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ART TIMES | EDITORIAL
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FEBRUARY 2012 Daily news at www.arttimes.co.za Editor: Gabriel Clark-Brown
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Writing from my magazine editor’s desk at this particular time and early morning of the month I can hear the quiet sound of a huge, heavy and sharp blade hurtling down dividing January month to February, minutes on either side of this blade determines if the story is consigned to history, or is to come. After a climatic monthly deadline of the magazine there used to be a 2 weeks lull where one could relax and fill up the commissioning basket. However with the advent of the internet and daily online art publishing this old concept of 2 weeks on - two weeks off has fallen away with being replaced by a daily deadline. We now produce more news online at www.arttimes.co.za in a week than a month of news published in this magazine. With this influx of news and people wanting the news today and not next month we have hired more news producers and allocated funds to the online news casts where we have more readers online, than reading the printed magazine, and on top of this our online readership is growing. My belief is that most people prefer their news in printed magazine, but habits of wanting their quality news today, at their fingertips are changing things in publishing. This month, if you have noticed we have slimmed down the February edition by 16 pages, this is because the amount of art news and art production drops between December to January. Please feel welcome to log onto our website for an art news and image rich website that generally reports the news the same day as it happens. If you are magazine fan, please enjoy our choice articles and images, either way we are thrilled every day and month to bring you the best that SA art news can offer.
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Deadline for news, articles and advertising is the 18th of each month. The Art Times is published in the last week of each month. Newspaper rights: The newspaper reserves the right to reject any material that could be found offensive by its readers. Opinions and views expressed in the SA Art Times do not necessarily represent the official viewpoint of the editor, staff or publisher, while inclusion of advertising features does not imply the newspaper’s endorsement of any business, product or service. Copyright of the enclosed material in this publication is reserved.
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Errata Maxima!
The end of last year’s bumper AT issue was, and is always is a tough one, journalists, are all buzzing about tying up loose ends of the year while on top of this we decided at the last minute to pull our front cover in favour of a remarkable photographer, Mikhael Subotzky. In this unusual buzz we had little time to check spelling and Murphy, had his way where we spelt Mikhael Subotzky with an i and not an e on the cover. In addition to this we forgot to use the standard byline: All images copyright Mikhael Subotzky/ Magnum Photos, courtesy Goodman Gallery for his photos. Mikhael Subotsky’s website is: www. subotzkystudio.com my sincere apologies to an artist I greatly admire and respect. In addition I would like to say that I am also a great fan of publishing protocol and apologies to our readers in leaving these details out. We always strive to do our best to bring you the best of South African Art under some challenging and exciting conditions.
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JOHANNESBURG ART GALLERY FACES THREAT / NEWS | ART TIMES
Johannesburg Art Gallery Faces Sewerage Threat First published in Artthrob Michael Smith. The Johannesburg Art Gallery’s contemporary, furniture and ceramic collections are under threat from the building complex’s blocked sewerage system, an insider has told ArtThrob.The storerooms housing the threatened collections, which are estimated to be worth around R500 million, could be flooded with sewerage and water from the gallery’s blocked drains if the problem is not urgently resolved. However, the City Council has frozen any and all expenditure by all City Of Joburg departments, including the gallery. Furthermore, an urgent email from the City’s treasurers last week informed all institution heads that no expenditures would be authorised until further notice, not even, it seems, hiring plumbers to unblock drains. This comes in the wake of a prolonged shortage of resources to run the gallery. For months, staff members have been complaining about the lack of funding to buy basic items like paint and nails, despite a busy programme of exhibitions. The new freeze on expenditure means that not even toilet paper is covered by the day-to-day running budget, and the lack of cash for cleaning materials has resulted in infestations of cockroaches in sections of the gallery. The gallery has also had problems with its telephone lines for over five months. With Johannesburg’s rainy season in full swing, the leaky roofs in the JAG’s contemporary exhibition venues have begun to threaten the physical integrity of work in the collection. ArtThrob News Editor M Blackman reported after a recent visit that he witnessed work damaged and warping as a result of damp. Blackman reported that, ‘there SA ART TIMES. February 2012
were several leaks in the ceiling of the basement. One had seemingly been leaking onto one of the paintings, another created a shower effect leaving one of the rooms of the “Pinky Promise” exhibition inaccessible.’ He also reported that there were dozens of dead cockroaches lying in several corners of Stephen Hobbs’s exhibition. JAG’s structural and maintenance woes are just the latest in a series of high-profile scandals to befall this institution. Last year ArtThrob reported on the numerous thefts of art works from the gallery’s collection. These incidents garnered widespread attention, and raised the issue of whether the JAG was a soft target for international networks of art thieves. As a result of the thefts, the gallery was promised R1 million by the Executive Director of Community Development to upgrade its security system, but the funding never materialised. ‘With the proposed budget cuts, this money is essentially gone,’ said ArtThrob’s source. Speculation is rife that the City’s billing and collections crisis could be the reason for the Council’s sudden bearishness. The billing situation came to a head in December last year as ratepayers’ associations brought a successful interdict against the City to prevent services cut-offs. If the City of Johannesburg does not step in soon the staff members of the JAG say they will be forced to close the doors due to a public health threat. The gallery is calling for public assistance through the Friends of the Johannesburg Art Gallery foundation. Johannesburg City Manager Trevor Fowler was contacted twice last week for comment on this article, once by fax because his office’s email system was down, but he had not responded by time of going to publication. 07
ART TIMES | NEWS / DIANE VICTOR’S NEW BOOK
New Diane Victor Book Launched
Diane Victor – Burning the Candle at Both Ends is the second publication on Victor’s work from David Krut Publishing. The main body of text was written by author Karen von Veh. She has also contributed extensively to the TAXI-013 Diane Victor monograph. Von Veh is President of SAVAH (the association of South African Visual Arts Historians), and is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Visual Art, Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, at the University of Johannesburg. Her particular interests are in contemporary South African’s woman’s art, gender studies in art history, and, lately, the transformation of religious icons in contemporary art. On these topics she has presented many conference papers, both locally and internationally, and contributed articles to local art history journals. Ashes to Ashes and Smoke to Dust is a body of work divided into two exhibitions. The first is a church window installation of smoke on glass which is ideally suited to the elongated format of the UJ Art Gallery. Burdens and Offerings
forms the first part of the show with its religious undertones, created solely on drawings made in candle smoke. Victor says, “My images attempt to explore the metaphorical burdens people attach to themselves and drag through their lives as proof of their positions as scapegoats and martyrs.” After visiting an exhibition, called Vaudou, at the Foundation Cartier in Paris earlier in the year, she became fascinated with the West African fetish effigies from collections of Jacques Kerchache (1942–2001). She goes on to say, “I responded to the psychological implications that these bound and burdened figures evoked, transferring them into our obsession with contemporary fear and indulgences.” Offerings, which extends from the series of glass drawings exhibited at the Nelspruit abattoir. Much like Brief Lives this new series of portraits include images of domestic meat animals which aim at exploring ideas of innocence and sacrifice. The second part of the exhibition is the continuation of the process of working with smoke and ash where she is furthering her exploration into the potential of book ash as a drawing material. The ash draw-
ings featured here are sourced from specific “lost words” from documents and texts which are burnt, dusted and fixed onto paper. Much of this publication and the work created for the exhibition, Ashes to Ashes and Smoke to Dust, was compiled and created on a very tight schedule. Diane Victor dedicates a great deal of her time to teaching between Rhodes University and the University of Pretoria. In addition to this her travel schedule often runs straight into her next exhibition. For an artist that rarely has a moment to herself, she has managed to create a prolific body of work that is unfailingly compelling. The aim of this publication is to document and discuss the work she has created over the last three years since TAXI-013. In that time Diane Victor has created over 200 artworks and has been involved in almost 50 exhibitions in South Africa and abroad. Diane Victor – Burning the Candle at Both Ends (main essay by Karen von Veh) » Burning the Candle at Both Ends (cover LR) Author: Karen von Veh, English, Monograph, Softcover, 200 x 200mm, full colour, 104pp, ISBN: 9780958497534, Price: (ZA)R 180
the loop art foundry
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SA ART TIMES. February 2012
Meyer_2012_ArtTimes_70x297 1/19/12 8:22 PM Page 1 C M Y CM MY CY DIANE VICTOR’S NEW BOOK / NEWS | ART TIMES
Top Left: Cover of Diane Victor’s new book, Butchers View 2 installation, Top: Curator Annali Dempsey and Diane Victor Below: Helene Smuts, Jeremy Rose, David Krut and Gretha Fox SA ART TIMES. February 2012
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ART TIMES | NEWS / BAARDSKEERDERSBOS ART ROUTE
Paradise found, view from Joshua Miles’s house overlooking B’bos valley
Baardskeerdersbos – Artist settlement and Art Route a land beyond imagination
Text and Photos: Veronica C Wilkinson Realities translated into visual art in mediums ranging from woodblock prints, sculpture, oil on board and canvas, Japanese gyotaku technique to photographic light explorations using the body as canvas were just some of the reasons the latest Baardskeerdersbos Art Route offerings tweaked my imagination. The artists I met who have chosen the self sustainability route, away from the madding crowd and distraction of city life enjoy a wholesome simplicity reflected by their chosen methods and artistic creations in many respects. The art route takes place three times every year with a comprehensive website acquainting prospective visitors with what to expect on a well mapped and signposted tour along the corrugated, dusty roads. But if the dust parches, hospitality and libation at most studios will satisfy thirst and relax inhibitions as artists explain the individual technical processes employed to create the art on exhibition. My brief is to scrutinize work that showcases B’bos (as it is affectionately known) so I start off with well-known Joshua Miles, the producer of original reduction woodblock prints. Joshua’s home and studio are transformed into a gallery and the artist is eloquent about his technique, explaining clearly to visitors in a refreshingly candid manner. His wife, Scottish cabinet maker Angela dispenses beverages and kindness while SA Art Times editor Gabriel Clark-Brown occupies the position of guest artist in one room filled with finely detailed etchings that his partner informs me are anxiety ridden oedipal narratives. I duck through the fence as a shortcut to sculptor and painter Niël Jonker’s home and studio where I find this artist discussing investments with a visitor while his wife Gabi dispenses wine and sustenance. The midget rug rats are frenetic, racing plastic toy cars and demanding attention while the kitchen becomes a catering station for visitors and the voorstoep and garden a bazaar and restaurant of sorts. The hospitality reflects a deeper legacy of care and sensitivity. So close to 10
Cape Town – a mere two and a half hours drive – it’s a shock when the wiry labourers you pass along the road smile and raise their hands in benign salutation. But of course, solar power and wood furnaces are the norm so the rot of popular entertainment and delusion hasn’t infiltrated just yet. The garden is studded with Niël’s bronze sculptures, herbs, vegetables and flowers. The artist tells me that he enjoys “capturing the energy of a place” during his forays into the surrounding veld but also departs on excursions to places like the Karoo with his camera and camping equipment from time to time. Returning to his studio adjoining the balcony he works on recreating natural beauty on a smaller scale but with a similar visual impact. The picturesque cottage housing Nikki Miles’s illustrations is the venue for seven participating illustrators with Sea Point based Johan Ludick’s oil on canvas landscape poised above a local still life of harvested pumpkins and fresh produce for sale. The long and winding road to Lizzie van den Berg’s home and studio leads past pastures and stables, ponds, hay bales and livestock to a rambling garden with coloured grasses and colourful strutting bantam roosters scolding hens. The cool interior of the cottage cum gallery displays oil on board landscapes painted in situ; “I can always go back to the sites, which is the beauty of living here” and her gyotaku Geelbek studies – dramatic sumi ink on rice paper. In the days before Polaroids, Japanese fishermen found a unique way to document their fish catches. The prized catch was taken to a painter who would create a special print from it using water based paints or inks that could be washed off. After the masterpiece was created, the fish would be washed and sold at market. Over time the process of making fish impressions, known as Gyotaku (“gyu” = fish, and “taku” = impression) became an art form that is practiced to this day. Lizzie’s travels and wide experience have resulted in a careful and considered approach to her technically skilled work. A speeding baboon travelling alongside the road
in the opposite direction startles me on the way to Kali van der Merwe’s temporary home set in a fynbos wonderland of colour and texture. Here she exhibits her underwater, night and forest photography, talks about shutter speed and her intensely personal exploration of consciousness. The fynbos around her has inspired a new series of work which I see in a slideshow of veldflesh. Kali studied fine art at Michaelis, lived in Berlin and subsequently made documentary films for 15 years. Her current projects are a return to personal explorations of her chosen photographic medium to articulate her intimate concerns. The images are big enough to cover a billboard which is an object absent in B’bos. Kali swopped homes for her stay in these idyllic surroundings and is usually based in a studio flat in the Cape Town City Bowl.
SA ART TIMES. February 2012
BAARDSKEERDERSBOS ART ROUTE / NEWS | ART TIMES
Gwelo Goodman
(Oil on Canvas, Still Life)
Leaders in Masters as well as Contemporary Art www.absolutart.co.za Shop 43, Willowbridge Lifestyle Centre (Below the Barnyard) 39 Carl Cronje Drive Tygervalley, Bellville Gallery: 021 914 2846 Gerrit Dyman Jr: 072 699 5918 Email: info@absolutart.co.za
Left: Joshua Miles explains reduction woodblock process (Top) Tom Kyffin and Nikki Miles pose in front of illustrations, Gabi Jonker welcomes visitors, Johan Ludick’s oil on canvas outside entrance to Nikki’s cottage, Niël Jonker in his studio, Gabriel Clark-Brown, Kali van der Merwe and her dung sculpture, Visitors to Josh Miles Studio. Artist’s Photo’s Veronica Wilkinson
SA ART TIMES. February 2012
Carl Buchner
(Oil on Board, Still Life) 11
ART TIMES | NEWS / WALTER BATTISS AT THE SUIDOOSTER ARTS FESTIVAL, CT
Left to Right: Karoo Ghost, Father and Son in the Rocks Girl and Bird Below: Girl Dancing in the Wind Birds at Sunset
A feast of Walter Battiss at The Suidoosterfees a must see for art lovers A selection of 33 works including the controversial Venice Biennale entry entitled: Father and son in the rocks will be on view at the Artscape Theatre Centre during the Suid Oosterfees which opens14 February 2012 in Cape Town Blown in from the East: A selection of works from the Battiss Art Museum in Somerset East Compiled by Stefan Hundt for the Suid Oosterfees at the Arts Cape Theatre centre Cape Town. Sponsore by Sanlam Walter Whal Battiss was one of South Africa’s most innovative and rightly most celebrated artists. His jocular personality combined fine disregard for the hypocrisy of the South African cultural and political establishment with a passionate commitment to free thought, which throughout his career enabled him to exercise his artistic talents without conforming to any expectations. This gentle anarchistic element in his disposition resulted in the creation of the imaginary Fook island in the middle of Pretoria with all the necessary trapping of an idiosyncratic language, currency, travel documentation and postage stamps that were put to good effect by Battiss where ever he could. His artistic oeuvre was multifaceted and seemed to draw as much from the celebrated rock paintings Battiss became intimately acquainted with, as it did from contemporaries such as Picasso and various exponents of the pop art movement he experienced whilst travelling throughout Europe and the Unites States. Battiss was born and spent is his boyhood in Somersetwest where his parents managed the Battiss Priavet Hotel at 45 Paulet Street is now 12
the Walter Battiss Art Museum. The museum was opened still in Walter Battiss’s life time on 24 October 1981 after a long iteration of possibilities were investigated going back as far 1975 when he announced at a post exhibition talk his intentions to establish an art gallery in the town. His involvement was continuous and with the benefaction of two local medical practitioners Dr Vosloo and Dr Erasmus a suitable building was acquired and renovated. Battis promised a donation of 80 works at the time andf Prof Murray Schoonraad invited artist friends of Battiss to contribute to the holdings of the museum. Prof Schoonraad’s who was actively involved in establishing the museum assessted the nature of the collection as follows: “The collection eventually brought together in the museum consists of 58 works by Walter Battiss, 17 by invited artists,4 by Somerset East artists and a portfolio of 20 graphics by various South African artists. The paintings by Walter Battiss are of varied quality: some are outstanding, other are merely preparatory sketches for larger works. Generally, the standard of the watercolours and drawings is very high. The works do not represent a definite period of his art, nor do they represent a comprehensive collection. With the exception of two paintings, all the works date fomr the ‘70s and early ‘80s. Probably the most important painting
on the exhibition is Father and Son in the Rocks, 1949. This work was on of the South African entries for the 25th Venice Biennale. It caused a furore in the South African press and even had repercussions in Parliament when, after a photograph of the painting had appeared in a newspaper, the public complained that it was an unworthy representative of South African art. This oil painting shows to flattened elongated figures embracing each other among fifteen symbolic rocks represented by flat patches of toneddown colour on a background of well-textured paint applied with a palette-knife. It reminds one of prehistoric rock shelters, and it represents an important stage in the development of abstraction in Battiss’s work. It was the culmination of several years’ work in which he strove to achieve simplification of form and expression. He had begun it in 1942 and altered it some years later – for Battiss an unsual procedure. The collection consiste mainly of paintings, drawings and graphics available in Battiss’s studio after his touring retrospective exhibition of 1979/80. His intention was to make the collection more representative by adding paintings of his choice from time to time. Despite the fact that the collection does not reveal the versatility of the artist or provide a comprehensive overview of his oeuvre, it affords the viewer the largest public collection of his works and it is well worth a visit” SA ART TIMES. February 2012
VISUAL CENTURY
SOUTH AFRICAN ART IN CONTEXT: 1907 – 2007 GAVIN JANTJES – PROJECT DIRECTOR • MARIO PISSARRA – EDITOR IN CHIEF Visual Century is an ambitious four-volume publication that reappraises one hundred years of South African visual art from a post-apartheid perspective. By contextualising South African art within broader historical currents, Visual Century makes a major contribution towards the construction of an inclusive national archive, as well as to the development of a more inclusive international art history.
