Archive: Issue No. 93, May 2005

09.05.05 Berni Searle at Michael Stevenson Contemporary
09.05.05 Sue Williamson at João Ferreira Gallery
09.05.05 Peter Magubane at SANG
09.05.05 Patricia Driscoll at Photographers Gallery za
09.05.05 'Subject to Change' at the SANG
09.05.05 Xolile Mtakatya, Andries Gouws and Lizza Littlewort at the AVA
09.05.05 Luan Nel at Bell-Roberts
09.05.05 'Drawing Room' at DIRT Contemporary
09.05.05 Nikhil Singh at Bell-Roberts
09.05.05 'Art about Art' at the SANG
09.05.05 'Finding You' collaborative ceramics at the AVA
09.05.05 Egon Tania at João Ferreira Gallery
09.05.05 Watkins Tudor Jones at the Michaelis School of Fine Art
09.05.05 Mary Visser at the UCT Irma Stern

26.04.05 Kathryn Smith at the SANG
26.04.05 New acquisitions at 34 Long
26.04.05 Uwe Pfaff at VEO Gallery

STELLENBOSCH

09.05.05 Pienaar van Niekerk and Louis Esterhuizen at US Art Gallery
09.05.05 Christo Coetzee at Sasol Museum

FRANSCHHOEK

26.04.05 'Kaleidoscope' at Grande Provence
 

Berni Searle shows a new body of work at the Michael Stevenson Contemporary Gallery in an exhibition called 'About to Forget'. It comprises a series of photo-based prints and a panoramic three-channel projection, shot on 35mm film.

The Gallery says the works explore the process of remembering and forgetting and the space in-between where our sense of people and events fades and blurs - 'Using a handful of old family photographs as source material, Searle has created silhouette cut-outs from red crépe paper that are submerged in water. The forms gradually lose their definition as the red pigment bleeds into the water, evoking the fluctuations of memory and the fluidity of relationship over time.'

Searle was recently selected to exhibit at the prestigious 51st Venice Biennale. She will conduct a walkabout of this exhibition at 10am on May 6. The cost is R35. Call Nombini on (021) 421 2575 for more info.

Opens: May 4
Closes: June 4

Sue Williamson's new body of work is a picture diary of the artist's travels and encounters, and an investigation into the publicity promises of the brochures each hotel displays on the reception desk. The hotel room becomes a temporary studio for the visiting artist and a base from which to explore the hotel itself.

The second body of work is a powerful video and print series called 'Better Lives'. It deals with the issue of displacement of migrants, exiles and refugees who come to Cape Town seeking a new life. They face fresh difficulties gaining a foothold in communities already struggling to give their own families better lives.

The press release says, 'In this series of six filmed portraits, the subjects are listening for the first time to an edited version of their life story. The seriousness of each participant in the project is reflected in the intensity of their facial expressions. In this update of the classic African photographic studio genre, the black-and-white backdrop is a photo of Cape Town's Table Mountain.'

Opens: 6pm, May 11
Closes: May 28

This photographic documentation of events in and around the life of Nelson Mandela, entitled 'Madiba: Man of Destiny', by photographer Peter Magubane, spans a fascinating time in South Africa's history from the 1950s to the present day.

According to SANG, it presents a narrative of oppression, struggle and victory for all South Africans while paying tribute to the man who played such a critical role in the establishment of South Africa's democracy. Magubane himself also suffered during apartheid, being detained in 1969 and, upon release, being banned for five years.

'Madiba: Man of Destiny' was curated by the Roodepoort Museum and forms part of the events that marked the conferring of Freedom of the City of Johannesburg upon Nelson Mandela.

Opens: April 5
Closes: May 22

The Photographers Gallery za is hosting a selection of work by Patricia Driscoll that 'gives expression to the emotional quality of seeing'.

According to The Photographers Gallery, Driscoll's images articulate an emotive content often eclipsed by their visual objects and not prescribed by any fixed connotation. Furthermore, 'Driscoll's intention is to place something in front of the viewer that might encourage or elicit some sense of feeling within themselves, thereby opening up ... communication between the viewer and the work.'

'It is all around you' is Driscoll's second show, following her debut in 2002 'Shoreline'. She received an ABSA Atelier Merit Award in 2003 for her work.

Opens: April 20
Closes: May 21

This exhibition, which is drawn from the SANG's permanent collection, 'explores the multiple and complex subjectivities of South Africans through works of art that address the need for change and the process of transformation in South Africa'. The focus of the exhibition is not only on political transformation but also on the transformative power of desire and spirituality.

The exhibition profiles many recent acquisitions made with the gallery's funds from the Department of Arts and Culture's Transformation Budget. These newer works are juxtaposed with earlier works exposing intolerable conditions.

Artists include Jane Alexander, Tyrone Appollis, Willie Bester, Peter Clarke, Randolph Hartzenberg, Nicholas Hlobo, Ranjith Kally, Simon Lekgetho, Leonard Matsoso, Santu Mofokeng, Thami Mnyele, Zanele Muholi, Antoinette Murdoch, Tracey Rose, Philip Rikhotso, Alfred Thoba and Diane Victor.

