Archive: Issue No. 105, May 2006

5.05.06 'Nie Meer' in Belgium
5.05.06 Gregg Smith in Belgium
5.05.06 Gregg Smith in France
5.05.06 Hylton Nel in Dublin
5.05.06 Guy Tillim in Rome
5.05.06 Roger Ballen in Rome
5.05.06 Mandy Lee Jandrell in Southampton
5.05.06 'There & Back. Africa' at La Casa Encendida, Madrid

2.03.06 'Black, Brown, White: South African Photography' in Vienna
2.03.06 William Kentridge in Italy
2.03.06 Ina van Zyl in the Netherlands

THE AMERICAS

2.03.06 'Personal Affects' in Honolulu
2.03.06 'Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography' in New York

AFRICA

5.05.06 Luanda Trienal in Angola

AUSTRALIA

11.04.06 'Masquerade - Representation and the Self in Contemporary Art' at the MCA in Sydney

FAR EAST

5.05.06 'Africa Remix' opens at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo
5.05.06 'Off the Record' in Tokyo
 

De Warande, an art centre in Turnhout, Belgium, holds a South African group exhibition entitled 'Nie meer'. The artists exhibiting are: Bridget Baker, Francis Goodman, Pieter Hugo, Mustafa Maluka, Zen Marie, Tracey Rose, Gregg Smith, Greg Streak, Billie Zangewa and Candice Breitz. The exhibition is curated by Ives Maes and Ellen Loots.

Opens: April 23
Closes: May 28

Gregg Smith presents a new video installation which will be produced by and shown at the arts development centre, FLACC, Centrum voor Kunsten en Beelcultuur in Genk, Belgium. Cape Town-born Smith has been resident in France for a few years, before which he was living in the Netherlands.

Opens: May 18
Closes: June 18

Gregg Smith is taking part in the exhibition 'Marcher' at the Maison des Arts Georges Pompidou, in Cajarc, France. The exhibition is curated by Martine Michard and includes works by the likes of Francis Alys, Mircea Cantor, Hamish Fulton and Stalker.

Opens: March18
Closes: June 11

Peter Ting, homeware designer for Asprey, London, has brought together an international cast of highly respected and collected ceramic makers, Hylton Nel included, in 'To Hold' at the Farmleigh Gallery in Dublin. As the exhibition title suggests, the works are all vessels associated with containing, carrying and holding.

Opens: April 27
Closes: June 10

Guy Tillim's 'Petros Village', currently on show at the Michael Stevenson Contemporary in Cape Town, will be exhibited as part of the Fotografia Festival Internazionale di Roma during May.

In this new series of colour photographs Tillim looks intimately at the daily life of the residents of a village in central Malawi. On two separate occasions he stayed for a week in the village and quietly observed the conversations and routines of the day. His lyrical images of the residents and the textures of the village linger, evoking stillness and reserve.

Opens: May 4
Closes: May 28

Roger Ballen's 'Shadow Chamber', also currently on exhibition in Cape Town, too forms part of the Fotografia Festival Internazionale di Roma this month.

Ballen's photographs for 'Shadow Chamber' are striking, ambiguous images of people, animals and objects posed in mysterious, cell-like rooms. The pictures occupy the grey area between fact and fiction, blurring the boundaries between documentary photography and constructed images. Ballen focuses on the interactions between the people, animals and objects that inhabit mysterious rooms - the shadow chamber. The resulting images are surreal and intriguing, and powerful disturbing psychological studies.

Opens: May 4
Closes: May 28

Capetonian Mandy Lee Jandrell shows photographs in 'Green' at the Winchester Gallery in Southampton. This is an exhibition of contemporary photographic and video works in which the colour green figures prominently, with its inevitable connotations of the environment, the rural landscape, and the dubious notion of a 'green and pleasant land', which sits uneasily alongside questions of heritage, ownership, access and use.

Jandrell's large scale photographs reflect the 'themed' environment increasingly popular in the UK and elsewhere. Safari parks, botanical gardens and nature trails are all part of a highly controlled rural landscape. Jandrell explores these territories across Europe and beyond to create images that are comical and curious: the rhinoceros strolling through green English parkland, or the plastic Tyrannosaurus Rex looming aggressively in the traditional green of a stately garden. These images invite us to question the cultural filters through which we view the countryside.

