Best of 2011: ArtThrob's Editors give you their highlights

AMY HALLIDAY: INTERNATIONAL EDITOR

As I’m UK-based, I’ll mostly be commenting on South African exhibitions and publications abroad.

Best Show

The most evocative show I saw this year was undoubtedly Bridget Baker’s ‘Wrecking at Private Siding 661’. A woven basket – a replica 19th century human transporter for ferrying passengers from ocean liner to shore – appeared to have plunged through the ceiling of an accumulator tower in a power station along the Thames in east London. Viewers had to climb through a hole in the brick wall of the tower to enter the space, which was almost entirely inhabited by this strange object, requiring both physical and conceptual negotiation of its bulk. Functioning like a time capsule, the elusive object opened up dialogues around British settlement in the Eastern Cape, focalised through the artist’s family history. This history emerged through subtle, often overlooked nodal points: a cyanotype letter from father to son; an illuminated replica antique soda bottle; tiny ballasts of greasy wool quietly invoking the family’s involvement in the region’s wool industry. But the human container was also able to hold many other stories simultaneously: having grown up in the Eastern Cape, I found myself imaginatively filling it with some of my own.

Other important international shows this year included Tamar Garb’s 'Figures & Fictions: Contemporary South African Photography' at The Victoria and Albert Museum, and the expansive Santu Mofokeng retrospective at the Jeu de Paume, Paris. The former led to a renewed focus on contemporary South African photographic practice in the UK press (most reviews tended towards superficial description rather than critical engagement, but the range of coverage was impressive nonetheless), and included a large catalogue and conference. The exhibition also appeared to catalyse greater attention to the conservation and public display of the V&A's impressive Goldblatt collection. ‘

Chasing Shadows’, the Mofokeng exhibition in Paris, was the first significant retrospective in Europe of one of South African photography’s most important figures, and also resulted in a much-needed monograph. These two landmark shows, as well as the African spotlight at the 2011 Paris Photo week, and the prominence of the Walther collection (curated by Okwui Enwezor), have all buttressed the ascent of South African photography, with its ever rising international reputation, and attendant market value.

Best locally-published artbook

It’s hard not to remark on the much-anticipated appearance of the Visual Century. Certainly, the publication of a more inclusive survey of South African visual culture – set in local and international context – marks a significant achievement, and will be an invaluable resource. I can’t comment in more detail yet, however, as the four-book set is still in the post…

While not locally-published, Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin’s photobook War Primer II, launched at the Frieze Art Fair in October, is utterly captivating. The photobook is framed as the ‘belated sequel’ to Bertholt Brecht’s original War Primer. In it, the playwright – who, like the well-known contemporary duo, was suspicious of the ‘truth’ claims of documentary photography, and its mobilisation for diverse agendas – paired cut-out media images of WWII with four-line poems (or ‘photoepigrams’) of his own devising. Broomberg and Chanarin got hold of one hundred copies of the English edition of the War Primer to construct their photobook. The resulting work is reminiscent of the formal and political concerns of Dadaist photomontage with a digital twist: using fragments of the original poems as search engine filters, they sourced, ripped, uploaded and re-edited images from the ‘war on terror’ which they then pasted directly into the primer. The garishly colour-saturated contemporary images are jarringly juxtaposed with the original black and white prints, but united by the photoepigram as a sort of ‘key’ to their decoding. As War Primer I and II meet and overlap on each page, the photobook suggests the ongoing challenge of ‘reading’ images, and, in so doing, initiates a chillingly poignant dialogue between images, texts, time and technology. 


SEAN O'TOOLE: OUTGOING CAPE EDITOR

Best SA show of 2011

Santu Mofokeng, 'Chasing Shadows', Jeu de Paume, Paris. 'He has a rare sensitivity to the nuances of photography and the document,' wrote David Goldblatt in an undated letter (probably from the mid 1990s) included on the show; 'in my opinion this will enable him, more than most others, to pinpoint in his quest that work which is likely to be of enduring interest.' Oh yeah! Plus, what joy, in the lobby, a carousel of postcards featuring Santu’s most iconic photographs. I now own a printed copy of his horse photo, Buddhist Retreat Near Ixopo (2003).


