In FAÇADE, a new solo exhibition by Madeleine van Manen, the city where she lives, Cape Town, becomes a living organism; shifting, breathing and accumulating the imprint of the life contained within it

Through paintings, printmaking, fabric works and intimate miniature studies, the artist invites viewers to consider the ways in which the built environment shapes us just as much as we shape it. Her show is presented by House Union Block (HUB) and runs at Sisonke Gallery at the Cape Heritage Hotel on Bree Street, Cape Town, from 10 December 2025 to 8 February 2026.

Recognised for her contemplative cityscapes, Van Manen continues her ongoing investigation into urban space with this exhibition. However, in FAÇADE, the inquiry turns inwards. Buildings are not rendered as architectural subjects or feats of design, but as emotional structures – like containers of memory, stages for private rituals, and
quiet witnesses to the chaos and beauty of the human experience.

The exhibition ranges widely in scale and materiality. Monumental 2m x 2m paintings echo the magnitude of the metropolis, while a series of tiny 3cm x 3cm studies distil the city into fragments of colour and sensation. Etchings, woodblock prints and monotypes expand the conversation between permanence and impermanence, while two translucent works on lightweight mull fabric hang in front of the gallery windows.

I have painted the city almost obsessively for years. Not to document it, but to understand my place within it. Buildings hold our quietest moments: our work, our worship, our joy, our guilt, our longing. With this
exhibition, I wanted to explore the tactile, intimate textures of those spaces and the stories they carry – Van Manen

Based in Cape Town, Van Manen has built a career spanning painting, printmaking, teaching and community engagement. With over a decade of full-time artistic practice behind her, her work has appeared in significant South African exhibitions, including the Nando’s Creative Exchange (2024–2025), multiple group shows at the AVA Gallery and The Printing Girls collective.

Previously, she has had two acclaimed solo exhibitions: You Find Silence Where You Expect Noise (Rust en Vrede, 2019) and BUILT (NEL,2023). Her work is held in private and corporate collections locally and abroad, including Spier Arts Trust and Nando’s. Conversations play a pivotal role in Van Manen’s practice. Exchanges with residents, architects and passers-by deepen her perception of place and subtly inform the details embedded in each work. These layered perspectives result in cityscapes that feel both familiar and elusive – they are “maps” of emotional terrain rather than literal geography.

All the details for FAÇADE:
When: 10 December 2025 to 8 February 2026
Where: Sisonke Gallery, Cape Heritage Hotel, 90 Bree Street, Cape Town