WHERE TWO RIVERS MEET

2020 | Solo show by Chris denovan

99 Loop Gallery | 5 December 2020 - 23 January 2021

Chris Denovan’s latest body of work is a celebration of his different styles, techniques and subject matter. Bodies, characters and group images take centre stage of WHERE TWO RIVERS MEET. “So often I’ve depicted individual characters. Now I’m wondering who these characters can interact with; I’m creating a story between them,” explains the artist.

Over the years Denovan has played with various styles from realistic figurative work to more naive figurative work. He has worked with plexiglass since 2011 and wanted to return to the medium and merge his different explorations in paint to create unique images.

“During lockdown I had time to sit and think. I had a moment where I realised what I wanted to achieve with plexiglass – I had an epiphany about how I could bring it all together.” Denovan describes the process of working with plexiglass as unpredictable: “I’m working with many different layers of oil, acrylic, glass stain, permanent marker and even gold leaf. When I do something bold it can make or break a painting. I work on the front and the back of the plexiglass, and on the background it rests on – it’s three paintings in one. When all these elements come together and work, it’s a magical feeling.”

Denovan acknowledges this as a moment in his work where his influences, techniques and subject matter are flowing into one another, like the confluence in a river, where two rivers meet. As this body of water races toward the ocean, so too does the artist, bravely seeking a single voice, a resounding note.

Chris Denovan (b. 1983) lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa. WHERE TWO RIVERS MEET is his ninth solo exhibition.