A BEAST WITH TWO BACKS
Group show curated by Grace Matetoa and Keely Shinners
Main Gallery: 26.06.25 - 31.07.25
This group exhibition is grounded by a shared fascination with artist couples––couples who happen to be artists, or artists in relationship. Couples who find themselves in relationship because of a shared passion for art, couples who encourage and inspire each other to make, couples whose respective practices are marked by a sense of collaboration, consciously or unconsciously.
Some couples have chosen to exhibit work they’ve made together. Others have decided to show one work each, side by side. Some works demonstrate shared sensibilities in aesthetic or theme, while others are very different stylistically.
With this in mind, our investigation has deepened into asking how love might exist as a corporeal presence among artists who create jointly. This could be labeled as the beast—a creature untameable but necessary in a shared journey of discovery. This is what led us to name this exhibition, A Beast with Two Backs, leaning upon what Gillian Rose would call "the work," the spectral third person that manifests in any relationship—that ghostly presence that is neither entirely you nor me but us – and how that may be represented in art.
Participating artists include: Dominique Cheminais and Zander Blom; Kamyar Bineshtarigh and Alka Dass; Vusumzi Nkomo and Ndumii Mbala; Callan Grecia and Sivan Zeffertt; Gabriele Jacobs and Miró van der Vloed; Haroon Gunn-Salie and Lily van Rensburg; Guy Simpson and Wendy Fredriksson; Michael Tymbios and Kasia Stefańczyk; Mitchell Messina and Katie Thomas; Ian Grose and Emma Belsham; Kyle Morland and Nicola West; Wim Botha and Retha Erasmus.
In Partnership
This exhibition was made possible thanks to the City of Cape Town’s support.