VOLUME 1: 1907 – 1948 EDITED BY JILLIAN CARMAN
VOLUME 2: 1945 – 1976 EDITED BY LIZE VAN ROBBROECK
VOLUME 3: 1973 – 1992 EDITED BY MARIO PISSARRA
VOLUME 4: 1990 – 2007 EDITED BY THEMBINKOSI GONIWE, MARIO PISSARRA & MANDISI MAJAVU
www.witspress.co.za
ART TIMES | FEATURE / REVIEW OF PETER CLARKE’S SHOW AT SANG
Peter Clarke and the winter of our discontent By Lloyd Pollak My initial reaction to ‘Listening to Distant Thunder’ was dismay at the diminutive formats and the consequent itsy-bitsy look of the exhibition. Peter Clarke excels as a miniaturist in the graphic media, and as his retrospective foregrounds the symbiosis between painting and print-making, this imposes an emphasis on the small scale, giving the show an engaging intimacy. ‘Distant Thunder’, a painting of a roofless family cast out into the wilderness, strikes a fortissimo note of grandeur and pathos. There is no father to lean on, and the stricken children cling to their indomitable mother as she grapples for a solution to their predicament. This stirring image not only provides the show’s poetic title, it also takes pride of place in the SANG’s principal gallery. Centrally positioned opposite the entrance to the Liebermann room, it makes an indelibly harrowing first impression, and sums up the themes that dominated Clarke’s oeuvre while his imagination was at its peak. Bitter memories of the trauma of the forced removals haunted the artist, providing one leitmotif of his oeuvre. From 1968 Clarke, his family and the entire community were uprooted from their homes in Simonstown, a historic port of immense charm and natural beauty, and dumped in the ironically named ‘Ocean View’, a sandy wasteland miles from the sea or any other amenity. The artist formulates universal statements about the human condition, addressing political issues in distanced, purely metaphoric terms. The glowing orangey red expanses of ‘Distant Thunder’ bear no resemblance to the Cape Flats. The scene avoids any specific temporal or geographic reference, and the departicularised figures readily assume iconic status as archetypes of dispossession and loss. Clash and upheaval are inscribed into the very landscape where mighty diagonals in the foreground and horizon shove downwards from left to right, crashing into the counter diagonals of the storm-tossed sky of flying sand. The triangular grouping of figures clicks effortlessly into the overall design of straight lines and sharp right angles. Lost in a no man’s land, the foursome gaze in different directions as if uncertain of the path they should follow. As the viewer sees neither the place they have quit, nor the destination to which they journey, their condition of homelessness and wandering is perpetuated. A humanized tree waves its tortured boughs in entreaty to heaven, ventilating the emotions stifled by the stoical figures. Its prong-like branches stab the air, introducing sinister overtones of batons, rifles and bayonets, while its snapped limbs allude to lives stunted or snuffed-out. The two paintings of wood gatherers dating from 14
1957 and 1971 genuflect to Millet’s humanitarian paintings of the peasantry, and Clarke’s povertystricken foragers of fuel are lineal descendants of the Frenchman’s faggot gatherers. A comparison between the early and the later painting reveals how Clarke’s style evolved increasingly toward Expressionist emotive distortion, bareness and abstraction. A moody, brooding sky presses claustrophobically outward; the illumination dims; the color darkens and the deep pools of shadow assume a malign intensity.
Within his community, the artist played a pioneering role akin to that of a Pemba or Sekoto, and that assuredly secures him a niche in our hall of fame. The three wood gatherers comb over a flat, tilted landscape of emptied-out space that offers them only the leanest of pickings. Seen from the rear, and reduced to shadowy silhouettes, the men are stripped of all individuality. They neither acknowledge each other’s presence, nor that of the viewer, and the mood is one of stark isolation and alienation. These are amongst Clarke’s most accomplished and potent paintings. The style is very much a graphic style, and the simplifications; massive, blocky forms; flat, tilted planes; incisive contours and looming voids immediately recall the artist’s wood and linocuts. Clarke’s graphic idiom came to maturity in the early 60’s and, unlike the rest of his work, it changed little thereafter. He produced consummate prints throughout his entire career, and they probably represent his most outstanding achievement. During the 60’s and 70’s painting and graphics cross-fertilized each other, spawning Peter’s iconography of the Cape Flats. The distant thunder of rising discontent reverberates crashingly through this body of work. Clarke portrays the flats as a bleak, moorland, wracked by the elements; a place of depletion, emptiness and absence, without landmarks, histories, memories or associations. The figures doggedly dragging their goods and chattels through these sullen flatlands vividly evoke the travail of forced removal and the psychological baggage it left in its wake. Walls, fences and barbed wire insistently recall the divisive realities of apartheid, and scavenging strays convey the miseries of homelessness and hunger. Fallen branches and felled trees serve as emblems of severance and uprootment, while
the looming, black blanks of the empty windows and doors, and the islanding of the isolate figures amidst yawning voids, exemplify the breakdown of communities and resonate estrangement, disaffection and loss. Premonitions of imminent apocalypse are embedded in landscapes like ‘Birds and Thorns’. A phalanx of rigid, mecanomorphic vertical blossoms with saber-like leaves and dense clusters of jabbing thorns rises up beneath a flock of flying black birds. As they scour the earth for prey, their long talons and claws poised and at the ready, they wheel before a gigantic sun, occluding its sustaining light. Given the national fixation on politics and race, such paintings and graphics monopolized critical attention and shaped public perceptions of the artist’s oeuvre. Little heed was paid to the astonishing diversity of Clarke’s iconographic invention which embraced grandly sweeping, panoramic landscapes, and, on a smaller compass, charming delineations of tumbledown country cottages set in verdant meadowlands. His many idyllic pastorals depicting sun-drenched fields, crops, cattle, shepherds and farmhands are pure visual poetry irradiated by an epic vitalist momentum. The laureate of the seemingly prosaic and everyday, Peter also created still lives of a studied modesty depicting humble kitchen utensils and Spartan domestic interiors. The scale of these exquisitely crafted graphic gems - often smaller than a credit card - accentuates their preciousness. The linocut ‘Red Apples’ presents a table-top arrangement of five apples and a fall of drapery set against a blue and gray wall, Lush, velvety and caressing, this mellow expression of joie de vivre possesses a halcyon Mediterranean ripeness reminiscent of Matisse and Bonnard. The nocturne, ‘Walking quickly through the Evening Woods’ recalls the fairytale world of the brothers Grimm. Set in a wood of dancing gray trees with tentacular branches that clutch at the boys wending their way through thick green grass, it reveals Clarke’s gifts as a fantasist. Although Clarke’s graphic vitality always remained undiminished, his painting declined after he severed the umbilical cord between it and his prints in the late 70’s. The first image in his triptych, ‘Haunted Landscape’, is filled with obviously and portentously symbolic objects that stand out like sore thumbs. All are executed in different styles, and further inconsistencies occur in the contrast between the predominantly hardedged idiom in the lower register, and the broad, summary approach above. Neville Dubow’s strictures about ‘posterish garishness’ and the need for more subtly modulated tones could not be more apposite to the too sharply contrasting color patches Clarke used to delineate the setting. From 1978 Clarke embarked on large-scale, increasingly abstract, two-dimensional, mixed media works. SA ART TIMES. February 2012
(Above:) Peter Clarke with his Self Portrait (Top right:) Flute music, 1960, Middle Clarke’s painting with Woman with goats 1961, (Right below) Listening to distant thunder 1970 (Photo of Peter Clarke by Jenny Altschuler) A shallow stage, a wall and sky occupy foreground, middle ground and background, forming horizontal compositions of rectangles, superimposed one on top of the other. This becomes standard. The wall carries further rectangles of collaged text and images, and the repetitive structure proves monotonous. Trite details like a released, caged bird used as an emblem of freedom, supplant the richly meaningful symbolical apparatus underpinning the earlier work. Although the brushwork becomes more painterly, and collage and pigment are integrated with increasing seamlessness in the cluster of paintings known as the ‘Ghetto Fence’, the same wall SA ART TIMES. February 2012
or fence endlessly repeats, and the sole variation is provided by the images and texts plastered to it. A visual artist should rely on visual means, but here Clarke abdicates his role as an imagemaker, and invites words to speak instead. The inclusion of poems running to thirty lines transforms the paintings into dictionaries of quotations, and reading replaces looking. Clarke’s recent work is far more mellow, sunny and droll, but - Alas! - it has also declined into inconsequence. Despite their undeniable design qualities, the fan paintings, concertina books, calendars and collages that conclude the exhibition struck me as mere elegant, decorative bricolage.
However the earlier work and corpus of prints retain an absolute centrality. Within his community, the artist played a pioneering role akin to that of a Pemba or Sekoto, and that assuredly secures him a niche in our hall of fame. When I phoned Peter recently, his home was besieged by collectors ransacking cupboards and drawers for unsold art. The retrospective had gone to his head, he said playfully, and the next time he ventured out, he fully expected to be borne aloft on a litter by rapturous praise singers. I vow that, when this happens, I will gladly swell the happy throng heartily cheering Peter’s triumphal march into history. 15
SOUTH AFRICAN
GALLERY GUIDE Stuart Bird’d Blood Knot 2012 Hand-carved African Mahogany. See it at The Goodman Gallery, Cape
ART TIMES | REVIEW / LLOYD POLLAK REVIEWS STUART BIRD’S SHOW : PROMISE LAND AT THE GOODMAN GALLERY, CAPE
Promise Land Puts Stuart Bird On The Map dumped on the floor to await removal. The presentation clearly implies redundancy, intimating that the struggle ideals of heroism and self-sacrifice have yielded to greed, corruption and graft. Shallow circular depressions in the wood house coins. These represent the change of the title, and allude to purloined moneys, and the economic revolution that never took place. Change exemplifies Stuart’s formidable gift for turning form into metaphor, for the installation looks like the washed-up Raft of the Medusa, and awakens associations with calamity, death, the foundering of the Ship of State and being cast adrift. Somewhere over the Rainbow, a sculpture in the form of a sign emblazoned with the song’s title, is another virtuoso demonstration of Stuart’s flair for condensing layer upon layer of meaning in a single object. Although its arc shape recalls an ecclesiastical arch, it is no portal to the divine. Constructed from jagged shards of smashed mirror, it presents the baleful appearance of broken glass atop suburban walls. It says ‘Keep Out’; cautions us against the panaceas of prophets and leaders, and intimates that the Promised Land is as unattainable as the gold at the end of the rainbow.
