Archive: Issue No. 118, June 2007

03.06.07 Andrew Verster at the KZNSA Gallery
03.06.07 'Innovative Threads' at artSPACE durban
03.06.07 'Messages and Meaning' at the Durban Art Gallery
03.06.07 Truida Norval at Bean Bag Bohemia
03.06.07 The Printemps Collaborative at Bean Bag Bohemia
03.06.07 Sfiso Ka Mkame at the African Art Centrey
03.06.07 Everett Duarte, Robin Opperman, Mark Meyer, Gavin Risi and Francis Schandera at Kizo Art Gallery

06.05.07 'Kucwebezela: To Shine' at the African Art Centre
06.05.07 Catherine Stempowski at Bean Bag Bohemian
06.05.07 'Do Not Dry Clean' at Bean Bag Bohemia
06.05.07 'Jabulisa' at the Durban Art Gallery
06.05.07 Clinton Friedman at artSPACE durban
06.05.07 'Ceramics CSA/KZN' at artSPACE durban
06.05.07 Anet Norval at the KZNSA Gallery
06.05.07 Liezel Prins at the KZNSA Gallery

'Now and Then' features unseen works by Durban artist Andrew Verster. These works are from Verster's private collection, including the series Bodyworks of monumental tattooed figures, a series of large landscapes entitled Primary Landscapes and models for the opera La Traviata, for which the artist designed the sets and costumes.

On show is also a series of 50 collage compositions for tapestry and maquettes for architectural projects and beadwork designs.

Opens: June 19
Closes: July 8

'Innovative Threads', currently in its 11th year, opens at artSPACE durban on June 18. The exhibition is held annually and features contemporary, emerging and established textile artists. On view will be the best works from a pool of more than 100 artists.

'Innovative Threads' 2007 is under the curatorship of Tonya Miles and remains on view until June 30.

Opens: June 18
Closes: June 30

'Messages and Meaning', an exhibition showcasing MTN's art collection, opens at the Durban Art Gallery on June 7.

Including over 100 pieces, the exhibition features contemporary works by Ghanaian Kwesi Owusu-Ankomah and Nigerian-born Yinke Shonibare. Work from the collection by KZN artists includes pieces by Jan Jordaan, Sthembiso Sibisi, Andries Botha, John Roome and Sfiso Ka Mkame among many others.

The exhibition is accompanied by 'Messages and Meaning': the MTN Art Collection which will be for sale, with proceeds benefiting the Gallery's library and education programme.

Walkabouts and an educational campaign are also planned.

Opens: June 7
Closes: July 29

'Infusion: Something old and something new' by Port Elizabeth-based artist Truida Norval opens at Bean Bag Bohemia on June 13.

Having been brought up on a farm in the Karoo during an era when the role of the woman was that of housewife and homemaker, Norval attempts, in her creative process, to reflect this feminine spirit and her Afrikaner heritage of self-sufficiency.

Norval has created soft furnishings and knitted items for commercial design shops in Cape Town, including LIM and Heartworks. She uses a combination of materials in her works such as recycled teabags, beads, old pattern paper, wool, silk, lace, buttons, paper, wax and pencil drawings.

Opens: June 13
Closes: July 13

The Printemps Collaborative is an artistic collaboration between an artist, a scientist and two engineers. Led by fine artist and graphics designer Moya Evans, the group includes husband and wife duo Leigh-Anne and David Fraser, and long-time friend Tim Oellermann.

Printemps merges traditional fine art and graphics techniques with digital methods and printing; free creative expression with scientific precision; imagination with facts. The pieces created by Printemps are the collective distillation of the efforts of its four members, reflecting a novel amalgamation of often widely differing viewpoints.

Opens: June 13
Closes: July 13

In an exhibition entitled 'Hidden History' artist Sfiso Ka Mkame will be showcasing a new body of works produced using found objects. Durban-based Ka Mkame is one of the city's most prolific artists and has been showing his work, mostly paintings, for many years.

Opens: June 13
Closes: June 30

'Walking Through Walls' comprises a collaboration by artists Everett Duarte, Robin Opperman, Mark Meyer, Gavin Risi and Francis Scadera. They work in a variety of media including prints, sculpture, mixed media and photomontage.

Opened: May 7
Closes: June 8

Clinton Friedman's exhibition 'Black Magic' is a photographic exhibition inspired by the plants used by traditional healers. The artist writes: 'Disguised, faded and torn. Chopped, stacked and waiting for purpose; this is what I saw on my first visit to a traditional "muti" market. There I discovered a paradox between my process (of photography) and the traditional healer's ritual of collection, preparation and application; this together with the promise of selected specimen revival, is what fascinated me most. Three years have passed since that first introduction, now 'Black Magic' is my newest limited edition series in my botanical photographic essay.'

