2003 in review
by Virginia MacKenny
1) Best Show(s): David Goldblatt's recent exhibition at the Goodman Gallery. The acuity of attention to detail in the big colour prints brought a new aesthetic dimension to the socio-political commentary we have come to expect from Goldblatt. Also: Jeremy Wafer and Sandile Zulu at Michael Stevenson, which was an intellectual and visually satisfying two-person show; Berni Searle's Standard Bank Young Artist Award at the Grahamstown Festival, whose great videos remained to haunt the imagination; William Kentridge at the Goodman provided a rich interaction of video, drawing and printmaking; Colbert Mashile at the NSA revivified watercolour and opened up the privileged and sacred spaces of circumcision ritual in a way that was monumental while remaining intimate and discrete.
2) Best individual artwork: Difficult to ever single out a particular artwork, but even though it is not strictly a 2003 work, having been seen at Documenta 11 in 2002, William Kentridge's video Zeno Writing, seen again at the Goodman this year, made a lasting impression with the provocative transition of the smoke trail from a cigarette turning into the smoke trail of a war plane going down.
3) Most memorable quote: from Mike van Graan's Artwit column (Mail & Guardian, November 14) where he asks sponsors to "get behind the arts" instead of sports. After pointing out that it's not great for business to be backing a bunch of losers where the forwards "save their best ball handling for the opposition in the scrum", he sums up by saying that "it's legitimate for business to expect bang for their buck, but unfortunately in rugby they've taken this to mean that our buck gets banged every time they encounter a kiwi, a wallaby or a hen".
4) Biggest disappointments: There were a few -
a) The proposed closure of the Sculpture and Ceramic departments at the Durban Institute of Technology,
b) The increase in price of that much needed publication Art South Africa. The jump, with no warning, from a fairly accessible R50 to R70 makes one wonders if rather than generate more funds this ploy won't simply lose the publisher readers.
c) Tracy Rose's walkabout of her exhibition at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival where she seemed unable to even remember the names of the characters in her work. Given that people had paid for the pleasure it might seem necessary to point out to Ms Rose that she should respect her audience more and get her ducks in a row before such an event or, if she can't, appoint someone else to do the job more effectively.
5) Best review: none
6) Artist to watch in 2004: Colbert Mashile
