Press Release:

ArtSPACE Durban is pleased to present Proof of Life, an exhibition of new work by Andrew Swanepoel, known as the artist, swany. Please join us on Tuesday 19th November at 6pm for the exhibition opening and to meet the artist. The exhibition will be opened by Dr Mpako, Chair of the Department of Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology.

In the exhibition, swany presents a commentary on contemporary existential angst. He addresses, in particular, his dislocation as a middle-aged white male within contemporary South African society. This includes a sense of alienation and loss of identity as a result of the displacement of white masculinity in the social hierarchy. While utilising the self-portrait to identify and locate himself, he simultaneously subverts and deconstructs the medium. By commenting on himself he critiques the society within which he finds himself located and often at odds with.

Swany is a Durban-based artist who works across disciplines while always retaining an element of performance art in his pieces. He has exhibited at the KZNSA Gallery, artSPACE Durban and the Collective. He most recently exhibited his performance and installation piece, Gaze (2012), at artSPACE Durban, and took part in a group exhibition, More Than Words (2013), at the Collective.

The exhibition runs from 19 November until 30 November 2013.

Installation (3 full days: 17-19 November)

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Proof of Life: This Is Me (2013)

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Proof of Life: This is What I Do (2013)

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