Bruce Murray Arnott: Into the Megatext

Bruce Murray Arnott: Into the Megatext will open on 22 April 2023. It provides the first comprehensive overview of Arnott’s life and work. His influence as an artist, scholar, designer, curator, and educator runs deep; intuited through the work of many of South Africa’s leading contemporary scholars and practitioners in the visual arts. Through an intrinsic understanding of the human condition, and the balancing of the intellect with creative endeavour, Arnott bridges continents, space, and time. This is reflected in the monumental scope of references embedded in his work, and in his view that ‘All sculptures are “points of entry” into the great sculptural megatext.’ Similarly inspired by history, mythology, psychology, philosophy, education, ecology, and sustainable design, this exhibition serves as one such point of entry. It includes over sixty sculptures and drawings, produced over a fifty-six year period, between 1962 and 2018, as well as an array of archival documents related to his practice, in particular his large public commissions.