The South African Art Times July 2011

The South African Art Times: SA’s leading visual arts publication | July 2011 | Free | Read daily news on www.arttimes.co.za

ART TIMES

Zapiro: Jiving with Madiba at the SA Jewish Museum Photo: Karina Turok

THE BIG PRETORIA ART SCENE: Art Times Special Feature

Photo: John Hodgkiss

HOT, HOT OFF THE PRESS Sam Nhlengethwa : New Tributes Prints: Tributes to: Cecil Skotnes, Deborah Bell, Zwelethu Mthethwa and Helen Sebidi Less 10% for SA Print Gallery Gift vouchers and wedding registry

THE SOUTH AFRICAN

PRINT GALLERY

South African leaders in the range of artists, language and quality of investment prints 109 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock, Cape Town. (on the art strip) www.printgallery.co.za. call 021 462 6851

The Young Concrete Sculptor Awards Competition

PRIZE MONEY: Best Sculpture on Exhibition – R50 000 Runner-up – R25 000 Merit Awards – 2 x R5 000 Submit entries from 27 – 29 September 2011 For more information on how to enter visit www.ppc.co.za or phone 012 346 3100 Terms and conditions apply

YOUNG CONCRETE SCULPTOR AWARDS

SPONSORED BY

TJDR/46961

bring your vision tolife enter

An exhibition including – • • • • • • • • • •

Dustin Kramer JP Meyer Madelein Marincowitz Dale Yudelman Zhann Solomons Bongi Bengu Louise Hall Gordon Froud Anton Smit Ruhan Janse van Vuuren and others.

The Cathedral: Launch of the complete storeroom exhibit (until end of August) The Shop: Ceramics exhibition Opening: Sunday, 10 July 2011 @ 11h00, the exhibition will run until 10 August 2011. Opening hours 10h00 – 17h00 daily.

Preview by appointment | Curator: Carina Bekker The Restaurant at Grande Provence For reservations: T+27 21 867 8600 F +27 21 876 8601 Main Road Franschhoek Western Cape T + 27 21 876 8600 F + 27 21 876 8601 E reservations@grandeprovence.co.za www.grandeprovence.co.za

ART TIMES | EDITORIAL

EDITORIAL

The South African

Art Times JULY 2011 Daily news at www.arttimes.co.za

Published monthly by

Global Art Information PO Box 15881, Vlaeberg, 8018 Tel. 021 424 7733 Fax. 021 424 7732 Editor: Gabriel Clark-Brown editor@arttimes.co.za Advertising: Eugene Fisher sales@arttimes.co.za Subscriptions: Tracey Muscat subs@arttimes.co.za News: Jim Wolf news@arttimes.co.za Shows: Tracey Muscat show@arttimes.co.za Admin: Bastienne Klein admin@arttimes.co.za Daily Website: Liesel Botha web@arttimes.co.za Artwork: art@arttimes.co.za Layout: microwavedgluvine

Deadline for news, articles and advertising is the 15th 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.

There is a healthy quiet buzz around, despite it being winter I know that the art spring will be a good one as artists are busy in their studios making great art for hungry dealers – and buyers for the Joburg Art Fair in September. In turn some dealers are on the road for Grahamstown, Venice and looking around for fresh stock, and of course, the next big thing. Gallery assistants try to put this quiet time to good use networking their gallery, and dare I say, themselves on Facebook, Twitter, and many more new social profiling musts, that will emerge before this editorial gets published.

All this social networking is slowly changing the way we do business, even my dear mother who is nearing her goldern 80’s has done an 8 day social networking and internet course, and now with her smartphone is making herself felt in her business and on her grand children’s manners.

