Casey Kaplan is pleased to present Igshaan Adams’ second solo exhibition Vastrapplek, literally translating from Afrikaans to “hold fast and stomp in place.”
To secure a foothold is to root one’s body to the earth, to bury one’s foot so strongly in place that it is grounded and simultaneously ready to propel forward. This is the movement of the Vastrappers, the adolescent dancers of the Rieldans, a version of the indigenous South African dance Igshaan Adams witnessed as a child in the Northern Cape region. Centered around the concept of migration (of individuals and communities), Adams here adopts the language of dance as a connector of tribes, blood lines, and histories. His own narrative is embedded in this landscape — the earth holds the memories of his grandparent’s courtship dance, a symbolic precursor to the racial and religious complexities of his youth. By embracing the cultural vestiges of post-apartheid Cape Town, Adams overlaps a colonialist tradition with modern South African expression. As the dancers stomp the earth in an attempt to flatten it, they simultaneously kick up dust in an opposite action, leaving behind tracks in the dirt akin to a record of their current, lived experience.
For Vastrapplek, Adams focuses on the isolated area of these dancers’ terrain and photographs the resulting imprints. The tracks in the dust are emboldened with a powder pigment and captured in print. Each image is then translated from an abstracted template into intricately woven tapestries in a collaboration with the artist’s studio community, and made with locally sourced materials like wood, stone, and glass beads, nylon rope, silver and gold chain, and silk, mohair, and wool ropes purchased in Cape Town. The granular surface produces a realistic effect; the undulating waves of the dirt and the sun’s position on the final footmarks, accentuate the contours of the cut earth and produce a relief-like composition. In Dit Voel Soos n Ewige Dans Sonder Einde of Begin (it feels like an eternal dance without end or beginning), Adams uses mohair for the first time to illuminate the sun’s path. Black and navy stone beads interrupt the plane, enhancing the contrast between negative and positive space within the ground. While dark in palette, upon further inspection, bursts of unnatural colors highlight the tapestries’ surface, producing an abstracted version of Adams’ photographs. The vastness of the tapestries further mimic the scope of the Northern Cape region. Viewers are absorbed by the various rolling landscapes, confronted by the individual stories embedded in their topography.
Within a practice that spans weaving, sculpture, installation, and performance, Adams communicates how the body holds memory. As in previous series of work in which worn prayer rugs record the body’s imprint, decayed linoleum floors reveal domestic daily use, or burrowed shortcuts of dirt roads symbolize the migration of communities, Adams documents the residue of the body’s ritual and endurance of trauma. As the heels of the Vastrappers hit the ground, they intuitively manipulate the guided movements of a historic dance. Like the dirt shortcuts or “desire lines” that deviate from planned roads, the abstracted markings of these individual dancers each convey a story — their actions cannot be separated from their unique life circumstance and the impetus to create a meaningful, new narrative. This dance serves as both a lifeline and an exit strategy for the youth group as each dancer carves their own path of hope. Gold chain and orange and pink beads disrupt the fields of Die Donkiekar (the donkey cart), mimicking the foot’s path in a speckled wash of seashells, mineral semi-precious stones, and rolled paper beads. The lively, dragged movement of the dirt is accentuated by the contrast of materials, indicating a “battle.” Dancers are often paired together and communicate through trust. In a non-verbal exchange, partners move alongside each other symbiotically yet in defiance of their counterpart. The resulting imprint is an intersection of histories, a road map to the body and its way out of the dirt.
In a grounding accent to the exhibition, Adams includes three sculptures. Hand-shaped and nestled on the floor or in elevated view with wire, beads, and nickel-plated charms, the works create a maze to be navigated. They are like enlarged beads of sand, abundantly magnified to enrich the path of the viewer and emphasize the contours of the ground. Staan Op! Boor Jou Voete In Jou Pa Se Grond En Lig (get up! bore your feet into your father’s earth/ground and lift) hovers low, just above the gallery floor; its interlocking wires resemble the clouds of dust that result from the Vastrapper’s dance. In contrast, Die Berge Roep Die Stof Vir Gebed (the mountains called the dust to prayer), a heavily beaded work rests directly on the floor in a corporeal web of tangled chain and copper and gold wire. Like the tapestries, its physicality bares the weight of the earth’s pull, intimating to the viewer that they are intrinsically tied to earth, both born from and returning to dust.