Best locally-published art book of 2011

I really liked recent Michaelis graduate Chloe Reid’s A Catalogue which is Mostly About My Work, also Nabeeha Mohamed’s tidy companion catalogue to her graduate exhibition. Rory Bester asks some intriguing questions in Leora Farber’s book, On Making: 'What is a productive meeting?', 'Where is the activism?’ And then there’s Pierre Crocquet’s Pinky Promise, which shows the hard labour that went into it. But, and in the spirit of partisan voting, I’m going to go with David Southwood’s Milnerton Market, the slow gestation of which I heard all about on our many cycle trips up the mountain.

 
Curator that attracted your attention in 2011

Clare Butcher and Gabi Ngcobo both deserve praise, for their tireless freelance ways, but the person who made me sit up was Cecilia Kruger, chief professional officer at the Voortrekker Monument. Cecilia looks after countless Verwoerd busts, some really poor, paint-to-order scenes by JH Pierneef, the odd iconic work by WH Coetzer, and an entire chronology of former Transvaal administrators, each painted in their ceremonial best. I met with Cecilia shortly after the furore around the missing Verwoerd bust in Midvaal, the experience prompting me to search for a buried 19m statue of Lenin in Berlin. The past, I realised, is as much physical thing as it is a memory or an explanation. There is specific context to my choice: Okwui Enwezor is planning a forthcoming historical show, ‘The Rise and Fall of Apartheid’ (2013).

Review/piece of art writing of 2011

Jonah Sack’s precisely measured response to Kavish Chetty’s Mahala review of Jared Ginsburg’s work Hoist, at Blank Projects. Critics tend to speak around, rather than to artists; I love it when artists deliver backchat, doubly so when it is elegant and avoids being malicious.
http://www.mahala.co.za/art/highly-strung/#comments


Art business person of the year

Cecil Kerbel. He met an artist, Fred Page, whose work inspired him, started collecting, and, decades later, published a catalogue raisonné. The book is so-so, but that’s not really the point. Someone cared, enough to dig deep into their pockets, and left us a document of a creative life.


Art NGO or NPO that made important strides/waves/impressions in 2011

I continue to enjoy the Goethe Institute’s earnest involvement in just about every event, from COP17 to the Joburg Art Fair. They also enabled Kudzi Chiurai and Gabi Ncobo’s two Joburg projects, amongst many other things.


SUE WILLIAMSON: FOUNDING EDITOR

I feel a bit of a fraud doing the best ofs this year, as I have been out of the country so much of the time that I missed many shows that would have been in the running. But anyway, here goes.

Best SA show of 2011

Berlin-based Candice Breitz, whose work will be seen on a solo at the Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg from February to April, had a beautiful show at Francesca Kaufmann in Milan. Much of the space was taken up by her mesmerizing double videos of identical twins, interviewed separately, and shown side by side as if responding to each other. Breitz unerringly plays to our desire to know more about what we think we know a lot about already: in this case, the unique bond between twins.

Best locally-published art book of 2011

I have not yet seen copies of the new book on the block, The Visual Century, so here I am going to give the nod for an act of sustained production to the Stevenson Gallery for consistently producing a small catalogue for each show that the gallery hosts, providing viewers with a visual record of all the work on show, and a catalogue essay.

Curator that attracted my attention in 2011

I will not mention here the curators who attracted my attention for their poor judgement this year, though a couple of names spring to mind. So my plaudit goes to Clare Butcher, the young Cape Town curator who had the task of sorting through 20 years of AVA exhibitions, and putting together a coherent show from participating artists.

Art business person of the year

I am going to give my vote to Mark Coetzee, Creative Director of sports apparel giant PUMA. On behalf of PUMA CEO Jochen Zeitz, in 2011, Coetzee aggressively bought up important South African contemporary art, including works by Venice Biennale art star Nicholas Hlobo, Nandipha Mntambo, and a number of lots on the Michaelis charity auction. His aim is to build/restore an existing building somewhere in this country as the first real museum of contemporary art in South Africa. An ambitious and exciting prospect.