I believe that one of the biggest changes of recent art times is the way we receive art news, opinion and information, that has rapidly moved off paper onto the smartphone. I don’t believe for an instant that paper will ever die, it will still grow steadily, and advertisers who are over 40 would always what to literally “hold onto their purchase” in having a physical bought advertising page in their hands, but the recession is forcing most people and their budget onto the web, social networks and smart phones. We at the Art Times planned over two years ago to focus on the web growth, and have quadrupled our audience, and moved from a monthly, to a daily news broadcast. With this commitment our online advertising is slowing coming in with also quadrupling our sales in the past 3 months. All this is a dream to a publisher who’s basic monthly printing and distribution costs - to reach an audience of 15 000 can reach well over R 70 000 (R 5 per person) compared

to a mere R 100.00 ISP website hosting fee for reaching the same amount of online and social network audience ( R 0.006 per person) . I believe that once online sites can find a way to generate cash, we will be in for the most amazing ride, but be warned I don’t believe this will happen fast, as good content and writers still cost a huge amount and despite large audience numbers, advertisers are still hung over from the 90’s dot. bomb bubble.

One thing that paper has assured is that due to an older advertiser’s base, publishers can usually afford quality writers, that write less, but their message is heard and mulled over longer, unlike the noisy blitz of social networks that seem to encourage short attention span on most issues.

This month we were thrilled to be taken by surprise by the most amazing and active art scene that is happening in Pretoria. Long since considered conservative, Pretoria is seriously on the move- with both young and old celebrating their culture as well as reinventing themselves. We had a great time this month in being carried away by the warm generous and kindly art Pretoria hospitality. Next month’s August issue we would like to follow the sun to cover the Free State art scene, and then for September cover Johannesburg and the Joburg Art Fair there.

Please if you would like to respond to us, our writers are particularly keen to her your thoughts and opinions, please feel welcome to write in, e-mail, or text us, we would love to hear from you. Best, Gabriel Clark-Brown Editor: SA Art Times. editor@arttimes.co.za

Express yourself, have your say in August’s Art Times and e-mail us at editor@arttimes.co.za

the loop art foundry

t 27(0)13 7582409 f 27(0)11 5075747 theloop@worldonline.co.za www.theloopartfoundry.co.za & www.thelooponline.co.za

striving in our passion towards excellence 06

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

LETTER TO THE EDITOR | ART TIMES

LETTER TO THE EDITOR From: Maureen Quin Quin Sculpture Garden & Gallery. wwwquin-art.co.za With reference to the article in your May issue

by Zukiswa Wanner, I would like to emphasise the following. There is no purpose in producing more product if there is no consumer. Rather, we desperately need an educated consumer. It would seem that in spite of input from artists themselves to the contrary at the Arts Consultative Conference, the Department of Arts and Culture is, according to the Conference Declaration, still aiming to establish a National Skills Academy and an Art Bank.

As an active, professional sculptor with a gallery and sculpture garden featuring my work, I am in contact with the public on an ongoing basis.

The lack of appreciation and understanding of visual art that goes beyond the representational by the average South African, continually appals me. In fact they do not know how to think beyond the obvious. But once explained, their eyes and minds open and they enter a whole new world.

Unfortunately the Department of Education has cut back on art education, and has relegated art appreciation to the back burner, without considering that our art industry is an integral part of our country’s economic well being. However for the arts: visual, theatre, film, music, literature, crafts and storytelling to be a viable industry, resulting in the employment of a good few presently unemployed, we need an educated, enthusiastic, appreciative buying public. All of the above mentioned art forms have industries that are a “by product” e.g. literature couldn’t survive without printers, publishers etc, sculptors need bronze casting foundries and related skills, and theatre depends on costume, make up, set building and

so on. Thus the domino effects of the arts result in employment in diverse fields Ironically media, which in itself could be considered under the heading “Arts”, is not used to its fullest to educate, enlighten or encourage arts and culture. Few newspapers cover visual arts, there are no arts programmes on SABC TV that focus on visual arts. Radio has limited coverage. An ideal opportunity to educate potential buyers and encourage art lovers is lost.

If the current government is serious about promoting the arts, and the resultant employment, they could do so by aggressively advertising what our country has to offer in the arts field – in SA and world wide. Various tax incentives should be considered to encourage businesses to establish art collections, or to sponsor an art of choice.

