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The Colour of LightAn exhibition of prints and watercolour paintings
The University of Cape Town’s Irma Stern Museum is delighted
to present Pamela Silver’s ‘The Colour of Light’. Pamela, born in
Johannesburg and a graduate of the University of Cape Town, is an
internationally acclaimed artist. She has exhibited in museums and
galleries throughout the world. Her artworks are in the collections
of Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Ben Uri Museum of Art,
London; Tama Art Museum, Tokyo; Israel Museum; Tel Aviv Museum
of Art; and National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington.
In her own words, Pamela is ‘an intuitive artist painting my dreams
and inner world’. She ‘is inspired by nature and the colourful
Jerusalem garden which surrounds our house and my studio.’ She
adds, ‘My travels and the countries I have visited have inspired me
too.’ Her paintings, ‘always start in nature, but transcend to different
worlds, different levels of consciousness, memories, feelings, hopes,
dreams, moments in time that keep returning.’
The exhibition features watercolours, etchings and monotypes
spanning memories of more than fifty years: from her early childhood
in Zimbabwe to her latest travels to Kolkata, Lithuania (home of
her grandmother who sailed to Cape Town in the late 1880s) and
“My paintings always begin in nature, but rise to other worlds, worlds on various levels of consciousness, memories, hopes , dreams, moments in time, that return repeatedly”
(Pamela Silver, 1994)
Field Flowers from near Vilnius | 2017 | watercolour | 26x36
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Provence in France. The monotypes inspired by Zimbabwean hills,
bushveld and Bushmen Rock Art, are placed in the small middle
room of the exhibition. The space, for Pamela is a sanctuary ‘like a
little cave’. The titles – ‘Carvings in Motobo Hills’ and ‘Drawings in
Bushmen Caves’– crystallize the African memories.
Two larger rooms adjoin the ‘cave’. One room is filled with flower
paintings – many from her personal collection have not been
exhibited before. Series of large, vivid abstract watercolours fill the
other room. Gideon Ofrat, veteran art historian, when he viewed her
paintings in her Jerusalem exhibition, exclaimed ‘I’m astounded [by]
this burst of colourist joie de vivre and emanation of happiness.’*
Almost every aspect of her work – from the smallest details such
as spots of colour to the larger rhythms of brush strokes, patterns,
changing colours and symbols – is marshalled to the same end:
the surfacing of joy, memories, dreams and moments of time. We
delight in her wide-ranging stylistic inflections as in the aquatints
and in her flower paintings.
Flowers for Pamela, ‘have always been part of my creativity from a
very early age … they gave me my sense of colour.’
The kaleidoscope of flower paintings – garden flowers, bright
meadow flowers, bouquets – are tied together by sensuous colour,
shapes, textures and light. Colour and light create and enhance the
joyous ambience of the exhibition. Pamela Silver has the rare ability
to ‘express such an abundance of happiness.’*
Susan Buchanan
Acknowledgement: I would like to thank Pamela Silver for so generously
sharing ‘The Colour of Light’ with me.
*From the monograph by Gideon Ofrat “In the Shade of the Jacaranda”
Kolkata Flower Market | 2017 | sugar lift aquatint | 50x50
98
Early Morning Bouquet | 1995 | watercolour | 53.3x56Purple Silk Chiffon | 2017 | sugar lift aquatint | 50x50
<< Memories of Kolkata | 2017 | watercolour | 56x76
1312
A Dance in the Hills, Jerusalem | 2016 | watercolour | 56.5x77Gladioli and Spring Flowers | 2000 | watercolour | 56x76
Wild Flowers from the Hills nearby, Motza | 2016 | watercolour | 23x31 <<
1716
A Summer Day, Vilnius | 2017 | watercolour | 76x56Flowers from Fields near where my Granny Lived, Vilnius | 2017 | watercolour | 36x26
House Built in the Jacaranda Tree | 2017 | watercolour | 56x76 <<
1918
Wood Carvings in the Motobo Hills | 2013 | monotype | 57x78Liesbeek Park Fields | 2017 | watercolour | 56x76
20 21
Primrose Hill as the Sun Goes Down | 2016 | watercolour | 26x36Sunshine on Primrose Hill | 2016 | watercolour | 26x36
2322
A Celebration of Life | 2017 | watercolour | 56x76Jerusalem Hills at Sunset | 2016 | watercolour | 26x36
2726
Biographical Notes
1948 Pamela Segal was born in Johannesburg, South Africa
1952 Moved with her family to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
1973 Immigrated to Israel
1985 Member of the Israel Association of Painters and Sculptors
Lives and works in Jerusalem
Education
1965-69 BA in History and African languages, University of Cape Town
1971 Post-graduate certificate of education, Goldsmith's College, University of London
1982-83 Studied at the Art Students' League, New York
Selected Solo Exhibitions
1984 "Faces from New York," Alon Gallery, Jerusalem
1988 The Artists' House, Jerusalem
Ben Uri, The London Jewish Museum of Art
1989 "Watercolors," Mabat Gallery, Tel Aviv (two-person exhibition)
1992 "Childhood Memories," Nora Art Gallery, Jerusalem
1993 "The Sea," Jerusalem Theatre Gallery, Jerusalem
1995 "A Journey Home to Zimbabwe," Mabat Gallery, Tel Aviv (cat.)
