Bruce Murray Arnott: Into the Megatext provides the first comprehensive overview of Arnott’s life and work. His influence as an artist, scholar, designer, curator, and educator runs deep; intuited through the work of many of South Africa’s leading contemporary scholars and practitioners. Through an intrinsic understanding of the human condition, and the balancing of the intellect with creative endeavour, Arnott bridges continents, space, and time. This is reflected in the monumental scope of references embedded in his work, and in his view that ‘All sculptures are “points of entry” into the great sculptural megatext.’

Similarly inspired by history, mythology, psychology, philosophy, education, ecology, and sustainable design, this exhibition serves as one such point of entry. It includes over fifty sculptures and drawings, produced between 1962 and 2018, as well as an array of archival documents related to his practice, in particular his large public commissions.

The exhibition prefigures the launch of a publication of the same name. It includes contributions by a range of authors who delve into different aspects of Arnott’s life’s work; a selection of Arnott’s own writings, chosen to represent the breadth and depth of his oeuvre; a chronological catalogue of his sculptures from 1961 to 2018; and a visual timeline that contextualises his long and multi-faceted career.