Rentia Retief (1992- )

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Bio

Rentia graduated with a BA in Fine Arts in 2014 and an Honours in Illustration in 2016, both at the University of Stellenbosch. She is currently working as a fine art professional and illustrator.

Directing her focus to landscapes, these scenic renderings are derived from places visited or places that Rentia is well familiar with. However, the setting of the landscape is not the main theme of the work, rather, Rentia focuses on the stillness of the space and what she refers to as; 'quiet spaces'. 'Quiet spaces' are places where the emotional landscape and physical landscape meet each other. By reducing the portrayal of the landscape in loose, gestural brush strokes, Rentia aims to instill the viewer with a sense of loss over a place that once was - but perhaps never was in the first place.

Being driven by feeling with little to no planning on where the painting might go, the end result emerges from a process of layering and working on both sides of the canvas. This act of the reverse of the canvas informing the front references the artist's reliance on memory and the subconscious, for these landscapes to take shape. "My approach to landscape art can most accurately be described as the Portuguese concept of 'Saudade'. Saudade is a melancholic feeling of longing or loving something that you never had in the first place. I have a longing for the stillness echoed in my work."

Exhibitions

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2022
‘Terugblik’, MOK Gallery, Muratie Wine Estate, Stellenbosch, South Africa
‘Reflection’, Kanonkop Wine Estate, Stellenbosch, South Africa

2019
‘Die Berg is Geduldig (The Mountain is Patient)’, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa

2017
‘Scenes of Remembering’, Mullers Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2016
‘Sondebok’, MOK Gallery, Muratie Wine Estate, Stellenbosch, South Africa

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023
'We Are Africa', DHL Stadium, Cape Town, South Africa
'African Galleries Now x Artsy', EBONY/CURATED, Online Presentation
Investec cape Town Art Fair, EBONY/CURATED, South Africa
‘Summer Show’, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa

2022
‘Palimpsest’, AVA Gallery and Remembrance Gallery, The Leeuwenhof Slave Quarters, Cape Town, South Africa
‘Summer Trio’, 131 A Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2021
‘The Long View’, solo presentation alongside Larita Engelbrecht, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa
‘Genius Loci’, State Of The Art Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
‘Light’ Glen Carlou Gallery, Stellenbosch, South Africa
‘Bud’, RK Contemporary Gallery, Reibeek Kasteel, South Africa

2020
‘Country’, MOK Gallery, Muratie Wine Estate, Stellenbosch, South Africa
‘Home Is Where The Art Is’, Zeitz Mocaa Museum, Cape Town, South Africa

2019
‘Land and Sea’, Art on Avenues, Somerset West, South Africa
‘Art and Equine’, Imibala Gallery, Somerset West, South Africa

2018
Knysna Fine Arts, Knysna, South Africa
‘Wild’, Imibala Gallery, Somerset West, South Africa
‘Black and White’, Dyman Gallery, Stellenbosch, South Africa

2017
‘Landscape’, with Johan Coetzee, MOK Gallery, Muratie Wine Estate, Stellenbosch, South Africa

2016
‘August Exhibition’, EBONY/CURATED, Franschhoek, South Africa
‘Summer Show’, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa

2015
‘Emerge’, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa
‘Landscape’, EBONY/CURATED, Franschhoek, South Africa
‘Tasseography’, Equus Gallery, Stellenbsoch, South Africa
‘Composition Emporium’, Collaborative Performance, Rupert Museum, Stellenbosch, South Africa
‘30’ x 40’’, ArtB Gallery, Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa

2014
‘Gradex’, Stellenbosch Visual Arts Department, Stellenbosch, South Africa

Works by Rentia Retief (1992- )

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