Arts and Culture encompasses such a broad spectrum of fields, that the DAC and the Department of Education should ensure that their employees are educated specialists. All South African Embassies and Consulates should showcase South African artists, visually and dramatically. The consulates/embassies should employ representatives who have the knowledge of how to promote our arts and culture abroad.

Instead of belittling artists, our Department of Arts and Culture should be elevating our status simply due to the fact that this sector of society can create employment in such a wide variety of areas, from the art historian through to the skilled bronze welder. If money is to be spent on skills, it should be on the skill of the appreciation of arts.

Then perhaps we will have buyers for the excellent work that is being produced by South African artists, and thus the economic cycle will be put in motion.

Joburg Art Fair 2011 FNB have negotiated for FNB to acquire naming rights to the event which will further amalgamate the bank with this cultural event. The 4th FNB Joburg Art Fair will take place from 23 – 25 September at the Sandton Convention Centre, Hall 1.

The FNB Joburg Art Fair is now in its fourth year. After three years of the event taking place over Easter, they have decided to move it to September.

First National Bank has been the primary sponsor of the Joburg Art Fair since it’s inception and Artlogic is pleased to announce that FNB has renewed its sponsorhip until 2013. Artlogic and SA ART TIMES. July 2011

Top wine estates take part this year At this year’s Fair there will be a food and eating area where four of the country’s top wine estates will serve wine by the glass. Enjoy wine from Meerlust, Tokara, Delaire Graff and the Idiom Collection.

Alfa Romeo Art Talks One of the highlights of the FNB Joburg Art Fair is the Alfa Romeo Art Talks. This is free to ticket holders, located inside the Fair and gives visitors the opportunity to meet gallerists, hear about artists’ practice and learn about the art world. The talks schedule will be published a month prior to the event. See more at www.joburgartfair.co.za 07

ART TIMES | NEWS / HANDSPRING PUPPET COMPANY WINS 6 TONY AWARDS FOR WAR HORSE

Images from War Horse at the New London Theatre Photos: Simon Annand

08

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

HANDSPRING PUPPET COMPANY WINS 6 TONY AWARDS FOR WAR HORSE / NEWS | ART TIMES

Handspring Puppet Co. wins 6 Tonys for War Horse production Justine Gerardy - Copyrite AFP The bits of moulded cane and metal on the Cape Town factory floor are destined to be stars: majestic horses that flick their tails, rear up and gallop with astonishing life-like ease.

The parts -- hollow legs, heads and chesty frames -- are future giant puppets created for the hit British play “War Horse”, which has taken both the West End and Broadway by storm.

The World War I drama scooped up six Tony awards in New York on Sunday, including best play and a special Tony for its South African creators.

“We used to cry pretty well every performance,” said Basil Jones, co-founder of Cape Town’s Handspring Puppet Company, whose horses measure more than two metres (seven feet).

“It’s astonishing. It’s amazing to see how at interval the entire house feels like it’s weeping.”

The story tells of a boy’s horse shipped to France in World War I and his owner’s search for him.

The main characters, Joey and Topthorn -- each fluidly operated by a trio of puppeteers with two inside their giant frames and one at the head -- have spellbound and stirred audiences since opening in London in 2007.

“I think we wouldn’t be in this business if we didn’t believe that puppets had the power to do that.

But War Horse has been the show that’s proved it strongest,” said Jones’s partner Adrian Kohler.

After turning to adult puppetry in 1985, Handspring is no stranger to global acclaim, and has joined forces with South African artist William Kentridge in productions like “Woyzeck on the Highveld” and “Faustus in Africa”.

But with the success of War Horse, activities in their workshop are overwhelmingly equine: a hovering Topthorn unfinished skeleton, fiddly wire work on massive heads, and giant resin eyeballs under brushstrokes.

“It was a really, really good feeling to see them in action. I was very proud,” said head puppet engineer Jessica Mias-Jones, who saw the show in London.

