Vlismas turns from comedy to canvas in his first solo exhibition
John VlismasPhoto: Independent Archives
April 4, 2009
By Candice Bailey
He made you double over with laughter, brought tears to your eyes with his jokes and has been dubbed one of SA's funniest funny men. So it's only natural for John Vlismas to be having an art exhibition, right? Not really. But it's definitely the direction this award-winning comedian is going.
Vlismas this week opened up his first solo art exhibition - Off The Reservations.
"It's about me going off my reservations as a comedian and wandering into a different bees-kraal," says Vlismas this week on the eve of the exhibition's opening.
For those of you who thought that all he could do is crack jokes, you're definitely wrong.
But he does see a link between the two.
"In comedy it's all about observations. I guess this is just another way of me showing people how I see people. People are my favourite strange animal."
The comics however do not take away from his reign as a comedian.
"The comics and the art are two entities that operate separately. I am still writing. I am busy with a one-man show As Usual that will be out in Durban and Cape Town in June. This is more something I started as a meditation. But I might start doing shows."
His medium is oil on canvas.
"I paint figures. It's distorted and very vivid or pastelly. It's not actual people. It's how I see people."
Painting is something Vlismas started three years ago as it was important for him to have something that was entirely personal.
"When you are a comedian you need an audience, but when you paint you don't need an audience. As long as you throw a dick in a joke, you're bound to get a laugh. But with painting it's different."
He started by buying some paintings by South African artists. Then it gravitated to getting a canvas and some paint and soon he started experimenting.
One day a friend of his from the Obert Gallery in Melrose Arch, Joburg, saw his work and commissioned him for a show.
"Then I started painting quite seriously."
There are 20 pieces in the collection. Most were done in the past nine months.
"I started three years ago and it's taken a heck of a lot of experiments. I am open about the fact that I am heavily influenced by Robert Hodgins and Francis Bacon.
"I spend a lot of time looking at how they get their looks and how they work and then add my own flair. It's taken me a long time to find out how I like to use paint."
Durban painter Andrew Verster has been very supportive of Vlismas's project.
What do people think about his work?
He says the reaction to his work so far has been extremist.
"People either dig it or p**s (on) it. Just like my comedy and that's how I like it. Rather hate me with a passion than approve with a luke warm nod of the head."
The exhibition is showing at the Michael Obert Gallery in High Street, Melrose Arch, until April 15.
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