14 minute read
TRONKVOËL
Brunn Kramer Solo Exhibition RK Contemporary Riebeek Kasteel 08 - 29 August 2021
Story Catherine Pate
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Above: Die afwassing van sondes, 2021, candele soot (mixed media) on Fabriano, 104x150cm Opposite page: Die uitstorting vd heilge gees, 2021, candle soot (mixed media) on Fabriano 150x104cm
“Tronkvoel: Visual reflections on the use of prison as a metaphor for depression” Depression is as old as the human race, and rare is the person who has not felt its touch. Sometimes, suddenly, without apparent reason we feel unbearably sad. The world turns grey, and we taste a bitterness in our mouth. We hear an echo of the bell that tolls our passing, and we reach out for a comforting hand, but find ourselves alone. For some of us this experience is no more than a fleeting moment, or something we can dispel with common sense, thoughts and practical actions. But for some of us this experience becomes a ghost whose unbidden presence mars every feast, or worse, a prison whose walls, though invisible, are quite impenetrable… (Dorothy Rowe, 2013).
My diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder in 2018 led to my experience of a terrible loneliness and a peculiar isolation that triggered a feeling of imprisonment. The work thus engages with the idea of prison as a metaphor for depression and developed out of earlier work that centred around prisons and ex-prisoners. I explore the intersection of gender-based issues, homophobia, racism, and religious prejudice that is based on my experiences and identities, in an attempt to understand the depression and communicate the complex prejudices I face in my daily life. The work is based on my lived experience, through which depression can feel like a self-constructed prison. Thus, by visually communicating my lived experiences with depression as a coloured, queer body, I also aim to shed new light on society’s perspectives on mental health-related illnesses, as this too is often seen as taboo particularly in communities of colour.
This Page: Bloed in Bloed uit (7 portraits) (2020) Soot, document transfers on Fabriano attached to superwood (84 × 60 cm).
Opposite Page: (Detail) Kaskar met n bietjie luck (2021), Installation: burned superwood, glass marbles and prison shivs and shanks.
2020 Diploma Plegtigheid, Soot & Charcoal on Fabriano, 150 x 210cm
I harness old family photographs as a departure point to investigate personal memory and more current selfies to explore my narrative of self-imprisonment. My invisible prison is visually communicated further through incorporating visual language of the prison - including tattoos, prison slang, and ‘shifts and shanks’ weapons. I use a variety of mediums including, charcoal, photographic transfers, paint, linocuts with a combination of burning and smoking techniques by using candle soot as a primary feature throughout my work. Prison shivs, shanks, hand-made dice from paper-mache and glass marbles, strings and tolls combined, forms provocative conversation pieces as they reflect fragments of my childhood in relation to depression feeling like a self-constructed prison. “
Brunn Kramer completed his Masters in Fine arts at Rhodes University in 2021 with the financial support of the National Research Foundation (NRF), SARChl research programme in Geopolitics and the Arts of Africa, and the Andrew W. Mellon and the Global Souths programme. He was born in 1994 and was raised in the karoo in a small town called Steytlerville. Kramer is an emerging artist who has participated in numerous group exhibitions all over South Africa, including the prestigious Turbine art fair. Brunn received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (cum laude) from Nelson Mandela University in 2017. He majored in painting and his watercolour portraits which explore the humanness of ex-prisoners were selected for Sasol New Signatures top 100 art competition in 2016 and 2017. His current research explores the intersection of personal experiences and identities, concerning depression.
A DAY IN PARADYS
A good day out at the Dylan Lewis Sculpture Garden
Gabriel Clark-Brown
Last month I finally went to Dylan Lewis’s Sculpture Garden in Paradyskloof just outside Stellenbosch, it was a treat I had long promised myself and well, what an incredible time we had!
As an Editor of a leading arts magazine I get invited to many colourful events and functions, but nothing prepared me for a visit to Dylan’s studio and Gardens that over years of shaping nurturing and loving in the making- was simply breath taking! I was overwhelmed in driving home afterwards to feel that there truly are pieces of paradises that artists can make in the world.