“You can’t really imagine it until you see it. It’s quite something. Seeing it standing around in the factory is nothing, but seeing it onstage is really incredible because it really is alive.”

The company was approached after their play “Tall Horse” starred a giant giraffe operated by traditional Malian puppeteers on stilts.

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

But the horses not only had to mirror their real-life counterparts with heaving flanks and ear-wiggling abilities, they also had to support human riders -a first-time challenge for the 30-year-old company.

“From our point of view, the movement of the puppet is absolutely the most important part. The look of the figure comes almost secondary,” said Kohler.

“It’s good if the look is sculptural, but primarily it’s got to move and the actors inside of it have to have the space to move and the ability to see all around. So those were starting points and they determined quite early on the nature of the materials we used.”

Soaked cane rods, resilient enough to bounce back from collisions, shape the horses with a series of hinges and metal including an aluminium bridge to support the rider.

“We were terrified because we just weren’t sure at all that worked, and fortunately it did and it worked very well,” said Kohler about the first carrying capacity test in front of 20 people in London.

“It was the workshop that convinced the theatre bosses that this was a project that they should greenlight because the horses were able to walk and trot and carry people.”

The puppets in London have done more than 1,000 performances and travel with an extra head, four back-up legs and an instruction manual. Each set has a total of nine horses, six soldiers, two crows, two swallows and a goose.

Stringently trained and even sleeping in stables, the teams of puppeteers develop instinctive skills that transform the constructions into what reviewers have called “enchantment”, “superlative puppetry” and “the stars of the show”.

Hollywood director Steven Spielberg recently shot the film version.

“It’s a really great honour for our company,” said Jones about Sunday’s special Tony.

The Tony Awards, which are given for best Broadway achievement, are considered the theater equivalent of the Oscars.

“Both the makers and the performers are part of what Handspring is and each has a totally different set of skills, but they are both of a very high order. So that’s where the award goes really - to them.”

09

ART TIMES | REVIEW / TRETCHIKOFF SHOW AT SANG

More Agony than Ecstasy, the Tretchikoff Story Now showing in vistavision at The SA National Gallery

By Lloyd Pollak The current SANG exhibition, “Tretchikoff, the People’s Painter” is a timely and admirably comprehensive thematic survey of this artist’s work. Over the past 15 years, support has gathered for a reevaluation of Tretchi’s oeuvre, but as his paintings are scattered all over the world, with none in our public collections, such an enterprise was not practicable. Then curator Andrew Lamprecht came along, and arranged this retrospective with his customary energy and verve.

Soaring attendance figures and the breathless effusions recorded in the visitor’s book offer decisive proof that the show is a huge hit with the general public. Surprisingly it can also supply immense pleasure to the visually literate, albeit pleasure of a highly specialized type. Tretchi’s oeuvre is the purest distillation of camp, a form of art overstated to the point of self-parody.

Susan Sontag summed camp up as “art that proposes itself seriously but cannot be taken altogether seriously because it is too much”, too artificial, too affected, too exaggerated, too stylized. Tretchi’s painting answers perfectly to this definition. Its corny excess and vulgarity provide wry, ironic amusement to the sophisticated spectator. Like Liberace’s concerts, Hollywood epics, baton-twirling drum majorettes and Diana Dors, Jayne Mansfield, Jane Russell and other massively mammaried ‘sweater girls’, Tretchikoff is a nigh inexhaustible source of hilarity.

One questions whether the National Gallery is the appropriate venue for the exhibition, as the very location implies the stamp of approval from established authority. This will not be forthcoming as the show resoundingly vindicates the judgment of all those critics of the 50’s and 60’s who dismissed the artist’s work as excruciatingly vulgar. Tretchikoff’s art is beyond redemption. “It is naïve and crass, the acme of kitsch with its shallow content; trite, illustrative style and lurid and sensationalist colour” to quote the artist Kate Gottgens.

