Gavin Rain South African, b. 1971
Overview
Lottie
So I came to the style from the need to tell a story – to present a perspective. I usually dislike art that doesn’t communicate anything. I also hate it when I’m viewing art and I don’t know the message. I wanted to avoid that – everyone has to get my message – which is to step back.
Gavin Rain is a contemporary South African artist, working primarily in acrylic, best known for his Neo-Pointillist style paintings.
Works
Biography
I think that art and science are trying to do the same thing – they are trying to take you into an area of the unknown and make you feel comfortable with being there
Gavin Rain was born and grew up in Cape Town.
He has painted since childhood and started with pointillism in 2003. Influences include Seurat, the Russian Avant garde art of the 1900’s and many architects. He originally intended to study architecture in the hope of combining his two interests - art and mathematics - but ended up obtaining a degree in Neuropsychology at the University of Cape Town before studying art the Ruth Prowse School of Art.
In 2011 Rain participated in the 54th Venice Biennale at the Republic of Costa Rica pavilion with a portrait of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and again in 2013 at the Republic of Bangladesh pavilion with a work entitled ‘Lena’.
Rain’s objective is to allow the viewer to perceive the convergence of two opposing pictorial styles: the abstractness of the colourful concentric circles that thicken into dense dots in relief, and the figurative aspect of the image that is defined by the sum of these same dots as the viewer takes a few steps back. It is in this backing-off that the artist’s intended message lies: in order to acquire awareness of something that is concealed yet right in front of your eyes, or hidden in plain sight, you must distance yourself by moving backwards. We should view the big picture, the whole, without being too concerned about isolated events or individual points of view. As Gestalt psychology sustains, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
News
Exhibitions
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Form as a Carrier of Memory
Art of Contemporary Africa at Art Palm Beach 26 Jan - 1 Feb 2026Taking inspiration from Jhumpa Lahiri’s reflections on what endures beyond explanation, Form as a Carrier of Memory is a curated exhibition presented by The Melrose Gallery at Art Palm Beach. The presentation features works by Esther Mahlangu, Clint Strydom, Samuel Allerton, Gavin Rain, and Carol Cauldwell, bringing together leading voices in contemporary African art.Read more
Spanning painting, photography, and sculpture, the exhibition explores how memory, perception, and material form hold meaning beyond narrative or event. Rather than dramatic storytelling, these works emphasize pattern, surface, rhythm, and duration, allowing meaning to emerge through sustained looking. Each artist approaches form as a vessel of memory, where visual language carries emotional and historical resonance.
By foregrounding abstraction, image construction, and sculptural presence, the exhibition highlights how contemporary artists engage with time, stillness, and embodied perception. Form as a Carrier of Memory invites viewers to slow down, look closely, and experience how the unknown persists through form. -
The Light We Carry
A group exhibition celebrating Pan African voices 5 Nov 2025 - 15 Jan 2026Pan-African art exhibition, Esther Mahlangu, Ayanda Mabula, fine-art, photography, contemporary art, sculpture, paintingsRead more -
The Alchemy of Colour
A Winter Group Exhibition at The Melrose Gallery 10 Jun - 18 Aug 2025In The Alchemy of Colour, The Melrose Gallery presents a selection of colour-driven works by bold voices in contemporary African art.The exhibition presents a large number of artists from The...Read more
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