Lloyd Pollak Reviews Stuart Bird’s Promise Land at The Goodman Gallery Cape The discovery of a new artist whose creative identity stands out like the proverbial dog’s balls is a thrilling event, and Stuart Bird’s first solo, Promise Land at the Goodman, provides just such a high. This young Michaelis graduate demonstrates a complete understanding of conceptualism, and an ability to overcome its dry astringency and push it to the limit of its expressive potential. The title alludes both to Canaan, the land of milk and honey, and to the legendary promise of South Africa with its balmy climate, rich mineral deposits, fertile soil and, in the past, its cheap and abundant labor force. The show evaluates our recent history from the Utopian optimism of the 90’s, to the disillusion of the present, and examines how our country has fulfilled, and failed to fulfill, that promise. Calling, a digital film, states the theme. Shot with a cell-phone in allusion to the Arab Spring, this hand-held, footage records a performance in which Stuart plays the shaman, describing ritualistic circles as he inscribes the words ‘Revolution’ and ‘Counter-Revolution’ onto the flat roof of a Woodstock building with an acetylene blow torch. By literally playing with fire, the artist sets up overtones of Prometheus’s heroic theft of fire, while the words summon up Belshazzar’s feast, where a prophecy of the King’s death was traced upon the palace walls by a supernatural agency. Fire is both a creative and a destructive force, and the blow-torched words evoke the cycles of history in which revolution is inevitably succeeded by counter-revolution which then yields to renewed revolution. The bursts of flame recall distress signal flares, and the ominous crackle of fire and whoosh of gas whip up a febrile atmosphere. Light, shadows and reflections spill from the wall into the gallery where they flicker and distend, and the resultant tension is like the lull before a storm. There are seven works of art, and the number alludes to the seven sacraments, the seven deadly sins and the seven fat and lean years. Stuart worked as a church restorer for five years, and he underpins his work with traditional religious and mythological references in the hope that his art will arouse something of the wonder and awe we feel in the great gothic cathedrals. A dense nexus of symbolical ramifications underlie his creations, setting up elusive reverberations that lend Promise Land the mystery and complexity of the workings of history. The ironically titled Change is a sculptural Leviathan constructed out of separately carved letters of the alphabet fitted with lights like an old-fashioned cinema’s illuminated facade. Islanded in the centre of the gallery, it dominates the space through its massive presence and freakish appearance. Instead of standing up and facing the viewer head-on, so we can read the letters, Change lies face downwards on the floor, and the word it spells, occurs in illegible mirror-writing. That word is ‘struggle’, and the red lights that illuminate it, signal danger, and hint at how revolutions can be hijacked. Change looks like a massive piece of signage that has just been dismantled and
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A combination of menace and allure, the piece embodies the appeal of the revolutionary dream, but also suggests how it may pave the way to disaster. The subtle patterns of shadows and reflections on the wall around it prove as seductive as the song. The lyrics expressed an exhausted British nation’s yearning for stability in the midst of the terrors and privations of the blitz. Its use in this context cannot but be ironic, for although the piece evokes the glowing, post-apartheid future that once appeared to await our country, its icy highlights and lethal, scimitar-sharp edges dismiss this scenario as a might-have-been. Broken mirrors portend misfortune, and the piece’s silhouette resembles Christ’s Crown of Thorns, giving Over the Rainbow a doom-ridden beauty. In Rainbow Nation flashing, fairy lights are crammed into a box frame backed by mirror. This bounces back the dazzle of the strawberry-shaped bulbs creating a cloying effect of sugary, sugary sweetness that points up the wishful thinking and self-delusion underlying this delusive catchphrase that became a mantra during the 90’s. The companion piece, Present Tense replicates our flag in ecclesiastical materials of stained glass and lead. Stained glass requires light to fulfill its inspirational function, but the flag emblematic of the new dispensation and its election promises, becomes an expression of crushed hopes, for it remains as dim as a spent bulb. A wall-piece spelling the name Stuart Bird out in lights, reflects on the commodification of the artist who must fashion his personality into an instantly recognizable, readily marketable product, like David Hockney whose bottle-blond hair, gold lame jacket and white plastic glasses established his brand identity, turning him into his own logo. Just as Stuart’s genuine identity disappears behind all the spiel whereby he presents this persona to the world, so we loose sight of the wood materials and carving process used in this sculpture. The bright lights screwed into the timber, disguise its substance, making it look like a factory-made object. Stuart often conceals his craftsmanship behind a manufactured appearance. In Blood knot and Chip off the old Block, he simulates rope in carved wood with such success, that many viewers fail to recognize the material, and the resultant confusion is part of the statement which concerns a media-saturated society that can no longer differentiate between appearance and reality. Two lengths of rope emanating from two parallel walls are tied into a knot suspended over a pool of blood in Blood knot. The knot stands for the interdependence of blacks and whites inextricably bound together in a relationship where none can survive without the other. The piece typifies the absolute neutrality of the artist’s handwork which suppresses his personality, so that cerebral and emotive oomph go hand in hand with detachment and cool. The rope works hang question marks over our future, and are unmistakably politically malign. By referencing the garb of monks and penitents, Judas Iscariot’s suicide, Christ on the road to Calvary, tightropes, hangman’s nooses, flagellation, entrapment and captivity, they evoke Shrovetide and suggest a Via Dolorosa lies ahead. Stuart’s wide-ranging references, his incisive thinking and impeccable artisanal address convince one that he will blossom into a major artist, and I urge everyone to visit this bravura solo. Images courtesy of the artist and Goodman Gallery. Photo’s by Kyle Morland Photos: Top left: Stuart Bird in his workshop / Top right: Over the rainbow: Supawood and broken mirrors Middle: Rainbow Nation: Imbuia, mirror and light instalation Below: Change : Wood, coins, lightbulbs
SA ART TIMES. February 2012
Diane Victor new lithographs
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The Usher. Hand printed lithograph, 76 x 56 cm. Edition 25.
The Artists’ Press
Resurrection E-mail:
Windmill CentreArt Times Diane Jan 2012 advert.indd 1 Main Street, Clarens Tel/Fax: 058 256 1620 info@johansmith.co.za
* Glass * Bronze * Ceramics * Old Masters * Contemporary *
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www.johansmith.co.za Windmill Centre Main Street, Clarens Tel/Fax: 058 256 1757 E-mail: manager@bloudonki.co.za
* Contemporary Art * Steel Sculptures * Handmade Glass * * Functional Art * Photography * Ceramics *
Makiwa Mutomba Exhibition From 19May 2012
www.bloudonki.co.za
20/01/2012 8:30 AM
FREE STATE, GAUTENG | GALLERY GUIDE
Free State Bloemfontein Oliewenhuis Art Museum 17 Feb until 9 April in the Main Building, “Faena” by Nandipha Mntambo (Standard bank Young Artist) a body of new work encompassing sculpture, works on paper and video. Currently on show until 3 March, a selection of Watercolour & Pastel Works from the Permanent Collection and until 30 April, “Face Value: old heads in modern masks” an etching series by Malcolm Payne. 16 Harry Smith Str, Bloemfontein. T.051 447 9609 karen.marais@nasmus.co.za www.nasmus.co.za
Clarens Art & Wine Gallery on Main The Gallery houses an exquisite collection of art by wellknown artists like Gregoire Boonzaier, J.H. Pierneef, Pieter van der Westhuizen, Erik Laubscher, Jan Vermeiren, Marjorie Wallace, Eben van der Merwe, Conrad Theys, Hennie Niemann, Hannetjie de Clercq, ceramics by Laura Du Toit, sculpture by Fana Malherbe & Jean Doyle, glass by David Reade & Shirley Cloete and numerous others. 279 Main Str, Clarens T. 058 256 1298 or Anton Grobbelaar. C. 082 341 8161 anton@artandwine.co.za www.artandwine.co.za Blou Donki Art Gallery A vibrant contemporary art gallery, housing a wide variety of contemporary artworks, functional art, steel sculptures, bronzes, handmade glass and specializing in photography. Windmill Centre, Main Str, Clarens T. 058 256 1757 manager@bloudonki.co.za www.bloudonki.co.za Johan Smith Art Gallery The gallery permanently exhibits a wide variety of classical and selected contemporary art works featuring Johan Smith, Elbè van Rooyen, Elga Rabe, Graham Carter, Nicole Pletts, Gregoire Boonzaier, Otto Klar, and various others. Specializing in ceramics, the gallery supports artists such as Hennie Meyer, Karen Sinovich, and Heather Mills, among others. Collectable bronzes, and handmade glass by David Reade, also available. Windmill Centre, Main Str, Clarens T. 058 256 1620 manager@bhm.dorea.co.za www.johansmith.co.za
Gauteng Johannesburg Alice Art Xander Steyn opens on the weekend of 4&5 Feb and on the 11& 12 Feb is Giorgio Trobec. 217 Drive Str, Ruimsig. T. 083 331 8466/ 083 377 1470 aliceart@global.co.za www.aliceart.co.za Artspace Jhb From 1 Feb, “A City Exposed” by Jaco van den Heever, large scale drawings of urban structures, Johannesburg landscapes and abandoned industrial facilities. Chester Court, 142 Jan Smuts Ave, Parkwood. T.011 880 8802 Email artspace@wol.co.za www.artspace-jhb.co.za Christie’s International Auctioneers. Gillian Scott Berning, Independent Consultant. T 031 207 8247 Gillian.gsb@mweb.co.za www.christies.com
SA ART TIMES. February 2012
CIRCA on Jellicoe 16 February – 10 March, photography by Obie Oberholzer. 2 Jellicoe Ave. T. 011 788 4805 gallery@circaonjellicoe.co.za www.circaonjellicoe.co.za Everard Read Jhb 9 February – 3 March, oil painting by Caryn Scrimgeour and Jeremy Houghton and sculpture by Carlo Gamborini. 6 Jellicoe Ave, Rosebank, Jhb. T. 011 788-4805 gallery@everard.co.za www.everard-read.co.za Goodman Gallery From 26 Jan - 25 February, a group show entitled “Advance/Notice” featuring artists: Candice Breitz, Mounir Fatmi, Robert Hodgins and Sam Nhlengethwa to name a few. 1 – 24 March, Rosenclaire exhibition. 163 Jan Smuts Ave, Parkwood, Johannesburg T. 011 788 1113 jhb@goodman-gallery.com www.goodman-gallery.com Grahams Fine Art Gallery Opening 23 Feb @7pm until 22 March, “An Outsiders View” by Walter Meyer. RSVP to Christina. Unit 46, Broadacres Lifestyle Centre, Cnr Cedar & Valley Rds, Broadacres, Fourways, Jhb. T. 011 465 9192 sarah@grahamsgallery.co.za www.grahamsgallery.co.za 16 Halifax Works by Michael Heyns, Leon Muller & Mimi van der Merwe can be viewed by appointment in Johannesburg at 16 Halifax Str, Bryanston. Dana MacFarlane 082 784 6695 bdmac@mweb.co.za www.16halifaxart.co.za In Toto From 19 Jan – 28 Feb, “She@InToto” features only female artists who, in this exhibition, will be exploring their own ideas of femininity. Opening 1 March – 10 April, “Creation” works on canvas by James Delaney. 6 Birdhaven Centre, 66 St Andrew Str, Birdhaven. T. 011 447 6543 megan@intotogallery.co.za www.intotogallery.co.za Isis Gallery Leading Art Gallery in Rosebank showcasing today’s most Modern Contemporary Artists. The gallery is currently having a Sale until the end of February 2012 and now is you chance to own paintings by fantastic up-and-coming artists - Junior Fungai, Jerry Lion, Lazarus Ramontseng, Hynes Matshoba and Alphen Ntimbane. Only few painting remain. Also many Zimbabwean Stone Sculptures at sale prices. New works are also available by Derric van Rensburg and Brian Rolfe. Shop 163, The Mall of Rosebank. Contact Daniel Erasmus T. 011 447 2317 info@isisgallery.co.za www.isisgallery.co.za Johannesburg Art Gallery From 29 January – 8 April, “A Fragile Archive” an exhibition of works by two pioneering artists Gladys Mgudlandlu and Valerie Desmore as well as works by other women artists selected from JAG’S collection. Also on show until March, the Dutch & Flemish exhibition. King George Str, Joubert Park, Jhb. T. 011 725 3130 tinym@joburg.org.za www.joburg.org.za Manor Gallery From 4 – 25 February, “Eat , Paint, Love” all media exhibition for Valentine’s Month. Come and see the stunning artworks on show. Manor Gallery, Home of the Watercolour Society of South Africa. Norscot Manor Centre, Penguin Drive, Fourways, Gauteng. T. 011 465 7934 gallery@wssa.org.za www.wssa.org.za Market Photo Workshop On show until 15 Feb, “Picture” an exhibition by 2011 Photojournalism and Documentary Photography Programme Students.
T. 011 834 1444 info@marketphotoworkshop.co.za www.marketphotoworkshop.co.za Nirox Projects From 22 Jan until 12 Feb, Nirox Foundation and David Krut Projects presents “Mainly Benoni. And Paintings” an exhibition by Jessica Webster. Arts on Main, Cnr Main & Berea Streets, Joburg. For more information please contact: Rachel (Nirox) C. 083 434 8541 or Taryn (David Krut Projects) T. 011 447 0627 www.davidkrutprojects.com info-jhb@davidkrut.com www.niroxarts.com Sandton Auctioneers Fine Art, Furniture, Carpets & Collectables. Showroom: No 8 Burnside Ave, Craighall Park, Jhb. T. 011 501 3360 sandtonauctioneers@telkomsa.net www.sandtonauctioneers.com Standard Bank Gallery The Goethe-Institut South Africa, Standard Bank Art Gallery and Goodman Gallery present the new exhibition “Extra!” featuring video installation & visual art by acclaimed South African artist Candice Breitz. Opening on 7 February at 6pm at the Standard Bank Gallery, on show until 5 April. Cnr of Simmonds & Frederick Str.’s, Jhb. T. 011 631 1889 sue.isaac@standardbank.co.za www.standardbankarts.co.za Stephan Welz & Company Auctioneers of Decorative and Fine Arts. 13 Biermann Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg. T. 011 880-3125 jhb@stephanwelzandco.co.za www.stephanwelzandco.co.za Stevenson Johannesburg From 19 Jan - 24 February, “Black Men in Dress” and “Iimbali” two bodies of work featuring photography by Sabelo Mlangeni . 1 March - 6 April, an exhibition by Serge Alain Nitegeka. 62 Juta Street, Braamfontein, Jhb. T. 011 326 0034 jhb@stevenson.info www.stevenson.info Strauss & Co. Fine Art Auctioneers & Consultants. Country Club Johannesburg, Corner Lincoln Rd & Woodlands Drive, Woodmead. T. 079 407 5140 jhb@straussart.co.za www.straussart.co.za UJ Art Gallery 8 – 29 February, “Transnational Modernism:” The Gutai Art Movement, Christo Coetzee and the legacy of Abstract Expressionism in South Africa. Christo Coetzee, who studied with members of the Gutai Group in Japan in 1959-60, donated 11 Gutai drawings to the University in 1975. These drawings will form the core of an exhibition examining the influence of Gutai on Coetzee’s art during the 1960s and 70s. The Gutai Group (1954 – 1972) is known for the action painting of its members who worked in an abstract expressionist style, notably in the 1950s. The exhibition curated by art historian, Wilhelm van Rensburg, includes works by South African artists of the 1970s and 80s who adopted an abstract expressionist style as well as contemporary South African artists whose practice can be described as including a similar sensibility. Cnr Kingsway & University Rd, Auckland Park, Jhb. T. 011 559 2099 aedempsey@uj.ac.za www.uj.ac.za/artscentre Upstairs @ Bamboo From 10 – 29 February, “The Art of Happiness: 13” showcasing the work of 13 South African illustrators, printers and painters whose work captures life with joy and humour! Exhibitors include Essie Letterpress, Amelia from Whimsy, Alta Stegmann, Stephanie van Vuuren (and Norman Nanimal), Leigh from Loveburd, Tian van den Heever & Juniper. corner 9th Str & Rustenburg Rd, Melville T. 011 726 1701 C. 083 284 6226 alisong@kingsley.co.za www.bamboo-online.co.za
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The Whitehouse Gallery
8 – 29 February 2012
TRANSNATIONAL MODERNISM: The Gutai Art Movement, Christo Coetzee and the legacy of Abstract Expressionism in South Africa Jim Dine Ball-Grained Heart
a collecƟon of original oil painƟngs, etchings, lithographs, screenprints, bronzes and ceramics 11 THRUPPS ILLOVO CENTRE, Oxford Road ILLOVO P.O. Box 496, Melrose Arch 2076 Tel : 27 11 268-2115 ¹ Fax : 27 11 268-2129 WEBSITE : www.thewhitehousegallery.co.za EMAIL : alan@whg.co.za : melanie@whg.co.za
COETZEE, Christo Flower on a Spanish Afternoon, 1967 Mixed media on canvas 150 x 150 University of Johannesburg Art Collection
Christo Coetzee, who studied with members of the Gutai Group in Japan in 1959-60, donated 11 Gutai drawings to the University in 1975. These drawings will form the core of an exhibition examining the influence of Gutai on Coetzee’s art during the 1960s and 70s. The Gutai Group (1954-1972) is known for the action painting of its members who worked in an abstract expressionist style, notably in the 1950s. The exhibition curated by art historian, Wilhelm van Rensburg, includes works by South African artists of the 1970s and 80s who adopted an abstract expressionist style as well as contemporary South African artists whose practice can be described as including a similar sensibility. With lectures and launch of a book by Van Rensburg.