That Tretchikoff played an important role in the art history of South Africa and the entire English-speaking world is undeniable. During the bleak post-war years of austerity, his prints brought brightness and cheer into people’s lives and décor. He helped forge the distinctive look of the mid 20th century and became a major icon of popular culture. The man was a marketing phenomenon and the sale of prints of his work was indeed a brilliant strategy.

Prices remained low enough to enable his work to demolish class barriers, and enter working-class homes. Lamprecht writes: “Tretchikoff changed the way that ordinary people relate to art. How they acquire it and take ownership of it.” He created new possibilities for artists to “control their intellectual property, disseminate their work and generate income.”

Disney too was a colossus of mass-culture, but popularity is no gauge of aesthetic merit. Tretchi’s early background was in advertising and illustration, and even during his glory days, he always remained a purely commercial artist working in a garish style extrapolated from Hollywood movies, posters and publicity stills, Broadway musicals, departmental store windowdressing, advertising and magazine and fashion illustration.

His exotic throwbacks to 19th century Orientalism, all those preening Eastern beauties with immaculately smooth, lacquered skins; vacant expressions and an untouchable air of imperviousness, are as rigid and lifeless as the dummies in a fashion store window, and like the latter, they embody the unattainable perfection of the 50’s ideals of glamour. They are superbly bred clotheshorses whose sole raison d’etre is to display sumptuous costumes and reveal the miracles cosmetics can perform. One imagines a posse of make-up artists and stylists hovering over these sultry sirens, dabbing away the beads of sweat, smoothing a stray hair back into place, and delicately ad10

justing the fall of their garments as technicians vaseline the lens and tint the lights before Mr. de Mille muscles in for his close-up. Like the cast of those 50’s movies “South Pacific” and “The Road to Bali”, Tretchi’s incense-tainted apparitions from the mysterious East are pure escapist fantasy, and a gorgeous unreality is part of their charm.

There is an overt staginess and inflation to the crayfish, pumpkin and vegetable vendors whom Tretchi handles as pure stage properties, specimens of ‘local color’ presenting their wares with the hammy, larger than life gestures of a peasant chorus in a badly directed revival of “Il Trovatore”.

The sorrowful expressions and voluminous scarves enveloping the heads of these prematurely haggard women, bestow a timeless biblical gravitas upon them, as they valiantly struggle to inject some significance into their creator’s vacuous handiwork. The hectoring insistence of their gazes, and the obtrusive ‘Lo and Behold’ gestures of their hands, suggest they are about to impart tidings of momentous import to the viewer, giving the paintings the sacramental solemnity of an Annunciation.

The immense sliced pumpkin so proudly upheld by the ‘Pumpkin Seller’ reveals its whiskery, womb-like, interior full of seeds, obvious symbols of conception, that steep this ageing woman, well past the menopause, in overtones of procreation and fecundity that make nonsense of the artist’s iconography. This weird gynecological emphasis also seen in the “Herb Seller” where a totemic, earth goddess surrounded by piles of big-bellied, uterine gourds and hairy, phallic tubers and roots, smiles in the certainty that her people will triumphantly outlive the ideologies of the Nationalist and United party whose election posters occur behind her. There is something decidedly gamy and ‘off’ about the womb-quivering symbolism that enshrouds these vatic crones.

The term ‘the people’s painter’ is far from neutral; it carries laudatory implications of simplicity, honesty and directness. The rise of liberal and radical, political philosophies transformed the working class into that hallowed entity, the ‘people’, a collective sanctified by poverty, suffering, exploitation and the dignity of labour. The mystique rules that they are in closer contact with ‘life’, their instincts, urges and emotions than the privileged classes.

However their access to these human truths does not entail aesthetic clairvoyance. The argument that because the masses love Tretchikoff, his work must possess merit, is fallacious. The ‘people’ also love Mills and Boone, Hello Magazine, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Britney Spears and Barry Ronge.

