Between Words and Worlds: Paris, France

The Bridge Gallery is pleased to present Between Words and Worlds, an exhibition bringing together South African artists Bulumko Mbete (b. 1995), Dale Lawrence (b. 1988), and Johno Mellish (b. 1991) for the first time.

This exhibition explores the richness and complexity of contemporary South African art by showcasing three artists with diverse practices who examine the intersections of language, identity, creativity, and imagination. Through textiles, text-based works, and photography, their creations tell both personal and collective stories that blur the boundaries between the tangible and the abstract. Each artist investigates how language and material shape our perception of the world, while also revealing the tensions between fragmentation and reconstruction. Their works invite us to reflect on how individual and collective narratives intertwine and how they are shaped by creative gestures.

Using fabric, beads, and weaving techniques, Bulumko Mbete transforms artisanal gestures into acts of memory and transmission. Winner of the 2023 Cassirer Welz Award, Mbete’s work captures the invisible connections between individuals, their histories, and their cultures. In her practice, textiles become storytelling tools—“living archives” where each thread and pattern carries symbolic and emotional weight. By revisiting ancestral techniques, Mbete creates a dialogue between personal memory and the collective history of African migration and traditions. This dialogue is embodied in the Aranda blanket—an object rich in heritage, given to her sister by their paternal grandfather. Its origins trace back to British, primarily Scottish, soldiers who introduced it to Southern Africa during the colonial era.

Dale Lawrence is known for his multidisciplinary approach, working across text, sculpture, performance, and installation. Blurring the lines between mediums, he creates works that explore repetition, intimacy, and invention. His poetic text-based pieces—printed on paper and covered with thick layers of epoxy—deconstruct language, offering new meanings through acts of fragmentation and recomposition. Constructed from phrases extracted from books, Lawrence’s text-based works highlight the elasticity of words and objects, prompting us to reconsider their role in shaping our realities. As if each work is built from its own remnants, they embody both decay and renewal.

A silent observer, Johno Mellish captures suspended moments, transforming the ordinary into compositions infused with poetry and mystery through his pastel-toned analog photography. He describes his practice as a way of “creating connections between places, objects, and people,” generating visual narratives that question our relationship with reality and truth. Through his images, Mellish blurs the lines between the real and the imagined, exposing gaps and ambiguities in our perception of the world. By combining spontaneous moments with cinematic techniques, he renders the familiar strangely unfamiliar.