Archive: Issue No. 75, November 2003

15.11.03 'Fragments of the City' at the Bensusan
15.11.03 Clementina van der Walt at Krut Art Projects
15.11.03 DaimlerChrysler Arts Award at Museum Africa
15.11.03 Johannes Phokela at Gallery Momo
15.11.03 'Small Things Bright and Beautiful' at the Goodman
15.11.03 Nina Romm and others at the Stewart Gallery
15.11.03 Marco Cianfanelli at the Absa Gallery
01.11.03 Kay Hassan at Gallery Momo
01.11.03 Guy Tillim at PhotoZA
01.11.03 Abdul Razak Awofeso at the Goethe-Institut Johannesburg
01.11.03 Ampersand Foundation Fellows at Warren Siebrits
01.11.03 Durant Sihlali and Moleleki F Ledimo at Art on Paper
01.11.03 'Thoughts on Paper' at Stewart Gallery
01.11.03 Simon Gush at Johannesburg Art Gallery
01.11.03 Lolo Veleko at Johannesburg Art Gallery
01.11.03 Oppitafel at ArtSpace
01.11.03 RAU Art Gallery remembers Artist Proof Studio
01.11.03 Brenton Maart at PhotoZA
15.10.03 Irma Stern at the Standard Bank Gallery
15.10.03 D.I.Y. at Museum Africa

PRETORIA

15.11.03 Andrew Milne at Outlet
15.11.03 Blom and Smit at the Secret Gallery
01.11.03 Pretoria Technikon Department of Photography at Mind's i Art Space
15.10.03 Gerhard Marx at Outlet

'Fragments of the City' is a group photographic exhibition by Stacy Coconas, Carina Booyens, Vathiswa Ruselo, Ingrid Masonda, Alexia Masondo, Alexia Webster and Nontsikelelo Veleko.

Opens: November 2
Closes: November 23

Clementina van der Walt's ceramic objects present a symbiosis of the utilitarian and the metaphorical. Meaning is constructed both by the action in the mind of the maker and by the user of the item in its daily context.

In much of this current body of work on exhibition at Krut Art Projects, van der Walt has extended the metaphorical element by drawing on the poetry of Cape Town poet, Karen Press, in particular her collection of poems entitled Home (2000, Carcanet Press). Van der Walt has attempted to evoke a sense of her own interpretation of Press's poetry by combining fragments of text with form, colour and surface marks.

While all the items begin within the format of utilitarian function, they also exist as independent art works. Yet part of their meaning refers back to that initial function. Other works on show reveal a somewhat painterly "abstract expressionist" approach to surface, using bright coloured glazes and spontaneous splash and brush marks. The shapes are all either press-moulded or wheel thrown, allowing the clay to naturally dictate irregularities in form and texture, emphasising their handmade status.

Opens: November 10
Closes: December 23

The 2003 DaimlerChrysler Arts Award focused on creative photography. Offering the largest purse of its kind (in terms of overall monetary reward), the award was won by Guy Tillim. The public can however view the works of all eight selected finalists.

The eight nominees for this year's prize were Angela Buckland, Stephen Hobbs, Jakob Doman, Brent Meistre, Zwelethu Mthethwa, Jo Ractliffe, Guy Tillim and Andrew Tshabangu.

Angela Buckland is currently an independent freelance photographer, running her own business and studio. Her personal practice focuses on private stories of seemingly ordinary people and the lived experience, how we interact with friends, lovers, our families and even with strangers; how we desire 'connectedness' and a sense of belonging.

Stephen Hobbs lives and works in Johannesburg, which he views as "an African metropolis of perplexing contradictions and unpredictable developments in the social, urban environment." Hobbs draws on urban vocabularies of images and signs to point to cities transformative qualities, which are often invisible and ineffable.

Brent Meistre is a young Grahamstown-based artist explores photography as a language to be "read". Throughout his different projects, he continues to investigate the possibilities of single and multiple images as cinematic and thereby plays with the veiling of narrative.

Zwelethu Mthethwa uses the camera in natural light to make concrete statements, the dispassionate relationship between sitter and photographer a tangible thing, alluding to voyeurism of sacred homes and spaces.

Jo Ractliffe works with the photographic medium as a research tool, constantly exploring the theory and issues of why we make pictures, pushing the boundaries of how audiences should look. In 2003 she produced a video for choreographer Jay Pather's project Cityscapes, at the Johannesburg Art Gallery.

Guy Tillim's documentary reportage is best known for moving beyond the boundaries of conflict in respect of aesthetics and poetry, effectively capturing the space in between and allowing the viewer to become part of the scene.