Another inference is that it is love of humanity that fires the artist who intends his art to improve their lot. The uplift Tretchikoff purveys is the spurious thrill of a never-never-land, and he certainly was not a ‘people’s painter’ in any humanitarian sense. Only two paintings are ever adduced as evidence that he may have had a social and political conscience, and the rest of his work never challenged apartheid as it consistently portrayed blacks and colored’s as picturesque ‘types’, rather than victims of injustice.

In his grandiloquent self-portrait, Tretchi portrays himself in the full-blown High Romantic manner, as a tortured genius exhausted by his heroic, creative travail. The artist - all tumbling coppery locks, puckered brow and stricken eyes gazing fearlessly beyond the horizon - emerges from a splurge of shrill Technicolor impasted furrows intended to externalize his inner turmoil. So deep are the troughs, and so high the ridges, they appear to have been dug by a plough, rather than applied with a brush. This exercise in self-adulation falls flat, as every element in the squared-up composition, including hand and brush, is kept strictly parallel with the picture plane and frame, and the insistent geometricity stifles spontaneity, giving the picture a contrived and over-worked appearance.

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

TRETCHIKOFF SHOW AT SANG / REVIEW | ART TIMES Although the black youths in “Penny Whistlers” and the Kaapse klopse in “Minstrel” possess an overwhelming vitality, they are the exceptions that prove the rule. Tretchi was the supreme virtuoso of sclerosis and palsy.

His mortician’s brush imbues every sitter with rigor mortis, and drains the life from every set-up, turning it into a stilted pageant that exudes the deathly immobility of Madame Tussaud’s waxwork figures. In his “Ndebele chief”, his “Xhosa Warrior” and his many Ndebele women, the artist’s inscrutably poker-faced expressions lend his sitters the glassy, museological air of an exhibit in a diorama, and the flat trompe-l’oeil backgrounds of animal pelts and textiles hermetically seal them in an airless, artificial environment turning them into ethnographic specimens.

Even when he paints his own wife, Natalie, in ‘My Family’, stereotype and formula turn her into a distant stranger. The remote, otherworldly air and bland, expression are stock, as are the perfectly balanced and geometrically regularized features that transmute her from an individual into a type, a generic Russian beauty. Poses are absolutely frontal, and composition rigidly centralized and symmetrical. Everything to left is the mirror image of everything to right, like the beribboned plaits of his smirking offspring, Mimi, a hoyden who rivals Pollyanna in her awful cutesy, cutesy, cuteness.

Tretchikoff was a case of arrested development. Over the course of a long career his immature art never grew and developed. There was no ripening: his work remained static and intellectually null. The concepts underpinning his paintings are of heart-breaking banality, like the burning “Charcoal Forest” in which a charred tree turns into a giant destructive monster, the awakening nude emerging out of her own shrouded corpse in “Resurrection”, and the double-portrait of a beggar enclosed in an ostentatious, trompe-l’oeil, gilded frame.

The claim that he was a superb draftsman and technician must be viewed with the gravest suspicion. He had no flair for textures. The mink adorning his “Merry Widow” lacks the softness and downy warmth of fur, and looks as tough and abrasive as a new doormat. No substance looks like what it is supposed to be. His glistening, nude in “Barbara in the Bath” has a skin of sheeny, pink latex. The gold and silver coins in his “Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbor’s Goods” look like plastic buttons, the blurry grass, like fried parsley; and the cloth money-bag, like carved wood. His tubular upper arms and boneless filleted fingers reveal faulty anatomy. The many hands in his Ten Commandments look like antiquated, prosthetic equipment rather than the real thing.

His animal paintings portray taxidermied specimens, rather than live creatures, as Tretchi’s animal kingdom is sadly riddled with paralysis. The flying bird in “The Two Egrets” remains as stiff as a ceramic flying duck, and the two unhappy winged creatures cry out for a Victorian glass dome to protect them from Tretchi’s embalming brush. Similarly his ‘Fighting Zebras’ rearing up in combat, appear petrified, despite the clouds of dust they have kicked up with their hooves. There is no looseness, flow or springiness to the flower pieces which dispose every leaf, blossom and stalk in stiff, symmetrical arrangements like walking sticks emerging from an umbrella stand.

