Archive: Issue No. 63, November 2002

15.11.02 William Kentridge Retrospective at the SANG
15.11.02 Donovan Ward at Bell-Roberts
15.11.02 New Shows at the AVA
15.11.02 Group Exhibition at Greatmore
15.11.02 Boerneef Collection on Display
01.11.02 Tom Cullberg at the João Ferreira Gallery
01.11.02 Absolut Voyeur at the AVA
01.11.02 Nkoali Eausibius Nawa at Greatmore Studios
01.11.02 German Expressionism at SANG
01.11.02 Hard Ground Printmakers at the Cape Gallery
01.11.02 Burst at Framing Art Gallery

01.11.02 Violence/ Silence at US Art Gallery
01.10.02 Jeremy Wafer at the Sasol Art Museum

William Kentridge has been selected the South African National Gallery as the venue for his major South African solo exhibition. Kentridge, whose importance as an artist scarcely needs to be explained, has an oeuvre that spans film and theatre as much as visual art. Despite his international stature, Kentridge is still based in Johannesburg. He is probably most renowned for his animated films, which explore the complex and often violent history of South Africa.
This retrospective has been curated by the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.
Concurrently with this exhibition, Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones of 'Handspring Puppets' with whom Kentridge has collaborated on many projects, notably Ubu and the Truth Commission, will exhibit a number of their extraordinary puppets from the 10 years over which they have been collaborating.

Special Opening: 12 pm, Saturday November 30

Opens: December 1, 2002
Closes: March 23, 2003

South African National Gallery, Government Avenue, Company Gardens, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 465 1628
Fax: (021) 461 0045
Email: ebedford@iziko.org.za
Website: www.museums.org.za/sang
Hours: Tues - Sun 10am - 5pm

'Ash, Dust and Trademarks' is the name of Donovan Ward's exhibition. Ward apparently examines issues of tradition and ancestry in a world increasingly characterised by commercial exploitation. Ward produced one of the most memorable images from the 1997 District Six Sculpture Festival and took part in this year's Dakar Biennale.

Opens 6.30 pm, Wednesday November 20
Closes: December 14

Bell-Roberts Art Gallery, 199 Loop Street, Cape Town
Tel: 021 422 1100
Fax: 021 423 3135
Email: suzette@bell-roberts.com
Website: www.bell-roberts.com
Hours: Mon - Fri 8.30am - 5pm, Sat 10am - 1pm

In the main gallery, Nicholas Hales presents the lengthily entitled 'BALANCE Cape Town, Masculine & Feminine', a show comprised of new paintings and a video piece. In the works, Hales examines whether the Jungian theory of masculine and feminine in the human psyche is an effective way of analysing Cape. The exhibition examines aspects of the urban experience relating to division and dominance.
Hales was born in 1970 and studied fine art and graphic design at Michaelis. He held his first one-person show at the Irma Stern in 1999 and has participated in numerous group shows. His work is held in numerous private collections in South Africa, the USA, the UK and the Far East.
Alice Goldin is showing new work in the Long Gallery. Her new paintings, she says, consist of "a collection of recent landscape paintings of the Cape Peninsula - the mountains and trees - and also of seascapes inspired by Arniston where I spend a good deal of time." Goldin was born in Vienna and studied in Pretoria, Rome and London. She began participating in group shows around the country in 1959 and has held more than 40 one-person exhibitions throughout Southern Africa. Her work is held in numerous private and public collections.
Upstairs, 'Framed' features the work of five up-and-coming photographers - Celeste de Kock, Caroline Kaye, Solam Mknabela, Anthony Strack and Elize Vossgater. All five are concerned with producing work removed from photography's traditional documentary role.

Opens: November 11
Closes: November 30

Association for Visual Arts, 35 Church Street, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 424 7436
Fax: (021) 423 2637
Email: avaart@iafrica.com
Website: www.ava.co.za
Hours: Mon - Fri 10am - 5pm, Sat 10am - 1pm

Greatmore Studio tenants Dathini Mzayiya, Lonwabo Kilani, Ndikhumbule Ngqinambi, Luyanda Cwane and Thulani Shuku present a show of recent work.

