'Marina Abramovic and Paolo Canevari' at the Johannesburg Art Gallery
by Legodile Seganabeng
Marina Abramovic and Paolo Canevari are important figures in the international art arena, Abramovic in particular for the legacy of performance discourse she has developed over the years. This is their first visit to South Africa, and it is key in not only the type of work shown, but the fact that they can be welcomed to local shores with the kind of art-sensitive support that is warranted.
Both artists' work hung together as an exhibition, commenting with aesthetic sensitivity, but also critical acuity, to political issues at play in the discourse. Each artist's work was also strong enough and different enough to hold its own, and the exhibitions extended over several gallery spaces at the JAG.
I felt particularly drawn to Canevari's installations on a number of levels. Landscape comprised a pile of tyres and oil drums, draped with the American flag. Blackstones was also made of tyres. Visually it is a huge and heavy cube of a sculpture that threatens to swallow up the whole space of the hall in which it appears. I felt dwarfed by the piece. Evoking a feeling of discomfort and constriction, it is potent in its drama. Totem is also made of tyres and an oil drum. I felt that the resonance of this piece was primarily gender-based, given the structure and layout of its elements.
Fitting to her reputation in the discourse, Abramovic's works comprised videos and performances. In The Hero, a DVD projection of the artist on a horseback holding a white flag, the horse is very still, but the flag and Abramovic's hair flap relentlessly in the wind. The piece is heroic in its implications, and powerful in its visual component.
Count on us is another video installation by Abramovic. Five DVD projections installed around the exhibiting space operate in tandem. In one, the artist seems to handle a bolt of lightning, in another a male child sings a extract from a song. In another, a female child sings an extract. A fourth projection offers a group of children ranged formally and singing under the baton of Abramovic herself, dressed all in black with a human skeleton attached to her, front and another at back. The final projection reveals what seem to be the same children, forming a pentagram with their own bodies.
Connotations of magic ritual aside, the children sing a United Nations song about the war in Bosnia. This can be read as an ironic extrapolation on the organisation's handling of the genocide in this part of the world, which is Abramovic's place of birth.
I enjoyed the challenges that these big works offered local art lovers and feel that the appearance of these two artists was appropriate to our local context and newish democracy.
May 1 - May 31
Johannesburg Art Gallery
Johannesburg Art Gallery
Cnr. Klein and King George Streets, Joubert Park
Tel: (011) 725 3130/ 80 / 81
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