Strauss & co - 16 February 2019, Cape Town

52 36 Pierre Vermeulen SOUTH AFRICAN 1992– 143 | 51 Hair Orchid Print signed and dated 2017 on the reverse gold leaf imitate on aluminium and sweat 150 by 180 cm R40 000 – 60 000 ITEM NOTES ‘Pierre Vermeulen’s practice is pri- marily based around the principles of balance and introspection. His use of non-traditional mediums like gold leaf, human hair and body fluids offer viewers a glimpse of his deep regard for what he terms ‘a cycle of growth and loss – and through this revolution – the acceptance of what is imperfect’.’ 1 ‘In Vermeulen’s Sweat Print series, he manipulates the oxidis- able surface of gold leaf to create impressions of his own body, using sweat, curled on the canvas in vulnerable positions. The reflective lustre of the surface, interspersed with the tenuous corrosion of limbs, confronts the dichotomy between both the presence and the absence of the artist, and thus by association the viewer’s too. What Vermeulen’s work allegorically illustrates is the boundary between a grid of accept- able and unacceptable values. Seen as an axiological issue, the meaning of the image is not the image itself but the relationship that the viewer establishes with it.’ 2 1. SMAC Gallery, [Online] Available: https:// smacgallery.com/artist/pierre-vermeulen/ [5 December 2018]. 2. Ibid.