ART SPOT: Benon Lutaaya

23 August 2013 - 02:19 By Karabo Kgoleng
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'Transgression'
'Transgression'
Image: SUPPLIED

Benon Lutaaya's latest show reveals a continued focus and increased sophistication in the use of a style he is beginning to claim as his own.

'Transgression' is inspired by the plight that faces vulnerable children (war-torn, abandoned, heading households), and he takes the risk of placing himself within the visual narrative by painting his eyes into their portraits.

Visually, we are led beyond the representations.

Lutaaya's paintings invite the gaze without overwhelming one with the profound sadness of the circumstances under which the subject is placed.

Sara Hallett, director of The Bag Factory, where Lutaaya is a resident artist, says: "By painting these vulnerable children in this beautiful style, he provides them with some kind of protection."

It is as if the beauty of his art is like a warm blanket or a tender caress in the form of the artist's sensitive application.

Initially, Lutaaya worked almost exclusively using collage and only began painting in 2011.

Apparently if he is unhappy with his acrylic-on-canvas pieces, he shreds them and starts afresh.

The portraits are done in natural, neutral colours, some with smudges or blocks of stronger shades and the images are of children whose gender does not appear to play a role in the visual story. This, rather than take away from the narrative, emphasises the universality of childhood vulnerability.

This Ugandan-born artist gives a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of his works to children at risk and to his residency, The Bag Factory.

  • Visit www.artspace-jhb.co.za or call 011-880-8802. The exhibition closes on August 31
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