Installation view: Igshaan Adams, Vastrapplek, Casey Kaplan, New York, November 3, 2022 - January 7, 2023. Photo Jason Wyche
Dit Voel Soos n Ewige Dans Sonder Einde of Begin (it feels like an eternal dance without end or beginning)
Dit Voel Soos n Ewige Dans Sonder Einde of Begin (it feels like an eternal dance without end or beginning) (Detail)
Dit Voel Soos n Ewige Dans Sonder Einde of Begin (it feels like an eternal dance without end or beginning) (Alternate view)
Installation view: Igshaan Adams, Vastrapplek, Casey Kaplan, New York, November 3, 2022 - January 7, 2023. Photo Jason Wyche
Die Grond Hou Rekord Van Sy Liggaam Se Stryd (the ground keeps the record of his body’s struggle)
2022
Wooden, acrylic coated, plastic, glass, metal and stone beads,mineral semi precious stone, rolled paper beads, seashells, mixed polyester braid, nylon braid, cotton ropes, plastic coated threading wire, cotton twine, fabric dye
Overall: 87.25 x 104" / 221.61 x 264.16cm
Die Grond Hou Rekord Van Sy Liggaam Se Stryd (the ground keeps the record of his body’s struggle) (Detail)
Die Grond Hou Rekord Van Sy Liggaam Se Stryd (the ground keeps the record of his body’s struggle) (Alternate view)
Installation view: Igshaan Adams, Vastrapplek, Casey Kaplan, New York, November 3, 2022 - January 7, 2023. Photo Jason Wyche
Installation view: Igshaan Adams, Vastrapplek, Casey Kaplan, New York, November 3, 2022 - January 7, 2023. Photo Jason Wyche
Spog Meisie Kind, Maak Hulle Weis! (boast little girl child, make them wise!) (i)
2022
Wooden, acrylic coated, plastic, glass, metal and stone beads, mixed polyester braid, nylon braid, cotton ropes, plastic coated threading wire, cotton twine, fabric dye
103.5 x 79.5" / 262.89 x 201.93cm
Spog Meisie Kind, Maak Hulle Weis! (boast little girl child, make them wise!) (i) (Detail)
Spog Meisie Kind, Maak Hulle Weis! (boast little girl child, make them wise!) (i) (Detail)
Installation view: Igshaan Adams, Vastrapplek, Casey Kaplan, New York, November 3, 2022 - January 7, 2023. Photo Jason Wyche
Trapvas, Die Dans Is Amper Verby (step-fast, the dance is almost over)
2022
Wooden, acrylic coated, plastic, glass, metal and stone beads, mixed polyester braid, nylon braid, cotton ropes, plastic coated threading wire, cotton twine, fabric dye
101.5 x 160.25" / 257.81 x 407cm
Trapvas, Die Dans Is Amper Verby (step-fast, the dance is almost over) (detail)
Trapvas, Die Dans Is Amper Verby (step-fast, the dance is almost over) (Detail)
Die Berge Roep Die Stof Vir Gebed (the mountains called the dust to prayer)
2022
Wooden, plastic, glass, metal beads, copper and gold wire, memory wire, gold link chain, steel
30.5 x 52 x 36" / 77.47 x 132.08 x 91.44cm
Die Berge Roep Die Stof Vir Gebed (the mountains called the dust to prayer) (Detail)
Die Berge Roep Die Stof Vir Gebed (the mountains called the dust to prayer) (Alternate view)
Installation view: Igshaan Adams, Vastrapplek, Casey Kaplan, New York, November 3, 2022 - January 7, 2023. Photo Jason Wyche
Installation view: Igshaan Adams, Vastrapplek, Casey Kaplan, New York, November 3, 2022 - January 7, 2023. Photo Jason Wyche