Opens: 5.30pm, Friday November 22 by Malika Ndlovu
Closes: December 13

Greatmore Studios, 47-49 Greatmore Street, Woodstock
Tel: (021) 447 9699
Email: artmore@mweb.co.za Website: www.greatmoreart.org
Hours: Mon-Fri 9 a.m - 4 p.m

The famous Boerneef art collection will be shown briefly to the public when Friends of the South African National Gallery host a showing at Jan van Riebeeck High School. Boerneef, the popular poet and author otherwise known as Prof I W van der Merwe, bequeathed his valuable and highly-prized collection to the school in 1967. The collection includes works by Irma Stern, Jean Welz, Cecil Higgs, Maggie Laubser and others. Liliyanne Daneel, past curator, art teacher and artist, will lead a walkabout.

Commences: 3pm, Saturday November 23

Jan van Riebeeck High School, corner Camp and Kloof Streets, Cape Town
R20 for Friends of the SANG, R30 for guests.
Tel: (021) 467-4662

Tom Cullberg hails from Sweden, but graduated in Fine Art from Michaelis a few years ago. At the time he was a member of the Sluice Group who, amongst other things, produced work for the 1997 Johannesburg Biennale in Cape Town. Cullberg held a show of paintings and drawings at João Ferreira in the year following his graduation. His new show, 'Principles of Flight', features paintings that, in his characteristic fashion, mingle elements of narrative, memory and imagined scenes rendered in a strangely naturalistic style.

Opens: 6 p.m, Wednesday November 6
Closes: November 30

João Ferreira Gallery, 80 Hout Street, Cape Town
Tel: 021 423 5403 or 082 490 2977
Fax: 021 423 2136
Email: info@joaoferreiragallery.com
Website: www.joaoferreiragallery.com
Hours: Tue - Fri 10am - 6pm, Sat 10am - 2pm

The annual Absolut Vodka-sponsored exhibition comes around again. 'Absolut Secret 7: Absolut Voyeur' has a slightly changed format this year. Commissioned artists have produced miniature works, which sell for R700. In addition to this, a selection of works will be auctioned on the opening night. As per usual, names are kept unknown and buyers can pick up a really good deal. Funds generated by the sales go to AVA's Artreach programme, which helps needy and deserving artists. This year's event will also include 'Absolut Drink Trays' designed by young South African designers, as well as 'Absolut Art in a Bottle' works designed by Honours students from the Cape Technikon's Jewellery department.

Opens: 6 p.m, Monday November 4
Closes: November 9

Association for Visual Arts, 35 Church Street, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 424 7436
Fax: (021) 423 2637
Email: avaart@iafrica.com
Website: www.ava.co.za
Hours: Mon - Fri 10am - 5pm, Sat 10am - 1pm

One of Greatmore Studios' current artists-in-residence, Nkoali Eausibius Nawa, is holding an exhibition of drawings entitled 'Close-Up'.

Opens: 5.30 p.m, Monday November 4
Closes: November 15

Greatmore Studios, 47-49 Greatmore Street, Woodstock
Tel: (021) 447 9699
Email: artmore@mweb.co.za Website: www.greatmoreart.org
Hours: Mon-Fri 9 a.m - 4 p.m

The final lecture in the series, based on the German Landscape art exhibition running at the SA National Gallery, is entitled 'German Expressionism and its contribution to 20th century art'. The lecture examines the influence of this art form on Abstract Expressionism in America, as well as on Neo-Expressionism in both Europe and America. The talk is presented by Dr Caryll Shear, past lecturer in art history at Unisa and Wits University.

Date: 5.30 p.m, Thursday October 31

Entrance fee: R20, or R15 for students and Friends.

