SOUTH AFRICAN Hayden Proud, Michaelis Collection, Cape Town, South Africa page 3
BUSINESS ART
Subscribe to The SA Art Times and Business Art Times www.arttimes.co.za
JULY 2009 | Supplement to The South African Art Times | E-mail: subs@arttimes.co.za | Member of the Global Art Information Group
The Venice experience was unforgettable SMAC Gallery reports back A well known Italian curator, Dott Vincenzo Sanfo visited Cape Town in March this year in order to do preparatory work for an exhibition involving South African and Italian artists for the 2010 World Cup. During his visit, he was so impressed with what he saw, that he invited certain artists to participate in an exhibition which he was preparing for a new exhibition venue in Venice as a collateral event to coincide with the 53rd Biennale di Venezia. He was initially going to exhibit only Chinese and Italian artists, but after viewing the works of Kay Hassan, Johann Louw and Wayne Barker, he invited the gallery (SMAC) to include important works by these artists in this exhibition, eventually entitled I Linguaggi del Mondo / Languages of the World.
The choice of the three artists was by no means arbitrary. The proposal was that due to South Africa’s long absence and the need to “create history” at Venice, it would be appropriate to show mid-career artists who historically would certainly have been exhibited, if there had been an official presence. Furthermore, these artists rose to prominence during the so-called resistance period (the late eighties), but have managed to forge successful careers and remain relevant in the new South Africa. The decade before democracy was undoubtedly the most important period in South Africa’s history, politically and culturally. However, many so-called “protest” artists lost their way after 1994 and others used the opportunity and platform which the country provided to pursue careers abroad. We wanted to promote artists who live, work and find their inspiration in South Africa. Most of the famous South African artists such as Marlene Dumas, Kendall Geers, Lisa Brice and even Moshekwa Langa have moved on to become international artists. We felt that it was essential to present powerful art of the highest quality which originates and speaks about life in the country. The theme of “Languages of the World” was chosen after the consideration of the South African experience and
the message that many different cultures as represented primarily by their languages can co-exist in harmony. The exhibition installation commences with “South Africa is a country with 11 official languages …”. Besides the obvious fact that the three artists; Wayne Barker, Kay Hassan and Johann Louw each descend from one of the official languages (English, Zulu and Afrikaans), the work on show adopts distinct visual languages; Wayne Barker’s large “beadworks”, Kay Hassan’s “paper constructions” and “photographic collages” and Johann Louw’s dark and powerful oils. The success of this exhibition lies in the fact that despite the differences in background and approach to art making, the works complement each other perfectly and form a harmonious entity which is simultaneously beautiful, challenging and undeniably South African. It is a perfect springboard for us to expand on in 2011.
How are Jo’burg galleries coping with the economic downturn and accompanying recession in the art market? The ultimate response is to close down, and either operate from home or go into some other business. But none of the galleries I spoke to would admit to be considering following Warren Siebrits in taking that course, and most expressed amazement bordering on incredulity that it could ever have been economic to carry the level of overheads Siebrits says forced him to give up his premises. Still, with one notable exception, there’s agreement that times are hard and that one must cut one’s coat in accordance with one’s cloth. Goodman Gallery curator Neil Dundas, for one, puts it as strongly as “adapt or die”, and argues that artists as well as galleries must realise this. Goodman will be offering more smaller and editioned works on its upcoming shows, which by definition will be lower-priced.
