Johannesburg and London are two cities, continents apart, that have a significant feature in common. Both cities have experienced the kind of aggressive expansion that swallows the surrounding areas and leaves mere echoes of what was before.
In Dencity, a collaborative exhibition by André Clements and Daniel Hirschmann, the artists use their home cities of Johannesburg and London as the inspiration and subject matter. The duo have created a series of works that are algorithmic cityscapes interpreting the ebb and flow of two rapidly growing habitats.
Clements and Hirschmann created images that work to transform elements of architecture while highlighting the fluidity of the city. This was realised by building their own tools and techniques with which to capture and portray the urban space.
The exhibition opens tonight, 14 June 2011, at the Resolution Gallery in Johannesburg and runs until 13 August 2011. Professor Christo Doherty, the head of digital arts at Wits University will be opening the exhibition.
The Resolution Gallery describes the style of Dencity as follows: “Stylistically the exhibition blends digital image manipulation technology with artistic paradigms such as cubism, painterly abstraction and post-abstract expressionism. The artists intend this as an integration, rather than mere combination, of elements and influences.”
