Hunger Exhibition by Geena Wilkinson

Event Type: Art exhibition

Date and Time: 1st March- 13 April

Location: Boschendal Manor House gallery, Franschhoek

See more details below and on the website using the link.

The new exhibition ‘Hunger’ by Geena Wilkinson opens at the Boschendal Manor House gallery on the 4 of March, the perfect excuse to head up to Boschendal for some wining, dining and art viewing 🥂

Geena Wilkinson’s work utilises traditional fine-art mediums, often with food as the subject. In this exhibition, Wilkinson features a series of sculptural pieces, using a range of media; hand-cast resin, ceramic and oil on cement. Exploring ideas of domesticity, preservation, utopia and reality, here Wilkinson explores concepts of desire and beauty through the lens of hunger. Focused on the duality of hunger and satisfaction, wanting and restriction, Wilkinson uses sweets to engage with ideas of consumption and addiction. Large hand-cast resin Gummy Bears fill the space, alongside familiar Liquorice Allsorts, Fizz Pops, LOVEHEARTS, biscuits and candy. Viewers are invited to connect with personal memories around these sweets, perhaps nostalgic recollections that evoke a sense of home and contentment.

The enlargement of these sweets heightens our fantasy to touch and taste each piece, stirring a longing and desire in the viewer. Exhibited together, these works invoke a saccharine fantasy, evoking ideas of gluttony and over/consumption. Herein, Wilkinson points to our bodily hunger and questions if what we desire is truly satiable. She questions our lust over foods that cannot nourish us and only provide a perpetual longing for the next taste. Wilkinson suspends the viewer in a state of hunger, longing but never consuming. 

Entrance to the exhibition is free. Artworks are available for sale at the gallery, please enquire via gallery@boschendal.co.za for more information.