WORDS WORDS WORDS at Everard Read shows the power of words in contemporary art

The article reviews 'WORDS, WORDS, WORDS,' an exhibition at Everard Read Gallery's CIRCA space in South Africa, which explores the role of language in contemporary visual art. Curated with a focus on how words are bent, repeated, fragmented, and reassembled, the show features works by South African artists including Willem Boshoff and Luca Evans, who engage with conceptual art traditions from Dada to Barbara Kruger. Boshoff's braille-inset wooden piece 'Planet of Echinus' questions inclusion and exclusion in language, while Evans' work riffs on Joseph Kosuth's iconic text pieces using ancient wood-inlay techniques.

This exhibition matters because it situates South African contemporary art within the broader global history of conceptual and text-based art, from Marcel Duchamp's readymades to Lawrence Weiner and Sol LeWitt. By highlighting local artists who grapple with the power of words to include, exclude, and subvert meaning, the show underscores the enduring relevance of language as a medium for challenging aesthetic conventions and social norms. It also reflects a growing trend in the region to engage critically with international art movements while maintaining a distinct cultural perspective.