Tretchi’s prints are in fact far better than his paintings, as all traces of his crude brushwork - so lacking in rhythm or any feeling for the substance of paint - are mercifully concealed beneath a perfectly smooth, slick and glossy surface that lends them the immaterial appearance appropriate to Tretchi’s lush Tschaikovskian fantasies.

In the book accompanying the exhibition, we are told that a Tretchikoff revival is taking place, and one has seen signs of this overseas. However Tretchi’s resurgence has not been spearheaded by the ordinary folk who sincerely love his work, but by fashionistas, media trend-setters, with-it academics, telly journalists and pop sociologists, in other words, people exactly like the contributors, Ashraf Jamal, a senior lecturer at Rhodes, Yvonne du Toit, a filmmaker and journalist, Boris Gorelik, a historian, and Marianne Fassler, a couturiere.

Gorelik lists a host of modish bars, nightclubs and cafes themed around Tretchikoff prints around the globe. Obviously Tretchi’s other champions are connoisseurs of camp and retro decorators affectionately pastiching the fifties look. Such is Tretchi’s artistic legacy.

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

11

ART TIMES | REVIEW / ZAPIRO: JIVING WITH MADIBA REVIEW

Zapiro: Jiving with Madiba at the Jewish Museum

Jonathan Shapiro (better known as Zapiro) does his best Mandiba Jive.

Photo: Karina Turok Exhibiton Review By Byron Austin Semiologists, like Roland Barthes, often write about the interplay and commonalities between text and the visual arts. In his Myth Today, Barthes expounds upon the signifying function of both pictures and writing, and that they “constitute, one just as much as the others, a language-object.” From this departure, one could assert that both writing and pictures can be deployed to make certain statements.

Cartoonists represent a unique lot of artists who in that they often weave text into the visual, image-laden fabric of the cartoon. The result is a comical, multimedia statement about a given place and time. In the South African Jewish Museum’s current exhibition, “Jiving with Mandiba,” editorial cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro (better known as Zapiro) takes the opportunity to use his art to make clever and interesting statements about the Zeitgeist during the first two decades of the New South Africa. The exhibition is both visually stunning and historically important with over 130 of Shapiro’s works, all of which depict or otherwise involve South Africa’s most noteworthy native son, Nelson Mandela.

The exhibition traces Mandela’s life from prisoner to president to pensioner. What we see in this collection is more than Zapiro as political commentator: we also perceive his role as documentarian and historian. His virtuoso juxtaposition of text and image narrates the struggle, successes, and shortcomings of Mandela in a tone that ranges from satire to adoration. When it comes to South Africa’s political leaders, he maintains his journalistic integrity by achieving a balance between castigation and endorsement in his portrayal and caricature of these figures; what’s more, he sometimes achieves this in a single cartoon. In his “ANC Youth League” (M&G – 19.06.08) cartoon, he comments on the de-evolution of the party’s leaderships by parodying the ape-man evolution chart while simultaneously rendering his opinion of each leader through both physiognomic caricature of each figure and posting a “epithet” on few of them. It is this intertextual commentary that makes his work so effectively communicative, albeit jarring at times. Despite the viewer’s political convictions, one cannot deny that Zapiro’s work is thought-provoking in the very least.

12

Unlike most documentarians who play the role of observer or voyeur, Zapiro, as a journalist, operates as an active participant in the milieu of South African political debate. The cartoons in this exhibition demonstrate the ever-changing vantage point from which Zapiro observes the political landscape during the most dynamic years of this country’s history. However, rather than focusing on the events themselves, the work captures the vast iconography of Mandela throughout this time period. The viewer gleans a unique sampling of symbols, images, and words that are associated with the iconic figure that is Mandiba. Moreover, this collection of portrayals, as delivered

by Zapiro’s pen, represents constitutes a three-dimensional rendering of the global leader – Zapiro clues us into how he sees him, how South Africa sees him, and how the world sees him. Indeed, these works bolster the notion of an editorial cartoonist’s role as both journalist and historian.

