BRENDON EDWARDS

(b. 1970 Johannesburg, South Africa)

BIOGRAPHY

Brendon Edwards was born in Johannesburg in 1970 and spent his formative years in Zimbabwe. He later moved back to South Africa where he was educated at Michaelhouse in the Natal Midlands.

After matriculating, Edwards went on to study Philosophy and Logic, and The Philosophy of Aesthetics at university. To this day, his work draws from this knowledge, visually articulating a continuation along these lines and a conflation of later influences. An overriding aim of his work is to take complicated subjects (both visible and invisible) and represent them as a simple aesthetic form.

As an abstract artist, Edwards is reluctant to reduce, explain or justify his work in absolute terms. The artist recognises that the world is devoid of meaning, and that any meaning individuals attach to a ‘thing’, experience and/or idea, is subjective. Consequently, any absolutes he may propound might limit or exaggerate his work and do an injustice to it or the imagination/meaning of the viewer. There is a corollary in abstraction as within our universe; it leaves the unexplained- unexplained. Notwithstanding, discussed below are some thoughts and influences of his work.

Philosophy and Forms

The early Greek philosophers (notably, Pythagoras) and subsequent philosophers such as Hegel, Joseph Margoilis, Richard Rorty, Daniel Dennet, Isaiah Berlin, Stephen Hawkins and Nietzsche’s (Theory of Eternal Recurrence) have all had a critical influence on Edwards work. The works of Pythagoras and Phidias (a Greek sculptor and mathematician whom Phi is named after), were arguably the first to work with the Golden Ratio. Later Luca Pacioli (in collaboration with Da Vinci) wrote The Divine Proportion. It is from here that the artist’s fascination of and with the golden section, spheres, circles and arcs are influenced.

Sound as a Form

Pythagoras further explored the mathematical and spatial relationships found in music. The octaves in music can be represented visibly by the space between objects and concomitantly the dark and light between those intervals in a sculpture. Edwards purports that the silence between musical notes is of critical importance, as are the spaces between objects in sculpture. Space and voids are thus crucial in his work as this creates a contrasting composition of serenity and tension. In addition to this, many of the images found in Cymasonic Theory and Quantum Theory have also influenced the geometric forms of his work.

Circles, Spheres and Arcs

Spheres, Circles and Arcs are ubiquitous in human history (in both primitive and modern man) and in everyday experience (both emotively and intellectually). The very instruments with which we perceive our physical world (our eyes) are circular as are the images - the moon, the sun, the planets, the stars and the many revolutions of time, seasons, and life itself. Our intuitive language is spoken within a circular reference. Furthermore, the shape of the circle is known to represent infinity, completeness, inclusivity, wholeness, unity and perfection. It is furthermore the symbol for both male and female. Accordingly, Leonardo da Vinci and Dr. Carl Jung's viewed the circle as a geometric archetype of the psyche; explaining the relationship and balance between psyche and body. In art, the circle when depicted as a symbol, draws the viewer into a work and includes the viewer in the experience. For Edwards, circles, spheres and arcs are salient and intuitive shapes within any sculptural form.

Wabi and Poetry

Wabi is both an aesthetic and way of life. It is not a religion, but rather celebrates the beauty of imperfection and realises the transience of all things. “It is timeless, without a past, present or future… it is emptiness, silence and freedom. It’s a refined simplicity and purity”. This philosophy, as well as poetry have influenced the material (such as the rusting of steel or the patina of copper) and simplistic nature with which Edwards creates his forms. Leonard Cohen said “there is a crack in everything and that’s how the light gets in” and before him Hemingway said “we are all broken and that’s how the light gets in”. The artist acknowledges, like Wabi and the aforementioned poets, that there is something beautiful that time does to us, our buildings, and all our imperfections; if we surrender ourselves to it. For Edwards, we need to celebrate the imperfection, fragility and transience of our lives.

WORK

For Brendon Edwards, art is an investigation not only into the field of aesthetics, but also philosophy, geometry, mathematics, music, dance, language and light. His sculptures are representative of both rational and emotive ideas; due to our inability to step out of mind and language and thus pushes the boundaries of art, meaning and parameters of thought.

Since working with large scale steel, Edwards has completed numerous large scale installations throughout South Africa in public, corporate and private spaces. More recently, however, the artist has started working with and creating smaller scale steel works.

CV

2012

Azure Art and Fashion Exhibition

2013

Exhibition, Murlato Cape Town

Exhibit, ISart, Franschoek

Private Residence, Hamburg

2014

Southern Guild, Heavy Metal Exhibition

Private Residence, Constantia, Cape Town

Private Residence, Zimbali, North Coast

Private Residence, Simbithi Eco Estate, North Coast

Exhibit, Wabi Gallery, The Green, Simbithi Office Park

2015

Private Residence, Zimbali, North Coast

Private Residence. Simbithi Eco Estate, North Coast

Public Exhibit, Quarters, Ballito, North Coast

Private Residence, Constantia, Cape Town

Private Residence, Simbithi Eco Estate, North Coast

Private Residence, Simbithi Eco Estate, North Coast

Exhibition, Imbizo Art Gallery, Ballito

2016

Private Residence, Simbithi, North Coast

Exhibition, Imbizo Art Gallery, Ballito

Private Residence, Kloof

Exhibit, Circa, Everard Read, JHB

Private residence, Zinkwasi, North Coast

2017

Exhibition, Imbizo Art Gallery, Ballito

Exhibit, Imbizo Art Gallery, The Pearls, Umhlanga

Private Residence, Morningside, Durban

Exhibit, Everard Read Gallery, JHB

Exhibit, World Economic Forum, Durban

Exhibit SPECTRUM, CIRCA, Everard Read Gallery, JHB