Johans Borman Fine Art

Jacobus Kloppers

It is ironic that the notion of “places” not only implies the “empty spaces” between them, but also depends on it. Without these “voids” the concept of “place” would be incomprehensible. We order the physical world as a set of places, connected by paths – spaces that seem “empty” and “less important”, but which we have to travel in order to reach a destination.

For some time now, Jacobus Kloppers’ work focuses on the concept of travel, the realisation and discovery of landmarks and indicators along the way, and, especially, how it impacts on the psyche. He has walked a long way – initially through depictions of objects (dams, drinking troughs, gates, etc.) along roads leading through the Karoo landscape, later the road itself as a (non) place, and, more recently, by focusing on road signs as indicators of place, distance and direction. Now he enters what he calls a “second world” - to extend his investigation into the “continuous interaction between the experience of place as a physical phenomenon and of place as a moment in the world of thought”.

By superimposing illustrations of clouds on road maps and using aerial photographs as reference, Kloppers is now involving the virtually immeasurable space above the landscape – the atmosphere, the true place of “nothing”.

On a clear day the sky is an empty space where distance, relativity and three-dimensionality dissolve in a borderless vacuum. Only physical objects, such as birds, aeroplanes and, especially, clouds, sometimes give (limited) insight into the dimensions of the immense expanse above us earth-bound beings. Without these indicators, of which the landscape is part, we would not be able to grasp the concept of space.

The human psyche – the universe of the spirit - is as boundless as the atmosphere. It is only defined, and limited, by thoughts, stemming from experiences of happenings, of places and the journeys between them.

In this series of works, Kloppers employs, amongst other, the cloud as a metaphor for the wandering spirit. Clouds drift over landscapes, carved by time and incidence, as thoughts and dreams travel through psychological spaces above past and future experiences. The human spirit may not be without will, but, as clouds, we have no control over our origin, and relatively little control over how and where we end up. It is the winds of time and change that ultimately determine our route and final destination. We can be little more than observers en route.

Travellers never stay for long in one place. They love movement, especially for the sake of movement. In the process, travellers usually develop a firm concept of space and place - and especially the absence of the latter - because to travel, means to be in the “nowhere” between two points on a map. It is these vacuums that Zen Buddhists long to visit in an attempt to escape the hold that place and experience have on the psyche. To them the “non-place” is the true destination.

This sounds paradoxical. For what is to be found in the noman’s- land between places - an ill-defined space, where little is certain and most things are in a constant state of flux? What are we searching for along these strange routes of uncertainty and transcendence? Do we ever discover anything?

Sometimes. Kloppers points to this. Through the metaphor of the physical road, the landmarks and signposts along the way, the road map, the endless sky and the floating clouds, he again focuses on a certain, but universal, aspect of the human condition. Like nomadic clouds that glide over the seemingly empty spaces between the dots on a map, we see, hear and experience many things during our journey over the psychological landscape. We may learn a lot, and later know many things, but what we eventually discover during our travels through lesser-known spaces, is nothing but ourselves.

Cobus van Bosch
November 2005

Curriculum Vitae

Born: 13 June 1959, Nelspruit, Mpumalanga.

Academic qualifications

1976
Matriculated Empangeni High School, Natal.
1980
BA (Fine Arts), University of Pretoria under Nico Roos, Keith Dietrich en John Clarke
1990
Higher Education Diploma (Art), Unisa.

Selected employment

1988 - 2000
Art teacher at the Johan Carinus Art Centre, Grahamstown.
2001
Studios in Nieu Bethesda and Johannesburg since 2001.

Solo Exhibitions

1999
Tussenruimte/In-Between-Ness, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town.
2003
Middelburg, toekoms, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town.
2007
Eskaders, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town.
2010
Seebriewe, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town.

National Exhibitions

1980
New Signatures, SA Association of Arts, Pretoria
1981 – 1983
Group Exhibitions, including Zink Shop I and II, Pretoria.
1987
Group Exhibition Gallery 21, Johannesburg.
Group Exhibition SA Association of Arts, Pretoria.
1988 – 1992
Group Exhibitions in Grahamstown during the National Arts Festival.
1990 – 1991
EPSFA Annual Exhibition, Port Elizabeth.
1991
Exhibits with the GAP group since.
Volkskas Atelier, Johannesburg 1991,
1992
Volkskas Atelier, Durban
Cape Town Arts Festival (Waterfront)
1993
Volkskas Atelier, Pretoria
One-man Exhibition Ann Bryant Gallery, East London, March 1993.
Momentum Art 1993, Johannesburg
One-man Exhibition, Grahamstown Arts Festival, Grahamstown.
1994
Volkskas Atelier ,Johannesburg
One-man Exhibition Grahamstown Arts Festival, Grahamstown.
South African Art, Strydom Gallery, George
1995
One-man Exhibition IBIS Gallery, Nieu-Bethesda, April 1995
One-man Exhibition Grahamstown Arts Festival, Grahamstown
South African Art, Strydom Gallery, George
1996
South African Art, Strydom Gallery, George
One-man Exhibition Guild Gallery, Pretoria, September 1996.
1997
Two-man Exhibition with Charl Becker, Karin McKerron Gallery, Johannesburg, May 1997
South African Art, Strydom Gallery, George
1998
One-man Exhibition Klein Karoo National Arts Festival, Oudtshoorn
“Die Landskap: Eenheid en Diversiteit“ Klein Karoo National Arts Festival, Oudtshoorn.
“Land, History and Self“ Exhibition Grahamstown Arts Festival, Dakawa, 1998.
“Xoe Site Specific Project” Nieu Bethesda, 1998.
1999
Group Exhibition Klein Karoo National Arts Festival, Oudtshoorn, 1999.
Two-person Exhibition with Giselle Baillie, Cuyler Street Gallery, Port Elizabeth, 1999.
One-man Exhibition Dakawa, Grahamstown, 1999.
One-man Exhibition “Tussenruimte“, Johans Borman Fine Art Gallery, Cape Town, 1999.
2000
One-man Exhibition, Ou Lettere Galery, Pretoria.
2001
One-man Exhibition, Dorpstraat Galery, Stellenbosch.
2002
Spier Sculpture Biennale, Stellenbosch.
One-man Exhibition as part of the Department of Architecture, University of Pretoria Open lecture series.
“The SA Landscape”, University of Pretoria.
Two-man Exhibition with Etienne de Kock, Johans Borman Fine Art Gallery, Cape Town.
2003
One-man Exhibition, Johans Borman Fine Art Gallery, BCI Fine Art, Johannesburg.
2004
Three-man Exhibition with Walter Meyer and Erik Laubscher, Johans Borman Fine Art Gallery, Cape Town.
2007
One-man Exhibition, “Eskaders”, Johans Borman Fine Art Gallery, Cape Town.
2009
Anniversary Exhibition, ‘Art that inspires’, Johans Borman Fine Art Gallery, Cape Town.
2010
One-man Exhibition, “Seebriewe” Johans Borman Fine Art Gallery, Cape Town.
2012
Group exhibition, ‘-scape’, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town.
2015
Collaborative Exhibition, ‘Spieëlkamer’, Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town.

International Exhibitions

8th International Biennial Print and Drawing Exhibition, R.O.C. Taipei, Taiwan 1997.

Collections

Haenggi Foundation Pietersburg Art Museum
ABSA Bank Pretoria Art Museum
SASOL Collection SANLAM
Telkom BMW, Pretoria
University of Pretoria SA Reserve Bank
University of Stellenbosch Saldana Steel
Rupert Art Foundation Expedutors

Awards

First Price, New Signatures, SA Association of Arts (Tvl) 1980.