Opens: May 28
Closes: June 16

'Kucwebezela: To Shine', an exhibition of ceramics collected by Elizabeth Perrill for her doctoral research dissertation Potters in the marketplace: Isizulu Ceramic Urbanisationin KwaZulu-Natal, provides a snapshot into the lives of artists who are pushing the boundaries of the 'traditional' and exploring what it means to make an aesthetically beautiful Zulu vessel.

Twenty-one artists will be exhibiting new ceramic works, including those whose works Perrill collected for her research. They include: the Nala family potters, the Magwaza family potters, Azolinah Mncube, Peni Gumbi, Clive Sithole, Ntombi Nala and Simpiwe Belle.

Perrill will be presenting a talk on her research at 12pm, May 10 at the African Art Centre.

Opens: May 9
Closes: June 9

Catherine Stempowski was born in Tzaneen and grew up on a farm. She was introduced to painting as a young child by her father. She studied art at Wits for two years, leaving to work as a full time artist. 'In My Head' will be on view until June 16. For more information, contact Tamlyn Martin on 074 407 5413. Opens: May 9
Closes: June 16

As a rule, we are told to always read the label, but when three Durban-based creatives get together, labels become obsolete. Free of machine-washed ideas, 'Do Not Dry Clean' is a collaboration between Rosebud & Grumpers (featuring Crystal Campbell), Anabella Hilda Loubser and Alistair Palmer, that bleaches the boundaries between art and fashion. Working directly onto vintage jackets, in a variety of media, they have created a collection of limited edition wearables.

The exhibition also features a photographic collaboration with Christopher Laurenz. For more information visit: www.rosebudandgrumpers.co.za

Opens: May 9
Closes: June 19

This show celebrates contemporary creative production in the KwaZulu-Natal province. The exhibition comprises 190 works by 139 artists and crafters. Works range from traditional Zulu ceramics and basketry through embroideries, tapestries, paintings, sculpture, prints, installation and DVD presentations. From miniature to monumental - there is a vast range of size and media on display. All works have been created since January 2004, the majority of them last year.

The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue with text contributions on various aspects of regional art and craft production in the province. Included in the catalogue is a CD of texts and coloured illustrations. Many of the works are for sale.

The exhibition has been co-curated by Jill Addleson, former Curator of Collections, Durban Art Gallery, and Brendan Bell, director of the Tatham Art Gallery. They have been assisted in this undertaking by the Curators of the Empangeni Art Museum, the Margate Art Gallery and the Carnegie Art Gallery in Newcastle.

Opens: May 10
Closes: June 24

Collectors, designers and lovers of ceramic art look forward to the annual KZN Regional, which provides a platform for ceramics currently created in KZN. This is one of the premier ceramic events of the year and showcases the work of Association members as well as Master Potters such as Juliet Armstrong, Clive Sithole, Garth Hoets and Martha Zettler. Contemporary student work will also fall under the spotlight. The pieces on show will focus on spirited, expressive ceramics and quality functional ware.

Opens: May 28
Closes: June 16

'... want almal se hart klop nie dieselfde nie ...', the next offering from Anet Norval, is set to assure the Durban audience of her commitment to her art practice. Norval, who is currently a co-ordinator for the imagination lab, is presenting her first solo exhibition at the KZNSA. This is what she says about her process of creation:

'My work celebrates an emotional coming-of-age story of how Anet Norval has become Anet Norval. A journey through memories, thoughts, fantasies and experiences of a tomboy forever wanting to be a "daddy's little princess" but becoming everything of the opposite.

'The challenges faced because of social terms by which identities are supported and articulated, the romanticising of awkward understandings of complex experiences and the intricate exposure of self-discovery, self-exploration and self-acceptance in an environment leaving little space for difference and the other. By drawing from my childhood up until now, I navigate the viewer through personal identity issues around gender politics, sexual orientation, identity and a violent idealisation of difference as well as a closer inspection into the individuals we become and the identities we inhabit.'

She recently won a merit prize at the ABSA l'Atelier awards in Johannesburg and if her artwork there is anything to go by, this show is not to be missed.

Opens: May 29
Closes: June 17

In her solo exhibition, 'Single Serving', Liezel Prins presents a skilfully crafted and highly conceptualised project. She has over the years demonstrated a mastery of many media and simultaneously maintained a high level of quality in her work. This is what she says about her work:

'The central structure of an experience is its internationality, being directed towards something, as an experience of or about some object. An experience is directed towards an object by virtue of its content or meaning (representing the object) together with appropriate enabling conditions. My work can be defined as the experience about consciousness stating how things appear and manifest in our experience, thus the different meanings things or objects have in our consciousness and how we experience these things. I deal with everyday issues placing emphasis on the indifferent and thus raising questions about daily existence. My main intention is to encourage the audience to generate their own interpretations, without relying on the artist's point of view or ideological stances, basically encouraging the process of being and placing emphasis on this process rather than the idea or issue launching this process.'

Opens: May 29
Closes: June 17