006
lambda print
size unknown
Moving House VI
2006
lambda print
size unknown
Moving House VII
2006
lambda print
size unknown
Moving House VIII
2006
lambda print
size unknown
Moving House VIIII
2006
lambda print
size unknown
BIOGRAPHY
Simon Gush is an artist and filmmaker, who was born in Pietermaritzburg and lives in Johannesburg. Guided primarily by research, his artworks and essay films examine the relationship between work / labour, subjectivity and land.
He completed a postgraduate certificate (Fine Art) at the HISK, Ghent and an MA (Sociology), University of the Witwatersrand, where he was the recipient of the 2016 Tierney Fellowship. He is currently completing a PhD (History) at Rhodes University.
In 2014, Gush produced the exhibition Red about the 1990 labour unrest at the Mercedes Benz plant in East London, South Africa. The exhibition included a disassembled reconstruction of the red Mercedes built for Nelson Mandela, an installation of speculative reconstructions of strike uniforms by Mokotjo Mohulo, and beds used by strikers. Central to the exhibition was the documentary film Red, made in collaboration with James Cairns.
Gush’s black-and-white photographs of industrial landscapes in Lesotho provide a contemplative study of the sites and subjectivities produced by work in order to deconstruct the legacies of colonialism and apartheid in South Africa.
Solo shows include, The Busiest Airline in Africa, Stevenson, Johannesburg (2021); S.G., 59 Joubert Street, Johannesburg, Sala10, MuAC, Mexico City (2020); Welcome to Frontier Country, Stevenson, Cape Town (2019).
Biennales include: Biennale: für aktuelle Fotografie, Ludwigshafen (2017); Dakar (2016); Bamako (2015/17); Montevideo (2014) and Lulea (2009).
Group shows include: Every leaf is an eye, Göteborgs Konsthall (2019); African Mētrópolis. An Imaginary city, Maxxi, Rome (2018), Meditations on Place: Four Perspectives; Four African Cities, Cleveland Museum of Art (2018).
Film screenings include: National Gallery of Art, Washington DC; ICA, London; Tate Modern, London; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt, Berlin; Palais De Tokyo, Paris; and in a number of film festivals such as Sharjah Film Platform 3, International Film Festival Rotterdam, International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and Visions du Réel.
Gush was awarded the Jury Prize at the Bamako Encounters Biennale in 2015.