Art NGO or NPO that made important strides/waves/impressions in 2011

VANSA, the Visual Arts Network of South Africa, continues to provide a real service for artists at every level. Check out their website at www.vansa.co.za to see in how many ways they perform.

Favourite quotation of the year

This one is from a speech on May 25 by disgraced Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, shortly before he lost his seat in Milan: ‘Not even Leonardo would have finished the Mona Lisa had he been besieged like me by magistrates’.


ROBYN COOK: KZN EDITOR

Robyn’s take on 2011’s Best Ofs reflects the fact that she moved to Johannesburg halfway through the year.

The Best White Elephant Sale of 2011

'Horse', Circa and Everard Read, Johannesburg: What was an interesting curatorial venture around the ‘idea of the horse’ turned into a cramped and crowded jumble sale at both venues. With over 60 artists represented, the work was hung, balanced, crammed, and shoved into every available nook and cranny. While the gallery describes the show as exhibiting a ‘rich variety of responses’, in reality most of the work consisted of literal depictions of... horses.

The Best Groundhog Gallery of 2011

artSPACE Durban and the Collective: Both galleries have managed to curate a series of shows this year that are almost indistinguishable - round after round of the same artists and the same themes. Grace Kotze, Dee Donaldson and Sibusiso Duma, to name but a few, appear exhaustively throughout every group show. Durban or Punxsutawney?

The Best Non-Site-Specific, Site-Specific Sculpture Briefing of 2011

Following swiftly in the footsteps of the 'elephant' and 'King Shaka' public sculpture disasters, the eThekwini municipality put out a bizarre call for the municipality's 'Annual Public Sculpture Competition'. Complete with a secret panel of judges, an unknown site for the site-specific work, a week to conceptualize the entire project and a minute budget, the briefing alone deserves to be in the best of the worst of 2011.

The Worst Boerie Roll and Best Cold Soup of 2011

'SWAT' by Willem Boshof (Goodman Gallery) and 'Representation' by Simon Gush (Stevenson,) Attempting, I guess, to appear unpretentious and relaxed, boerie rolls were dished out at Willem Boshof's 'SWAT'. But boerewors on ciabatta? Way too dry. On a more positive note, the cold summer soup served at Simon Gush's panel discussion at Stevenson  in Johannesburg, was really nice.


MICHAEL SMITH MANAGING EDITOR

Having set the headings of this Best Of feature for the other editors, I decided to flout my own rules and write under a whole different set of rubrics. Call it an attempt to avoid mechanical repetition.

Most Intriguing Political Interference of the Year

The insanity of Councillor JP Smith’s insinuation that Cape Town artist and writer Linda Stupart was somehow responsible for destroying artist Marike Prinsloo-Rowe’s public sculptures Walking the Road, while Stupart was overseas pursuing a PhD, wins my vote for the gaffe of the year. The dubious aesthetics of Lowe-Prinsloo’s series aside, it was Smith’s remarks that the policy was for work to be donated and the upkeep thereof to be the responsibility of the artist that seemed to stick in Stupart’s craw. And rightfully so: since when do artists have to maintain their own public sculptures, at their own expense? And, as Stupart suggests, does the DA-led council not see how, in a city that remains as a last bastion of apartheid’s spatial divisions, it might be viewed as a way of keeping cultural participation in rich areas for the rich folk only?

In a close second place, the DAC and SA government’s handling of the Venice Biennale saga, which saw gallery interests overriding national interests, has to rank as one of the worst examples of the worst type of political interference in the arts we’ve seen so far. This murky saga riled almost everyone who heard about it, except, apparently, the artists who benefitted from it, who remained fairly quiet throughout (sidebar: kudos to Zwelethu Mthethwa for extracting himself from the whole mess). Maybe they’re right and we’re wrong: my reading of Sarah Thornton’s Seven Days in the Art World reminded me that this industry which so many are desperately trying to bust into is often a crock of shit, a labyrinth of intrigues, inferences and incest that would make Machiavelli’s toes curl. While the debacle around the SA Pavilion at Venice just confirmed this, maybe artists who learn to play the system are the ones who laugh last.

