“Luscious river swim selfie” © Clare Menck
Promised land/Beloofde land
This is a two-person show with Clare Menck and Arend Louw.
21 March–6 April 2026
@ Rossouw modern SPACE gallery, Hermanus
It is hardly surprising that not a single landscape in this exhibition by painter Clare Menck does not have water as its dominant natural feature, water in all forms in so many exhilarating places found in typical South African landscapes!
“Emerald floating nude selfie” © Clare Menck
Besides a consistent output of nudes and self-portraiture, Clare Menck is particularly renowned for her much loved swimmers effortlessly floating in water. These bathers become a visual metaphor for a sense of freedom, for being at peace with one’s body and in tune with one’s natural environment. Stepping into water, being surrounded by this marvellous, life-sustaining fluid, brings some welcome relief from a sense of gravity, and feeds the soul. There is invariably an element of sensual bliss and tactile pleasure too. This includes the existential state of being alone – of experiencing aloneness – often characterised by single figures in her works.
“Cobalt mountain pool swim (mother and son)” © Clare Menck
The title of this joint two-person exhibition here at Rossouw Modern’s SPACE Gallery, “Promised land”, invariably glances into the future too. Beyond its evident religious theme, it evokes a longed-for state of ultimate bliss, a desire (“hunkering” in Afrikaans!) for a place to return to, to be safe in and at peace with oneself and one’s soul’s habitat. This ultimate platonic pool of water to drift off in, without effort or pain or care, thus also alludes to a state of redemption after life’s toil. Seen in this light, Clare’s swimmers furthermore become a metaphor for the welcome release from death’s shackles, to attain a state of spiritual well-being and bliss beyond.
- Visuals provided by the artist and puplished with her permission.