Strauss & co - Michaelis

44 . MICHAELIS AUCTION 69 Hasan & Husain Essop . GTMO (Guantanamo) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2011 Digital photograph Edition: 1/5 + 2AP 122 x 81 cm Framed Estimate: R 10 000 – R 15 000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The work by Hasan and Husein Essop highlights a multi- cultural clash between religion and popular cultures. The Essops explore the dominating influence of narratives that are constructed to normalise a cetain reality. Inspired by Hollywood’s visual language and tactics, they create their own narratives, with each photograph reflecting a battle between the moral and immoral.Two dominant personalities appear, East andWest, with all their stereotypes. 70 Rowan Smith . Challenger II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2010 Acrylic on board 90 cm diameter Estimate: R 12 000 – R 20 000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Born in Cape Town, Rowan Smith is a graduate of the Michaelis School of Fine Art, where he received the Michaelis Prize for top graduating student in 2007. He has participated on numerous group exhibitions, including Not Yet Famous: Nobody Likes Nothing at Whatiftheworld Gallery (2006) and - under the collaborative pseudonym “Clive Murdock” - Picnic at Bell-Roberts Gallery (2003).He presented his debut solo exhibition at Cape Town’s Whatiftheworld Gallery in 2008. His work is represented in the Hollard Collection, Johannesburg. Smith is currently studying towards his MFA at the California Institute of the Arts.