Staan Op! Boor Jou Voete In Jou Pa Se Grond En Lig (get up! bore your feet into your father’s earth/ground and lift)
2022
Wooden, acrylic coated, plastic, glass, metal and stone beads,nickel plated charms, seashells, copper, gold and memory wire, silver link chain, cotton twine
75 x 40 x 38" / 190.5 x 101.6 x 96.52cm
Staan Op! Boor Jou Voete In Jou Pa Se Grond En Lig (get up! bore your feet into your father’s earth/ground and lift) (Detail)
Installation view: Igshaan Adams, Vastrapplek, Casey Kaplan, New York, November 3, 2022 - January 7, 2023. Photo Jason Wyche
Dansspore Maak Onsigbare Patrone in Verlore Lig (dance prints make invisible patterns with the loss of light)
2022
Wooden, acrylic coated, plastic, stone, bone and metal beads, seashells, mixed braid, polyester and nylon ropes, link chain, fabric dye, stringing wire, gold paint and cotton twine
99 x 93.5" / 251.46 x 237.49cm
Dansspore Maak Onsigbare Patrone in Verlore Lig (dance prints make invisible patterns with the loss of light) (Detail)
Bou Krag Met Die Springbok Se Ritme (build your power with the Springbok’s rhythm)
2022
Wooden, acrylic coated, plastic, glass, metal and stone beads,mineral semi precious stone, rolled paper beads, seashells, mixed polyester braid, nylon braid, cotton ropes, plastic coated threading wire, cotton twine, fabric dye
94 x 115" / 238.76 x 292.1cm
Bou Krag Met Die Springbok Se Ritme (build your power with the Springbok’s rhythm) (Detail)
Bou Krag Met Die Springbok Se Ritme (build your power with the Springbok’s rhythm) (Alternate view)
Installation view: Igshaan Adams, Vastrapplek, Casey Kaplan, New York, November 3, 2022 - January 7, 2023. Photo Jason Wyche
Die Donkiekar (the donkey cart)
2022
Wooden, plastic, glass, metal and stone beads, metal bells, mixed braid, polyester and nylon rope, cotton fabrics, fabric dye, threading wire and cotton twine
99 x 116.5" / 251.46 x 295.91cm
Die Donkiekar (the donkey cart) (Detail)
Installation view: Igshaan Adams, Vastrapplek, Casey Kaplan, New York, November 3, 2022 - January 7, 2023. Photo Jason Wyche
Paypakkies Groei Nog Op Die Wingerde (pay-packets still growing on the vines)
Paypakkies Groei Nog Op Die Wingerde (pay-packets still growing on the vines) (Detail)
Paypakkies Groei Nog Op Die Wingerde (pay-packets still growing on the vines) (Alternate view)
Installation view: Igshaan Adams, Vastrapplek, Casey Kaplan, New York, November 3, 2022 - January 7, 2023. Photo Jason Wyche
Installation view: Igshaan Adams, Vastrapplek, Casey Kaplan, New York, November 3, 2022 - January 7, 2023. Photo Jason Wyche
Middag Son Maak Min Verskil (midday sun makes little difference)
2022
Wooden, acrylic coated, plastic, glass, stone, bone and metal beads, mixed braid, polyester and nylon ropes, fabric dye, threading wire and cotton twine
91.5 x 126" / 232.41 x 320.04cm
Middag Son Maak Min Verskil (midday sun makes little difference) (Detail)
Middag Son Maak Min Verskil (midday sun makes little difference) (Alternate view)
Installation view: Igshaan Adams, Vastrapplek, Casey Kaplan, New York, November 3, 2022 - January 7, 2023. Photo Jason Wyche
