The exhibition draws inspiration from the time Gutter spent in France as part of her L’Atelier residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris and the feelings associated with her homecoming on returning to South Africa months later.

The first part, a series of experiential paintings titled Shadow Barrier, reflects Gutter’s experience at Salon International de l'Agriculture, one of the world’s largest and most important agricultural trade shows held annually in Paris, which draws crowds of more than 700 000 people.

“I was fascinated with the mass display of livestock, lying lifelessly, and the masses of people being ‘herded’ along at the show. At night my memory revealed, through paint-markings, the faces of these people. A multitude of portraits surfaced, with echoes of veneered expressions that were unveiled through adding and deduction, through working ‘into’ the canvas. These crowds appeared as a mixture of threads from the past, influenced by a further past – the studied markings of masters in the museums I visited in France,” Gutter explains.

After completing her residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts, Gutter began making lithographs at a print studio in the south of France, the Atelier le Grand Village. Several of these prints have been included in this exhibition.

On her return from France, the traditional Afrikaans Volkspele in South Africa turned 100 years old. Gutter was intrigued by this concept and that of the tradition of dying and being purged from the land. She attempts to portray the memory of the people who participated in the Volkspele, trying to capture their simple and innocent existence in a separate series of works.

Lastly, the huge forces of masculine and banal images of bulls in uncomfortable positions showcased in the exhibition manifest the voiceless and fading generation of food producers in their daily struggle and evocation of the land.

Central to the exhibition is a monumental image of a blown-up nose ring that is used for weaning calves. This allows for an emotional connection, putting the calves into mid-stage.

In his essay for this exhibition, professor Dirk van den Berg of the Department of History of Art and Image Studies, at the University of the Free State, explains: “Purgatorium as the lived endurance of stress – a temporary condition of torment and suffering. The harsh experience of withstanding and coping with anguish and uncertainty serves to foster growth towards maturity and self-reliance, advancing towards a degree of empowerment and independence. Instead of a cleansing discipline to rid the soul of bodily encumbrances or a spiritual purification of the stains and blemishes of sin, the distress of purgatory is understood through the exhibition in a full-bodied and earth-bound weaning context.”

“Viewers are both drawn in and estranged by conceptual and formal practices,” says Gutter. “This is the context in which I invite viewers to discover and face the inevitable passage via Purgatorium.”

“Absa is honoured to host this exhibition of Pauline Gutter; her fifth solo exhibition, and first since winning the 2013 L’Atelier,” says Dr Paul Bayliss, Absa Art and Museum curator. “Pauline is an artist who is both technically proficient and conceptually strong. Since first entering the L’Atelier competition in 2002, Pauline has grown immensely and we are proud to see how her career has flourished year on year.”

Purgatorium runs from Monday, 7 to Friday, 25 September 2015 at the Absa Gallery.

For more information, visit the Absa website.