William Kentridge retrospective at the JAG
by Robyn Sassen
Extending across 15 rooms in the old Victorian-styled part of the Johannesburg Art Gallery, William Kentridge's current retrospective occupies a space never before accorded to contemporary art, and includes a comprehensive body of drawings, etchings, film and sculpture, from the late 1970s to the present. Certainly, this remarkable exhibition is the glittering highlight of the local art world's current offerings.
As one walks through the different rooms, passages and interstices of the gallery, there is a tremendous but transient concatenation of sound. It is the music and vocal soundtracks of Kentridge's different films that harmonise, clash and echo with one another across these gallery spaces, for so long filled with sedate European reflections on western culture.
In one of the rooms hang vestiges of the works normally housed there. There's a Van Gogh charcoal portrait and a Jentsch landscape, a sculpture by Rodin, and another by Van Wouw along with a drawing of a cat by Dumile. Kentridge's wrought iron cat stands alongside, but in this room, there's a palpable tone of artistic mutual respect, and in terms of curatorial strengths and the acumen exercised in amassing this body of work, such a gesture is very powerful.
In several of the rooms, framed drawings and etchings from Kentridge's many projects and series adorn the walls in the manner of a European style salon: edge to edge they reach up to the high ceiling. This affords the viewer the opportunity to allow his or her glance to ricochet across the rooms and back, discovering new visual links between the massed works.
When I visited, two small boys were sitting in the room which was screening Shadow Procession and Ubu tells the truth. Watching the former, the boys remained deeply focused on the narrative and the craziness of the constructed figures crossing the beam of light to the moving song of Alfred Makgalemele, arranged by Phillip Miller. They squealed in uncensored horror as the ominous figure of Ubu appeared to climb out of the film's confines in the second piece.
In another space, Kentridge's Sleeping on Glass is projected onto a Victorian mirror, offering a new take on time and relevance and forcing the gallery's own Victorian furniture into an unprecedented role.
Certain issues emerge from this exhibition which warrants multiple visits, not only to fully absorb the material shown, but also to bask in it and celebrate it. The first is the incredible dedication and untiring hard work in which Kentridge has invested over the years. His roots may be privileged ones, but his work ethic is fierce and focused, a powerful example for young and aspirant artists. Greatness doesn't come from laziness.
Kentridge's ability to think laterally and his sophisticated and subtle sense of humour has not been given sufficient critical attention. His work has been internationally celebrated for its investigation of how our identities have been shaped through our shifting ideas, how we construct our histories and what we do with them, which is, admittedly, serious, meaty stuff. But leavening the gravity of his themes, an urbane sense of mischief comes into play. And here we see Kentridge as we seldom have, in 7 Fragments for George Méliès (2003), for instance, a beautiful series of seven filmed pieces confronting the magic of drawing with levity and style.
The Johannesburg Art Gallery has struggled through a history of poor administration, third world technology and security issues that have damaged its image. Works have been stolen or defaced, and visitors have been mugged in the immediate environs. Visiting video-based exhibitions to find that the machines were broken or not working in the total absence of gallery assistants was common until recently. Gradually and transiently, individual and organisational initiatives have attempted to grapple with these issues, using money, good press and ideas rooted in the community.
The Kentridge retrospective, in its complexity and presence, forces the gallery to transcend its lackadaisical image and keep the show running ship-shape for its visitors. Extremely valuable from an educational perspective, it is far from dry, contradicting with passion and vehemence the conventional art gallery display that sets an unspoken tone about who it is geared for: what level of education, age or intelligence. Kentridge, under the curatorship of Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, presents a brilliant and multi-layered retrospective that has enormous value for a very broad range of visitors.
Opens: July 3
Closes: October 23
Johannesburg Art Gallery
Cnr. Klein and King George Streets, Joubert Park
Tel: (011) 725 3130/ 80 / 81
Fax: (011) 720 6000
Email: KhweziG@joburg.org.za
Hours: Tues - Sun 10am - 5pm