Andrew Tshabangu expresses his vision of photography by often using the lower light registers, which most photographers avoid. His photography is inherently spiritual, showing remarkable detail, capturing moods and evoking emotion within the viewer.

Jakob Doman's personal photographic projects focus on the social construction of identity and space. In 2000 he entered the professional marketplace, specialising in fine-art advertising photography, receiving D&AD (London) and One Show (New York) awards in 2001.

Opens: November 13
Closes: January 30, 2004

   SEE NEWS

Johannes Phokela will be holding his first comprehensive solo exhibition in South Africa, at Gallery Momo.

Born in Soweto in 1966, Phokela now lives in London, where he graduated from the Royal College of Art, London, gaining a Masters Degree in Painting in 1993. He has won several awards including a John Moore painting prize and a BP National Gallery Portrait Award. His work is represented in the South African National Gallery and in the Smithsonian National Museum for African Art.

Amongst his numerous accomplishments, Phokela was selected for the large-scale exhibition, publication and symposium project, curated by Salah Hassan for Rotterdam Cultural Capital of Europe 2001, titled 'Unpacking Europe'. He completed an IADSPIS residency programme in Stockholm 2001.

Phokela is best known for his polemical use of iconography as a resource base from which to transcend the burden of cultural myths. The Baroque images of the 17th century, as well as old Flemish painting particularly fascinate him. He takes on what he perceives as being Europe's 'grandiose' history of art as a medium to convey values and ideals represented within a global context of cultural elitism, an approach primarily chosen as a diversion.

Hw masterfully reworks iconic masterpieces and, in doing so, offers a much more complex rendition or parody, in works often consisting wholly or chiefly of motifs, forms or techniques borrowed from different sources. Phokela's paintings and use of elaborate pastiche, are a striking force and compelling creative insurrection, often endorsing oblique, idiosyncratic views on the human condition, ahead of trends and stylistic mainstreams.

Opens: November 20
Closes: December 20

'Small Things Bright and Beautiful' is an unashamedly commercial show showcasing a wide range of the venerable gallery's artists. Robert Hodgins, Cecil Skotnes, Sam Nhlengethwa, William Kentridge, David Koloane and Clive van den Berg are just some of the artists on show.

Also on show are Penny Siopis' new Shame series, Mathew Brittan's painting works, Norman Catherine's Juju Bazaar series of wood sculptures, Kagiso Pat Mautloa's miniature paintings of Zoloton in Switzerland, and Dr. Alistair Mundy-Castle's fantastical imagery made with whimsical fine line detail.

Opens: November 22
Closes: December 20

Andre Naude, Collin Cole, Sharle Matthews, Nina Romm, Theo Zouves, Annemarie Wessels, Helena Hugo and a host of other artists appear together in the Stewart gallery's final show for 2003.

Opens: November 22
Closes: December 13

Marco Cianfanelli won last year's Absa L'Atelier competition, which includes a six-month residency in Paris. This show presents his post-Paris work. Cianfanelli's videos will also be broadcast in Absa branches nationwide.

Opens: November 10, at 6pm
Closes: December 4

Kay Hassan, a former winner of the prestigious DaimlerChrysler Art Award, is currently on show at Monna wa Mokoena's new gallery. His new work combines gentle watercolour paintings, large-scale collage/ montage works as well as three wall-mounted installation boxes featuring old glasses and glasses pouches.

Hassan's large photomontage works form the centrepiece of his disparate offerings - and are also the most striking. They hint at a working method popular with many Johannesburg based artists, including Sam Nhlengethwa photomontage works.

Opens: October 25
Closes: November 15

   SEE REVIEWS

2003 DaimlerChrylser Art Award nominee Guy Tillim presents two portfolios of work, at PhotoZA.

Taken in February 2002 in the Angolan province of Bie, near Kuito, the Kunhinga Portraits series portrays displaced people, who in the months before the end of the civil war, fled in advance of the Angolan government's clearing of regions where civilians had provided cover for UNITA soldiers. The subjects had walked for five days from Monge to seek refuge in the small town of Kunhinga in the safe havens provided by foreign agencies stationed in the area. These colour portraits are a new departure for Tillim who is best known for his black-and-white reportage.

Guy Tillim's Congo Democratic series of 30 black-and-white handprints will also be on display. These photographs were taken between December 2002 and January 2003 and convey the devastating effect on civilians of the five-year war between the Congolese government and the ever-splintering rebel groups.