UJ Art Gallery c/o Kingsway and University Road Auckland Park Johannesburg +27 11 559 2099 [tel] | +27 11 559 3178 [fax] | aedempsey@uj.ac.za
GAUTENG, MPUMALANGA, WESTERN CAPE | GALLERY GUIDE The White House Gallery The gallery has a wide ranging portfolio featuring renowned masters such as Chagall, Marini, Miro, Moore, Portway, Pasmore, Stella, Picasso, Dine & Hockney - to name a few. Also the more affordable works of up and coming artists in Britain and France, along with globally acclaimed South African artists. Shop G11 Thrupps Centre,Oxford Road, Illovo,Johannesburg. T. 011 268 2115 alan@whg.co.za www.thewhitehousegallery.co.za
Sandton Auctioneers Fine Art, Furniture, Carpets & Collectables. Showroom: 367 Lynnwood Rd, Menlo Park, Pretoria. T. 012 460 6000 sandtonauctioneers@telkomsa.net www.sandtonauctioneers.com
Pretoria
UNISA Art Gallery From 28 Jan - 10 Feb, DFA -Diploma in Fine Arts - Student Exhibition. 17 Feb - 2 March, Tshwane University of Technology Exhibition. Kgorong Building, Ground Floor, Main Campus, Preller Str, Pretoria. T. 012 441 5683 ukun1@unisa.ac.za www.unisa.ac.za/gallery
Alette Wessels Kunskamer The Alette Wessels Kunskamer operates as an Art Gallery and Art Consultancy, specialising in South African art as an investment, dealing in Old Masters, and selected contemporary art. Maroelana Centre, 27 Maroelana Str, Maroelana, Pretoria. T. 012 346 0728 alette@artwessels.co.za www.artwessels.co.za Association of Arts Pretoria 3 - 25 February, New paintings by students of Leon Fourie. Walkabout: Saturday 11 February 2012 at 11:00. 10 - 25 February, Paintings by Jaco Benade. 28 February - 2 March, Submission dates for the 2012 Absa L’Atelier art competition. Visit http://www.absalatelier. co.za for more information and conditions of entry. 173 Mackie Str, Nieuw Muckleneuk, Pretoria. T. 012 346 3100 artspta@mweb.co.za www.artsassociationpta.co.za Fried Contemporary Opening on the 4th of February at 18h30, “Terra firma” with tribute artist: David Koloane and others: Jenna Burchell, Marili de Weerdt, Isabel Mertz, Leana van der Merwe & Clare Menck. On show until 3 March. 430 Charles St, Brooklyn, Pretoria. T. 012 346 0158 art@friedcontemporary.com www.friedcontemporary.com Front Room Art & Artists From Sat 4 – Sat 25 Feb, “Small packages” small paintings, etchings and sculptures from the studios of Frans Cronje, Liekie Fouché, Kay Potts, Alison Riordan & Mimi van der Merwe. Exhibition hours: Wed-Fri 16:00-18:00, Saturdays 11:00-17:00. Join us for a glass of wine at 14:00 on Sat 4 Feb. 116 Kate Ave Rietondale. Jennifer Snyman 082 451 5584 Jennifer@frontroomart.co.za www.frontroomart.co.za Gallery Michael Heyns The Gallery has moved to 194 Haley Str, Weavind Park, Pretoria. T. 012 804 0869 michael@michaelheyns.co.za www.michaelheyns.co.za Pretoria Art Museum On show until 29 February, “Pedestrian Paintings” by Andries Gouws. This travelling exhibition combines the interiors and still-lifes known from Gouws’ previous shows with a series of paintings of feet on which he has been working since 2006. From 1 February - 1 April, The Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) presents the 2012 Art Exhibition with artists: Judith Mason, Diane Victor, Zuanda Badenhorst, Mart Leeuwner, Annalize Bauker-Roos, Marthinus Höll, Retha Buitendagh, Nic Sithole. T.012 344 1807/8 art.museum@tshwane.gov.za www.pretoriaartmuseum.co.za Salomi Prinsloo Signature Gallery 9 Feb - 20 Feb, Exhibition and Book launch: “Wildvreemd verbeelde woorde” by Carina Stander. Closed on Sundays. 397 Roslyn Str, Waterkloofglen, Pretoria. T. 012 9985783 C. 0828780441 salomiprinsloo@gmail.com www.salomiprinsloo.com
SA ART TIMES. February 2012
St Lorient Fashion and Art Gallery Opening 25 February, “Kaleidescope” An Exhibition to lift our spirits. 492 Fehrsen Street, Brooklyn Circle, Brooklyn, Pretoria. T. 012 4600284 anastasi@iafrica.com www.stlorient.co.za
North West Potchefstroom NWU Gallery 16 February - 15 March, “Reservoir” Pastel and Lithography by Hanneke Benadé. North-West University Gallery, Building E7, NWU Potchefstroom Campus, Hoffman Str, Potchefstroom. T. 018 299 4341 email: 20061374@nwu.ac.za NWU Botanical Gardens Gallery 16 February - 15 March, “Kant aantekeninge by Elna Venter” Painting by Elna Venter. North-West University Botanical Gardens Gallery T. 018 299 2753 email: 20049830@nwu.ac.za
Mpumalanga Dullstroom Art @ sixty seven A selection of fine art, ceramics and blown glass art pieces, by well-known local artists. Shop no9, 67 Naledi St, Dullstroom, Mpumulanga. T. 013 254 0335 mikek@boardwalkmanor.co.za www.shopat67.com Dimitrov Art Gallery Lifestyle Complex, shop no.4 on Cnr. Teding Van Berkhout & Hugenote/ Naledi Street, Dullstroom, Mpumalanga T. 013 254 0524 C. 082 679 5698 info@dimitrovartgallery.co.za www.dimitrovartgallery.co.za The New Dimitrov Art Gallery Situated in the Trams Alley shop no.1 , along the R 540 ( Naledi Drive ). Opening exhibition “Expression of Freedom” by renowned artist Dimitrov. info@dimitrovartgallery.co.za www.dimitrovartgallery.co.za
White River The Artists’ Press Professional collaboration, printing and publishing of original hand-printed artists lithographs, by the Artists’ Press. Also artists books, monotypes & letterpress prints, particularly for artists working in SA. Waterfield Farm near White River, Mpumalanga T. 013 751 3225 print@artistspress.co.za www.artists-press.net
The Loop Art Foundry & Sculpture Gallery A collaboration and network for the avid art patron and collector as well as a full service facility for the artist. This is the place where you will find a unique and superior item or have something commissioned that you have always envisioned. Casterbridge Complex Corner R40 & Numbi Roads White River T. 013 758 2409 theloop@worldonline.co.za www.tlafoundry.co.za The White River Gallery A contemporary gallery housing dynamic exhibitions. Casterbridge Centre, R 40 Cnr. of Hazyview & Numbi Gate Rd, White River. C. 083 675 8833 maz@kingsley.co.za
Western Cape Cape Town Absolut Art Gallery Permanent exhibition with the best Masters and Contemporary artists. Namely : JH Pierneef, Gerard Sekoto, Hugo Naude, Adriaan Boshoff, Frans Oerder, Maurice Van Essche, Tinus De Jongh, Gerard Bhengu, Ephraim Ngatane, Cecil Skotnes, JEA Volschenk, Conrad Theys, William Kentridge, to name a few. Shop 43 Willowbridge Lifestyle Centre, Carl Cronje Drive, Tyger Valley, Bellville. T. 021 914 2846 info@absolutart.co.za www.absolutart.co.za. Art b From 25 January – 29 February, “Krisp” this exhibition showcases young graduates and emerging artists from well known art training institutions including Stellenbosch University, Michaelis School of Fine Art and Rhodes University. Participating artists include: Tarryn de Kock, Jarett Erasmus, Nina Liebenberg, Nonkululeko Mabaso, Alessandro Pappada, Tatum Paulsen and Lee-Ann van der Schyff. The Arts Association of Bellville, The Library Centre, Carel van Aswegan Str, Bellville. T. 021 918 2301 info@artb.co.za www.artb.co.za/gallery.htm AVA From 16 Jan- 10 February, “Tjorts! /Cheers!” is a visual conversation between acclaimed and award-winning poet Danie Marais and participating visual artists Marna Hattingh, Tina Jensen, Marlise Keith, John Murray &Liza Grobler, “Given To Fly” mixed media works by Vivien Kohler and “Recent Works” by Sandile Mhlongo presents his recent paintings. 13 February – 9 March, “Letters from the Tankwa” a series of photographs by Adriaan Oosthuizen and “There but not there” featuring paintings by Angela Briggs. Association for Visual Arts, 35 Church Str, CT. T.021 424 7436 art@ava.co.za www.ava.co.za The Avital Lang Gallery New at the gallery abstract artist Caro Allum as well as new ceramics by John Bauer and many more. We also offer painting and ceramic classes as well as gallery space for new up and coming artists. Two Oceans House, Surrey Place, Mouille Point, CT. (Next to Newport Deli) T. 021 4392124 avital.artistinc@gmail.com www.avitallang.com Barnard Gallery Opening 2 February at 6pm, “Good Night” a solo exhibition of mixed media paintings by Heike Davies. 55 Main Str, Newlands. T. 021 671 1666 gallery@barnardgallery.com www.barnardgallery.com
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Presents
“The Ardmore Aviary� At The Cellars-Hohenort Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th of March from 9.00am until 5.00pm An entry fee of R30 will be charged, tea and scones will be included.
www.ardmoreceramics.co.za
Kaffie Pretorius, Women with Gannets, Oil, 60x70
We have a wide selection of paintings, sculptures and ceramics by established and up-and-coming SA artists Tel/Fax: 028 312 2928 Cell: 082 719 0907 E-mail: francois@walkerbayartgallery.co.za www.walkerbayartgallery.co.za 171 Main Road, Hermanus, 7200 1 12-14-11 SA Art Times.pdf
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The Cape Gallery, 60 Church Street seeks to expose fine art that is rooted in the South African tradition, work which carries the unique cultural stamp of our continent and yet can touch the imagination of others who view it. Rotating exhibitions add to the diverse and often eclectic mix of work on show. The Church Street walking mall is the oldest in Cape Town. featured artist: Jenny Parsons
THE CAPE GALLERY
7 February - 1 March
Open Mon - fri: 9h30 - 17h00 Sat: 10h00 - 14h00 27 21 423 5309 cgallery@mweb.co.za www.capegallery .co.za
less is more by marion cross contemporary art jewellery by angela whimsical illustrations by carolyn gad
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CAPE TOWN / WESTERN CAPE | GALLERY GUIDE Brundyn & Gonsalves (formely iArt) From 1 Feb – 14 March, “Periphery” Tom Cullberg’s 10th solo exhibition of paintings. 71 Loop Str, CT. T. 021 424 5150 info@brundyngonsalves.com www.brundyngonsalves.com
The Cellar Private Gallery The Cellar Private Gallery of Art deals exclusively in original & investment art, offering works by a variety of renowned & upcoming SA artists. 12 Imhoff Str, Welgemoed, Bellville T. 021 913 4189 info@thecellargallery.co.za www.thecellargallery.co.za
Cape Gallery From 15th January – 4th February, “Rustic Beauty of the Cape” a solo exhibition of recent works by Roelof Rossouw. Opening on Sunday the 5th February at 4.30pm, a group exhibition of works by Derek Jacobs, Jenny Parsons, Margot Hattingh & Yvette Polovin is on show until 3rd March. 60 Church Str, CT. T. 021 423 5309 web@capegallery.co.za www.capegallery.co.za
Christie’s International Auctioneers. Juliet Lomberg, Independent Consultant. T. 021 761 2676 jlomberg@iafrica.com www.christies.com
Carmel Art Dealers in Fine art, exclusive distributers of Pieter van der Westhuizen etchings. Cape Quarter Square, 27 Somerset Rd, Green Point. T. 021 4213333 carmel@global.co.za www.carmelart.co.za Casa Labia Galleria Until the end of February, “In Bloom II” a multi media exhibition with featured artists: Bronwen Findlay, Zoe Mogue, Paul Du Toit, Sibonela Chiliza, Sue Pam Grant, Jill Trappler, Ruby Lara, Carla da Cruz, Sibonela Chiliza, Annelie Venter, Keiskamma Trust, Rebecca Jones, Nina Liebenberg, Margy Malan, Jeni Jedeiken, Peter Rose & Peter Clarke. Casa Labia Cultural Centre, 192 Main Rd, Muizenberg. T. 021 788 6068 info@casalabia.co.za www.casalabia.co.za Cedar Tree Gallery Contemporary Fine Art Gallery at Rodwell House. Rodwell Rd, St. James, CT. T. 021 797 9880 cedartreegallery@gmail.com www.cedartreegallery.co.za
Christopher Møller Art New arrival: Visit our website: www.christophermollerart. co.za to view Janna Prinsloo, “Unentangled III” , oil on canvas, 120 x 120cm. This beautiful painting depicts a man ‘flying’ or ‘soaring’ with only sky visible in the background. The feeling conveyed is a state of being where our mind, soul and spirit are not bound by any earthly things or circumstances, or imprisoned by unhealthy relationships. Thomas à Kempis: “…Be pure and free within, unentangled with any creature.” 7 Kloofnek Road, Gardens, C T. T. 021 422 1599 Info@christophermollerart.co.za www.christophermollerart.co.za Erdmann Contemporary & The Photographers Gallery ZA The February exhibition will focus on the history of contemporary design, including furniture. Curated by Carsten Rasch. 63 Shortmarket Street, CT. T. 021 422 2762 galleryinfo@mweb.co.za www.erdmanncontemporary.co.za Everard Read CT 16 to 29 February, “Transformation” Christopher Slack’s recent series of mixed media paintings. 3 Portswood Rd, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, CT.