To book a visit is easy, one goes online to dylanlewis.com - pop in your details and click “enter”. After this Gabby and her team from Dylan’s studio simply take over - they are easy to work and chat with. What made the trip incredible was to meet Dylan, a soft spoken, deep and entertaining artist who really lives his dream in a caring, modest and approachable way. In addition to this the gardens were impeccably looked after, almost spotless- nature at its most well behaved and beautiful, and the views and moods changed at each turn and step. I think the best time to go is in the early morning, but having said this, the garden, like nature gives its best at all hours of the day. In between the gardens there are Dylan’s sculptures, some you may miss inside the bushes, or bump into, there is always a surprise waiting around the corner. Don’t take my word for it, rather find out yourself, it’s an easy half hour drive out of Cape Town, and it’ll be one of the best times you’ll have. There are refreshments available to accompany the view and fresh air. A word of advice, make sure you have some kind of modelling clay or Plasticine ready when you get back home, chances are that you’ll want to get your hands and finger nails into creating something meaningful and spectacular- for your own garden or piece of paradise.
To get to Dylan Lewis Sculpture Garden go to www.dylanlewis.com don’t procrastinate, spoil yourself and make a booking today.
Editors Bookmark THE CHEEK OF IT
Artists Celebrate The Bottom – In Pictures
First Published in theGuardian.com
After they both fell in love with a painting of a man’s bum by Celia Hempton, the British artist-curators Lee Baker and Catherine Borowski realised that the gluteus maximus doesn’t receive enough respect in cultural circles. As founders of Skip Gallery, an installation concept bringing art to unusual places, they decided to right this wrong. The resultant group show, Bums , featuring David Shrigley and Xu Yang among others, is now at Dio Horia gallery, Mykonos, Greece, and in London later this year.
“These are the largest muscles in the body, responsible for posture and weight-bearing,” says Borowski. ‘This is often overlooked because of our obsession with the sexual and silly side of the bottom. Our exhibition is a celebration of the many facets of bums.’ Alice Fisher
ART BANK OF SOUTH AFRICA INVITES ARTISTS TO SUBMIT ART FOR ACQUISTION
Art Bank of South Africa
South African artists are invited to submit their contemporary artwork to be considered for acquisition by the Art Bank of South Africa (ArtbankSA). The ArtbankSA is tasked with purchasing artworks from South African artists, particularly that of emerging artists in order to lease the artworks to South African government departments, private companies and private individuals. It is a national programme of the Department of Arts and Culture as part of the Mzansi Golden Economy (MGE) strategy implementation and is hosted by the National Museum Bloemfontein, an agency of the Department of Arts and Culture. The vision of the ArtbankSA is to promote, foster and stimulate a vibrant market for the collection of South African contemporary visual art.
The Art Bank will achieve this vision by:
• Curating a definitive collection of contemporary South African visual art • Promoting financial sustainability for the artists and Art Bank of South Africa through the leasing of art • Nurturing emerging South African artists by expanding the market for their work and providing skills development opportunities • Fostering an appreciation for contemporary art by making art accessible to the broader public in their workplaces and shared spaces.
Criteria for submissions:
Submissions can be sent via email or post. Artists are required to meet the following criteria: • A detailed submission form is required with each submission. Download submission forms from the Art Bank of South Africa website www.artbanksa.org and the National Museum Bloemfontein website www.nasmus.co.za • Artists may submit a maximum of five original artworks for consideration • Artwork can be submitted in any medium • Artwork must have been created in the 2020/2021 year • Artwork must be of a superior quality and representative of South African contemporary art • The artist/artist representative will be required to register on the Central Database System (CSD) and be SARS tax compliant. The decision of the Acquisition Committee will be final and ONLY successful applicants will be contacted about collection and couriering of artwork to the exhibition venue in due course. Non adherence to the above criteria will result in the application becoming disqualified.
The ArtbankSA Acquisition Committee:
The nine member acquisitions committee will oversee the selection process; approve and make recommendations of artworks for purchase.
Closing Date:
The deadline for submissions is 12pm on Friday, 3 September 2021. All completed submissions must be emailed to info@artbanksa.org
NO PHYSICAL ARTWORKS ARE TO BE SENT.
Queries must be submitted in writing to artbank2@nasmus.co.za
Editors Bookmark VACCINATION PROOF REQUIRED
Italy Becomes the Latest European Country to Require Proof of Vaccination or a Negative Test to Visit Museums
First Published by Artnet, July 23, 2021
Without this so-called “green certification,” Italy would likely have to reintroduce lockdown restrictions to combat the spread of disease.
