Dancers and lovers
Deborah Bell (1957-) After the Flood, 1989, oil on canvas, 200 x 165 cm. Johannesburg Art Gallery Collection.
There is rhythm in saying these very words. What is rhythm? We usually associate the word “rhythm” with sound, especially music, or with movement. But, as we see in artists like Gerard Sekoto, and as we can see in the theme Getting Started, rhythm can be evoked in visual imagery as well – in line or mark, or pattern.
Zanele Muholi (1972-) Zinzi and Tozama, Mowbray, Cape Town, 2010, silver gelatin print, 34 x 50 cm. Courtesy of Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town. 
Edoardo Villa (1915-2011) Confluence, 1987, steel painted with enamel 132 x 52 x 53 cm. BHP Billiton Collection.
Talk About This
Look carefully at the images on web pages before this one. What is the visual rhythm that occurs in each? Trace with your finger the main lines in each of these images. What kind of energy do they suggest? Are they flowing? Angular? Restless or energetic? Slow or fast?
Do they change within an image?
Are there currents of emotion running through some of them? Spend time looking at each image before discussing your answers and sharing your thoughts.
Dancers and lovers