Most Fun Place I Saw Art in 2011

(Okay, so this series was recorded in 2010 in the States, and features no SA artists, but, hey, whatchagonnado? Give me a detention?) For TV aficionados such as myself (no, my parents are not particularly proud), Bravo! is a network that consistently produces intelligent takes on populist show genres. Their Project Runway was a hit and a great spin on the reality show format, and despite Heidi Klum’s best efforts and Eurotrash catchphrases, it often provided an interesting insight into creative processes and thinking.

In 2010 they followed it up with Work of Art: The Next Great Artist’ which we got in SA towards the end of 2011. In the show, a predictably ragtag group of artists ranging from Abercrombie & Fitch-looking Miles and Jaclyn to the hapless hippy Judith face down a series of weekly challenges, with one artist being eliminated each time. Sound fucking awful? Well, uber-critic Jerry Saltz didn’t think so: he was one of the stalwart judges, along with gallery owners and a handful of other big nobs. As if Saltz wasn’t enough to convince me, the guest judges were even cooler: in Week 4 Andres Serrano, maker of fundamentalist-baiting photograph Piss Christ, judged which contestant could churn out the most shocking work in 12 hours. (Serrano said pithily, ‘It’s not easy to shock. Especially on demand…’) In Week 5, hotshot NYC hyperrealist painter Richard Phillips judged which artist could makes the most moving work.

Inevitably one imagines a local version: Malcolm Payne pouring scorn on, well, everything; Wayne Barker, impossible to pull away from the drinks table at the openings; Monna Mokoena and members of the DAC huddled in a corner; and an Art South Africa representative avoiding eye-contact with everyone to whom they owe money. Sounds like a riot. Now if I could just get funding...

Best Show I saw in 2011

The best art exhibition I saw was William Kentridge’s ‘Other Faces’, which just slipped into 2011 at the Goodman Gallery Johannesburg in December (see my REVIEW). This was, by far, the most erudite, focused and resolved body of work by an artist (accompanied, to be fair, by a veritable team of editors, musicians and voice actors, but of course it is old Billy K that galvanises the whole lot into action).

But the best show I saw in 2011 was the Greenside dumping depot. Nestled in an anonymous corner of the leafy north, the depot has Caterpillar-yellow dumpsters lined up along its perimeter into which cohorts of suburbanites like me turf black bags bursting with garden refuse and other junk. Early in the morning the dumping site looks like a minimalist installation, with its skips all neatly lined up like waiting portals to another dimension, which, of course, they are. In the afternoons it’s more of a performance, the dumpers all but outnumbered by the reclaimers collecting metal and other scrap to sell elsewhere. An interstice of two dramatically different experiences of the city, a daily paean to those who manage an existence on the skin of consumerism, a microcosm of the contestation of space that is Johannesburg. If I was a Conceptual artist, I would declare it a work.

Best Review of 2011

With SA art writers pretty much all starting their reviews with snippets of theory (Barthes and Derrida have, it seems, lost out to Adorno for now), and then soft-peddling the rest lest their dinner invitations dry up, it’s hard to find local art writing that really inspires. So the tag-team of Sean O’Toole and Brandon Edmonds ripping the SANG and its Tretchikoff travesty a new one in 2011 on ArtThrob reminded me why we bother. Barraged by enough hype and flashing lights, we often allow ourselves to be convinced that hipster irony is a fair substitute for intelligence. It isn’t. And when an art review calls out a publically-funded body for irresponsible expenditure on a conceptually flimsy, frankly racist also-ran dauber, it’s earned its keep.

Best Use of Artspeak in an Art Book or Catalogue in 2011

The Strauss & Co. ‘Review 2011’ booklet offered some great examples of breathless auction house copywriting, but this one, about Irma Stern’s Two Arabs, proved to be the most amazing:

‘This work ably demonstrates Irma Stern’s unique ability to fuse her passion for African themes with European traditions of painting that can be traced back to the greatest nineteenth- and twentieth-century masters from Eugène Delacroix through to Vincent Van Gogh to the German Expressionists with whom she was closely associated in her formative years.’

The auction house had much to be excited about, I guess: it moved the work for a record R21 million. I wonder if the stats geeks can find a measurable correlation between the number of words used to describe a work and its auction result...