Opens: May 10
Closes: June 8

In the wake of 'Africa Remix', the Danielle Tilkin-curated show, 'There & Back. Africa' invites viewers 'to undertake a two-way journey, from South to North, and examine the similarities and differences between the work of those artists who emigrated and the work of those who stayed'. It also interrogates the concept of what is 'African', with work representing several generations of artists who have penetrated international circuits in recent years.

The wide ranging show includes a substantial number of works from many of the artists - for instance, Moshekwa Langa is represented by nine drawings, paintings or collages, and the video projection Where do I Begin in which the artist has focused his camera on to the patient, weary feet of people in a bus queue stepping on to a bus. Romuald Hazoumé from Benin shows photographs which demonstrate the infinite variety of uses to which old gasoline cans are put, and stacks a mound of them in a pile which looks like a heap of skulls.

Tilkin is a curator who knows her territory, and judging by the fine catalogue, the visual dialogues set up by the work in this exhibition bear witnessing.

Participating artists are: Anmar Bouras (Algeria), Frédéric Bruly Bouabre, (Ivory Coast), Mbongeni Richman Buthelezi (South Africa); Soly Cissé (Senegal); Viyé Diba (Senegal); Modou Dieng (Senegal); Moustapha Dimé (Senegal); Touhami Ennadre (Morocco); Frances Goodman (South Africa); Romuald Hazoume (Benin); William Kentridge (South Africa); Bodys Isek Kingelez (DRC); Abdoulaye Konaté (Mali); Moshekwa Langa (South Africa); Otobong Nkanga (Nigeria); Marie Blanche Ouedraogo (Burkina Faso); Miguel Petchovsky (Angola); Chéri Samba (DRC); Djibril Sy (Senegal); Emeka Udemba (Nigeria).

Opens: March 31
Closes: June 11

In 'Black, Brown, White...' at the Kunsthalle in Vienna, South African photo artists of various generations, who see themselves not as political documenters but rather as observers of everyday life, will show thematic series of their works which represent diverse facets of a country between apartheid and new departures. Work included ranges from David Goldblatt's famous 'Kwa Ndebele' series, which treated the compulsory commuting of black workers from the townships to the centre of Pretoria in the days of the passport law, to Omar Badsha's 'Imperial Ghetto', a study of everyday life among the Indian population of the harbour city of Durban.

Also participating are Pieter Hugo, Thando Mama, Zwelethu Mthethwa, Jo Ractliffe, Berni Searle and Andrew Tshabangu.

Opens: February 24
Closes: June 18

Kentridge shows alongside other art superstars, including Kiki Smith and Jake and Dinos Chapman, in the 'Biella Prize for Engraving 2006' at the Museo del Territorio in Biella, Italy. The exhibition represents the work of 34 contemporary artists from a number of different countries including Argentina, Austria, China, Denmark, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Israel, Mexico, Holland, Palestine, Poland, the US and South Africa.

The aim of the Biella Prize, which takes place every three years, has traditionally been to give prominence to contemporary printmaking. It takes an international outlook and showcases a broad spectrum of techniques, from woodcuts to photogravure, thereby demonstrating the continuing vitality of the graphic arts as an instrument of expression. The theme of the exhibition this year, 'Art in the Age of Anxiety', is a critical reflection on the social and political realities of our times. 'Insecurity, anger, escape from a painful reality, satirical criticism, idealisation of the past, an interest in ecology, a focus on the contingent, the informal and the worthless, the numbing of feeling, dystopia, regeneration, extinction and chaos are among the themes of the artists I have selected for the show. Consciously or unconsciously, artists mirror the world. They are sensitive barometers of our time, expressing opinions, observing its complexities and displaying our ambivalences.' writes Jeremy Lewison in the catalogue.

Opens: March 19
Closes: June 4

South African born Ina van Zyl will be having a solo show of drawings, watercolours and oils from the last nine years at the Dordrechts Museum this month. Van Zyl studied at Stellenbosch University and has contributed work to Bittercomix and other South African comics.