Opens: March 19
Closes: August 28

Xolile Mtakatya, who featured in the AVA's collaborative exhibition 'Finding You', returns this month with a solo show called 'Episodes' in the Main gallery. He works mostly in brightly coloured pastels to explore aspects of daily life in South Africa. Mtakatya has previously held an AVA solo and participated in several AVA group exhibitions.

Andries Gouws from Durban exhibits in the Long gallery with his first AVA solo. He shows a series of painted works on canvas in muted shades, 'depicting interior spaces and contemplative objects therein'.

Upstairs, Lizza Littlewort returns to the AVA with a second solo show called 'How did Lizza Meet Jake Chapman?'. The show comprises portraits in oil of famous conceptual artists - South African and international - such as Sarah Lucas and Moshekwa Langa.

Opens: May 9
Closes: May 28

Luan Nel says of 'Hobby Heroes', 'In the works on exhibition, I have created fantasy landscapes using models from miniature train sets and landscapes. The choice of material is very specific. It speaks about escape and control.'

The artist spent many childhood holidays at a shop-fitting factory in a Johannesburg town called Meyerton where his father worked. The scenes are not reconstructions of the memories of place or activities but rather of what Meyerton did not have - ice rinks, beaches and skiing among them.

Opens: May 4
Closes: May 28

This group exhibition promises a combination of stylistic trends and conceptual languages - particularly that of story-telling and characterisation.

The main idea is to showcase a group of artists' work in an accessible manner. The works are produced by a selection of Cape Town designers, illustrators and artists and is described as 'a spirited, quirky collection of illustration, painting and sculpture'.

Most of the artworks will be for sale for under R500. Participants include Jesse Breytenbach, Jacqui Stecher, Samantha Bulgin, Heather Moore, Francesco Nassimbeni and Lucinda Mudge.

Opens: 6pm, May 6
Closes: May 30

Nikhil Singh is exhibiting drawings inspired by Tarot cards in 'Psychopomp'. He has many creative irons in the fire: as well as being a fortune-teller, Singh is working on a graphic novel. Some parts of the novel were reproduced in the Constructus book and the latest edition of Mamba.

His work has been published in Sturgeon White Moss and Dazed and Confused. Singh is also lead singer and guitarist for Cape Town band, The Wild Eyes, whose European tour starts in June.

Opens: May 5
Closes: May 28

'Art about Art' focuses attention on how artists have made use of other artists' work in the making of new images. According to the SANG, it is about how artists draw inspiration from the art of the past and incorporate the subject matter of 'art' into their own work.

The SANG says: 'The exhibition is not about mere copying, for at best, a new artistic synthesis emerges when artists engage with the work of others.' Highlights include work by Alexis Preller, Irma Stern, Christo Coetzee, Stanley Pinker, and Sipho Ndlovu.

Opens: April 8
Closes: June 15

A collaborative exhibition between ceramicists and fine artists takes up all three exhibition spaces at the AVA in a show called 'Finding You'. Jeanetta Blignaut has curated the exhibition, which treats visual and ceramic artists as equals collaborating to produce 'non-functional art pieces' in clay.

The artists are matched according to visual sensitivities and complimentary conceptual and formal attributes. The show highlights the delicacy of porcelain, the workability of earthenware and the liveliness of glaze.

Artists include Tamlin Blake, Haneke Benade, Conrad Botes, Wilna Coetzer, Tom Cullberg, Peter Eastman, Louise Gelderblom, Greta Matthews-McMahon, JP Meyer, Hennie Meyer, John Murray, Xolile Mtakatya, Lyndi Sales, Barbara Wildenboer, Doreen Southwood, Mandla Vanyaza, Lyn Smuts and more.

Opens: April 18
Closes: May 7

Egon Tania is a sculptor who mainly uses wood and bases his work on the human form. He is strongly influenced by traditional European carving but also incorporates the freer expressive character of African carving into his work. Found objects are often used to manipulate the carved form and the result is a dialogue between illusion and the three-dimensional form.

Tania works in a narrative form so all the sculptures in the exhibition are part of a single work. He has based these sculptures on fleeting observations of people on the route connecting Woodstock and Observatory, near the Salt River Circle, which he has travelled most frequently over the past three years.

Tania says, 'The scale of the sculptures and the interaction of the various characters become the indicators of a multi-directional, non-linear narrative - the sequence of which is left to the viewer's discretion. The viewer enters a preconfigured arrangement and is offered a multiplicity of potential perspectives.'

Opens: May 4
Closes: May 28

Watkin Tudor Jones will be presenting the latest series of sculptures in his Fantastic Kill range at the Michaelis School of Fine Art in a one-night exhibition. Better known as Waddy Jones, lead singer of the band Max Normal and member of the Constructus Corporation, he will also be launching his new album at the event.

The series of sculptures comprises small stuffed felt animals, mostly based on indigenous fauna, some of which have a definitely sinister undertone. There will also be a small series of digital prints on view.