T. 021 418 4527 ctgallery@everard.co.za www.everard-read-capetown.co.za 34 Fine Art 21 February – 24 March, “Overlay” Solo Exhibition by Esther Mahlangu. 2nd Floor, The Hills Building, Buchanan Square, 160 Sir Lowry Rd, Woodstock. T.021 461 1863 info@34fineart.com www.34fineart.com The Framery Art Gallery Until 10 Feb, a vibrant collection of work by artists including Loyiso Mkize, Tatyiana Binovska, Patrick Mokuane, Debbie Grewe, Paul van Rensburg, Louis Janse van Vuuren, Nina Rom, Ncedi Bodlo, Pat Calder, among others. Unframed works on paper offers lino cut, wood cut, silkscreen and etching by Hardy Botha, Anine Barnard, Ian Tainton, Linga Diko among others. 67g Regent Rd, Seapoint. T. 021 434 5022 C. 0781227793 debbiegrewe@gmail.com Gill Allderman Gallery The Gill Allderman Gallery is dedicated to promoting some of South Africa’s valuable talent. Having moved into cyber space, but based in Kenilworth, Cape Town, the gallery will be specialising in home and corporate visits. C.083 556 2540 gallery@new.co.za www.alldermangallery.co.za Goodman Gallery Cape From 19 Jan - 25 February 2012, “Promise Land” the first solo show by acclaimed artist/sculptor Stuart Bird. 1 – 31 March, an exhibition by Lisa Brice. 3rd Floor, Fairweather House, 176 Sir Lowry Rd, Woodstock. T. 021 462 7573/4 cpt@goodman-gallery.com www.goodman-gallery.co
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CAPE TOWN / WESTERN CAPE | GALLERY GUIDE Hout Bay Gallery New artworks by Sarah Danes Jarrett, David Kuijers, Koos De Wet and many more. Open 7 days a week. 71 Victoria Ave, Hout Bay. T. 021 790 3618 F. 021 790 3898 info@houtbaygallery.co.za www.houtbaygallery.co.za Infin Art Gallery A gallery of work by local artists. Wolfe Str, Chelsea Village, Wynberg. T. 021 761 2816 & Buitengracht Str. CT. T. 021 423 2090 gallery@infinart.co.za www.infinart.co.za Irma Stern Museum Opening Sat 18 Feb-Sat 10 March, Arlene Amaler-Raviv’s “New Paintings: Cape Town/Berlin 2011” Lloyd Pollak and Andrew Lamprecht to give a joint lecture and walkabout on Sat 25 Feb at 11am. Entrance:R20. Cecil Rd, Rosebank, CT. T. 021 685 5686 www.irmastern.co.za Iziko SA Museum On show until 13 March, “Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2011” 25 Queen Victoria Str, CT. T. 021 481 3897 vmienies@iziko.org.za www.iziko.org.za Iziko SA National Gallery Until 19 Feb, “Listening to Distant Thunder” the Art of Peter Clarke. Until 29 Feb, “Neither Man Nor Stone” a curated exhibition of works from the Iziko South African National Gallery’s Permanent Collection, plus a small number of loaned works. Until 1 April 2012, “Windows on War - Russian posters from World War II” Until 10 April 2012, Renowned British conceptual and land artist, Richard Long, presents a solo exhibition of works made in southern Africa over the last 50 years. 25 Queen Victoria Str, CT. T. 021 467 4660 info@iziko.org.za www.iziko.org.za Iziko Michaelis Collection Ongoing, Dutch treat: Dutch works from the 17th–20th centuries in Iziko collections Iziko Michaelis Collection, Old Town House, Greenmarket Square, CT. T. 021 481 3800 hproud@iziko.org.za www.iziko.org.za Iziko William Fehr Collection at the Castle of Good Hope From Feb 26, 2012 to Feb 26, 2013, “Fired” an exhibition of South African ceramics. Buitenkant Str, opposite the Grand Parade, CT. T. 21 464 1262 kmooney@iziko.org.za www.iziko.org.za Johans Borman Fine Art Exhibiting a selection of abstract works by Erik Laubscher, Stanley Pinker, Cecil Skotnes, Walter Battiss, Sydney Kumalo, Douglas Portway, Eugene Labuschagne, Pranas Domsaitis, Betty Cilliers-Barnard, Lucky Sibiya, Peter Clarke, Ezrom Legae, Louis Maqhubela, Edoardo Villa, Anna Vorster, Matthew Whippman, Larry Scully, Paul du Toit, Kenneth Bakker and more at the SAADA Antiques Fair 2012, Kirstenbosch Gardens, Cape Town, 10am – 5pm Saturday and Sunday, 11 and 12 February. 16 Kildare Road, Newlands, CT. T. 021 683 6863. art@johansborman.co.za www.johansborman.co.za Lindy van Niekerk Art Gallery A large selection of artworks by new and prominent South African artists and SA old Masters. 31 Kommandeur Rd, Welgemoed, Bellville. T. 021 913 7204/5 lindy@artpro.co.za www.artpro.co.za
SA ART TIMES. February 2012
The Lovell Gallery From 3 Jan- 28 Feb, award winning photographer Neville Petersen’s exhibition. The opening reception will be on 16 February at 18h30 alongside the Australian travelling exhibition, “Message Stick: Indigenous Identity in Urban Australia” which will run from 1 – 25 February. Please RSVP by Thursday, 9 February. 139 Albert Rd, Woodstock. T. 021 820 5505 info@lovellgallery.co.za www.lovellgallery.co.za Martin Osner Fine Art Gallery Archival photographic prints, mixed media & collectable imaging. Shop A14, Cape Quarter Piazza, 72 Waterkant Str, Green Point, CT. T. 021 790 6494 info@martinosner.com www.martinosner.com Michaelis Galleries Opening 15 February @ 18:00 in the Main Gallery, “Context” with participating artists: Fritha Langerman, Colin Richards, Pippa Skotnes, Phillip Raath, Chloe Reid, James King, Morne Visagie & Fabian Saptouw. Also opening 15 Feb in the Upstairs Gallery, Mark Dion will be using the gallery as a studio. Closing 6 March. University of Cape Town, 31 – 37 Orange Street, Cape Town. T. 021 480 7170 nadja.daehnke@uct.ac.za www.michaelis.uct.ac.za Octane Industrial Art Gallery From 14 Jan – 14 Feb, “Crosswired” with exhibiting artists: Van Wessels, André Britz, Max Schultz, Cathy with an s, Aidon Westcott & Herman Potgieter. All the artists use mixed media and mostly industrial elements like metal plates, pipes, drill bits, barb wire, car parts and even railway shavings. 63b Shortmarket Str, Cape Town. T. 076 946 6990 gallery@octane.za.net www.octane.za.net The Project Room Gallery is delighted to present “A Series of Solo Summer Exhibitions 2012” Currently on show, 1 Feb – 2 March, “Afrocatalan” featuring mixed media paintings by Juanjo Sandoval. Open from 9 am – 8pm daily. Please email us to add you to our private invite list. 2nd floor, Old Port Captain’s Building, Pierhead, Dockroad, V&A Waterfront. T. 021 425 7884 theprojectroom@africantradingport.com theprojectroomgallery.blogspot.com Rose Korber Art From 1 February to 15 March, “Highlights from the 20th Art Salon” Selected works by some 60 artists - all under one roof - provide a large showcase of quality pieces in various media and styles, giving an overview of the current state of South African art. Artists, such as William Kentridge, Marlene Dumas, Zwelethu Mthethwa and Claudette Schreuders, illustrate the enormous shift in South African art in the past two decades, with our local artworks becoming increasingly internationalised and our artists taking their rightful place on a world stage! 48 Sedgemoor Rd, Camps Bay, CT. T. 021 438 9152 C.083 261 1173 roskorb@icon.co.za www.rosekorberart.com Rudd’s Auctioneers Antique, Fine and Decorative Art. 87 Bree Street, CT. T.021 426 0384 info@rudds.co.za www.rudds.co.za Rust-en-Vrede Gallery 7 Feb – 1 March, Abstracts by Mation Cross, Jewellery by Gela Tolken, Ink drawings by Carolyn Gadd and Ceramics by Kate van Putten. 10 Wellington Rd, Durbanville. T.021 976 4691 rustenvrede@telkomsa.net www.rust-en-vrede.com
SAADA Fair (South African Antique Dealers Association) Open Saturday and Sunday 11th and 12th February, 10am to 5pm at Kirstenbosch Gardens. T. 021 422 1319 www.saada.co.za Salon 91 From 18 Jan – 11 Feb, “Beast in Mind” a solo exhibition by Elise Wessels as well as “Recent Works” by Tamsin Relly. 15 Feb – 17 March, “Something Like Now” a solo exhibition of new works by Elsabe Milandri. 91 Kloof Str, Gardens, CT. T 021 424 6930 info@salon91art.co.za www.salon91.co.za South African Jewish Museum A groundbreaking exhibition on the life and work of Hungarian Born South African sculptor, Herman Wald will open at the South African Jewish Museum on the 19th February 2012. 88 Hatfield Str, Gardens, CT. T. 021-465-1546 info@sajm.info www.sajm.info South African Print Gallery A wide selection of fine art prints by South African masters and contemporary printmakers. On show in February New Works from the Artists’ Press. 109 Sir Lowry Rd, Woodstock, CT. T. 021 462 6851 info@printgallery.co.za www.printgallery.co.za South African Society of Artists From 27 Jan – 5 Feb, the 2012 Merit Exhibition will be on show at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Sanlam Hall, entrance gate 2. T. 021 671 8941 lizp@iafrica.com www.sasa-artists.co.za StateoftheArt.co.za Online Art Gallery A curated online art gallery bringing you original and affordable artwork created by selected Fine Arts students and graduates emerging from South Africa’s most prestigious art schools. With an extensive selection of styles and genres to reflect your taste, budget and requirements, and a range of services to support your choices, buying art couldn’t be any simpler. T. 0724709272 info@StateoftheArt.co.za www.StateoftheArt.co.za Stephan Welz & Company 21 & 22 February, Decorative and Fine Art Auction. The Great Cellar, The Alphen Hotel, Alphen Drive, Constantia. T. 021 794 6461 ct@stephanwelzandco.co.za www.stephanwelzandco.co.za Stevenson Cape Town From 19 Jan – 25 Feb, “The Unspoken” featuring sculptures and drawings made with cowhide and cow hair by Nandipha Mntambo and “Parasomnia” showing photography by Viviane Sassen. 28 February - 30 March, Guy Tillim’s “Second Nature II” Ground Floor, Buchanan Building, 160 Sir Lowry Rd, Woodstock, CT. T. 021 462 1500 cpt@stevenson.info www.stevenson.info Strauss & Co. Monday 6 February, Auction of South African Art, Jewellery & Decorative Arts, including The Professor Walter Beck Collection. The Oval, 1st Floor Colinton House, 1 Oakdale Rd, Newlands. T. 021 683 6560 ct@straussart.co.za www.straussart.co.za
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GALLERY GUIDE | WESTERN CAPE
WC Overberg, Karoo Franschhoek
Ebony Summer Exhibition of South African Masters. Gerard Sekoto, Alexis Preller, Maud Sumner, George Diederick During, Gordon Vorster and Ephraim Ngatane. 11 Huguenot Street, Franschhoek. T. 021 876 4477 info@ebonydesign.co.za www.ebonydesign.co.za The Gallery at Grande Provence Opening Sunday, 5 February @ 11h00, “Abstract” will showcase the abstract paintings of two of our leading contemporary artists, Gavin Risi and Frans Smit. Also on show sculptures by Richard Forbes, Uwe Pfaff and Jacques Dhont in The Gallery and The Project Room. The Cathedral features the rarely seen collage ‘Emit’ by Gavin Risi and will allow visitors to view his paintings in context to this monumental artwork. In addition, a large selection of artworks, by eminent South African artists, is on display in The Cathedral. Main Rd, Franschhoek. T. 021 876 8630. gallery@grandeprovence.co.za www.grandeprovence.co.za Holden Manz Collection The Holden Manz Wine Estate is proud to announce the opening of its Art Gallery in the city centre of Franschhoek Village. The Holden Manz Collection is focused on contemporary local art and showcases works including charcoals, collages, oils, drawings as well as photography & prints. 30 Huguenot Str, Franschhoek T. 021 876 44 02 info@holdenmanz.com www.holdenmanz.com
George
Shelley Adams Studio & Gallery A permanent exhibition of artworks by Shelley Adams in her personal studio space. She also offers ongoing art courses, crit classes and workshops. 19A Royal Centre, Main Rd, Hermanus. C. 072 677 6277 www.shelley-adams.com Walker Bay Art Gallery View the wide selection of paintings, sculpture & ceramics by established as well as up and coming South African artists. 171 Main Rd, Hermanus. contact: Francois Grobbelaar 028 312 2928 francois@walkerbayartgallery.co.za www.walkerbayartgallery.co.za
Klein Karoo Sheena Ridley Open Studio and Sculpture Garden Sculptures and Paintings N9 Langkloof near Uniondale, Klein Karoo T. 083 5892881 sheena@ridley.co.za www.ridley.co.za
Knysna Dale Elliott Art Galleries Leaders of the painting course concept in South Africa! 2 Galleries: Woodmill Lane Shopping Centre & The Knysna Mall T. 044 382 5646 dale@daleelliott.co.za www.daleelliott.co.za www.elliottartonline.wordpress.com A Different Drummer An on-going exhibition of traditional African artefacts, photographs, ceramics, sculpture, paintings and objets de vertu. Thesen House, 6 Long Street, Knysna. T. 044 382 5107 gallery@finearts.co.za
Strydom Gallery 24 Feb - 23 March, “Different Perspectives” works by Mien Greyling, Imola Feldberg-Popescu and Mariette Maarschalk. 79 Market Str, George. T. 044 874 4027 info@artaffair.co.za www.artaffair.co.za
Sally Bekker Art Studio Ongoing holiday season exhibition “Recent Watercolour and Oil Paintings” Upstairs in the Knysna Mall. C.082 342 3943 sally_bekker@hotmail.com
Hermanus
Bay Gallery Bay Gallery supports excellent, local artists, many of whom are members of S.A.S.A. All mediums exhibited. Marra Square, Bree St., Langebaan. Contact: Daphne 073 304 8744 baygallery@xsinet.co.za www.baygallery.co.za
Abalone Gallery 2 January - 29 February: “Printed V”: Graphic and photographic works by established artists. 2 Harbour Rd, The Courtyard, Hermanus. T. 028 313 2935 info@abalonegallery.co.za www.abalonegallery.co.za Art Amble Hermanus Village Ten diverse and unique Galleries all within walking distance in the heart of Hermanus Village. Four resident artists’ studios to visit. Collect your Art Amble Guide at any one of the Galleries in Main Road or at the Hermanus Tourism Office. Contact Terry Kobus on 083 259 8869 or email originals@hermanus.co.za for more information. Bellini Gallery 17 - 26 Feb, “Dare To Dream” Watercolour and acrylic by Maeve Dewar. 167 Main Rd, Hermanus. T 028 312 4988 bellini@telkomsa.net www.bellini-gallery.co.za Originals Gallery The art studio and gallery of Terry Kobus. See the artist at work in his studio and view his latest paintings in an intimate gallery space. Shop 22 Royal Centre, 141 Main Rd, Hermanus. T. 083 259 8869 originals@hermanus.co.za www.OriginalsHermanus.blogspot.com
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Langebaan
Oudtshoorn ArtKaroo Gallery Opening 3 February until 27 February, a collection of new works from Francois Tiran, Judy Bumstead & Marittie de Villiers. Opening 28 February until 29 March, “Phanerothyme: Transcendental Paradigm” a group exhibition by a bunch of psychonauts that includes mind bending paintings, sculptures, photography, graffiti, digital art, printmaking, inventive mixed media and art clothing. 107 Baron van Reede, Oudtshoorn. T.044 279 1093 janet@artkaroo.co.za www.artkaroo.co.za
Paarl Artist’s Studio The working studio of artist, Adele Claudia Fouche will be open daily between 9 and 5:30 pm and Saturdays between 9 and 1. You are invited to chat to the artist while viewing her work. Other artists on display feature: Magriet Van Vuuren, Jan-Hendrik Lotz and Iwan Labuschagne.
