The
ABSA L’Atelier is South Africa’s most prestigious art competition
and is held annually for artists between ages 21 to 35. Four
prizes will be made available: First prize, two merit award prizes and
the Gerard Sekoto Award for the most promising artist. One of the
merit awards is done in cooperation with the Sylt Foundation. Jacob van Schalkwyk, merit
winner of 2013, will sopend a two-month residency on the island of Sylt in
Northern Germany.
Van Schalkwyk was born in 1981 and studied for his BA in Historical
Studies at UNISA. He has participated in a number of exhibitions,
including the 2010 and 2011 Absa L’Atelier.
Through his documentation of the people
and landscape in his immediate environment, the artist is endeavouring
to ask questions about the effects of the passage of time on society,
through the process of layering and juxtaposition of images.
The artist, using deliberate compartmentalisation to connect
otherwise disparate images with historical influences, invites the
viewer to partner him in the search for an image for the fourth
quadrant.
As a young person in South Africa today, the artist is in a process
of realigning his knowledge of the history of the land and the realities
of contemporary life, as he experiences it, by asking questions about
change, restoration and renewal. He queries the loss and displacement
people experience on a daily basis and asks is this the "Promised Land"?
http://www.absalatelier.co.za/winners.aspxRead more about the
Sylt Foundation Residency Programme 