The gallery had to make a significant financial contribution to facilitate the exhibition and despite attempting to get sponsorship or support for the initiative, we had to pay our own way. The government approach is discussed below, but it is necessary to mention that the South African exhibition could have been much larger if any of the numerous potential corporate sponsors had backed the project. There was almost no interest and with the exception of one company, none of the companies had ever heard of the Venice Biennale. The most common response was; “We have no clients in Venice”. The banks and multinationals appear ignorant to the fact that Venice, during vernissage week, may be the largest assembly of the world’s richest individuals at any one time, from Paul Allen to Roman Abramovic and Francois Pinault, to mention a few. Couple this to the fact that well over a million visitors (not your average tourist) visit the Biennale during the five months of its duration and it is clear that a major marketing opportunity, far exceeding most major sports events, has been missed. continued on page 2
While artists must still feel they can make bold statements and produce magna opera, they must accept that these may not be as salable as they were a couple of years ago. The size of the market has shrunk, and buyers’ pockets have got shallower. He cites Deborah Bell’s offerings through the gallery at the recent Jo-burg Art Fair as examples of this more modest approach. He’s confident that the super-rich will still have money to spend, but will be even more conscious of quality than ever, and the “obsessive collector” won’t go away, but the broad middle market is under pressure.
Wayne’s Prada Courage: I decided to buy a Prada suit and go to the show again and place my work in the main exhibit. I was a little nervous, but needed to Photo: Bianca Baldi make this statement. The work is still up, so I am starting to feel a bit like a selected artist.
of the importance of Arts and Culture in South Africa and the strength thereof, let alone the financial spin-offs and oblivious to the cultural importance to represent the diverse visual art works that are being produced here in SA today.
Arriving again in Venice unofficially, officially invited, I realised that living in Africa has a certain charm and a sense of necessity. The night before I left I watched the history of the Congo which was an insightful piece of info to arrive in Europe with, at an art show of international acclaim.
I realized how tired most of the international art can be and how up its own revisionist arsehole it can be.
We started by looking for the space where our exhibition was housed .This took an entire day but during the day we saw all the exhibitions being installed and all the artists could be spotted a mile away, they had been invited by their country and were feeling on top of the world. I, coming from
the so-called bottom of the world started feeling more and more frustrated, as usual we were doing it for ourselves – carrying boxes of invites and paintings to our venue, while our ministers were probably sipping champagne in faulty palaces around the world unaware
The stereotypical views about Africa are rife and many artist in SA are dealing with this “poor cousin concept”, that we are naive and the art produced here is less important on a global level, this by the way is bollocks, as through the challenging past two decades, the work produced here, is challenging for sure and often deals with relevant issues globally and locally with a degree of freshness and brutal honesty. While dealing with my frustrations and the unbelievable charm of Venice in usual African style, we realised that since we had
traveled half way across the globe we might as well make the best of the moment. It was now time to clandestinely give the biggest art collectors our invites and press release. The sky was full of jets and planes, landing to bring people to this art extravaganza. The whose who in the international art fraternity were descending in private planes and boats like the sardine run in Kwazulu Natal. Our first target was a little hidden bar called Harry’s Bar where the famous Bellini drink was invented. Walking in sober was maybe a little ambitious, as sitting with his entourages was the Biggest art collecter, Henri Pinault. After downing 2 Bellinis, I muscled my way to his table and introduced myself and invited the table to our exhibition called “languages of the world”, he almost didn’t know where SA is, again I felt the frustration of being an
Like Dundas, MOMO’s Monna Mokoena stresses the need to keep more closely in touch with the market. As Mokoena says, galleries must also be more flexible. Pointing to three gaps on the wall when I visited his current show, he said: “If a buyer wants to take his purchases home straight away, you can no longer tell him he must wait until the show’s over. If you
don’t accommodate him, he may decide to go elsewhere.” To some, the scaling down of the market has not been entirely negative. Gordon Froud, of gordart, says he’s been hit hard but is relieved that most of his gallery’s shows this year have at least broken even, though he hastens to add that he mainly deals in the R3 000-R10 000 range. He points out, too, that while his recent move to Parkwood was triggered in part by problems over renewing the lease on his former premises in Melville, he took the opportunity to trim his sails. Turning away artists he’d scheduled for shows and laying off staff was painful, but turned out to be vital. More imaginative and flexible use of space is another response. When Teresa Lizamore launched her Artspace Warehouse venture at her old gallery site in Fairland, letting it out for functions and events was an integral part of her strategy, and she won’t preclude such usage at her new Parkwood gallery either. Froud’s variation on this is to stage mini-shows at his tiny upstairs balcony-gallery, which are in effect teasers offering just a small sample of an artist’s available work. And there are specific cost areas that can be cut back without damaging the basic service to artists and clients. Like catering at openings: Siebrits went this route months before his closure, and despite (or, perhaps, because of) its institutional backing, so has the Absa gallery. Then, invitations: MOMO has scrapped printed invitations altogether, in favour of e-mail, and gordart offers artists the same option, though Froud says few have taken it up.