136 Main Rd, Paarl. Adele 082 522 4010 adele@artiststudio.co.za www.artiststudio.co.za Hout Street Gallery The Hout Street Gallery specialises in South African paintings and fine art and offers an extensive range of ceramics, sculpture, creative jewellery, glass, crafts and functional art. 270 Main Str, Paarl. T. 021 872 5030 zetler@icon.co.za www.houtstreetgallery.co.za
Plettenberg Bay Lookout Art Gallery A fine selection of interesting contemporary paintings, sculptures & blown glass. The Courtyard, Lookout Centre, Main Str, Plettenberg Bay. T. 044 533 2210 mwdawns@mweb.co.za www.lookout-art-gallery.co.za
Stellenbosch Art at Tokara Until 29 February, Julia Meintjes Fine Art presents “Thinking a-round: mapping sculpture” at Tokara Winery, Helshoogte Pass, Stellenbosch. T. 011 788 0820 julia@juliameintjes.co.za www.juliameintjes.co.za Art on 5 Permanent exhibition of paintings and ceramics by Maryna de Witt, Pera Schillings and Karen Kieviet. 7b Andringa Street, Stellenbosch. T. 021-8877234 peraschillings.art@vodamail.co.za Oude Libertas Art Gallery Until 21 February, “Landscape” – featuring the works by Louis van Heerden, Strijdom van der Merwe, Jenny Groenewald, Johannes Esterhuizen, Robert Slingsby, Rina Stutzer, Malcolm Payne, Eric Laubscher, Lynn Smuts, Shany van den Berg, Theo Kleynhans, Titia Ballot, Margaret Gradwell, Ellalou O’Mear, David Roux, Vernon Swart & John Slee. Oude Libertas, c/o Adam Tas & Oude Libertas Str, Stellenbosch. T. 021 809 7463 ialbers@distell.co.za www.distell.co.za Rupert Museum Until 28 March 2012, an extensive selection of works by Willem Strydom. Stellentia Avenue, Stellenbosch T. 021 888 3344 saw@remgro.com www.rupertmuseum.org Sasol Art Museum Until Oend 2012, “20Stellenbosch”: two decades of South African Sculpture (inside sculptures) David Brown, Jackson Hlungwani, Noria Mbasa, Collen Maswanganyi, Samson Mudzunga, Meshack Raphalalani & Philip Rikhotso. 52 Ryneveld Str, Stellenbosch T. 021 808 3691 corliah@sun.ac.za Slee Gallery For the duration of February, “A Few Paternoster Studies” featuring vibrant paintings by Johann Slee. 101 Dorp Street, Stellenbosch. T. 021 887 3385 gallery@slee.co.za www.slee.co.za/gallery SMAC Art Gallery Until 18 February 2012 “Review” by Nel Erasmus. De Wet Centre, Church Str, Stellenbosch. T. 021 887 3607 info@smacgallery.com www.smacgallery.com Stellenbosch Art Gallery An extensive selection of paintings, sculpture, handmade glass & ceramics by selected Western Cape artists are on offer to the discerning buyer. 34 Ryneveld Str, Stellenbosch. T. 021 887 8343 mjg@kingsley.co.za www.stellenboschartgallery.co.za
SA ART TIMES. February 2012
WESTERN CAPE, KZ NATAL, EASTERN CAPE | GALLERY GUIDE US Art Gallery (University of Stellenbosch) 6 February, (one night only)@18:00, Helene van Aswegen (MA exhibition) “The nature of Technology” 7 – 16 February, Joe Foster (MA exhibition) “The Total Proses/Die Totale Proses” (deel 2: Kreef en sy Maats/pt 2: Lobsters and Multiples): o pening night 10 February @ 18:00. 18 – 29 February 2012, Dr Stella Viljoen, “Signifiant” an exhibition of photographic femininities in Stellenbosch. Opening function Saturday 18 February @ 11:00. Cnr of Dorp and Bird Str, Stellenbosch. T. 021 808 3524/3489 corliah@sun.ac.za
Villiersdorp Dale Elliott Art Gallery Leaders of the painting course concept in South Africa! 80 Main Rd, Villiersdorp. T. 028 840 2927 dale@daleelliott.co.za www.daleelliott.co.za www.elliottartonline.wordpress.com
Wilderness Beatrix Bosch Studio Unique works in leather as well as paintings & photography can be viewed at her studio. 57 Die Duin, Wilderness. T. 044 877 0585 www.beatrixbosch.co.za
Kwazulu- Natal Durban The African Art Centre From 2 Feb, “Beautiful Things / Izinto Ezinhle” A variety of inspired products created by participants who benefitted from the Development Projects in 2011, including handmade Ilala Palm products, tableware and recycled gifts. From 22 Feb, “Spaces and Places” an exhibition of paintings by a selection of some of KwaZulu Natal’s foremost artists including Welcome Danca, Lalelani Mbhele, Mbhekeni Mbili, Xolie Mazibuko & Mfundo Mthiyane. 94 Florida Rd, Durban. T. 031 312 3804/5 africanartcentre@afri-art.co.za www.afriart.org.za ArtSPACE Durban 6 – 26 February, “Phoneography” open group photography show for Smartphone users and David Buchler/ Wesley Flanagan/ Wayne Reddiar, Pietermaritzburg-based artists. 27, 28, 29 February and 1, 2 March, Collecting for ABSA L’Atelier Art Award. 3 Millar Rd, Stamford Hill, Durban. T.031 312 0793 info@artspace-durban.com www.artspace-durban.com Christie’s International Auctioneers. Gillian Scott Berning, Independent Consultant. T 031 207 8247 Gillian.gsb@mweb.co.za www.christies.com The Collective 23 January – 11 February, “Hidden Like a Cottonmouth in the Woods” Group Photography Show. Photographers Chait Mackintosh, Kyle Edwards, Lara Lee Ries, Lisa Stayt & Gareth Bargate. 13 February – 3 March, “In the Artists’ Absence” - featuring seven young, contemporary Belgian artists (organized by Riaan Van Jaarsveld). 48b Florida Rd, (entrance in 4th Avenue) Greyville, Durban. T. 031 303 4891 thecollectivedurban.blogspot.com Durban Art Gallery Until 19 February 2012, “Don’t/Panic.” The exhibition presents powerful artistic voices from across the African continent, including works by Mlu Zondi, Clive van den
SA ART TIMES. February 2012
Berg, Otobong Nkanga, David Koloane, Batoul S’Himi and Moshekwa Langa. Smith Street, Durban CBD. T. 031 311 2264 strettonj@durban.gov.za www.durban.gov.za Tamasa Gallery A small commercial gallery, Tamasa exhibits a broad variety of contemporary KZN artists. 36 Overport Drive, Berea, Durban. T. 031 207 1223
Pietermaritzburg Tatham Art Gallery Opening Thurs 9 Feb @ 18h00 in the Main Exhibition Room and adjacent Galleries, “People, Prints and Process – Twenty Five years at Caversham.” Weds 15 Feb @14h30 – 15h30: Twenty Five years at Caversham- exhibition walkabout. For information contact Thulani or Pinky at 033 392 2801. On Sunday 19 Feb @10h30 for 11h00 in the Schreiner Gallery, “Possibilities” Terrence Patrick’s solo exhibition and walkabout. For bookings contact Thulani or Pinky at 033 392 2801. Cnr of Chief Albert Luthuli (Commercial) Rd & Church Str. (Opposite City Hall) Pietermaritzburg. T. 033 342 1804 Thulani.Makhaye@msunduzi.gov.za www.tatham.org.za
Umdloti The Audrey Rudnick Gallery Surrealist Paintings, Sculptures and Pod People by Audrey Rudnick. 77 North Beach Rd, Shop no.10 Upper Level, Umdloti Centre, Umdloti. T. 031 568 2445 audrey@thehoozoo.com www.audreyrudnick.com
Underberg The Underberg Studio Set in a delightful garden facing the mountains, the gallery specializes in South African Fine Art landscape photography & Ceramics. Owned by photographer Lawrance Brennon and his potter wife, Catherine Brennon, the gallery is regularly updated with their latest work. 21 Ridge Rd, Underberg. Signage from R617 T. 033 701 2440 / 072 141 9924 / 082 872 7830 bren@yebo.co.za www.underbergstudio.co.za
9 St. Marks Rd, Southernwood, East London. T. 043 722 4044 annbryant@intekom.co.za www.annbryant.co.za Malcolm Dewey Fine Art Ongoing exhibition of oil paintings by Malcolm Dewey plus works by a selection of local artists. 60 Darlington Rd, Berea, East London. T. 043 7260421 art@dewey.co.za www.originalart.co.za Vincent Art Gallery The gallery houses an exceptional collection of fine arts, sculptures, blown glass, ceramics, exclusive jewellery and decor items. 2 Donald Rd, Vincent, East London. T. 043 726 4356 vinceart@lantic.net www.vincentartgallery.co.za
Port Elizabeth ArtEC 31 Jan – 10 Feb, 2010 New Signature Winner & Friends exhibition. 14 – 24 Feb, NMMU Student Exhibition. 28 Feb – 9 March, Same Size, Same Price Exhibition (300mmx300mm). 36 Bird Str, P.E. T. 041 585 3641 gallery@epsac.co.za www.artecpe.co.za Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum Until 6 February, “Coastal City” (Main Hall) paintings and prints of local and international coastal scenes. From 15 February, “Manfred Zylla Retrospective” includes works from the mid-1950’s to the present. 1 Park Drive, Port Elizabeth. T. 041 5062000 artmuseum@mandelametro.gov.za www.artmuseum.co.za Ron Belling Art Gallery Opening on Saturday 25 February, “Trent Art” an exhibition of Pretoria artists curated by Stuart Trent, includes Jan van der Merwe, Diane Victor & Annette Pretorius. 30 Park Drive, P.E. T. 041 586 3973 ronbelling@mweb.co.za www.ronbelling.co.za
Eastern Cape Alexandria Quin Gallery & Sculpture Garden Enjoy refreshments under the jacaranda tree while enjoying the sculptures of international sculptor Maureen Quin. 5 Suid Str, Alexandria, Eastern Cape, following the signs from the main street. T. 046 6530121 C. 082 7708000 quin@intekom.co.za www.quin-art.co.za
East London Ann Bryant Gallery From 1 Jan – 29 February in the Main Gallery, the Gallery’s Permanent collection will be on display, some of these are paintings by Emily Fern, Piet van Heerden and Joan Wright. In the Coach House: Opening on 9 Feb @ 18h30 and closing 23 February, Michelle Pyper’s exhibition of paintings. Opening on 28 Feb @ 18h30 and closing 14 March, “Beyond Synergy” featuring mixed media on canvas by Zingisa Nkosinkulu.
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G IORGIO T ROBEC Passion. Colour. Freedom. The words that sum up the work of this splendid and very likeable Italian artist. Giorgio Trobec is a colourist with a difference. After years of experimenting with abstract impressionism he has found his métier with quaintly distorted murals. They have become his trademark and are internationally successful. Trobec is almost child-like in his very real enthusiasms. He says that he does not like art that is too realistically representational and this is why he allows his imagination to run wild when he depicts a harbour or a landscape. Trobec was born in Italy, within the ancient city gates of the renaissance city of Florence on St. Valentine’s day in 1944. His father ran a food shop and one of the artist’s earliest reminiscences is being scootered around with his mother and sibling on Papa’s Lambretta, the four of them on this tiny machine realising a wave and a smile from the Italian police rather than the stern encounters one could easily envisage here. Is this where he started storing those mental images of Italian seaside villages with deep blue seas, cobbled streets and boats packed to the gills? “Oh yes,” he replies lost in the reverie of those far bygone days. “I remember them so clearly. Those seaside towns and the countryside of Tuscany. Both have formed a strong basis for my art in recent years.” But how does he recall the detail, the architecture that forms the basis of a balanced work? Did he take photographs or was it all stored in a retentive memory? “Neither,” says Giorgio happily. “I don’t like to have to clear a memory of those places we visited. I enjoy a vision, perhaps some small detail and then I use my imagination to tease out the painting. I am not trying to make a work that is indistinguishable from a photograph. I want to make paintings that say this work is by Giorgio Trobec. They are playful, fun and usually everything is very disproportionate in size. “Don’t you think that these days imaging is more to do with the art of capturing a detail?”
You are invited to a solo exhibition of
Giorgio Trobec at Alice Art Gallery 11 and 12 February 2012 8am - 4pm RSVP at 083 331 8466 Email: aliceart@global.co.za
10656 Initiative
Our Stories 94 Florida Road, Morningside, Durban 4001 Mon. - Fri. 8.30 am-5 pm. Sat. - 9 am-3 pm T: 031 312 3804/5 F: 031 312 3818 africanartcentre@afri-art.co.za www.afriart.org.za
Sandile Goje at the African Art Centre Section 21 Not for gain company
Thinking a-round mapping sculpture
15 December 2011 - 29 February 2012 Conrad Botes Marco Cianfanelli Jacques Dhont Sydney Kumalo Brett Murray John Murray Phillip Rikhotso Lyndi Sales ART AT TOKARA PRESENTED BY
www.juliameintjes.co.za
Claudette Schreuders Peter Shongwe Egon Tania Caroline van der Merwe Edoardo Villa Michael Zondi Edward Zwane
The Arts come Together
31 March - 7 April 2012 | Oudtshoorn Programme and accommodation available online Tickets available from Computicket or Shoprite/Checkers 044 203 8600 | info@kknk.co.za | www.absakknk.co.za www.facebook.com/AbsaKKNK www.twitter.com/AbsaKKNK
Absa KKNK 2012 SA Art Times Feb. edition.indd 1
2012/01/23 04:48:43 PM
SA ART TIMES | Absa KKNK 2012 SPECIAL VISUAL ART FEATURE
Absa KKNK Visual Arts 2012 31 March - 7 April. Oudtshoorn See more at www.absakknk.co.za
Supported by the National Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF) Absa KKNK – Visual Arts 2012 No festival experience is complete without a visit to the Visual Arts programme. The Visual Main Festival art exhibitions are held in the Prince Vincent building. The exhibitions include works by artists of national and international repute as well as young up-and-coming artists. This year there is a strong emphasis on works with a social and environmental awareness. Solo exhibitions include Hinterland by Brahm van Zyl, Sacred Spaces by Mathias Chirombo, Geheue by Aidan Westcott, Reeksmoord by Juria le Roux, Studio X by Arnold van Niekerk, Separation/Perforation by Clanelle Burger, Voëlvry-toer – Grahamstad 1989 by Tim Hopwood, Die wilde ruimte by Sasha Hatherly and ’n Plek genaamd Veelsgerust by Elana-Marie Snyman.
The following group exhibitions are also worth a visit: Ik ben een Afrikander by Teresa Lizamore, Designs/Ontwerpe by Elfriede Dreyer, Fopspeen-produksies by Diek Grobler, Vrees en verlies by Katie Barnard, Die taal van teken by Corlie de Kock and Die hangende tuine by Absa Gallery. The ABSA KKNK Visual Arts development project: In Kliplokasie as well as a retrospective exhibition of the deceased artist Kevin Atkinson’s works under the curatorship of art expert Amanda Botha. Atkinson was a phenomenal artist and respected academic in the South African world of art. It is a real honour to have this exhibition as part of our programme. Attend the daily Art Visits by Sandra Hanekom, the Visual Arts curator, for a more informative and holistic experience of the exhibitions. These visits include a visit to the festival artists’ exhibition. Visits take place daily at 10:00.90 minutes R50 Tickets available at Computicket.
Festival artist: Handspring Puppet Company – Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones The contribution to the arts in general and the South African arts in particular made by the Handspring Puppet Company is of extreme importance. The opportunity to have a closer look at the astonishing creations of this company is a once-off and unique experience. The exhibition is done in collaboration with curator Janni Younge. It represents the company’s innovative blend of the visual and performing arts. Their work surpasses the creative norm and shifts art boundaries. The Handspring Puppet Company’s productions are spread across the world map, such as the Edinburgh Festival, the Theatre d’Automme in Paris and the New Wave Festival in New York. The company has already received numerous awards, such as the Olivier Award, Evening Standard Theatre Award and the London Critic’s Circle Theatre Award. In 2011 they received a special Tony Award for the excellent production of Warhorse on Broadway. Come look at the works from this company’s long and phenomenal oeuvre. Pieces include works in collaboration with William Kentridge and Janni Younge. This is truly a production that should not be missed. Exhibition daily open for viewing.Victoria Memorial Hall (Anglican Church Hall) Baron van Reede Street
Be sure to catch to following South African Visual Art shows on Absa KKNK 2012 Die taal van teken (The language of drawing) Group exhibition: Christiaan Diedericks, Christo Basson, Colijn Strydom, Corlie de Kock, Diane Victor, Lyn Smuts, Marlise Keith and Marie Stander. Curator: Corlie de Kock Die taal van teken focuses on drawing as a visual language in its own right but also in relation to the written text. Artists’ visual interpretation of Ingrid Jonker’s poems is exhibited. The drawing medium affords the possibility to draw, erase and redraw over the previous drawing. Consequently, the medium becomes a metaphor for temporality, change and blotting out.
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Voëlvry Tour Solo-exhibition by Tim Hopwood In 1989 the Voëlvry tour spread like a veld fire across each university in South Africa, including Tim’s university, Rhodes. These are his photographs of that unforgettable evening, including photographic images of the two main figures of the movement, Koos Kombuis and Johannes Kerkorrel.