Barry Lecture Theatre
South African National Gallery, Government Avenue, Company Gardens, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 465 1628
Fax: (021) 461 0045
Email: cquerido@iziko.org.za
Website: www.museums.org.za/sang
Hours: Tues - Sun 10 a.m � 5 p.m

Artists, and founders of the Hard Ground Printmaker's Workshop, Jonathan Comerford and Judy Woodborne are each showing recent bodies of work at the Cape Gallery. Comerford, who won the Volkskas Atelier award in 1995 with a linocut, has produced a series of painted, engraved wooden blocks based on recollections from his childhood in Cape Town. Woodborne's new series of etchings is entitled 'The Burden,' and describes a light-hearted view of the human condition. She has also produced a series of nudes.

Opens: 4.30 p.m, Sunday November 3
Closes: November 23

Cape Gallery, 60 Church Street, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 423 5309
Fax: (021) 424 9063
Email: cgallery@mweb.co.za
Website: www.capegallery.co.za
Hours: Mon - Fri 9.30 a.m � 5 p.m, Sat 9 a.m � 1 p.m

Curated by Greg Streak, 'Violence/ Silence' consists of work by international artists Adriana Lestido (Argentina), Ivan Grubanov (Serbia), Bharti Kher (India) and Marco Paulo Rolla (of Brazil), along with South Africans Carol-Anne Gainer (Durban), Luan Nel (Johannesburg), Paul Edmunds (Cape Town) and Streak himself (Durban). The exhibition will showcase work curated from two shows that ran simultaneously earlier this year, in July. 'Violence' was located at the NSA Gallery in Durban, while 'Silence' was shown in and around Nieu Bethesda, Karoo. Streak was a guest curator on the latter show, !Xoe Biennale.

The exhibition explores the diversity of associations evoked by the two concepts. While the terms might produce some knee-jerk responses given the context of nation�s represented, they are layered with many other possibilities. The exhibition is not intended to prescribe meaning in relation to political circumstance, but is seen as an arena where such terms might have a private and intimate meaning, or mask and engage with one another in unexpected ways. The project falls under the umbrella of the Pulse Project, an artist-run initiative lead by Streak.

A documentary video and catalogue will be launched at the opening of the exhibition. A walkabout will be conducted on November 13 from 1 - 2 p.m.

Opens: 6 p.m, Tuesday November 12
Closes: November 18

US Art Gallery, corner Dorp and Bird Streets, Stellenbosch
Tel: (021) 808 3524
Email: usmuseum@maties.sun.ac.za
Hours: Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm, Sat 9am - 1pm

Lené Templehoff, Brendon Bussy and Linda Cameron-Dow have put together a collection of work in precious metals, ceramic and perspex. Templehoff was one of five people shortlisted for the Cape Town Convention Centre artwork commissions recently (see Review for further comments). Bussy has produced a series of engraved perspex pieces referencing Cape flora.

Opens: October 26
Closes: November 30

Framing Art Gallery (FAG), Skuinshuis, 44 Ryneveld Street, Stellenbosch
Tel: 021 887 6273

Jeremy Wafer enjoys unequivocal respect amongst his peers. He has consistently been producing strong and silent work for many years. His work is informed by an artistic language which is minimal and contemplative and often bears out in repetitive images and objects. His drawings, prints and sculptures have been exhibited extensively both locally and abroad. Now resident in Johannesburg, Wafer is formerly from Durban. After many years teaching at Natal Technikon, he now works at the Witwatersrand Technikon. This exhibition represents Wafer's first major showing in the Western Cape.

Of the work to be seen here he says, "�.the show will include a selection of work from the past few years and will be of work which, in the main, deals with issues of 'land' and the ways it has been owned, controlled, claimed, and ordered but also the ways in which it has provided me with a more open 'site' or 'space' for more personal speculation and, at times, abstract thought."

Opening: October 9, 6.30pm
Closing: November 24

Sasol Art Museum, 52 Ryneveld Street, Stellenbosch
Tel: (021) 808 3524
Fax: (021) 808 3669
Email: usmuseum@sun.ac.za
Hours: Tues - Fri, 9am - 4.30pm, Wed 9am - 8pm, Sat 9am - 5pm, Sun 2pm - 17pm