Pop art!

"First Love" by Justin Abelman

Pop on over to Killarney Mall to see a popped up art gallery through February. The ArtZone pop-up art gallery is coordinated by Shani Krebs, artist, author and survivor of a prison sentence in Thailand. Shani's art is exhibited and his book, Dragons & Butterflies: Sentenced to Die, Choosing to Live which describes his ordeal in prison, is for sale.

Another artist and author, Capetonian photographer Gené Gualdi is represented in the gallery as well. Gené was the former kept mistress of a big Bollywood producer in India for six years. She later escaped and moved to London to produce films herself. Her book Bollywood Blonde describes her journey. And her photographs of India on display are stunning!

Cathy and Justin

We visited the pop-up gallery however at the invitation of Justin Abelman. Justin has a pretty interesting story himself. He started life as a professional flamenco dancer (!) and met our friend Cathy on a South American cruise ship where they were both performing.

American-born Cathy was a professional singer and is now a theatrical producer with her husband Tim Plewman in South Africa, as well an Education Manager at the Mamaearth Foundation and the Director of Making Your Mind Up. Busy lady!

Justin studied graphic art in school and worked in the advertising industry in London and Johannesburg before focusing on his painting and art. He opened a frame store after advertising and started exhibiting his work in the corner of his shop. His admirers grew and grew and he sold more and more paintings and for the past few years he has been concentrating solely on his art.  

His international travels and Eastern European heritage have greatly influenced his Naive School form of painting. His paintings have graced the covers of Readers Digest and 16 of his works have been reproduced as a series for upmarket greeting cards. His is writing the forward and providing the cover art for a soon-to-be published book on Naive Art. 

 To view more of Justin's work, you can like him on Facebook and follow him on his blog.
 

a corner of  "The Lime Tree"

PS If you haven't picked up a present for your Valentine yet ...  shame on you! But lucky for you, Justin just might be your savior. He hides a secret heart in all of his paintings. Some are easier to spot than others. You and your special Valentine could look for it together!