Sanell Aggenbach at Bell-Roberts
by Tavish McIntosh
Using maritime exploration as a point of departure, Sanell Aggenbach's new show 'Fool's Gold', posits a link between domestic inheritance and the ideology of conquest. The show demonstrates Aggenbach's ability to change tack from parodying Afrikaans cultural pretensions, whilst retaining the nuanced aesthetic and the understated humour of her former exhibitions. Combining sculpture and painting in a quirky mix, the show imbues banal objects of the everyday (like porcelain plates and origami ships) and images of the popular imagination with status and authority. Simultaneously, it layers the narratives of their origins, questioning the consequences of their acquisition. In this process, Aggenbach implicates herself as an inheritor of the mythologies of imperialism.
The exhibition reminds us that the highly valued bric-a-brac of cultural exchange required braving the high seas and uncharted territories. Fear and danger fill the tales of early explorers with fantastical monsters. In Ghost these imaginary creatures are contrasted with the calm, understated paintings of porcelain crockery that traveled the world before it rested upon the bourgeois mantelpiece. The inheritors of valuable commodities are implicated in a process that is highly charged - both historically and culturally. In an apt amalgamation of disciplines, the meticulously painted canvases are arrayed on display racks, much as the dishes they depict would be. The works bring an ominous, yet absurd nostalgia.
The diptych Charybdis and Schylla refers to the Greek legend of the sucking whirlpool and clashing rocks which straddled the Straits of Messina making treacherous passage for ships. Even those unaware of the myth will search the murky nondescript seascape for the impending threat. The paintings' round format reinforces the sense of danger, because the severely circumscribed view echoes the porthole from which the confined and helpless sailor would gaze. Simultaneously the works' rounded cushion-like aspect is strangely comforting, undermining the sinister coldness of the paintings themselves. Blues and grays dominate the exhibition, conveying calm and quietness, and yet threatening a coming storm.
The basis of the desire for terra incognita is evident in Travelogue where an image of the artist's own truncated body is overlaid with blue tattoos depicting a confrontation between ship and legendary monster. The body is a battleground of fantasy and reality. Reference to traditional supine representations of the female body encourages thoughts of female objectification. The classic beauty of the body is, however, polluted by more than just the overlaid tattoo: there are fine reddened imprints of recently worn undergarments, which position it outside of the universal. The body is placed within a contemporary context. Aggenbach thus personalises that which is being exhibited and removes it from intellectual abstraction. Here she ties the contemporary self with the ideologies of the past.
Like most of the painted images, the figure is positioned close to the picture plane, almost on top of the viewer. The background remains dark and murky, and the illusion of space is further complicated by the superimposition of calligraphic drawings. Aggenbach continues to reference traditional Western painting traditions, whilst undermining their absolute hold over representational forms.
In a state of suspended animation, the North-by-North-West installation seems bent on escaping the invisible bonds that hold it in place. The bent and painted plywood is forced into shapes that could allude to blank, open books, or perhaps a flock of flying gulls. Explaining it to me afterwards, Aggenbach talked of the well-traveled path to Europe that lies on the north-by-north-west axis. This is a highway of information and cultural exchange, whose route is increasingly well worn by the many young South Africans going to seek their fortunes in these former imperial headquarters. Through the repetitious use of form, Aggenbach slyly criticizes flock mentality as she did in her earlier show 'Blank'.
Less compelling is the Parallel Worlds print series, where mythic creatures of popular legend battle the cumbersome ships of the West. This series, however, serves as a lead into the other works, articulating one of Aggenbach's main theses. Representations of 'reality' and 'fantasy' are juxtaposed to reveal both as manifestations of specific belief systems.
'Fool's Gold' foregrounds the ideological underpinnings of early imperial conquests, managing to question both the artist's and our own position as, oftentimes, inheritors of this imperial outlook. The fanciful images are engaging and Aggenbach demonstrates her ability to expand the focus of her work whilst retaining the aesthetic that has made her one of South Africa's up-and-coming artists. The exhibition is beautifully realised, engaging and conceptually convincing.
Opened: October 26
Closed: December 3
Bell-Roberts Contemporary Art Gallery
89 Bree Street, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 422 1100
Fax: (021) 423 3135
Email: suzette@bell-roberts.com
www.bell-roberts.com
Hours: Mon - Fri 8.30am - 5.30pm, Sat 10am - 2pm
