ART EXHIBIT

"House Ink" by Jonathan Munnik

Venue: UCA Gallery, 46 Lower Main Rd, Observatory. Tel: (021) 447 4132.
Gallery Hours: Mon - Fri: 10:00am - 5:00pm; Sat: 9:00am - 1:00pm
Duration: 21 Oct - 13 Nov 2009

House Inc looks into Munnik’s quirkily invented voyeuristic graphic worlds and their incorporation into 3D installation.

Munnik has developed his own original trademark style of pop graphic-novelesque works onto vinyl or Perspex. Munnik digitally illustrates his prints onto digital tablet – pushing him ahead of the game in art technologies.

He deliberately works with an idiosyncratic, lighthearted thoughtfulness and attitude, initiating escapes into non-seriousness. Munnik invents scenario’s that display a tongue-in-cheek look at our normally mundane existence whilst simultaneously leaving a certain trace of sinister ambiguity.

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The works reflect a certain point in time for the artist where he illustrates ventures into private spaces. Munnik’s works flaunt his fascination with arbitrary and bright colours – in his worlds bright objects and characters are bounced off muted-coloured backgrounds. By doing so Munnik illustrates how a space becomes reinterpreted through the mind and experience of the character that occupies that space.

Munnik cites his main inspiration as being the legendary Stan Lee (creator of Spiderman comic-books and co-creator of many Marvel releases) and House Inc. certainly reflects that original flat comic-book style – Munnik’s stamp-style. In Munnik’s work the narrative is implied by his choice of subject and spatial relations to string his own personal thread of association and humor - offering a voyeuristic perspective of his simulated world for the viewer to interpret independently.

House Inc. personifies a distinct pop-flavour - although Munnik steers away from mass production, creating once-offs. By doing so he plays into the commercial game of the high art world – where exclusivity sells.

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