Cape Town is privileged to have an outdoor art exhibition taking place right now, featuring work by a number of celebrated sculptors, including the likes of Dylan Lewis and Deborah Bell. A rare opportunity to take in these incredible works of art in the beautiful Mount Nelson gardens.

Here is some basic info on the exhibition (you can go any time you want – any day):

Everard Read, Cape Town, is presenting a collection of sculptures in collaboration with the Mount Nelson Hotel this summer. Set in nine acres of lush and tranquil gardens, the Nellie’s breathtaking location on the lower slopes of Table Mountain provides the perfect backdrop for works of art in bronze, steel, marble and stone. The sculpture selection celebrates top South African artists. Monumental works will inspire, while smaller pieces will delight. Exhibiting artists include Dylan Lewis, Deborah Bell, Angus Taylor, Speelman Mahlangu, Shany van den Berg & Strijdom van der Merwe.

Click here for more info + dates and times.

Some more on Dylan Lewis:

Dylan Lewis is a South African artist who has emerged as one of the foremost figures in contemporary sculpture. Lewis has focused chiefly on the cat as his subject and has created an unrivalled collection on this theme – ranking as one of the most important collections of animal sculpture to come out of Africa. He has extended his artistic talents to the human form, especially its relationship with nature, and has had equal success as with his animals.

Nurtured by a family of artists and inspired by his mother and grandmother, Dylan Lewis first became a painter and it was only after the death of his father, well known sculptor Robin Lewis that he started to explore sculpture.

His sculptures touch the element, the pristine and the world of legend and enchantment. Lewis´s empathy with nature and its living forms is evident in his ability to powerfully convey the essence of predators & prey, and the environment in which we all exist.

Lewis´s primary inspiration is wilderness. At one level his bronze sculptures celebrate the power and movement of Africa´s life forms; at another the textures he creates speak of the continent´s primaeval, rugged landscapes and their ancient rhythms. He works intensively from life, filling books with sketches, notes and drawings. By referring to these in the solitude of his studio, he is able to reproduce the subject´s physical form while exploring their more abstract, deeper meaning.

Lewis´s work features in private collections throughout the UK, Continental Europe, United States and Australia, and he is one of only a handful of living artists to have had more than one solo auction with Christie´s in London.

[more here]

You’d be crazy not to take a stroll around the Mount Nelson

Click here for the Mount Nelson’s info page on this exhibition.
It’s free to stroll through, but you can arrange a guided tour.