RETROSPECT // ART ROTTERDAM: Cameron Platter - Gijs van Lith - Gerben Mulder

During Art Rotterdam we showed the premiere of Cameron Platter an artist who is new to MPV Gallery. Now we will feature this new artist in our gallery as well. So if you did not have the chance to visit Art Rotterdam, you have a second chance.

CAMERON PLATTER //

Cameron Platter (b. 1978, ZA) is a contemporary artist living and working in Durban, South Africa. I discovered Cameron's work during a family trip to Cape Town last winter and instantlly fell in love with it! Therefore it is with due pride that I am now able to share the work of this amazing artist with you in my gallery.

Although Cameron's work consists of a wide variety of media (pencil and charcoal drawings, tapestries, ceramics, sculpture, video art, books, etc.), they all share one common goal: to try to decode, translate and "therapeutize" life in today's world. So while his style is never the same, his message is....

Cameron's work has been influenced by growing up and coming of age in post-apartheid South Africa. He comes from a family of journalists, so there was always discussion at the dinner table about current affairs and politics and (to a lesser extent) art. The 1990s in South Africa were the end of the "Resistance Art" movement - art as activism - characterized by graphic posters with quotes or slogans. This graphic, in-your-face, proclaiming visual communication has therefore always been close to his heart. This as well as South Africa's history of craft has overtly influenced Cameron's visual language.

Cameron Platter's works are part of the permanent collection of MoMA N.Y., FRAC des Pays de la Loire, France, Zietz MOCAA Collection, The Margulies Collection and the Iziko South African National Gallery, among others.

During Art Rotterdam and the exhibition at the gallery, we show a selection of detailed pencil drawings and quick charcoal drawings by Cameron Platter.

PENCIL //

Cameron Platter has been making pencil drawings for more than 20 years. He considers them his "paintings". They take a long time to make, but they take even longer to design. Cameron puzzles and digitally mulls over his designs for months before putting them into pencil. The result is a layered image with multiple entrances and exits for the viewer. Everything in the drawings is connected and has multiple points of contact, which Cameron himself considers an important aspect of a successful work. Beneath, behind or beyond the powerful, bold and in-your-face surface, there must be a spider web of mind-maps to discover that a viewer can follow.

Cameron Platter's pencil drawings are composed of source material and references and images Cameron has collected over the years. These can be as diverse as an engraving by Durer, an advertisement he sees on the street, a piece of clip art, a painting by De Chirico, a website, something mentioned in a conversation, or an animal he finds particularly interesting. Cameron sees animals as good examples and metaphors for contemporary existence.

CHARCOAL //

Cameron Platter's charcoal drawings are of a completely different order. They are quick sketches; almost unconscious automatic notes. Cameron sees them as like pages from a diary you keep next to your bed to jot down your dreams. So he often uses the charcoal drawings to work out his ideas and to see how thoughts and images play with each other. His idea is that you can arrange the drawings in different sequences, giving them different stories and meanings. Cameron loves this medium because it is so simple and direct and because we humans have been using this way of expression since the dawn of mankind.

Cameron Platter likes things to be simple and complex. A good contradiction, just like life.

 In addition to Cameron Platter, work by Gijs van Lith and Gerben Mulder will be on display.