Willem Boshoff
September 2008
Willem Boshoff describes himself as a conceptual artist: “I work with the idea of knowledge in a package: how we keep knowledge, package it, store it – through books, the computer, oral tradition; how we process it and manipulate it through art, and how we can share it, or publish it."
Much of his art concerns language and text, often prepared over long periods on the computer, and executed in a social context. It takes form mainly as large installations, visual poetry, concrete poetry, and as sculpture. His references include dictionaries, botanical gardens, and medieval and avant-garde music.
In this presentation, Willem Boshoff discusses his ongoing project entitled Garden of Words, which represents threatened flora, and other works. He also debuts at Alma the series of photographic images created during his residency. Following intuitive impulses, like a druid, he has photographed urban abrasions, accretions, and other signs, often microscopic, in the neighborhood of Ground Zero. Projected as monumental images, they reference abstract painting in their formal and painterly qualities, while remaining concrete and conceptual.
© ALMA 2014