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Paul du Toit debuts mixed works at first New York solo show PlanetPaul

KÓAN JEFF BAYSA will curate 'PlanetPaul', a solo exhibition of recent work by Paul du Toit at 49 Greene Street, SoHo, New York City, from the 20th until the 30th April 2004.

'PlanetPaul' is peopled with the creations and moods of Paul du Toit's mind. His fascination with the human form is worked and reworked in the canvas pieces, which glow with a childlike exuberance, while simultaneously reflecting a 'carnival grotesquerie'. Closer examination reveals an awareness of facial expression and sense of characterization far beyond the scope of any na•ve vision. "Because I live in my head most of the time, I created this space or planet to which I can return and fill with images. It feels like I have started one work of art and just keep adding to it". The body of work comprises 40 paintings of oil, impasto paint and mixed media on canvas, and 16 bronze sculptures.

Twenty-five portraits of the earlier inhabitants of Paul's Planet were shown in a solo exhibition in Paris in 1998. Since then his composition has broadened to include again the full humanlike form, while maintaining the obsessive emphasis on the line. In his more recent work, the lines defining the form have a greater independence, as du Toit allows them their own identity, rather than using them as boundaries for blocks of color. His later works have become more abstract, with the impasto work more deeply textured, as du Toit allows the grimaces and pain of his Planetpeople to be seen without the camouflage of the riotous colors he used before. The inhabitants of PlanetPaul have developed bodies in some instances; they are maturing as he is. Their increasingly complex social relationships are explored in some of the recent work, which moves away from the sometimes claustrophobic compositions of the single form caged in a portrait.

His 2003 works on paper are more ethereal than the oils exhibited here; reduced solely to ink and crayon lines on paper with a faint acrylic wash. Many of the forms lack arms Đ an interesting result from an ambidextrous process whereby du Toit uses long sticks to apply the line he wants, separating himself as far as possible from the work.

His sculptures reflect a similar progression, where the earlier works in bronze and wood are more representational, holding rigid human forms in static poses. These were first exhibited together with the oils in 2001, in Zeist, Holland and Cape Town, South Africa. The Zanzibar Series, (first seen in a sellout solo Johannesburg show in 2002), employs a softer line, inspired by the wind-filled sails and rigging of the fishermenŐs primitive dhows. These more abstract human forms deviate from du Toit's original premise that his paintings serve as blueprints for his sculptures.

Paul du Toit participated in the Florence Biennale of Contemporary Art of 2001, where he received a Medal Award for outstanding sculptural work. He was shortlisted for the South Africa DaimlerChrysler Sculpture Award of 2002.

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