The exhibition moves on to a video screening in which two works by Jones will be screened. This will be followed by a live concert at 11pm. Waddy Jones is known for his blend of hip hop and electronica but his versatility as an artist is evident from the range of genres across which he works.

The show is curated by Andrew Lamprecht and a team of students from the Michaelis School of Fine Art, who have undertaken the project as part of a course in curatorship. Jones most recently exhibited at Oudtshoorn's Klein Karoo National Arts Festival. Tickets for the concert are R40 (or R30 in advance from Scar, Tel: 021 4225900).

Opens: 6.30pm, June 3

Mary Visser shows a new body of paintings entitled 'Nocturnes'. Visser works here mainly in enamels in a series of cityscapes, landscapes and others which verge on the abstract. These are rendered in a cool smooth palette shot through with warm, incandescent highlights. Alongside painting, Visser lectures in drawing at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

Opens: 6pm, May 10
Closes: June 11

Kathryn Smith, Standard Bank Young Artist for 2004, completes her nationwide tour by bringing her highly regarded exhibition, 'Euphemism', to the National Gallery. Smith says she treats the exhibition as a travelling work-in-progress and responds to the specific spaces of each installation. Viewers who have seen this exhibition before will therefore still find much to intrigue them second time around.

'Euphemism' occupies three galleries. One is dedicated to Jack in Johannesburg, which is Smith's body of work made in response to British painter Walter Sickert's alleged relationship to the Jack the Ripper murders in Victorian England, as well as works by Sickert in public collections in South Africa. It includes several works which have not been seen before.

Smith also exhibits a mock-documentary video, two collections from the Psychogeographies series, a suite of hand-printed photolithographs, Peculiar Modern Behaviour, a photographic/ performance series Episodes: Me and My Shadows featuring Rat Pack impersonators from Las Vegas, and four diptychs called Episodes: The Hour Has Come But Not the Man.

Of this work Smith says, 'Artistic practice and an equally compelling interest in forensic investigation, particularly the psychological aspects of criminal activity and creative endeavour, have preoccupied me since childhood. Choosing to prioritise my work as an artist, curator and critic, my artistic practice owes much to the forensic investigator's ability to recreate compelling narratives from evidence that can often best be described as debris.'

There will be a walkabout at 10.30am on Sunday May 8. The cost is R25. Call Lizzie on (021) 467 4662, Tue-Thurs, from 10am - 2pm.

Opens: April 5
Closes: May 22

Substantial works in various media by several South African and international artists comprise the second exhibition for this new gallery space in Cape Town. Artists include Jenny Saville, Thomas Ruff, Takashi Murakami, William Kentridge, Willie Bester, Zwelethu Mthethwa, Esther Mahlangu, Speelman Mahlangu, Peter Clarke and Dumile Feni. A series of work by Robert Hodgins will be a highlight of the show.

Opens: April 13
Closes: May 28

Uwe Pfaff's exhibition 'I am not who I think I am' will show his trademark metalwork and a body of mixed medium work on a variety of surfaces including glass, perspex and aluminium. He takes a short break from heavy metal to explore new imagery with colour.

Pfaff says: 'I am working more spontaneously, establishing a more direct line to the images in my mind ... not only looking at shapes and the spaces in between but also the spaces beneath and above the surfaces.'

Opens: April 26
Closes: May 7

Painter Pienaar van Niekerk and poet Louis Esterhuizen collaborated on this exhibition. Van Niekerk uses Esterhuizen's poetry as basis and content for his paintings - not to illustrate the content as such, but to use words and text 'as intellectual, symbolic and even abstract material. In this way, text can be treated as texture and letters as form.' Van Niekerk experiments with different planes to create depth and often uses the square as picture plane, which in turn is sub-divided.

Marriana Booyens will also exhibit paintings created for Stef Bos' volume of poetry, Gebroke Sinne. Small black-and-white photos appear in many of the works.

Opens: April 25
Closes: May 24

Works by Christo Coetzee (1929-2000), which cover all the periods of his creative life, are on show at the Sasol Art Museum this month. They range from informal abstraction, through the 'Baroque' paintings, portraits and drawings to a few works in mixed media. This collection of works donated to the University between 1980 and 2000 is on show on the mezzanine floor.

Meanwhile, a semi-permanent exhibition upstairs includes South African greats like Gregoire Boonzaier, Frans Oerder and Hugo Naudé. Works by Irma Stern and JH Pierneef complete the offering.

Opens: April 29
Closes: May 14

A new gallery opens this month at the Grande Provence wine estate in Franschhoek. Art consultant Rose Korber has selected an assortment of artworks in a range of media from painting to sculpture and prints.

Artists represented include Sanell Aggenbach, Peter Eastman, Robert Hodgins, Stephen Inggs, JP Meyer, Xolile Mtakatya, Zwelethu Mthethwa, John Murray, Sam Nhlengethwa, Robert Slingsby, Herman van Nazareth, Avhashoni Mainganye and Louise Gelderblom.

Opens: April 10