//Artist Bio

Alex Emsley (b. 1973) lives and works in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

A craftsman who paints

Alex’s work falls predominantly within the still life genre, and he focusses on floral compositions. His petalled subjects are not flawless, shopping-mall blooms, but gnarled and blemished specimens — flowers that bare scars. From a distance, his paintings resemble aesthetically pleasing bouquets, but on closer inspection they are depictions of the broken and the damaged. Meticulous interpretations of the imperfect.

Alex is fascinated by the technical aspects of painting, and immerses himself in the obscure techniques that painters have used for centuries to create convincing illusions with paint. Due to this fixation on the technical, he has in the past been labelled as a craftsman, rather than as an artist. He accepts this label without objection, and if anything regards it as a badge of honour.

While Alex’s compositions are usually simple arrangements, his technique ensures that each painting takes many months to complete. His preferred subjects are ephemeral flora that wither within hours, so painting from life is not an option. For this reason, each painting is based on approximately one- hundred reference photographs — every centimetre of a fleeting composition is recorded photographically before the painting process commences. These reference photos serve as a “sketchbook” from which the painting is created. Alex’s output is limited to a few paintings per year, and each work is usually rendered in oil, applied to wooden panels primed with gesso.

// Exhibitions

2019 - Barnard Collective - Barnard Gallery, Cape Town
Cape Town Art Fair - Barnard Gallery, Cape Town
2018 - AKAA Art Fair - Barnard Gallery, Paris
Cape Town Art Fair - Barnard Gallery, Cape Town
2017 - Barnard Collective - Barnard Gallery, Cape Town Joburg Art Fair (Solo Presentation) - Barnard Gallery, Johannesburg. Cape Town Art Fair - Barnard Gallery, Cape Town
2016 - “Masterpiece” - Johans Borman Gallery, Cape Town
2015 - "Anyway, the Wind Blows" - Brundyn+ Gallery, Cape Town
2014 - "Ceci n’est pas une Summer Show" - Brundyn+ Gallery, Cape Town “Still” - Johans Borman Gallery, Cape Town
“Benetton Small Canvas Project” Ca’ dei Carraresi, Treviso
“Benetton Small Canvas Project” Museo Bilotti, Rome
2013 - "Material Representation" - Brundyn+ Gallery, Cape Town
2012 - “The Seeing Eye” – Brundyn+ Gallery, Cape Town
2011 - “Summer Show” – iArt Gallery. Cape Town, Cape Town
Joburg Art Fair – Brundyn+ Gallery, Johannesburg
2010 - Joburg Art Fair – iArt Gallery, Johannesburg
“Mechanics and Mystery of Perception” – iArt Gallery, Cape Town “Novus” – iArt Gallery, Cape Town
2009 - “Verf” – Blank Projects, Cape Town
“Summer in the City” – iArt Gallery, Cape Town
2008 - “Muse 08” Portrait Exhibition – iArt Gallery, Cape Town