A week since the fair came to a close. No words that can capture experiencing these months and months of hard work come together so beautifully, and to get to share it with such an incredible contemporary art community. I am very proud to be a part of this team, and grateful to work alongside the kindest, most inspiring women I have ever met. ❤️
@investeccapetownartfair
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the opening of ‘I Seek Your Softness: Tender Explorations of Paint’, curated by Simona Stone and featuring work by Kay-Leigh Fisher, Joëlle Joubert, Emily Rae Smith Labuschagne, and Dineo Ponde.
Through surface, pigment, and mark, these four painters create spaces that offer comfort and connection, inviting us to lean into gentleness in a world that often feels brittle.
On view until 14 September 2025
THK Gallery
#ISeekYourSoftness #THKGallery #SimonaStone #ContemporaryPainting #CapeTownArt
Artist Joëlle Joubert speaks about her practice in I Seek Your Softness: Tender Explorations of Paint, curated by Simona Stone.
Layering painting, drawing, and found imagery, Joubert explores veiling, sentiment, and the shifting boundaries between public and private life. Her works are shaped by processes of concealment and accumulation, offering a quiet reflection on intimacy and vulnerability.
On view until 11 September 2025
#ISeekYourSoftness #JoelleJoubert #THKGallery #ContemporaryPainting
Come and view ‘I Seek Your Softness: Tender Explorations of Paint’, curated by Simona Stone, on view until 11 September 2025.
Today we spotlight Emily Rae Smith Labuschagne, a Cape Town-based multi-disciplinary artist and part-time lecturer. Working across painting, text, object, and colour, her practice explores narrative, memory, and the imaginary.
After completing her MFA at UCT’s Michaelis School of Fine Art, Emily returned to painting in 2021, presenting three solo shows and numerous group exhibitions, alongside publishing a poetry bundle, Two Toads and Other Poems (2023).
In I Seek Your Softness, Emily’s works offer surfaces that hold memory and invite reflection — quiet gestures of tenderness in a world that often feels brittle.
31 July – 11 September 2025THK Gallery
#ISeekYourSoftness #EmilyRaeSmithLabuschagne #THKGallery #ContemporaryPainting
I Seek Your Softness opened on Thursday night and I’m currently huddled in a blanket processing how much love and support from my friends, family and partner have bolstered this show that is much of my heart.
With so much gratitude to the THK gallery team (Linda, Ally, Uvile and Khumo) and with particular thanks to the four incredible artists who are the very centre of this show: Dineo, Joëlle, Emily and Kay-Leigh. Thank you for your care and excitement with this project.
I Seek Your Softness will be up at @thkgallery until 11 September, with a public walkabout on Saturday 16 August. I am so grateful for the collaboration, dreaming and community that goes into curating an exhibition like this.
(And a special thank you to @camilla.a01 for the photographs, and @figtreefoodco for the beautiful post-party snacks!)
Installing today. ‘I Seek Your Softness: Tender Explorations of Paint’ opens Thursday at 6pm at @thkgallery .
An excerpt from the exhibition text I wrote:
“This exhibition speaks to the intimacy, connection, and vulnerability required in order to experience a transfer of energy - of love, of care, of presence, of body warmth. It is the active energy generated by the very notion of being alive…
Simple but true: painting records the marks made by the painter. As the painter’s body moves, pulls forward, then leans back, a terrain of energy reflects on the surface. The painting archives the rippling, living, interconnection between surfaces and bodies. A resulting body of work: a body and its work. In the soft refusal of winter’s depths, a process of questioning both our external and internal landscapes feels imminent. It is welcomed.”
We are pleased to announce ‘I Seek Your Softness: Tender Explorations of Paint’, a group exhibition curated by Simona Stone, opening 31 July 2025 from 6-8pm.
Softly, hand near hand, skin near skin, here we are.
This exhibition explores the intimacy, connection, and vulnerability required to experience a true transfer of energy of love, care, presence, and body warmth. It reflects the active energy generated by simply being alive, and how it’s shared through proximity, tenderness, and attention.
Featuring the work of four painters; Kay-Leigh Fisher, Joëlle Joubert, Emily Rae Smith Labuschagne, and Dineo Ponde, ‘I Seek Your Softness’ is a quiet call toward presence and gentleness in a world that often feels brittle. Through gesture, surface, and pigment, the exhibition offers a soft resistance, a space of holding, feeling, and remembering.
31 July – 11 September 2025
THK Gallery
#ISeekYourSoftness #THKGallery #ContemporaryPainting #SimonaStone
My darling friend Em (@scrambledceramics ) recently sent me an illustrated version of a passage I wrote a couple years ago. Previously, she had printed the text and stuck it on our kitchen wall - a beautiful gesture that made me feel so loved. We were both so lucky to live in a warm house that was particularly special, and I am still so grateful for it. These little moments will always be my favourite source of inspiration, and a reminder of what is important to feel alive and loved. Thank you Emma! 🕯️💛🍲
Love for Ludlow xx
Cape Town Art Week 2025: Visions In Motion Exhibition & ICTAF 2025
For the last month, I have been a part of the project management team behind Visions In Motion - a contemporary video art-focused show set in the cosy setting of a beautiful home. An incredible collaboration between @stef_does and @recontemporary . I have learnt so much and met such incredible people through this experience.
Additionally, I spent a portion of this past week connecting with fellow creatives and art professionals while working at @investeccapetownartfair , and it was truly such an inspiring week. It’s always so lovely seeing so many friendly faces making up Cape Town’s art community.
Feeling very very lucky and a bit tired from such an intense and fulfilling chapter. Grateful for the hard teamwork that has gone into these initiatives, and so appreciative to be considered a team member. Here are some photos from set-up, and the exhibition, which were captured so beautifully at our openings by the incredible @camilla.a01 (@cami_snaps01 ) Xx
Some peaceful moments from the last month exhibiting Taking A Moment. Up for just a couple more days - if you haven’t had a chance to see it yet, pop by before we close! We’d love to have you visit.
