Archive: Issue No. 112, December 2006

3.12.06 'Iron Fist Art Decko' at Bean Bag Bohemia Gallery
3.12.06 Julius Mfethe, Innocent Hlela and the Velobala group at the African Art Centre

5.11.06 'Towards a new future - Sizoshinisa Impilo Yethu'at the Durban Art Gallery
5.11.06 Churchill Madikida at the Durban Art Gallery
5.11.06 'Buzzart' Festive Season Exhibiton at the KZNSA Gallery
5.11.06 'Affordable Art Fair 2006' at artSPACE durban
5.11.06 'About Face': An exhibition of portraits from the Durban Art Gallery's permanent collection

1.09.06 Peter Bendheim at the Durban Art Gallery

Following a successful national tour the 'Iron Fist Art Decko' skateboard deck exhibition opens at Bean Bag's Gallery on November 24.

The initiative is aimed at both up-and-coming and recognised artists to create an art piece using a blank skateboard deck as a canvas. An interesting mix of artists from across the country has been invited to showcase their work. KZN contributing artists include Matt Waters, Kim Longhurst, Scott Robertson, Trevor Paul, Louis de Villiers, Conan, Ian 'Ewok' Robinson, Luke Molver, Wesley van Eerden and Dallas Davy.

For further information contact Terence Pearce on (031) 303 6238.

Opens: November 23
Closes: December 22

An exhibition of works by wood sculptor Julius Mfethe, mosaics by Innocent Hlela and selected works of the students of the Velobala Group will be on view from December 6. Mfethe is well known, and widely imitated, for his beautifully detailed small scale carvings of everyday subject matter from rural Eastern Cape where he makes his home. Often executed in pale, hard woods, the carvings are embellished by other materials such as leather and horn.

Opens: 5.30 pm, December 6 Closes: December 22

'Towards a New Future- Sizoshinisa Impilo Yethu: An exhibition of artwork produced by offenders in correctional centres in KwaZulu-Natal' is part of an annual project/partnership between the Regional Office of the Department of Correctional Services and KwaZulu-Natal's National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders (NICRO).

The exhibition is a selection of the winning entries in the provincial competition. Entrants include men, women and youth from 25 correctional centres in KZN. The works on show include paintings, drawings, fabric paintings, works created using recyclable materials, needlework, handcraft, poetry and prose. The annual exhibition encourages offenders to continue with their production of artworks, in the hope that they may create employment for themselves and contribute to their communities upon their release.

Opens: November 4
Closes: December 3

The Oxford English Dictionary defines portraiture as a 'representation or delineation of a person, especially of the face, made from life, by drawing, painting, photography, engraving etc.: a likeness'. 'About Face' includes portrait-based artworks from the Durban Art Gallery's permanent collection spanning from as early as the 16th Century to the present. The deliberate juxtaposition of works with similar thematics creates interesting dialogues, such as the positioning of Michael Croeser's Birth Control Versus Infinity (2001) next to Thomas Matthews Rooke's The Weaving of the Enchantress (1902), considering notions of the construction of beauty and mass consumption.

The genre of portraiture has significantly changed since the early 16th Century, where one's status and social standing were clearly evident in the images. The contemporary works on the exhibition deal with issues of identity and the purposeful juxtapositions with the earlier works in the collection provide a shifting narrative throughout the exhibition space.

Opens: October 16
Closes: January, 2007

Churchill Madikida's exhibition entitled 'Like Father Like Son?' continues its countrywide tour after opening at the Grahamstown Arts Festival in June.

Madikida's Standard Bank Young Artist Award exhibition draws from personal experience exploring issues around growing up with an absent father. The works on exhibition engage with the artist's complex family history, exploring the differences and commonalities between members of his family, especially his father whom he recently met for the first time in 32 years.

The artworks provide an insight into how growing up without his biological father may have shaped Madikida's sense of being, his relationships and even perhaps his perception of the world. He attempts to share his struggles in trying to understand and overcome growing up without a biological father. For Madikida this process includes dealing and acknowledging shortcomings and wrongs of the past, but mostly offering forgiveness and moving forward.

The artist will be conducting a public walkabout at 10am, November 16.

Opens: November 15
Closes: December 13

For the fourth year running, artSPACE durban will be bringing more affordable fine art to the public. artSPACE durban gives a variety of established and lesser-known artists the opportunity to exhibit their work within the bounds of keeping their work 'affordable' to the buying public. The works on exhibition include paintings, photographs and ceramics.

Opens: 6.30pm, November 29
Closes: January 13

The annual Buzzart Festive Season Exhibition of the KwaZulu-Natal Society of Arts opens on November 19. The exhibition showcases local artists as well as an eclectic mix of gift items from all over the world.

For more information on the works for sale - Tel: (031) 277 1700, Email: shop@kznsagallery.co.za

Opens: November 19
Closes: January 10

'Snap' is an exhibition of photographs by Peter Bendheim who is well known in Durban as the editor of Metro Beat magazine. The photographs on this exhibition were first shown on Bendheim's first solo exhibition at artSPACE durban in October 2005. The photos reveal images of Durban and other places that go beyond the conventional representation of Durban as depicted in tourist brochures and postcards.

Bendheim states: 'To me, the city is full of vibrancy, noise, colours and movement. There are moments of humour and moments that are sad and touching. Life here is a rapidly passing parade, and I wanted to capture some of its fleeting nature, some of its intimacy and some of its hot and tropical brashness.'

Opens: The exhibition is on view during September