Arlene Amaler-Raviv

Arlene Amaler-Raviv _ vuvuzela oil on aluminum 2009.JPG

"The paintings of Arlene Amaler-Raviv are inspired portraits. They are portraits of people; of objects of people; of the city
of the people. They are portraits that look into the world. They talk, 'talk' together... They communicate intensely about Johannesburg and South Africa." Erna Beumers, Curator, Africa Department, Museum Voor Volkenkunde Rotterdam

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Arlene Amaler-Raviv received a BA Fine Art Degree from the University of Witwatersrand where she studied under Robert Hodgins. In the 1970s she was involved in art education, workshops,
teaching and teacher training programmes.

From 1979 she held many solo exhibitions at Everard Read Gallery, Market Theatre Gallery and group shows
both in South Africa and abroad. During the 1990s she lectured at the University of Pretoria, FUBA and at the Katlehong Art Center (BACA). In 1996 she lived in the Netherlands where she assisted in the curatorship of the exhibition
of Africa Meets Africa at the Museum of Ethnology, Rotterdam.

In 1997 Amaler-Raviv moved to Cape Town where numerous projects developed. A Twenty meter sight specific installation
for the District Six Sculpture Project Dislocation Relocation; large oil paintings on glass Departure at Mark Cotzee Fine Art
and two collaborative exhibitions with photographer Dale Yudelman - One at the Association for Visual Arts and Where
the Mountain Meets the City at 232 Long Street.

In 2000 Vodacom commissioned Amaler-Raviv to create an installation of seventeen oil paintings on aluminium.
Spier acquired a 2x2m portrait of Mandela for their collection in 2002. Many of her paintings and works hang
in private collections around the world, and publicly in major art collections in South Africa.

Text - Arlene Amaler-Raviv