Opens: February 11
Closes: May 14

Blockbuster exhibition 'Personal Affects: Power and Poetics in Contemporary South African Art' travels to Hawaii this month, showcasing work by 17 artists from South Africa working in diverse media including sculpture, drawing, photography, painting, installation and video.

The Hawaii presentation of 'Personal Affects' reveals the increasingly mutual artistic concerns between artmaking practices in Hawaii and places as distant as South Africa. The distinctive cultural hybridity in both Hawaii and South Africa speaks to the dynamics of difference and inclusion in race, socio-economic divisions, language, customs, belief systems, and object/image making, among other things. As other locations in the world become increasingly less marginal to those inside and outside of (mainly Western) socio-economic urban centres, these dynamics become interwoven as one rich, discursive cultural fabric - one that is as familiar and spirited in Hawaii as it is in South Africa and which thus tangentially addresses issues of exclusion from the circuit of international contemporary art.

Participating artists are Jane Alexander, Wim Botha, Steven Cohen, Churchill Madikida, Mustafa Maluka, Thando Mama, Samson Mudzunga, Jay Pather, Johannes Phokela, Robin Rhode, Claudette Schreuders, Berni Searle, Doreen Southwood, Clive van den Berg, Minnette Vàri, Diane Victor and Sandile Zulu.

Opens: February 24
Closes: May 27

Organised by Okwui Enwezor, 'Snap Judgments' at the International Center of Photography will be the first major US presentation to focus on photo-based artwork from the African continent since 1996. More than 200 works by 35 artists from across Africa, the majority of whom will be exhibiting in the US for the first time, will be presented. The show's four sections - Landscape, Urban Formations, The Body and Identity, and History and Representation - reflect important themes being addressed by African artists today. ICP will produce a series of public programmes in conjunction with the show, as well as a landmark catalogue. A number of South Africans including Guy Tillim and Nontsikelelo Veleko will be exhibiting.

Opens: March 10
Closes: May 28

May is an important month in the programme of the lst Luanda Trienal, with its theme of art, culture, history and contemporary politics. For the past months, the Trienal team has been renovating exhibition spaces all over the city in order to showcase the Sindika Dokolo African Collection of Contemporary Art. The new gallery spaces are located in some of the interesting buildings in Luanda, ranging from historic 18th century buildings to the Hotel Globo of the 50s.

Sindika Dokolo is the Congolese-born collector who acquired the entire Hans Bogatzke collection some years ago, and since that time has been steadily acquiring new works in what is arguably the most important collection of contemporary African art in private hands. The collection ranges from works on paper, painting, sculpture and installation work to photography and video.

It is an active endeavour that seeks to shape the future of young artists from this continent. Funds generated by the collection are used to assist practitioners in new artistic ventures.

Artists to be exhibited are Ghada Amer, Egypt; Diané Aboubacar, Senegal, El Anatsui, Ghana; Billi Bidjocka, Cameroon, Willie Bester, South Africa; Zoulikha Bouabdellah, Algeria, Oladélé Bamgboyé, Nigeria; Willem Boshoff, South Africa; Ouattara Bakari Costa do Marfim; Soly Cissé, Senegal; Loulou Cherinet, Ethiopia;Viyé Dibá, Senegal; Marlene Dumas, South Africa; Abrie Fourie, South Africa; Kendell Geers, South Africa; Romuald Hazoumé, Benin; Johannes Segogela, South Africa; Kiluanji Kia Henda, Angola; Ihosvanny, Angola; William Kentridge, South Africa; Abdoulaye Konaté, Mali, Paulo Kapela, Angola; L. Manzini, Zimbabwe; Moshekwa Langa, South Africa; George Lilanga, Tanzania; El Loko, Togo; Zwelethu Mthethwa, South Africa; Fatmi Mounir, Morocco; Ingrid Mwangi, Kenya, Ndilo Mutima, Angola; Michèle Magema, DRC; John Muafangejo, Namibia; Nástio Mosquito, Angola; Aimé Ntakiyika, Burundi; Olu Oguibe, Nigeria; Antonio Ole, Angola; Chris Ofili, Nigeria; Tracey Rose, South Africa; Berni Searle, South Africa; Cheri Samba, DRC; Yinka Shonibare, Nigeria; Pascale, Marthine Tayou, Cameroon; Viteix, Angola; Minnette Vári, South Africa; Malangatana Valente, Mozambique; Andy Warhol, USA; Sue Williamson, South Africa; Yonamine, Angola.