The number of new COVID cases in Italy rose to 5,057 on Thursday, more than double the previous week, according to the New York Times. The virus’s new, more contagious Delta variant is leading to an increased number of infections, especially among the unvaccinated. “The Green Pass is essential if we want to keep businesses open,” Prime Minister Mario Draghi said at a press conference. “The virus’s Delta variant is menacing.”
“An invitation not to get vaccinated is an invitation to die, or to let others die,” he added. “No vaccines mean a new lockdown.”
Earlier this week, France began requiring visitors to show a health pass to enter venues with more than 50 people.
The Italian government hopes that its pass will lead to more vaccinations in the nation. Currently, just 46 percent of the eligible population is fully vaccinated, and 61 percent have had at least one dose. The nation was the first country in Europe to mandate vaccinations for health care workers.
In a concession to the far right party the League, which feared a negative effect on tourism, the green pass is not required on trains, public transport, and domestic flights, according to Reuters. Nightclubs and discos will continue to remain closed.
Matteo Salvini, head of League, which is part of the nation’s coalition government, voiced his opposition to the green pass for “excluding 30 million Italians from social life” at a rally protesting the restrictions over the weekend.
An estimated 40 million Italians have already downloaded the green pass, which was previously required for attending weddings and visiting nursing homes. The new regulations for the pass, which is an extension of the E.U.’s digital COVID certificate, go into effect August 6.
Editors Bookmark THE DIANA STATUE
An awkward, lifeless shrine – the Diana statue is a spiritless hunk of nonsense
First publshed on The Guardian by Jonathan Jones 1 Jul 2021
Without this so-called “green certification,” Italy would likely have to reintroduce lockdown restrictions to combat the spread of disease.
The number of new COVID cases in Italy rose to 5,057 on Thursday, more than double the previous week, according to the New York Times. The virus’s new, more contagious Delta variant is leading to an increased number of infections, especially among the unvaccinated. “The Green Pass is essential if we want to keep businesses open,” Prime Minister Mario Draghi said at a press conference. “The virus’s Delta variant is menacing.”
“An invitation not to get vaccinated is an invitation to die, or to let others die,” he added. “No vaccines mean a new lockdown.”
Earlier this week, France began requiring visitors to show a health pass to enter venues with more than 50 people. The Italian government hopes that its pass will lead to more vaccinations in the nation. Currently, just 46 percent of the eligible population is fully vaccinated, and 61 percent have had at least one dose. The nation was the first country in Europe to mandate vaccinations for health care workers.
In a concession to the far right party the League, which feared a negative effect on tourism, the green pass is not required on trains, public transport, and domestic flights, according to Reuters. Nightclubs and discos will continue to remain closed.
Matteo Salvini, head of League, which is part of the nation’s coalition government, voiced his opposition to the green pass for “excluding 30 million Italians from social life” at a rally protesting the restrictions over the weekend.
An estimated 40 million Italians have already downloaded the green pass, which was previously required for attending weddings and visiting nursing homes. The new regulations for the pass, which is an extension of the E.U.’s digital COVID certificate, go into effect August 6.
New Exclusive Online Print Auctions Site Launched printauctions.co.za
CALL FOR CONSIGNMENTS
We are both excited and confident to evolve from Fine Art Print Specialists to Monthly Fine Art Print Auction Sales.
The new PRINT AUCTIONS .co.za Auction house is exclusively for SA Prints Interest and investment in SA fine art printmaking has grown strongly over the past few years. In 2021 a sale of prints by John Maufangejo that would have been priced in the region of R 300 in the 80’s now reached prices between 20- 170k. Similarly prints by artists such as William Kentridge, John Muafangejo, Pierneef, Peter Clarke, Robert Hodgins, Bambo Sibiya and Diane Victors prints are rising in value.
The evolution makes perfect sense with the incredible growth of confidence and ease of buying art online from buyers from around the world. Prints also translate well to being represented on a flat screen as many print, like painting don’t have texture and one can get a good idea of the print.
Where the Print Auction.Co.ZA site difference from other auction house is that we open up the framed work to examine the work, whereas most auction houses don’t. This non examining the print may bring bad news as many prints have been stuck down with glue to cardboard, this comes at a shock where the purchaser needs to pay additional amount of money for restoration.
We hope to also incorporate art books and posters. Our core passion still remains in dealing not just with famous SA artists, but also great prints that have contributed to SA Print language and history.
For more information go to: Or email: info@printauctions.co.za