"A Journey Home to Zimbabwe," The National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare; the National Gallery in Bulawayo
1997 "Falling from the Stars," The Artists' House, Jerusalem
1998 "In Every Color there is Light," Municipal Gallery, Jerusalem Drawings in Bushmen Caves | 2013 | monotype | 57x75
A Face I Remember | 2017 | watercolour | 56x76 <<
2928
1999 "Magic Earth," Leighton House Museum, London
"A Watercolor Diary," The Art Gallery, Beit Gabriel on the Kinneret, Israel
2000 "A Watercolor Diary," Saka Gallery, Tokyo
2002 "Magical Dreams" Galleri Sct. Gertrud, Copenhagen
2003 "Images Fleeting Past," The Khan Museum, Ashkelon, Israel (cat.)
2004 "Circles in the Sand," The Artists' House, Jerusalem
"Circles in the Sand," Galerie am Park, Vienna
"Circles of My Soul," Museu Da Água da EPAL, Lisbon
2006 "Secret Symbols," Nora Art Gallery, Jerusalem (cat.)
2008 "Sensing the Other," The Jerusalem Art Center, Jerusalem (cat.)
2009 "Cape Town, How I Love You and All Your Secrets," Spier, Stellenbosch
"A Summer Evening," Galleri Sulegaarden, Assens, Denmark (cat.)
2012 "I See You," The Art House Gallery, Mevasseret, Jerusalem (cat.)
2013 “The Horizon is Here” The Zaritsky Artists’ House Tel Aviv (cat.)
Selected Group Exhibitions
1987-89 "National Society," Smith's Gallery, Covent Garden, London
1989/91 Grand prix international d'arts plastiques, Nice, France
"Twelve Jerusalem Artists," Alexandra Palace, London
1996 "Jerusalem-Moscow," Central Exhibition Hall, Moscow
1997 "Osaka Print Triennial," International Art Competition, Osaka
"Dialogue," International Exhibition, Manege, St. Petersburg
1998 Tokyo International Mini-Print Triennial, Tama Art University Museum
"50 Years to Israel," Galeria d'Art Zero, Barcelona
"Watercolors," Galleri Sulegaarden, Assens, Denmark
2001 "Riimfaxe," Gallery M, Berlin
"Tokyo International Mini-Print Triennial," Tama Art University Museum
2002 "Jerusalem Lions," street exhibition, Jerusalem
2003 "Israeli Contemporary," Robert Sandelson Gallery, London
"Seven Artists in One Season," Mabat Gallery, Tel Aviv
2004 "Riimfaxe," The Round Tower, Copenhagen
2005 "2nd Beijing International Art Biennale," Beijing
"2nd Triennial of Contemporary Art," Mauritius
2006 "Awakening," Wilfrid Israel Museum, Kibbutz Hazorea, Israel
2007 "Traces III: The 3rd Biennale for Drawing in Israel," The Artists' House, Jerusalem
"The 7th Watercolor Biennial," Gallery Savremena, Serbia
2008 "Olympic Fine Arts Exhibition," China International Exhibition Centre, Beijing, Beijing Working People's Cultural Palace
"Jerusalem, Surface Fractures," The Artists' House, Jerusalem
2010 "Traces IV: the 4th Biennale for Drawing in Israel," The Artists' House, Jerusalem
2014 “The 1st International Art Biennale,” Qingdao, China (cat.)
2015 "The Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition," London (cat.)
2015 "The Original Print Show" curated by Norman Ackroyd CBE RA, Zillah Bell Gallery, Thirsk UK
"The Masters- Etching", Royal Society of Painters and Printmakers, Bankside Gallery, London (cat.)
2016 "Green Earth", Kalakshatra Museum Gallery,Kalakshatra, Guwahati, India (cat.)
“17th Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh” National Art Gallery Dhaka (cat.)
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Collections
National Museum of Women in the Arts Washington, DC
Tel Aviv Museum of Art
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Museu Da Água da Epal, Lisbon
Tama Art University Museum, Tokyo
National Gallery in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum, Vilnius
National Art Gallery, Dhaka
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Ben Uri, The London Jewish Museum of Art
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Summer in Motza | 2016 | watercolour | 23x31
Acknowledgments: I want to thank Christopher Peter for his friendship and support and everyone at the Irma Stern Museum, especially Mary Van Blommestein. I also want to thank
Susan Buchanan, for writing so insightfully about my art. Pamela Silver, February 2018
Measurements are given in centimeters, height x width
Catalogue Design: Dafna Graif | Photography: Avi Amsalem | Printing: A.R Printing Ltd.
UCT Irma Stern Museum21, Cecil Road, Rosebank, Cape Town Tel: 27-21-6855686
Tuesday – Friday 10.00 – 17.00, Saturday 10.00 – 2.00www.irmasternmuseum.org.za
Whatsapp: +972507383450 | www.pamelasilver.com
Bedarieux, Provence | 2016 | watercolour | 23x31
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