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ART EXHIBIT
"On the Surface" by Mervyn Gers
Venue: Rust en Vrede Gallery, 10 Wellington Rd, Durbanville.
Tel: (021) 976 4691.
Gallery Hours: Mon - Fri: 9:00am to 5:00pm, Sat: 9:00am to 1:00pm
Duration: 5 - 28 May 2009
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Mervyn Gers grew up in Danielskuil, a very small village
bordering Die Groen Kalahari in the Northern Cape. Although interested,
Mervyn didn’t have the chance to study art as the small local school
didn’t teach it. But, from as long as he can remember, he has loved the
beauty of the landscapes, textures and colours that belong only to the
province of his birth.
He went to Bloemfontein Varsity to study Communications and,
he says, the nearest he came to art classes was as a model for art
students in order to pay for his studies. He did History of art for a
while, but decided that he was far more interested in the practical rather
than the theory.
“I played with clay for the first time in 1983 and really
loved it” said Mervyn. “But building a career got in the way.” Mervyn
worked in the communications industry going from PR to marketing. He was
offered a position as Programme Manager for Radio Kontrei and he jumped at
it. After 7 years the station was privatized and Mervyn became Station
Director, followed by Marketing Director.
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Mervyn is the man who changed Radio Kontrei into KFM, a
really great success story. KFM is now the biggest and most popular
station in the Western Province. He eventually started pottery in the late
80’s doing weekly classes at Tom van Hove for two to three years. “I could
not continue as I could only work once or twice a week for 3 hours after
work. It just took too long to finish one object and I lost interest. “
Mervyn stopped “formal work” at the beginning of 2001 and
began buying, renovating and selling houses. He built studios attached to
these houses but, because the end product was always good, people kept
making him offers that he could not refuse! It seemed third time lucky as,
when the third house was completed, he stayed. He eventually started
pottery full time in 2006.
“I am fascinated with ceramics from the Far East, especially
Japan, Korea and China. Most of the work done is influenced by Japanese
designs and glazes. I especially love the Hagi, Shino and Celadon glazes.”
Mervyn spent two years perfecting his own glazes until he
found a ‘look’ he was happy with. ‘Each piece has 20 layers of glaze and
is fired a minimum of 5 times. In fact, my use of very thick glazes almost
changes the work from clay into glass’ said Gers. And that is what makes
his pieces so unique. The work he is exhibiting is mostly decorative.
Mervyn is now beginning to add colour glazes to his artworks
as most of his current pieces are done using black, grey, white and cream.
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