SA ART TIMES. February 2012
SA ART TIMES | Absa KKNK 2012 SPECIAL VISUAL ART FEATURE Reeksmoord (Elegy) Solo Exhibition by Juria le Roux An exhibition of 50 oil paintings by Juria le Roux I chose 50 of the thousands of people having been murdered in South Africa over the last few years and created portraits of them. According to most sources, this is the minimum number of people being killed in South Africa on a daily basis, though some sources state it to be up to 150 people per day. The portraits aim to return something of their humanity and life energy to the dead who have become anonymous statistics. To respectfully remember ... It is a testimonial, also for the thousands of other murdered not portrayed.
Die wilde ruimte - Solo exhibition by Sasha Hatherly Die wilde ruimte looks at the changing faces of landscapes in our immediate surroundings. Our age old connection with the landscape and our involvement to document it for romantic or scientific reasons, speak volumes of how we regard and define our place on earth.
Ik ben een Afrikander - Group Exhibition Ik ben een Afrikander is a group exhibition by South African artists under curatorship of Teresa Lizamore. Afrikaans identity is rooted in the need to confirm this continent as our homeland. The voice of new Afrikaans artists, poets and thinkers are heard all the more as the concept of an Afrikaner identity. This is not only a scandalous title from a time everyone would like to forget but also a culture which in itself is just as African as any other…
Fopspeen: Moving Pictures -Group Exhibition Fopspeen Animation Studio exhibits a selection from Diek Grobler’s animation films, as well as individual works by the four artists involved in the studio: Charles Badenhorst, Marinda du Toit, Jansen Lourens and Grobler. Fopspeen’s animation films have been shown at more than 50 international animation festivals, and awarded a SAFTA and four international animation prizes.
Hinterland - Solo Exhibition by Brahm van Zyl My landscapes are reproduced true to nature with expressive strokes of the brush and in an impressionistic style. It reflects the impressions I experience during my travels through this diverse landscape and my immediate surroundings. With the title of my exhibition Hinterland I aim to blow new life into the beauty of the Karoo landscape. I hope that we will now look at our surroundings with new eyes and protect it with appreciation. The land behind it unscathed from industrial greed will live on in our pectoral reference only if we do not fight for it today.
Memory - Solo Exhibition by Aidon Westcott A collection of mixed media oil paintings fused with hand stitching and thread. The mixed media items are collected from antique stores aimed at awakening forgotten childhood memories and represent the conscious element. The painted fish symbol represents the psyche and the subconscious element of the human mind.
SA ART TIMES. February 2012
Kevin Atkinson - Retrospective Curator – Amanda Botha For the first time in 15 years and five years after Kevin Atkinson’s death (1939-2007), a selection from his work is exhibited. In the sixties he was a leading figure in making modern abstraction part of the mainstream of South African art. Convention could not limit him. His paintings are colourful works – often large canvasses – which have been described as the most important development in the field of art following the Second World War. This exhibition also focuses on his interpretation of the Karoo and how he, as leader, handled creating his works. In this exhibition an attempt is made to create an image of one of South Africa’s most important modern artists who has received international recognition for his work. The exhibition is made possible with the assistance of the trustees of the Kevin and Patricia Atkinson Trust. In Kliplokasie - Group Exhibition The camera is the ideal instrument of communication, particularly for marginalised persons who often do not have the skill or status to have their story heard. In Kliplokasie is a hidden and forgotten community adjacent to Volmoed approximately 20 km from Oudtshoorn. The Kliplokasie children will receive basic training in using a camera and then be afforded the opportunity to document their lives. The photographs will be exhibited during the Absa KKNK. Perforation/Separation Solo-exhibition by Clanelle Burger The female body as a sexual being forms the inspiration and investigation of Clanelle Burger’s art. The use of latex as medium reflects the incarnate female form in her vulnerability, elasticity and ability to be able to transform. It focuses on a gripping touch, texture and a subtle smell.
Sacred Spaces Solo Exhibition by Mathias Chirombo In Shona tradition a sacred space, nzvimbo inoera, is a natural place where spirits are present comprising trees, caves, streams or mountains. This series of paintings seeks to explore this physical landscape in which spiritual forces reside, arousing in the viewer a questioning and reflection of the origin and overlap between the physical and spirit worlds, and their personal relation to each. The unity of the series is derived from the artist’s expression of personal and communal experience and emotion, bringing to mind the question of whether art can help to reflect and heal the state of the human soul. Studio X - Solo Exhibition by Arnold van Niekerk For centuries artists fascinated the public by creating works in the secrecy of their studios. This exhibition consists of sculptures and collages. It is accompanied by a series of photographs in which Arnold visualises his fantasies of being a famous artist, granting insights into the thoughts and motivations behind these works. The Hanging Gardens - An Absa Bank Premier group exhibition under curatorship of Paul Bayliss The exhibition focuses on the contemporary reading of the concept of the hanging gardens, and the different ways in which hanging gardens have been portrayed, understood and depicted over time, from the ancient Hanging Gardens of Babylon, to the Ferozeshah Mehta Gardens in Mumbai, to the contemporary interpretation of a hanging garden as one’s “sanctum” or “sacred place”. The artworks have been produced exclusively for the exhibition by a group of South African female artists, whose selection was based on their previous participation in the Absa L’Atelier art competition. The Absa L’Atelier art competition is regarded as South Africa’s most prestigious art competition, currently in its 27th year. ’n Plek genaamd Veelsgerust, a cardboard landscape Elana-Marie Snyman creates innovative sculptures with corrugated cardboard as medium. She experiments with cardboard and the manipulation thereof. Cardboard which is normally considered to be mere packing or waste material is now being transformed into something of value and meaning. Vrees en verlies - Group Exhibition Fear and loss as reaction to the threat of fracking – this is the focus of Katie Barnard du Toit’s exhibition. The installation contains video clips, animation and a smallscale defenceless Karoo farm house of handmade felt hanging at eye-level. These works can be witness to the destruction of the valuable, fragile Karoo surroundings as we know today.
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BUSINESS ART
Stephan Welz remains cool headed during the sale of Irma Stern’s Two Arabs from her Zanzibar period for a world record breaking R 20 m in 2011
BUSINESS ART | EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH STEPHAN WELZ OF STRAUSS & CO.
An interview with The Stephan Welz Jenny Altschuler chats with Stephan Welz, Managing Director of Strauss & Co. about his life’s passion Art and his vision for 2012 SW: “I didn’t let my schooling get in the way of my education”. Stephan Welz twinkles, acknowledging the home of his parents as a fertile hub of culture; an environment where the arts were an integral part of daily life, steering him towards his own future in the art business domain. Many leading artists of the 40’s and 50’s, named in Esmé Berman’s book Art and Artists in South Africa were my parents’ friends – of the New Group of painters, I would say 90% of them were. They are the very people whose work I sell today. I had the good fortune to grow up in an environment where one appreciated the blood, sweat and tears that goes into a work of art. Artists such as Irma Stern, Lippy Lipschitz, Gregoire Boonzaier, Enslin du Plessis and the photographer Jansje Wissema were regular visitors to our house. As a young boy I spent school holidays with Cecil Higgs in Sea Point. Not all of his contemporaries were friends nor were they all admired by my father, Jean Welz, but today I sell their work with as much enthusiasm as I sell his. I also spent a fair amount of time working and assisting my mother in her art and antique gallery..” JA: “Welz is not a common South African name…” SW: “ Yes, it’s Austrian. My father, Jean and Danish mother, Inger, met and married in Paris where they were living and working - he as an architect and she as a journalist. With war clouds looming over Europe in the 1930’s, they decided to emigrate. My father was fortunate to obtain a position as architect in Johannesburg and they left Europe in 1937. Early in 1939 he was diagnosed with TB, At the time there was no cure for the disease He was advised by the doctors to move to a drier climate and as luck would have it, they were offered a free farm house in the Tradouw Pass between Barrydale and Swellendam. Here my father began painting and drawing - trying to earn a living. In 1941 he met Hugo Naude in Worcester and there was an immediate rapport between them. Naude died very shortly after their meeting. He had willed his house to become an art school and my father was invited to become the first head. We moved to Worcester where I was born in Hugo Naude’s house.” In the early 1970s I obtained a B.Com. through Unisa where I had a position as Administrator in the Arts Department assisting Professor Walter Battiss who was Head of the Department of History of Art and Fine Arts. Sotheby’s had just opened in South Africa headed by the venerable Reinhold Cassirer. Their first auction was a great success. The company brought a whole new standard of auctioneering to South Africa in terms of expertise - from academic knowledge to sound marketing skills. This was the first time in South Africa, for example, that items sold at an auction came with a guarantee of authenticity. The presentation of the catalogue was a whole new experience too, moving away from the Roneo sheet norm to full colour productions. Soon I was invited to join Sotheby’s and in 1974 was appointed to the Board of Sotheby Parke Bernett SA as executive director of the South African company.
Many leading artists of the 40’s and 50’s in Esmé Berman’s book Art and Artists in South Africa were my parents’ friends – of the New Group of painters I would say 90% of them. They are the very people whose work I sell today. I had the good fortune to grow up in an environment where one appreciated the blood, sweat and tears that goes into a work of art. Artists such as Irma Stern, Lippy Lipschitz, Gregoire Boonzaier, Enslin du Plessis and the photographer Jansje Wissema were regular visitors to our house. Top The Welz’s with Irma Stern and her friend Dudley
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I accumulated tremendously valuable experience working in South Africa, London and Amsterdam with some of the world’s top experts in their respective fields. Sotheby’s is a highly respected auction house and association with its name and reputation gave me a platform to live out much of what is dear to me. I loved my work and did well, becoming managing director of Sotheby’s S.A. in 1981. In the same year I was also appointed to the Board of Sotheby’s International and in 1983 became a director of Sotheby’s London.
SA ART TIMES. February 2012
Stephan Welz packs in a full days work at Strauss & Co’s offices in both Cape Town and Johannesburg. View their website at www.straussart.co.za
In 1986 Sotheby’s became American-owned and after the passing of the Anti-Apartheid Act American companies with shareholdings in South Africa were forced to pull out. I and a few colleagues were given the opportunity to buy the company. Under it’s new name, Stephan Welz & Co, we continued the auction-house operation as Sotheby’s only representative in the Republic. We were extremely successful and over the years forged some excellent new ground in South African auctioneering. In the mid 2000s I had a serious health scare and as a result sold my stake in Stephan Welz & Co in January 2007. To my surprise I recovered” his laugh has a nervous edge, “and in late 2008 was invited to join a newly founded company, Strauss and Co. with new partners, Dr. Conrad Strauss, (retired chairman of Standard Bank): Elisabeth Bradley, (who had previously headed up Toyota S.A), as well as Francis Antonie and Mary-Jane Darroll. Also, colleagues of long standing, Vanessa Philips, Ann Palmer and Bina Genovese joined the new company. Within three years Strauss & Co has become the world’s leading auctioneer of South African Art with a turnover of over R170 million in 2011and I believe we will continue to grow. My job is my passion, my hobby, my interest and my relaxation. JA: “So how come you have never invested in a collection of your own?” SW: “You can’t be a collector and a dealer – there is always the danger of a
SA ART TIMES. February 2012
conflict of interests. Having said that, I once had a small collection of Cape silver and this served as the inspiration for my book on Cape silver which was published soon after I started working for Sotheby’s, in 1976. It is still the standard reference work on Cape silver. Subsequently I also wrote two books on art at auction in South Africa. Over time I inherited quite a number of beautiful pieces but I seldom buy things. I take in a work for sale and it lives with me for four or five months before we sell it. Sometimes it’s hard to let it go, but I have to and I’m satisfied JA: How do you feel about 2012 and the future? The art market worldwide is experiencing a measure of uncertainty and South Africa is no exception. However, there is a strong support base of serious collectors still seeking the best and willing to pay for it. It is also a time where collectors seek new names and talent. After forty years of ups and downs in the South African Art Market I have learnt that conditions such as we are experiencing at present in fact open up new opportunities for artists, collectors and the commercial art world. The secret is to capitalise on this and I know that with the strength of expertise in Strauss & Co, and the support of my colleagues we can look forward to 2012 with all its challenges and new experiences with great confidence. Photographs (left) supplied by Mr Stephan Welz, and all colour photographs by Jenny Altschuler
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BUSINESS ART | SA ART AUCTIONS
Anxious start to auction year beckons
By Michael Coulson With each of the three major auction houses holding sales in the next couple of months, there’s a good deal of apprehension whether the softer trend apparent in the market in the last quarter of 2011 will be sustained, extended, or – the least likely outcome – reversed. Bonhams’ Giles Peppiatt, in SA on a final hunt for work for his firm’s March 21 auction in London, reckons that it was more a case of buyers sitting on their hands at a particularly difficult stage of the international financial crisis than an intrinsic collapse in demand, but concedes that this year’s pipe-opener will be less ambitious than last year. He doubts that any individual lots will be valued at more than £400 000-£600 000, and while the final figure is yet to be determined expects the low estimate to be no more than around half last year’s £10m – which, of course, was inflated by the Irma Stern Arab Priest, estimated at £1.5m-£2m, that actually fetched a record £3m. It may be significant, too, that the house has not scheduled the customary curtain-raising sale of lesser work at its Knightsbridge premises on the eve of the main sale, though Peppiatt says it’s not yet been decided whether to hold a separate Masterpieces session. He adds that, going back to potential vendors who decided to withhold work last year and are now re-
Currency of culture
First Published in The Mail and Guardian Jeremy Kuper The South African Heritage Resources Agency has agreed to grant a temporary permit, for 20 years, to allow Irma Stern’s Arab Priest to be exported to the Orientalist Museum in Doha, Qatar. The painting was sold for about R34-million last March in London, but the new owner was refused a permanent licence to export it from South Africa. “An agreement was reached that the Qatar museum would apply for a temporary export permit, which is currently being processed,” said Regina Isaacs, the agency’s heritage objects manager. The work, which Stern painted during her time in Zanzibar, “serves as a really valuable document for
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considering, news that this year’s estimates could be 10%-15% lower was not what they wanted to hear. Strauss & Co’s Stephan Welz wouldn’t be drawn on a figure, but confirms that his firm’s estimates are also “slightly more conservative” and that “we’d be bluffing ourselves if we think the market is insatiable”, repeating a point that’s been made before, that the previously strong market brought a lot of stock out of suburban living rooms. Owners tend to have an exaggerated view of value – or, as Peppiatt more gently puts it, are not as in touch with the realities of the market as buyers. Strauss & Co, while leapfrogging Stephan Welz & Co for the first local sale of the year, is also lowering its sights, the low estimate for its sale on Monday February 6, as usual at Cape Town’s Vineyard hotel, being only about R23.3m, only 40% of last year’s R58.7m. And there are only three seven-digit estimates: R8m-R12m for a Stern portrait of an Arab woman (the inside front cover), R2.8m-R3.5m for a Pierneef landscape, and R2.5m-R3.5m for a Stern portrait of two seated Arabs. The top baker’s dozen of estimates (with a low estimate of R300 000 and upwards) also includes R700 000-R900 000 for Stanley Pinker’s Bathers (the inside back cover), R600 000-R900 000 for a William Kentridge head, R350 000-R400 000 for Wolf Kibel’s Three Women (the frontispiece), a clutch of lots on
R300 000-R400 000 – a Hugo Naude landscape, another Pierneef, two Maggie Laubscher landscapes and two Stanley Pinkers, one of them the front cover – and another Kentridge head on R300 000-R400 000. The frontispiece to the evening session is a Naude landscape of Jaffa, estimated at R250 000-R350 000. Most represented artist in the 204 lots is Walter Battiss, with 15 lots, mostly low-priced, followed by Naude and Cecil Higgs (nine each), Robert Hodgins (seven), Kentridge, Tinus de Jongh and Gregoire Boonzaaier (six each) and Terence McCaw, Pierneef, Pinker, Alexander Rose-Innes and Stern (five each). If the art is a little thin compared to what we’ve become accustomed to from this auctioneer, Welz draws solace from the inclusion in the afternoon session of the substantial glass collection of prof Walter Beck. Stephan Welz & Co’s Cape sale is on February 21 and 22. After these testers, the focus will move to Jo’burg, with sales from both major local houses in the ensuing couple of months. Bonhams’ major 2012 sale comes much later, in October, though rather earlier in the month than previously.
