April 07, 2025 - May 30, 2025
49 Mostert Road, Melkbosstrand 7441, South Africa
ESCAP3 Gallery is delighted to present the Group Exhibition: I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, 07 April - 30 May 2025.
Participating Artists Include: Bernard Brand, Oscar Henning, Daniël Hugo, Riaan Coetzee & Esmarié du Plooy (South Africa).
Featuring a collection of predominantly sculptural works, this group exhibition collectively negotiates the delicate relationships that exist between that of promise and expectation, faith and sacrifice, the inherited and that of legacy. Most of the works depict either religious iconography or indigenous flora which persevere if not indeed thrive despite or perhaps in spite of their adverse environments.
Drawing inspiration from the dynamic semi-desert region of the Karoo, where permanence and transience coincide, the exhibition perpetuates a sense of urgency and agency, mimicking this arid and often unforgiving environment. It further questions the nature of Eden, the notion of a promised paradise, what we inherit and what we choose to leave behind.
In this context, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden reflects on the Russian proverb: “Pray to God, but row to shore” which encourages an equilibrium between faith and action, suggesting further that relying solely on either prayer or solely on one's own efforts are insufficient. As with any relationship, the responsibility of give and take are best shared.