Karl Gietl has lived and worked in many vibrant places throughout southern Africa and Europe, not hesitating to participate in the variety of pleasures offered by them. He has experienced drug dens and brothels, gaming parlours and street cafes, and has given them life through his canvases. His works frequently serve as visual diaries, capturing the essence of his journeys and encounters, exploring themes of urban life, human interaction and social commentary, characterised by a blend of realism and expressive brushwork. And we have humour too; one of the best erotic pastiches of the Mona Lisa – Porna Lisa – establishes Gietl’s erotic credentials.

And then we journey through his world of parties, orgies and urban nightlife, punctuated by the attendant loneliness that often balances the exuberance. We see the lone punter in Paradise Hotel attended by a Japanese/French maid, the beckoning prostitutes in Si, Senor!, the woman on her own in Bar at the End of the Street, and going home afterwards in Midnight on the Metro. Gietl himself appears in trademark sunglasses and red shirt in several of the paintings.

The selection of Gietl’s paintings concludes with some of his larger set pieces – The Landing (2007) and Ship of Fools (2014) – before leaving us on the crowded Mediterranean beaches close to his Sète studio.