South Africans of mutual respect between diverse cultures and religions”, said Isaacs. “The Arab Priest was a centrepiece in the Irma Stern Museum for many years, even though it was only on loan at the time.
created and other methods explored to encourage South Africans to keep works in the country.
Preserving the estate “The pool of outstanding cultural treasures of such quality in South Africa is small and artworks like these might be protected for the benefit of future generations. And to allow artworks of such quality to have been permanently exported from South Africa would diminish the national estate.” Said Christopher Peter, director of the Irma Stern Museum in Cape Town in the future, the painting may possibly be loaned to the institution for a year. The Irma Stern Trust initially felt strongly that the work should remain in South Africa, but this proposal “where it will go there and come back, if this all goes through, has worked out very well”, said Peter. The agency stresses the potential for certain objects to promote reconciliation and cultural understanding and aims “to redress past imbalances and ensure that heritage objects are available and accessible to future generations”. Local neglect The problem is that public money has not been forthcoming to incorporate art works of national importance in South African museums. “There is that [funding] gap in South Africa. But had the painting been bought by a private collector, it would have remained in the country,” said Isaacs. On the other hand, even if art stays in South Africa in a private residence, the public might not be able to view it, whereas more South Africans may see a work if it goes abroad to a major international gallery. Isaacs acknowledged that the government needed to prioritise scarce funds. “It’s not just about making more resources available,” she said, suggesting that tax incentives could be
Common practice Isaacs said private collectors did lend artworks for exhibitions to national museums, as in the case of the Arab Priest. “So South Africans would have had an opportunity at some stage to view this artwork, if there was such an exhibition,” she said. The sale of the Arab Priest represents the first time a South African heritage artwork was bought by a foreign public institution since the agency was set up. “So it’s a learning curve on many levels and there’s the need for relations between South Africa and the Qatar museum authorities … There’s all sorts of sensitivities, things that I think we all need to be aware of.” In terms of deciding when to prevent the export of so-called heritage artworks, “it’s important that far better criteria be set, specifically in the case of the Arab Priest”, said auctioneer Stephan Welz. He conceded that Stern produced perhaps her most exciting work during her stay in Zanzibar, yet “I found very little justification for barring the export”. Rare treasures “It’s not as though works by Irma Stern are exceedingly rare, or that this was such a major work -- that there weren’t comparable works already in public collections.” The challenge for auctioneers like Welz is that appeals to the agency can take a long time and there is no certainty before an auction whether an artwork in South Africa will be allowed abroad. “And no prospective buyer is going to be hanging around for years” to find out whether he or she will get the licence, he said.The agency refused permanent export licences for eight art works between January and December.
SA ART TIMES. February 2012
STRAUSS & CO : CAPE TOWN AUCTION | BUSINESS ART
STRAUSS & CO. AUCTION: CAPE TOWN Monday 6 February 2012 The Vineyard Hotel, Conference Centre, Newlands at 2 pm, The Professor Walter Beck Collection of Chinese Works of Art, Ceramics, Japanese Cloisonne’, Glass and Books at 5pm, at 8 pm
Jewellery and Decorative Arts South African Art and Furniture
PREVIEW: Friday 3 to Sunday 5 February from 10am to 5pm WALKABOUTS: Stephan Welz and Emma Bedford, Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 February at 11am CONTACT NUMBERS: 021 683 6560 / mobile 078 044 8185 CATALOGUES are available and can be purchased from our offices or viewed online www.straussart.co.za
William Joseph Kentridge: Head, Etching, R600 000 - 900 000 Stanley Faraday Pinker: Girl in Sunglasses, Oil on canvas, R300 000 - 500 000 Irma Stern: Portrait of a woman wearing a pink Hijab, Oil on canvas, R8 000 000 - 12 000 000
SA ART TIMES. February 2012
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Extra #14, 2011, Chromogenic print, 56 x 84cm, commissioned by the Standard Bank of South Africa.
Standard Bank Gallery 8 February to 5 April 2012 Monday to Friday: 8am � 4.30pm Saturday: 9am � 1pm Tel: 011 631 4467 www.standardbankarts.co.za Standard Bank in partnership with Goethe-Institut and Goodman Gallery:
SBSA 100507-11/11
STEPHAN WELZ & CO. CAPE TOWN AUCTION | BUSINESS ART
The Everard Group “Someday they may be reclassified as the equivalent in South African visual arts of the Brontë family in English literature. Certainly, had they lived abroad, their legacy may even have enjoyed the status of a Bloomsbury Group. Time will be the judge of this.” - Professor Alan Crump painters who lived in Carolina in Mpumalanga. Isolated as they were from the artistic communities of Pretoria and Cape Town, they developed a visual language that has avoided many of the sentimentalities of 20th century South African painting.
Ruth Everard Haden. Mrs Wilmot of Carolina, pre-sale estimate R800 000 – 1 000 000
This particularly fine portrait by Ruth Everard Haden is due to come under the hammer on the 21st February at the saleroom of Stephan Welz & Company in Constantia, Cape Town. For further details regarding the auction please contact 021-794-6461 or ct@stephanwelzandco.co.za or visit www.stephanwelzandco.co.za The Everard Group comprised of Edith King and Bertha Everard, Bertha’s daughters Ruth and Rosamund, Ruth’s daughter Leonora and Leonora’s daughter Nichola. Together they made up the remarkably creative family of women
In 1923 Ruth Everard-Haden moved to Paris to continue her painting studies. Dissatisfied with the restrictive and conservative curriculum of the Slade, she received encouragement from her mother regarding this change. Bertha Everard had spent a similarly frustrating time in London as a young artist. During the years 1923-1927, Ruth’s exposure to the École de Paris and the Fauves, notably Matisse and Cézanne, saw her assimilate elements including a confident use of line and a Fauvist sensibility towards colour and paint which she was to employ throughout her career. “Though Ruth Everard may have felt a distinct preference for landscape painting, she kept in mind that she would have to develop as a portrait painter if she was to earn a living by art.” She was further encouraged by a letter written to her from Bertha detailing a visit to Bonnefoi, the family farm, undertaken by the Schweikerdt’s of Pretoria in 1929. Bertha wrote saying they were very taken with her [Ruth’s] portraits . Given the visual legacy of the landscapes produced by Bertha and her sister Edith King, it is understandable that Ruth would have wanted to carve a niche for herself in this talented family. Some of the strongest paintings by Ruth that appear illustrated in The Women of Bonnefoi include portraits and still lifes.
Mrs Wilmot of Carolina has been rendered in recognisably bold lines and confident colour resonating with rich detailing. Characteristic of Ruth’s oevre the attention to all over detailing includes the background and fabrics- the shawl in particular is worked with an intricate field of flowers. Similarly the tapestry fabric of the throw to the left of the subject is richly worked with stylised animals and patterning. Given Ruth’s embrace of the École de Paris it is interesting to compare this work to Henri Matisse’s La Robe Jaune Avec Guitare given the similarities in the pose and vibrancies of the respective artist’s palettes. Composed during the winter of 1922-23 Matisse’s sitter is integrated into the overall patterning- her yellow dress echoes the wallpaper and carpets; her features are simplified in order to retain her anonymity. Ruth’s sitter is however the focus of this work- her calm features are framed by white tiger lilies and her shawl. The lines of her white evening gown draw the viewer through the composition. Undertaken as a commission, Mrs Wilmot of Carolina, was rejected by the sitter who deemed it unflattering. This work was purchased directly from the artist in the mid-1980s by the current owner. This confident work was one of the last painted by Ruth- she was forced to stop painting in 1956 after a cataract operation failed to correct her deteriorating eyesight. Her earlier comments surrounding her family’s output seem particularly poignant given this early ending of her career: “There are not so many good that we can spare the ones that are .”
Stephan Welz and Company are delighted to start their 2012 auction calendar in Cape Town.
(Images) Lot 594: Keith Alexander: Cape Dutch, R 350 000 - 400 000. Lot 627: Irma Stern: Still life with lilies, R 3 000 000 - 5 000 000. Lot 628 : Gregoire Boonzaier: Tulips in a blue and white vase, R 120 000 - 140 000.
The first auction of the 2012 calendar is scheduled to take place over the 21 & 22 February. There are 5 auction session scheduled. Public viewing will take place at The Great Cellar, Alphen Estate, Alphen Drive, Constantia. Viewing hours are 17 February 10am – 3pm, 18-19 February 10am – 5pm For further enquiries please contact 021-794-6461. The catalogue is available from both the Cape Town and Johannesburg offices and can also be viewed online at www.stephanwelzandco.co.za SA ART TIMES. February 2012
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Nushin Elahi’s London Letter
Spring has come early in London. The Royal Academy is ablaze with all the colour and life of a new season; the air is heavy with blossom, leaves form a tunnel and a clearing in the woods takes on a green hue. David Hockney’s A Bigger Picture (until 9 April) is not billed as a retrospective, although it includes some signature older works to chart the artist’s interest in interpreting nature. It kicks off the 2012 season with what is predicted to be a blockbuster. Hockney has filled the enormous space of the Royal Academy largely with work from the past seven years in a joyous celebration of landscape painting. The hedonistic and cerebral works of the past are only recognisable in the intensity of colour and light. There is hardly a figure in sight as he explores the Wolds of his birthplace Yorkshire in compelling depth.
one big marketing ploy. In the cavernous space near King’s Cross it is easier to grasp some of the fascination with the subject, as larger canvasses play with patterns and shapes. Apparently no colour is repeated, and although they look as if the colour is applied mechanically, there is an army of art students choosing random colours and making them look perfect. The ones I enjoyed most were the slightly flawed ones – after all, polka dots were a fashion statement long before Hirst, and it’s hard to see the reason for the exorbitant price tag. Gerhard Richter’s exploration of the spatial tension between blocks of colour in his work somehow had an integrity that this facile theme lacks. It will be interesting to see what Hirst’s forthcoming retrospective at the Tate, which forms part of the Olympics, says about the artist.
There is great theatricality in the sheer scale of his works. Canvasses are huge, the largest consisting of 32 individual pieces, and they immerse the viewer in a grand spectacle of nature in all her seasonal glory. Seasons are one thing that Los Angeles, Hockney’s home of many years, lacked, and he revels in the changing moods, often revisiting a spot again and again. Much of the work consists of series, sometimes a view at different times of year, but also, as with the 52 pieces of The Arrival of Spring, a changing vantage point of a familiar area. One cannot leave without feeling that you have actually experienced a bit of the magic of Yorkshire. Some colours may seem garish, at times forms are too stylised, and purists may carp about his use of an iPad for the latest series. What Hockney does give the viewer though, is a sense of his delight in nature and the ability to look at it anew.
The Serpentine Gallery presents the first major exhibition of one of Brazil’s most famous artists, Lygia Pape (1927 – 2004) in Magnetized Space (until 19 Feb). Pape was renowned for her experimental work, and a founder member of the Neo Concrete movement, which is often seen as the start of contemporary art in Brazil. The work ranges from delicate woodcut prints of geometric shapes, to three-line poetry and crackly films of people breaking out of boxes. As you enter, her short film, Eat Me, with its probing close-ups of a hairy pair of lips aquiver with saliva, competes with the familiar images of the heads of favela children popping up from an enormous sheet as they move in unison. The political content and provocative power of her avant-garde work are certainly diluted by time and distance, but the wall of tiny wooden cut-out shapes - one for each day of the year – that forms her Book of Time from the early Sixties, is as captivating in its own way as the almost mystical golden threads that shimmer and catch the light in the recent installation Web.
This is a very different Hockney to the one on display at the Haunch of Venison’s The Mystery of Appearance, featuring ten post-war British artists (until 18 Feb). Although the luminous quality of light is there, the subject matter is much more brittle in a painting such as the erotic The Room Tarzana. Also on show is an early Lucian Freud drawing of Francis Bacon, Bacon’s snarling Pope in a cage, the thick impasto of both Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff, whose subjects are sometimes hard to decipher beneath the paint. Michael Andrews’ picture of The Thames at Low Tide gives a fascinating and disorientating perspective of the shoreline. The varied elements of the chosen artists are perhaps most interesting when viewed across the perspective of time: while Hockney has continued to develop, Patrick Caulfield’s work, for example, has hardly changed at all. Damien Hirst has covered Gagosian galleries worldwide in spots. For over a month (until 18 Feb) all eleven galleries – from New York to Hong Kong will host The Complete Spot Paintings 1986 to 2011, with an added bonus that if you visit all the locations you can win a signed Hirst print. The galleries each have a different emphasis on which spots they show, and the small Mayfair one features only little canvasses, with somewhere between half a spot and four spots, and some as tiny as a matchbox. Bright and colourful they may be, but it’s hard to give them much more than a cursory glance and not feel that this is
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An older generation of German artists is well known in Britain – Joseph Beuys, Anselm Kiefer and Gerhard Richter, to mention a few. Gesamtkunstwerk: New Art from Germany at the Saatchi Gallery until 30 April introduces some new names that reflect the scope of German contemporary art. Bizarre, grotesque, surreal, and rarely beautiful, they don’t all have the collective strength and emotive power of their predecessors, but certain names stand out. There is a lot of humour in Georg Herold’s delightful reclining figures in vivid colours, the surreal pageantry of the brothers Gert and Uwe Tobias’s bright woodcuts, the brash photomontages of Kirstine Roepstorff and Zhivago Duncan’s hypnotically playful Pretentious Crap, with its strange engines circling an endless track. A work such as the wall of 170 exquisite ceramic tiles that make up Andro Wekua’s Sunset has rich and glowing colours, as do Thomas Kiesewetter’s abstract sculptures in metal. The impact of the group as a whole though, leaves one with an impression of loud, wild contortions, a generation with the same inner angst but perhaps not quite the same depth. The largest exhibition ever in London of Anselm Kiefer’s work, Il Mistero delle Cattedrali, is on at the White Cube in Bermondsey until 26 February. The Halycon Gallery shows work by the contemporary glass artist Dale Chihuly untill 23 February.
SA ART TIMES. February 2012
(Top left) Damien Hirst: Spot Paintings, Gagosian Art Gallery, London (Top right) Daivid Hockney: The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire The Royal Academy (Middle left) Lygia Pape: TtĂŠia 1, C (Web) 2011, Serpentine Gallery, London (Middle right) Lygia Pape: Livro do Tempo (Book of Time) 1961-63, Serpentine Gallery, London (Below) Georg Herold: Untitled , 2010, Batten, canvas, lacquer, thread and screws Image courtesy of the Saatchi Gallery, London
The South African Sale Wednesday 21 March 2012 New Bond Street, London Bonhams, world leaders in the market for South African Art, are delighted to present an outstanding collection of works by all the modern South African masters. Highlights include important pieces by Irma Stern, Gerard Sekoto, J.H. Pierneef, Alexis Preller and Anton van Wouw among others.
+44 20 7468 8213 sapictures@bonhams.com Irma Stern (1894-1966) Zulu woman, 1935 oil on canvas £400,000 - 600,000 ZAR5,000,000 – 7,000,000
International Auctioneers and Valuers - bonhams.com/sapictures