According to UN figures, some two million people have been displaced by the conflict in eastern Congo. On assuming power in 2001, President Joseph Kabila pledged to honour civil and political rights, but throughout 2002 he continued to exercise autocratic powers inherited from his late father and predecessor, Laurent Desire Kabila. The Ugandan and Rwandan governments continue to support various factions in securing access to one of the richest mineral areas in Africa (gold, diamonds, cobalt and columbia tantalite, or coltan). None of the factions have shown any respect for the civilian population, or for any length of time honoured their cease-fire agreements.

Opens: October 28
Closes: November 22

   SEE NEWS

   SEE PUBLICATION REVIEWS

'First Step' is the title of Abdul Razak Awofeso's exhibition of oils, acrylics, pastels, watercolours and drawings.

Razak Awofeso was born in Lagos, Nigeria in 1978 where he completed his education and obtained a National Diploma in General Art from the prestigious Yaba College of Technology. After completing his diploma he came to South Africa. As a multi-media artist who works virtually in all traditional mediums, his source of inspiration arises from scenes and people around the African continent. He was amongst four upcoming artists selected to exhibit at the Goethe-Institut Johannesburg by the 2003 Fine Arts Competion jury panel. He has also participated in several workshops at the Johannesburg Art Gallery.

'First Step' will be opened by Everest Ekong, publisher of the magazine Business in Africa.

Opens: October 28
Closes: November 15

Warren Siebrits Modern & Contemporary presents a show of works by young South African contemporary artists who have received the prestigious Ampersand Foundation (TAF) Award for excellence in the visual arts.

The Ampersand Foundation, a charitable trust established in 1997), recognises emerging South African talent in the visual arts. This second TAF Exhibition highlights the valuable role played by TAF in supporting and nurturing artistic development. The award was initiated by art patron Jack Ginsberg and addresses the isolation experienced by South African artists during the cultural boycott in the Apartheid years.

Five awards are granted annually, and offers TAF Fellows a two month funded residency at an apartment in Tribecca, New York. It provides an opportunity for Fellows to experience the magnificent art museums and stimulating artistic and cultural events in New York City. A trip to Washington is included. On their return to South Africa the Fellows voluntarily participate in an extensive national programme of community outreach workshops. Through this process their skills and experience is transferred to the local arts community.

The artists whose work will be shown include: Paul Emmanuel, Sonja Strafella, Giulio Tambellini, Dianne Victor, Gordon Froud, Giovanna Biallo, Simon Stone, Linda Given Sihlali, Anton Momberg, Christine Dixie, Susan Woolf, Marlaine Tosoni, Abrie Fourie, Alex Trapani, Antoinette Murdock, David Paton, Kim Lieberman, Ian Waldeck, Mthunzi Shadow Ndimande, John-Anthony Boerma, Themba Gule, Willem Boshoff, Norman Catherine, Marco Cianfanelli, Bongile Mkize, Giselle Baillie, Johann Moolman, Wim Botha, Rheta Erasmus, Usha Seejarim, Stefanus Rademeyer, Moleleki Frank Ledimo and Steven Cohen.

All the works on show will be by former TAF Fellows, with the artists receiving a percentage of sales. The balance of monies raised will be invested by TAF in a fund to support future Fellows. Willem Boshoff, Frank Ledimo, Robbin Silverberg and Andras Borocz will also be exhibiting.

A full-colour 46-page catalogue with illustrations of work by all contributing artists [and essays by Warren Siebrits (TAF Fellow 2001), Jack Ginsberg (Trustee) and Emma Bedford (Residency 2001)] will be available at a cost of R30.

Opens: November 13
Closes: December 13

'Umhlangano', which translates as 'getting together', brings together the doyen of South African art, Durant Sihlali, and Moleleki F Ledimo. Sihlali, who has played an important role in the growth of South African art, is exhibiting pulp paintings, and Ledimo is showing scratch lithographs and mixed media work.

Sihlali's work represents a new evolutionary stage in his extensive symbolic repertoire. The 'ancient markings' in his abstract works of the 1970s and 1980s, that gave way to political graffiti of the 1980s and 1990s, have evolved in his latest work into a range of figurative abstractions, reminiscent of his earlier township scenes of the 1960s. In his new work, these figurative motives assume the function of rock paintings of today. In his own words: "The new works are a retrospective reflection on cultural rituals and their close relationship with one another. They all include the celebration of the spiritual ancestry and as such, they represent a right of passage or a form of shamanism. They are manifestations of Ubuntu, a philosophical way of life that is fast disappearing in our lives today".

Ledimo, who has always been interested in the follies of society, has produced a new range of satirical social criticism in colourful mixed media work and monochrome scratch lithographs, in which he relentlessly criticizes social stratification: from politicians and clergy, to the middle class and the workers.

The exhibition will be opened by Sipho Mdanda, an independent researcher and curator.

