Spring in South Africa is approaching an end, which means the start of the active summer season in this part of the world. To celebrate the event, Nel Art Gallery is getting back on track after a brief vacation with a new art exhibition by Dave Robertson. Known for his delicate, empathetic abstract paintings and over-painted photographs, Robertson communicates eternal themes to his audiences. The exhibition, titled Glimmers, is available for viewing at the gallery’s location in Cape Town through November 29, 2025.
About Dave Robertson
Robertson is a Cape Town-based artist born in Zimbabwe who has been active in the art scene since the 1990s. He is a self-taught creative with a background in the film industry. Robertson received the 2010 Spier Contemporary award for “Paper Trails,” a photo project documenting urban recycling in Johannesburg, refocusing on painting after that. His works are featured in both local and international collections.
Dave Robertson’s Painting Style and Philosophy
Dave Robertson explains his creative process as a cycle of iterative processes of painting and reacting to his work. The artist shares that he often works on multiple artworks at the same time to discover new insights and fresh perspectives in the process of creation. Robertson characterizes his artistic philosophy as a search for visual means for explicating human divinity and sowing the seeds of altruism, gratitude, and laughter amid people over-possessed with greed and other vicious forces.
Symbolism and Meanings in “Glimmers”
Dave Robertson’s current exhibition at Nel Art Gallery, Glimmers, uses the concept of glimmers as accidental, transient positive experiences of the surrounding world’s beauty. The artist describes glimmers as soothing stimuli for the human nervous system, claiming that one can train their brain to recognize glimmers around them. According to him, by focusing on the small moments of happiness, people can become much happier and more harmonious, returning to their divine roots. Robertson shares this philosophy with viewers in a series of small glimmer paintings composed from corrugated card and plywood scraps, transformed with the help of delicate mixes of ink, acrylic, and oil pastel painting.
The artist is also actively exploring the intricate links between physical reality and the metaphysical, experiential aspects of human existence. This process of exploration and discovery allows him to tap into the in-between spaces, also referred to as liminal states, which form under the dynamic interaction of the perceived physical world and the spiritual. Viewers can embrace this part of Dave Robertson’s creative approach by viewing a series of over-painted photographs, Transitions, included in the Glimmers exhibition.