• A major figure of urban art, the South African artist FAITH XLVII exhibits forty works in a show called Clair-Obscur (Chiaroscuro) ー drawings, photographs, textual works and sculptures. Previously presented during the Rencontres urbaines of the Nancy Museum of Fine Arts, this exhibition invites the viewer to reflect on the notions of chiaroscuro, of contrast, and on our relationship to light and shadows.
  • The artist delves into themes that resonate with contemporary philosophical concerns ー the rising tide of violence, ecological catastrophes, and...
    FAITH XLVII, A Study of Light and Shadow IV, 2022

    The artist delves into themes that resonate with contemporary philosophical concerns ー the rising tide of violence, ecological catastrophes, and the pervasive sense of anxiety in the face of an uncertain future. Yet, FAITH XLVII steadfastly avoids succumbing to despair, encouraging viewers instead to embrace nature and the cosmos, prompting a reevaluation of our perception of the world. Her drawings of strong roots or her sceneries of snow-covered mountains beckon the viewers to transcend their weariness through contemplation and marvel.

     
  • Mirroring our contradictions, her installations encourage us to turn our inner gaze towards the animality within us. It is only by listening to the non-human in us, by letting nature express itself in culture, that we can reinvent the world, the artist suggests.
  • FAITH XLVII’s solo show Clair-Obscur is a search for the dualities within us and in our world. The artist sees...
    FAITH XLVII, A Study of Light and Shadow IV, 2021.
    FAITH XLVII’s solo show Clair-Obscur is a search for the dualities within us and in our world. The artist sees her work as “an investigation of light and shadow, of nature, our behaviours, the conscious and the subconscious, connection and dissonance, the outside world and the inside world, the phases of the moon from fullness to absence, creativity and receptivity, sound and silence. An interdependence of the two.”
  • FAITH XLVII, CHAOS THEORY XXI, 2022
  • “Through her works, FAITH XLVII leads a spiritual search and offers the visitors to follow her on the winding path to serenity. Light and shadow are intertwined in her art and the chiaroscuro explored by the artist is ambivalent.
    Deeply meditative, it invites us to pause.”
    ー Susana Gállego Cuesta

  • ART IN THE PUBLIC SPACE
  • FAITH XLVII, The Psychic Power of Animals, Denver, USA, 2023 © courtesy Danysz (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
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    FAITH XLVII, The Psychic Power of Animals, Denver, USA, 2023 © courtesy Danysz

  • Considered a pioneer of graffiti, the self-taught FAITH XLVII began to make art in 1997 at the age of 16...
    The artist in front of her work © Matthew A. Eller, courtesy Danysz

    Considered a pioneer of graffiti, the self-taught FAITH XLVII began to make art in 1997 at the age of 16 in her home country of South Africa, at a time when women were very rare in the field.  

    She initially worked mainly on canvas, but she never quite left the urban art world. She created works in the outdoor space offered by the street, on road signs, doors or by expressing herself directly on walls. She favours abandoned places and makes a name for herself with the diversity of techniques in her repertoire: spray paint, ink, graphite, oil paint or collage...
    Early on, FAITH XLVII demonstrated a taste for experimentation that she went on to develop from 2006 onwards: she started using different media and techniques to build up a multidisciplinary practice. Starting out as a muralist, she became a video artist, sculptor, weaver and draughtswoman. FAITH XLVII’s work now spans across many media and formats, from the monumental to the most intimate.

    FAITH XLVII has done murals in many countries in Europe but also in Northern America and in Africa, namely in her native country of South Africa. She has also exhibited works in cultural institutions such as the museums of Fine Arts of Nancy and Calais, France or the Brooklyn Museum, USA. Clair-Obscur is her first show at Danysz Gallery Paris, after having been exhibited in London in 2020. She lives and works in Los Angeles.

     
  • “FAITH XLVII’s work questions inner duality and the ambivalence of the world. Shadows intertwined with light, her work is highly inspired by Buddhism, connected to nature, but also haunted by the ghost of post-traumatic stress due to her South African origins. Through her creations, the exploration of the notion of consciousness makes us go through the worst as well as the best of the human experience.”
    ー Amelie Adamo
  • FAITH XLVII, A Study of Light and Shadow IV, 2022