Opens: November 1, at 3pm
Closes: November 29

   SEE REVIEWS

'Thoughts on Paper' is currently on at the Stewart Gallery. For further details contact the gallery directly.

Closes: November 15

Simon Gush presents 'Déjà vu', a video and installation work. "My work can largely be considered as conceptual art," explains the artist. "I work mainly with video and found objects. The video pieces are based on the concept of post-production. I use found footage, mainly stolen from movies. Stealing single shots, I produce works that are based on paintings. The work is short, between one and 15 seconds. These are displayed as infinite loops. The found objects are usually small objects presented within glass cases. I use these found objects to respond in a critical way to issues within art and immediate environment."

For guided tours, please call (011) 725 3130/ 3184.

Opens: November 2, at 11am
Closes November 23

Lolo Veleko, finalist in the 2003 MTN New Contemporaries Award, exhibits photographs of graffiti in the Cape Town and Johannesburg city centres under the title 'The ones on top won't make it stop'. She will also present a video of South African and Swiss graffiti shot on a recent residency in Basel.

Commenting on her interests, Veleko says: "graffiti is a more secretive 'portrait' of society. It is like a coded language that a certain society would use to address certain issues that others wouldn't necessarily have access to and understand. Not all things are spoken or made visible by society."

"Some things are hidden for political reasons and some are just not talked about for no reason at all. Usually in such instances, culture is used as an excuse. Also with graffiti there is a harsh truth that comes across and when compared to mainstream media it stands out because it is about reality and nothing being hidden." (Excerpted from Lolo Veleko, MTN New Contemporaries catalogue, 2003.)

The exhibition is supported by the National Arts Council.

The opening event will feature hip-hop music, breakdancing performances and graffiti in action.

Opens: November 2
Closes: December 2

A themed group show, 'Oppitafel' celebrates simple three-dimensional artefacts, accessories such as chair/s, vases, crockery and cutlery. The subtext is quickly apparent: buyable objects for the Christmas season. The long - and eminent - list of participating artist are: Gordon Froud, Diane Victor, Barend De Wet, Martine Margoles, Retha Erasmus, Walter Oltmann, Chris Diedericks, Louis Jansen Van Vuuren, Antoinette Murdoch, Uwe Pfaff, Berco Wilsenach and Marinda Du Toit.

"My plan is to weave an oversized floral centrepiece in aluminium wire," reveals Walter Oltmann. "The flowers are a mixed bunch of Protea-like blossoms (especially of the Leucadendron variety) which have spiky petals and bristly surfaces. By making them somewhat larger than life and crowding them to bursting point in a fat vase I want to achieve a sense of overblown abundance. As such it is a somewhat 'impolite' but festival floral arrangement".

Wilma Cruise will open the event.

Opens: November 2, at 5.30pm
Closes: November 28

On the March 9, earlier this year, Artist Proof Studio burnt to the ground taking with it Nhlanhla Xaba, co-founder, teacher and mentor. The loss was enormous. The fire has had a traumatic effect on everyone connected to the studio - the artists, teachers, students and those who believed implicitly in the future of a community studio, and what it stood for. Over 100 artists lost not only all of their work, but their home studio and mentor. Many lost their livelihoods.

"Re-generation" is a celebration of the Studio, its friends in the art world, and the way forward. It is in part a retrospective mainly in the sense that the work on show has been done by students, members and professional artists who have had ties to Artist Proof and Nhlanhla for many years.

In Belgium artists have worked tirelessly to produce a portfolio called 'Blues for Nhlanhla'. Nhlanhla was highly respected and people are using art in part as a therapeutic medium and in part to raise funds for the rebuilding of the studio and for the education of Nhlanhla's children. Participating artists in the Belgian Portfolio are: Kim Berman, Jean Bilquin, Francky Cane, Jan Pieter Cornelis, Enk De Kramer, Val�rie De Ravet, Thomas Roelant, Veerle Rooms and Suzanne Van Kerckhove. A poem by Frieda Groffy will be also printed on the portfolio.

The exhibition also features prints by Dikgwele Paul Molete, an Artist Proof Studio member and teacher who recently won the prize for Printmaking in the Brett Kebble Art Awards 2003.

Opens: November 5
Closes: November 19

   SEE REVIEWS

Temporary Architecture is an exhibition of unmounted, unframed colour photographs by Brenton Maart. The prints are of various sizes, and are installed as a suspended, room-sized maze. When viewed from a distance the installation forms a visually continuous landscape constructed of fragmented images. When the viewer enters the maze, a number of possible paths allows for a number of possible views. Views change with each step as perspective between prints changes. The maze is thus a construction in continual flux. In this way the work references, visually and conceptually, the formal inter-textual language of poetry.