How long will it last? Froud believes that at his end of the market, the worst is over, and hopes for a continued on page 2
Did Kebble smuggle art treasures out of the JCI corporate collection?
Wayne Barker Venice Times
Wayne Barker reports from Venice
How are galleries coping?
artist in SA. I left the little bar and consoled myself with my cognac from my faithful hip-flask, looking at the grand canal glowing in the Venetian light, I was so embarrassed that I felt like jumping in and swimming home and only make wooden sculptures from now on! Our 2nd target was the notorious BAUER HOTEL where the artists and patrons hang out and drink champagne flaunting their egos and arrogance; I suppose that came with the territory? So we started meeting people and inviting them to our exhibition 2 out of 10 people would give it more than 5 seconds attention and the others would throw it back in our faces. This made me consult my hip flask with vengeance and I thought to myself; who are these people anyway ??? We all on this sinking island together exhibiting our work, with this new-found freedom and realization I was able continued on page 2
Slain mining magnate, Brett Kebble, may have siphoned off the best works from the JCI corporate collection for his own personal art collection, Noseweek reports. Slain mining magnate, Brett Kebble, may have siphoned off the best works from the JCI corporate collection. This after senior executives who attended the May auction of Kebble’s art collection recognised several of the works on sale as having once appeared on the walls of the JCI. The company’s current Chief Executive, Peter Gray, is to order a forensic investigation into the provenance of certain works, which are suspected to have been purchased by JCI, not Kebble. JCI already had an established art collection when Kebble joined
their ranks in 1997, having invested in works by Walter Battiss and George Pemba in the 80s, Grey reports. When evaluator Anthony Wiley was brought in to price the collection in 2006 however, there was very little of value left. Wiley reported that in several cases, the frames were more valuable than the paintings. Gallerist Mark Read of the Everard Read Gallery, who sold Kebble many paintings over the years, also reported a somewhat murky situation around the dealings of Kebble and the JCI. “We had so much trouble, about nine different invoices per picture. They had to be invoiced to a company, then he’d say no, do it to another.” When pressed to reveal the contents of the invoices, however, Read declined, saying that his business with clients was
confidential, and that the invoices would be destroyed. Noseweek identifies three of the works recently auctioned by gallerist and auctioneer Graham Britz, as having once hung in the JCI’s corporate collection. The paintings, including a Walter Battiss, and two works by George Pemba, fetched R 1 150 000 on the May auction, a sum which JCI will no doubt seek to extract from the insolvent Kebble estate. It is also rumoured that several high-profile works from both Kebble’s and JCI’s collections were auctioned in London in 2006, under the radar of the estate trustees. To get the full story, subscribe to Noseweek at www.noseweek.co.za
Subscribe to The SA Art Times and Business Art Special
The SOUTH AFRICAN ART TIMES & BUSINESS ART Purchase the SA Art Times and SA Business Art – 1 year’s subscription for just R180,Receive a year’s subscription to South Africa’s leading published art newspaper together with the Business Art Newspaper to your door for just R180,Contents of titles include in depth coverage of the SA Artworld, art news, intervews with both artists and art market professionals, listings, art auction and a whole lot more. www.arttimes.co.za