Ruan Hoffmann & Theresa-Anne Mackintosh at the Franchise Gallery, 44 Stanley, Johannesburg
This is a tight show and a real lesson in creating an enveloping space for your work – I’ve never seen Franchise like this before…. The two creators have quirky styles and work hard to “brand” their art in ways absolutely necessary in today’s world.
Ruan Hoffman’s plates and vases are beautifully made, have interesting designs, and would go nicely in my home. Admittedly, I’ve heard he’s a young ‘un – and I’ve never seen his name before this show – so I think he might have priced them a bit high for now. Still, given the area, and the style he makes them in, it just might be working (didn’t ask).
Mackintosh, on the other hand, has work with an aesthetic somewhere between Japanime and Barney, but with her own little design-y twist around questions of beauty and distinction. It’s fun, cute, trendy and easy to live with – more than 2/3rds of her “babies” (pictured) have already sold since the show’s opening on Friday (but she should give me one for free, just because). I remember meeting Theresa-Anne ages ago at GordArt, and her name has been thrown around a lot since then – it’s nice to see how hard she’s been working, the versatility of her media.
Theresa-Anne Mackintosh’s site
