Queen of Hearts 2 | Woodcut on paper | Edition size 10 | 80cm x 80cm.
GAVIN RAIN
Gavin Rain (b. 1971) lives and works in Cape Town.
He has painted since childhood and started with pointillism in 2003.
Influences include Seurat, the Russian Avant garde art of the 1900’s and many architects. He originally intended to study architecture in the hope of combining his two interests – art and mathematics – but ended up obtaining a degree in Neuropsychology at the University of Cape Town before studying art the Ruth Prowse School of Art.
In 2011 Rain participated in the 54th Venice Biennale at the Republic of Costa Rica pavilion with a portrait of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and again in 2013 at the Republic of Bangladesh pavilion with a work entitled ‘Lena’.
Rain’s objective is to allow the viewer to perceive the convergence of two opposing pictorial styles: the abstractness of the colourful concentric circles that thicken into dense dots in relief, and the figurative aspect of the image that is defined by the sum of these same dots as the viewer takes a few steps back. It is in this backing-off that the artist’s intended message lies: in order to acquire awareness of something that is concealed yet right in front of your eyes, or hidden in plain sight, you must distance yourself by moving backwards. We should view the big picture, the whole, without being too concerned about isolated events or individual points of view. As Gestalt psychology sustains, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 Solo exhibition, WORLDART, Cape Town
2018 Iconic Dots, SimonBart Gallery, Porto Cervo, Sardinia
2016 Icons, Laura Rathe Fine Art, Houston
2015 Nascosto in prospettiva, Cerruti Arte, Genova
2014 From A Distance, Leslie Smith Gallery, Amsterdam
2013 Gavin Rain Supernatural. Part 1, Bugno Art Gallery, Venice
2009 Cityscapes, WORLDART, Cape Town
2007 Russian brides, WORLDART, Johannesburg
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2014 Contini Art UK, London
2014 Unix Gallery, New York
2014 Worldart, Cape Town
2014 Galerie Alfredo Ginocchio, Mexico City
2013 Automne Art Gallery, Brussels
2013 Supernaturalism, Bangladesh Pavilion for the Venice Biennale, Venice
2013 Galerie Bartoux, Antibes
2013 Leslie Smith Gallery, Amsterdam
2013 Metamorfosi, Palazzo Firenze, Rome
2011 Costa Rica Pavilion for the Venice Biennale, VenicE
2011 Per Capita, Tuscany
2008 African Wave exhibition, Treviso
RECENT ART FAIRS
2019 Cape Town Art fair with WORLDART
2017 Cape Town Art Fair with WORLDART
2016 Art New York with Smith Davidson Gallery, New York
2015 Armory Show with Leslie Smith Gallery, New York
2014 Art Miami with Leslie Smith Gallery and Galeria Alfredo Ginocchio, Miami
2014 Art Silicon Valley with Leslie Smith Gallery, San Francisco
2014 TEFAF with Leslie Smith Gallery, Maastricht
2014 Art Los Angeles with Leslie Smith Gallery, L.A.
2013 Cape Town Art Fair with WORLDART, Cape Town
2013 Miami Art Fair with Leslie Smith Gallery, Miami