Brenton Maart works as the Exhibitions Curator at the Johannesburg Art Gallery, and develops visual campaigns at the Centre for the Study of AIDS, University of Pretoria. He is a practicing artist and has, since 2000, participated in 14 group exhibitions at art festivals and venues including the South African Museum, Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees, Aardklop Festival, Pretoria Art Museum, Market Theatre Galleries and Museum Africa.

Maart will show work at the forthcoming 'A Decade of Democracy: Witnessing South Africa', a group exhibition touring American museums in 2004. Maart holds an M.Sc. in Biotechnology achieved with Distinction from Rhodes University, a number of certificates from the Market Photography Workshop, and is currently completing his MA in Fine Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Opens: November 5
Closes: November 26

   SEE REVIEWS

'Expressions of a Journey', a comprehensive exhibition of Irma Stern's (1894 - 1966) opened at the Standard Bank Gallery recently. Regarded as one of South Africa's foremost and internationally renowned artists, Irma Stern's passionate and energetic style captured the essence of German expressionism within an African context. Stern travelled extensively throughout Africa and Europe in her lifetime and her interest in the exotic is expressively portrayed in her vivid, richly textured still life paintings, landscapes and portraits.

A main focus of this exhibition is Stern's representation of the "other" - the depiction of the female in a patriarchal society and her celebration of multiculturalism. Her vivid impressions of Africa, especially her sojourns in the Congo and Zanzibar, highly influenced her work. Seventy paintings, thirty works on paper, two lithographic portfolios Visionen and Dumela Morena (1920), three sculptures and four ceramics will be on display. The artworks have been drawn from well-known public institutions, corporate and private collections in South Africa.

An integral part of the exhibition is the biographical room. Here Stern's journals and publications will provide the visitor with an insight into the artist's colourful public and private self - her struggle to connect her idealized world with reality. Born in 1894 in the former Transvaal, Irma Stern's formative years were spent in Germany, where she studied art and gave her first exhibition in 1919 at the Fritz Gurlitt Gallery in Berlin. She settled in Cape Town in 1920.

An extensive lecture and walkabout programme will run concurrently with the exhibition as well as a comprehensive educational workshop for school learners.

Opens: September 25
Closes: November 29

   SEE PUBLICATION REVIEWS

Six female students from the Wits School of Arts present their final year exhibition as a group show entitled "D.I.Y."

The show is a subtle expression of a preoccupation with personal, often traumatic, experience. Although the title refers to the ways in which the artists are taking responsibility for their own histories through the control of representation, it also aims a wry smile at the all female cast.

The collection of work crosses media, and personal and conceptual interrogation. Howse explores personal trauma and memories through various forms of representation; Lees' personal 'trousseau' use pewter inlays and photographic montage to investigate 'emotional baggage'; Rofail's quirky imagined narratives feature her strange alter ego in a parallel reality constructed as a way of 'deconstructing' the past, her history or true narrative, and her conflicting, contradictory memories; the large wooden sculptures of Griffiths propose juxtaposition between a child's play and an adults understanding'; Milner's large collages speak of a conflict between projected desire and lived experience; and Stone, through various modes of production, explores the unnoticed and the mundane.

For exhibition information, email: D-I-Y@webmail.co.za, or telephone Howse (072) 211 5404, Rofail (082) 691 2698 or Lees (083) 503 5097.

Opens: November 1, at 12.30pm
Closes: November 20

   SEE REVIEWS

Andrew Milne will be staging a performance titled Toast at Outlet, Abrie Fourie's alternative Pretoria art space.

Date: November 19
Time: 12 - 3pm

The inaugural show at Pretoria's new art space, the secret gallery (sic) showcases painting, installation, video, printmaking, sculpture and drawing. Two artists, Zander Blom and Lionel Smit present this veritable cross-selection of the entire art discipline.

Opens: November 27
Closes: December 10

   SEE NEWS

The Pretoria Technikon Department of Photography will be exhibiting the work of fourth year students at Mind's i Art Space. The works exhibited are a selection from the students' B.Tech degree portfolios and cover a vast range of themes, representing all the different genres of photography. Both work in the conventional photographic medium and new experimental media, such as digital audiovisual work and alternative photographic processes, will be exhibited.

Photographs by three members of the National Photographic Club, George Swart, Anelia Botha and M.C. Botha will also be on display.

Opens: November 4, at 7pm
Closes: November 15

Marx is known for his creative collaborations with William Kentridge and Lara Foot Newton. He works in a range of media, often presenting his work within a theatre format.

Opens: October 14, at 6pm
Closes: November 15