AbstRacT – Synchrony Revealed
Timed Online Auction, 4 - 23 July 2025
AbstRacT – Synchrony Revealed
About the SessionIn 2024, the Rupert Museum presented AbstRacT – The Hidden Synchrony, an exhibition inspired by Oscar Forel’s Synchromies series - close-up photographs of tree bark that transformed the familiar into bold abstraction. These works were paired with South African modernist paintings from the museum’s collection, creating surprising visual harmonies and fresh interpretations.
Building on this concept, AbstRacT – Synchrony Revealed is the result of the museum’s third Open Call, which received over 300 submissions. From these, 41 artists were selected to showcase their work in a group exhibition - now part of an exclusive online auction in collaboration with Strauss & Co.
The auction offers collectors a chance to discover new voices engaging with themes of ecology, memory, materiality, and abstraction. Each work reveals a dynamic interplay between natural form and artistic expression - where chance, structure, and symbolism collide.
During the period of the online auction the exhibition is accessible to be viewed at the Jan Rupert Art Centre, 41 Middle street, Graaff-Reinet.
Collection of the artworks will be available once the exhibition closes on 16 November 2025.
Please contact Eliz-Marie Schoonbee to arrange collection/delivery
tel: 021 888 3261
email: eliz-marie@rupertmuseum.org
About this Item
Notes
This artwork was inspired by Van der Merwe’s A Study in Curvature. The movement of the plywood and the holes inspired Maré to use wood from an old fig tree in her garden and go on a wood-turning adventure to discover
what treasure the wood holds. The wood was infested by borer beetles and, therefore, the old fig tree had to be cut down.
During the woodturning activity, the artist discovered tunnels made by the beetles; an exploration similar to what Strijdom created with the bent plywood. Maré did not open every tunnel the beetles made, to not make the bowl frangible. She also wanted to show what the wood looks like with the beetle’s frass (shavings) still visible in some of the tunnels. It was an exploration that the artist thoroughly enjoyed; one she hopes the viewer will too. Ultimately, this piece tells the story of the fig tree’s growth and the events that the tree witnessed in its lifetime.
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