[02.06.06] 'Recent Arrivals' at 34Long
'Recent Arrivals' finds 34Long gallerists Andries Loots and Fred de Jager juxtaposing local and international works, and well established artists with their much lesser known counterparts. The show, according to Linda Stupart, goes some way to defining the character and further entrenching the calibre of the gallery.

   [02.06.06] Johann van der Schijff at Bell-Roberts Contemporary
Johann van der Schijff's 'Power Play' explores the intersection of boyhood, sexuality, violence and South African nationalism in a series of highly finished and finely wrought works. Linda Stupart is highly impressed with this mixture of military/industrial efficiency and boyish playfulness in which the artist questions notions of power and progress and the roles these ideals play in national and personal identities.

   [02.06.06] Eris Silke at the AVA
'When Eris Silke transcends her own narcissistic self-absorption, she is capable of producing poignant meditations on the traumas of Jewish history,' writes Lloyd Pollack in his review of 'Dreams and Obsessions'. However, in this show, she dwells on 'her passionate and enduring love affair with herself ', prevaricating between fear of violation and erotic yearning.

   [02.06.06] 'Picasso and Africa' at the SANG
After over 100 000 people visited 'Picasso and Africa' at Cape Town's SANG and Jo'burg's Standard Bank Gallery, Andrew Lamprecht provides a comprehensive overview of the show itself, its reception and presentation, as well as its principal curatorial aims.

   [02.06.06] Guy Tillim at Michael Stevenson Contemporary
Bettina Malcomess reviews Guy Tillim's 'Petros Village, Malawi, 2006', concluding that the viewer is ultimately complicit in the realisation of his extraordinary photographs in that we see what he does when the picture is taken.

   [02.06.06] William Kentridge's 'Black Box' at The Johannesburg Art Gallery
Michael Smith reviews William Kentridge's latest exhibition at the JOhannesburg Art Gallery

   [02.06.06] Brett Murray at the Goodman Gallery
Brett Murray's return to Johannesburg finds the artist juxtaposing his signature, one-liners and sculptural works with satirical paintings, digital images and other less funny, intuitively-based works he describes as 'tragic antidotes'. Michael Smith hails Murray's grasp of satire's relevance and his desire to make clear that which we would often prefer remained opaque.

   [02.06.06] James Beckett at the KZNSA
James Beckett returns from Europe to Durban with 'an untitled exhibition of cut-up', an intriguing exhibition of collected and juxtaposed objects, whose unpredictable placement and reworking at the artist's hand culminates in an intriguing tableau where clarity rubs up against the hidden. Dean Henning reviews.

   [02.06.06] Peter Machen at the KZNSA Gallery
Journalist and critic Peter Machen's début exhibition stems from a self-published book containing photographs and poetry. Francesca Verga finds this fresh insight into the familiar figure fascinating.

   [02.06.06] Dak'art 7
Durban Art Gallery Director Carol Brown was on the 'Dak'art 7' jury, along with five others from Senegal, England, America and India. It was with some regret that she returned to Durban, despite the organisational hiccoughs which somewhat hampered Africa's most important biennale. She reports on her visit.