Opens: May 12
Closes: June 9

The major exhibition of 'Masquerade: Representation and the Self in Contemporary Art' examines how artists working today have dealt with the theme of self representation, considering ideas around construction of identity, and the interpretation of artifice and role play.

South African artist Tracey Rose is showing Ciao Bella, a video in which she assumes a variety of contrasting roles, first created for the Venice Biennale of 2001. Other exhibiting artists include Cindy Sherman, Ana Mendieta, Samuel Fosso, Martin Kippinger and Sam Taylor Wood.

For more information, go to www.mca.co.au

Opened: March 23
Closes: May 21

The mega show of contemporary art from the continent of African and the diaspora, 'Africa Remix', opens at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo on the fourth leg of a world tour which opened at the Kunstpaleis in Düsseldorf and continued to London's Hayward Gallery and the Pompidou in Paris.

Under the artistic direction of Simon Njami and a team of international curators and featuring the production of 88 artists showing work made over the past 10 years, the show also includes furniture design, music, literature and fashion.

South African born artists make up 14 of the total - Jane Alexander, Andries Botha, Wim Botha, Willie Bester, Tracey Derrick, Marlene Dumas, David Goldblatt, Jackson Hlungwani, William Kentridge, Moshekwa Langa, Santu Mofokeng, Zwelethu Mthethwa, Rodney Place, Tracey Rose and Guy Tillim.

Marlene Dumas' work is a sober grid of ink and wash portraits of blindfolded or hooded figues, Jane Alexander shows her African Adventure mixed media installation, Tracey Derrick presents a commissioned series of photographs of Western Cape farm workers, Tracey Rose is represented by her seminal video, TKO, in which cameras concealed in a punching bag record her attack on the bag, and Jackson Hlungwani exhibits one of his majestic carved wooden figures.

The exhibition is divided into three categories, with somewhat unoriginal titles - History & Identity, City & Land, and Body & Soul. This may not have been the curator's fault, however. Njami's original title for the entire exhibition was not the one the show now carries. His choice was the much more interesting 'Chaos and metamorphosis', but institutional pressure insisted on the inclusion of 'Africa' in the title.

In London, some critics took the attitude that while what was on offer was undoubtedly art from Africa, it could not be called 'contemporary' in terms of the British art world's understanding of the term. In Tokyo, the Mori is under the direction of David Elliott, curator of the first major show of art from South Africa in Britain, with his 'Art from South Africa' at the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford in 1990.

Elliott's framing of the show for a Japanese audience will, one imagines, be an important factor in the reception of the show in Tokyo. Next stop for 'Africa Remix': the Johannesburg Art Gallery.

Opens: May 27
Closes: August 31

Timed to coincide with the opening of 'Africa Remix' at the Mori, is a project much lighter in weight and more ephemeral in concept: 'Off the Record', devised by Belgian artist Eric van Hove, now based in Tokyo, will hi-jack X-Cube storage lockers found in subway stations in the city.

These lockers are opened not by a key but by utilising a cell phone number designated by the storer. Invited artists will make an artwork to fit into one of these lockers, which measures 30 x 30 x 60 cm. An SMS to a friend inviting him/her to come and view the artwork will set the process in motion. The invitee will then invite someone else in turn, setting the new cell phone number as the new code. 'Think of Chinese whispers', says Van Hove.

Participating artists include Lara Baladi (Egypt), Federico Herrero (Costa Rica), John di Stefano (New Zealand) and Sue Williamson (South Africa).

Will the artwork be stolen by a viewer? Will the next invited viewer take the trouble to pay a visit? Will an earthquake destroy Tokyo and all the artworks? The agenda is open.

More information? http://www.transcri.be/projects/offtherecord/downloads.html

May 2006 - until such time as the project ends itself.