Strauss & co - Wits Art Museum

WITS ARTS MUSEUM ENDOWMENT AUCTION 21 11 Gerard Marx (b.1976) Plant Portrait Woodblock print on paper 50 x 35,5 cm Edition 20 +2 AP 2012 Donated by the artist R3 000 – 4 000 A monochromatic woodblock print, Plant Portrait is a delicate rendering of common wild flowers. Upon closer examination, however, the stems, leaves and roots of the plant contrive to shape an elusive representation of a face, a self-portrait. The interrelation between nature and human presence in Plant Portrait is a prominent theme in Marx’s artistic practice. In his different projects, Marx repeatedly returns to mapping the interfaces of the human body in space. His resulting sculptures, drawings, and prints are cohesive accumulations of fragments—cuttings from maps, branches, plant material, and other minutiae that the artist collects and re-imagines.  PD