A crowd can fill a painting without swallowing the people in it. Ricky Dyaloyi looks at the faces we pass every day and how easily we stop seeing them.
Everard Read at Leeu Estates, Franschhoek
Mirrors in the Crowd | Ricky Dyaloyi at Everard Read
24 October – 9 November 2026
South African artist Ricky Dyaloyi presents Mirrors in the Crowd, a solo exhibition at Everard Read at Leeu Estates in Franschhoek. Drawing on scenes of everyday life in urban South Africa, his paintings capture the movement and energy of crowded spaces while giving individual figures a presence of their own.
Dyaloyi is interested in the way we encounter strangers, often passing people without a second thought. In a world of constant digital connection and growing social divisions, his paintings turn attention back to the people immediately around us. The crowd becomes a place of shared experience, but also one where individuals can easily disappear from view.
His scenes capture the bustle of ordinary life, with figures forming part of a larger gathering while retaining their own identities. There is a tension between the collective energy of the crowd and the personal stories of those within it. Dyaloyi asks viewers to look beyond the first impression of a busy scene and consider the people who make it up.
The exhibition’s title suggests something familiar in the faces of strangers — a recognition of our own experiences in the lives of others. Through these everyday encounters, Dyaloyi considers how empathy begins with paying attention, and how much of our understanding of ourselves comes from the people around us.
Exhibition Dates | 24 October – 9 November 2026
Everard Read at Leeu Estates, Dassenberg Road, Franschhoek.
Images courtesy of Everard Read and Ricky Dyaloyi.
