Wim Botha’s paper-art sculptures

As a paper-art-lover, I was super excited to find within the prestigious 2013 Venice Biennale, a handful of artists that have used paper as their premier medium. Wim Botha is one of them.

Spine-chilling, breathtaking or just plain awesome – the truth is that artist Wim Botha’s paper-art sculptures will certainly thrill you! His works are currently showcased in the South African Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

Botha’s sculptural installation and various three dimension portraits are potently original and so different in language. This Pretoria-born artist uses old encyclopedias, African dictionaries, bibles and former schoolbooks by slicing and carving them into bold human shapes and faces. In his latest impressive sculptural installation “Study for Epic Mundane”, humans are erected from the wall holding evocative powers.

The subtle use of deep red in some of his busts, combined with the un-hidden rawness of the metal that binds the books together is just sublime!

Though Botha’s former works tend more towards classic marble sculpture and have a religious iconographic, his recent works take a leap into the intriguingly new. Though some of you may find his works dreary or grim, I give him credit for these distinctly alluring works. I am super curious to see what the future will hold for him!

Botha is part of a South African group exhibition that shows how artists use materials from the past to comment not only on the past, but also to show how the past continues to influence the present. I think Botha makes it worthwhile a visit to Venice, if you haven’t already been.

Wim Botha is presented by Gallery Stevenson Cape Town

Image courtesy artobserved.com and Alex Galmeanu