Insidious Waters is a solo exhibition of sculpture and installation by Louise Kritzinger in partial completion of the Masters degree in Fine Arts at the University of Pretoria.
A malignant mushroom sculpture forming part of the installation Affluence / Effluence.
29 September – 21 October 2012
Van Wouw House, Brooklyn, Pretoria
Opening Event
Insidious Waters will be opened on 28 September at 18:30 for 19:00 by Pieter Swanepoel and environmental activist Mariëtte Liefferink.
Walkabout
A walkabout is scheduled for 13 October at 11:00 with the artist and well-known scientist, dr Francois Durand.
About Insidious Waters and Louise Kritzinger
The installation and sculptures presented in Insidious Waters deal directly with the devastating effects the gold mining industry in the Witwatersrand has had on the environment, especially in the form of Acid Mine Drainage (AMD). Derelict mining sites are the primary source leading to the contamination of water courses and aquifers by AMD. Today this decant of acidic and noxious water is perceived as a water catastrophe.
Kritzinger’s work intends to address the effects of toxicity brought on by AMD, providing knowledge within an aesthetic experience. She places a special focus on the risks involved in consuming produce originating from agricultural areas contaminated by toxic water.
Close-up from A Pyrrhic Victory.
These contemplative and provocative artworks are intended as a confrontation with the mining companies and other parties responsible for this environmental disaster. Kritzinger’s installations, combining water, steel, sand, concrete, resin and industrial found objects like steel barrels, are tangible and real, creating an immediate awareness and concern for environmental situations as critical as the one in the Witwatersrand.
Insidious Waters, with its preoccupation with current events, considers the relationship between art and morality and functions as an ‘ecovention’, aimed at alerting people to the issue and in so doing contributes towards the potential restoration of this damaged environment.
Louise Kritzinger is a Master’s student at the University of Pretoria and former winner of the PPC Cement Sculpture Award.
Gallery Details
Van Wouw House
Corner of Clark and Rupert streets, Brooklyn, Pretoria.
GPS: 25° 46’ 23.2926” S,28° 14’ 29.7738”E.
Gallery hours: Tuesday – Friday: 11:00 – 18:00; Saturday & Sunday: 10:00 – 14:00.
Enquiries: Department Visual Arts at UP (012) 420-2353.