Banner paintings at Cape Town's Waterfront
by Sue Williamson
Following the success of the Johannesburg Art City campaign in 2002, when more than 35 outsized blowups of works by artists from across the country were attached to buildings in the downtown area, three such banners have made their appearance at the Cape Town V&A Waterfront.
The banners have been attached to one of the most industrially beautiful buildings in the area, the landmark grain silos, built in 1924 and once the tallest structures in the city. The artists involved are the team of photographer Dale Yudelman and painter Arlene Amahler Raviv. The two artists participated in the Johannesburg project, and have also collaborated on a number of projects and exhibitions in the past few years, most recently at the last Havana Biennale. Amahler Raviv paints images of people into photographs of the city taken by Yudelman, and the results are digitally photographed and enlarged.
Cell C, the sponsors of the Johannesburg project, again stepped in to provide financial backing, and the logistics were handled by Tractor Outdoor, with the 28 metre high banners being put into place by a team from Access Unlimited. Durban will be the site of the next phase of Cell C's Art in the City initiative.
