Strange, ominous and foreboding spaces and places of the conscious and unconscious imagination, mannequins, masks, dolls, the real and the unreal, presence and absence, all come together in the work of Johann Louw in which Louw himself seems to play the part of the main protagonist. In Louw’s new solo exhibition entitled 'Poppekas', referring to a child’s doll’s house or closet, the title in itself seems to allude to so many conceptual clues, suggestions and associations. One cannot help but think of a child’s play tinged with a touch of naughtiness. Yet, in Louw’s work, the ever evasive, frivolous court jester who never seems to tire of entertaining us with his visually absurd tongue-in-cheek jokes and irreverent visual suggestions, cannot seem to escape the ever present and underlying thread of the serious, the contemplative, the introspective and even the foreboding in his work.

South African artist Johann Louw was born in 1965 in Bellville and currently lives and works in Wellington, South Africa. Louw graduated with a Masters in Fine Art from Stellenbosch University in 1992, and has since exhibited widely, both in South Africa and abroad. In 2007, the Sanlam Art Collection presented a mid-career retrospective as a tribute to Louw’s extensive output and distinguished career over the past two decades. This exhibition toured the country in 2008 and 2009, and was accompanied by a publication on the artist. Louw was awarded the Ampersand Fellowship in 2014.