Like Zapiro’s cartoons, the Jewish Museum’s permanent collection preserves and narrates a people’s history. It seeks not only to preserve and promote the history of the Jewish community in South Africa, but it also offers unique access to the Diaspora by exhibiting the works of South African artists of international notoriety. The artists on display at the museum provide a platform for which the stories and experiences of South Africans, not only Jewish South Africans, but all South Africans, can be voiced on an international stage. Rather than being a totally objective lens, these stories are shaped, fashioned, and informed by the struggle of a people’s voice that has been suppressed by a racist and anti-Semitic Apartheid government in years past, and whose voice continues to face the challenge of unification in today’s political context. Importantly, the content on display at the Museum attempts to convey the complex and pluralistic voice that represents South African Jewry, both of antiquity and modernity. The overriding theme throughout the permanent collection is one of celebration: the celebration of diversity, inclusivity, tolerance and openness vis-à-vis the wider, deep-rooted social issues in South Africa.

Visitors to Zapiro: Jiving with Madiba will not only learn about how Mandela, who opened the museum, influenced the history of this country and the world, but they will also observe how editorial cartoons bridge the phantasmal semiotic gap between text and image. The Jewish Museum is more than a collection of historical curiosities – it provides a space for learning, conversation, and debate. It is a very modern place: it is appropriate that such an iconoclastic collection of art is being shown in a museum that grew out of a synagogue. The exhibition officially opens on 14th July, but Art Times Readers are invited for a Sneak Peak of the full exhibition starting 3 July.

The South African Jewish Museum is located in The Company’s Garden with an entrance and parking at 88 Hatfield Street. The Museum is open Sunday through Thursday 10-5 and Fridays 10-2. Entrance is R15, Kids are Free.

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

NATIONAL FESTIVAL 2011 LINE UP / NEWS | ART TIMES

Elegiese meesters en subversiewe stripkuns Spaanse stiervegkuns. Die titel van die uitstalling verwys na ’n danspassie wat die matador uitvoer kort voordat die bul van kant gemaak word.

In 2008 het sy in die videowerk Ukungenisahaarself as matador verbeeld in die verlate Praça de Touros in Maputo waar swart stiervegters vanmelewe koloniale Portugese vermaak het.

In dié dans met ’n afwesige stier paradeer sy in sy en brokaat soos die ware jakob. Verlede jaar het Mntambo ’n Wits/BHP Billiton-genootskap ontvang en vir vier maande op ’n kunstenaarsverblyf in Cleveland, Ohio, deurgebring. Sy het ook deelgeneem aan die 17de Sydney-biënnale en die negende Dakarbiënnale en werk vertoon op die Peekaboo – Current South Africa-uitstalling in Helsinki.

Nandipha Mntambo, vanjaar se Standard Bank Jong Kunstenaar vir visuele kunste Deur Johan Myburg, Die Burger: Johannesburg - Nandipha Mntambo, vanjaar se Standard Bank Jong Kunstenaar vir visuele kunste, beskryf haar uitstalling wat op die Nasionale Kunstefees in Grahamstad begin en daarna deur die land toer, as ’n uitbreiding van haar kunsbenadering.

Anders as haar werk tot dusver takel Mntambo met haar uitstallingFaena ook die skilder- en tekenkuns. Sy het veral met videowerk en haar beeldhouagtige installasies van beesvel naam gemaak in die kunswêreld, hier sowel as in oorsese galerye.

Benewens die uitbreiding ten opsigte van media (sy sluit ook videowerk en beeldhou in) beplan Mntambo met Faenaook ’n sin­tuig­lik meervoudige ervaring: nie net sien en hoor nie, maar ook voel en ruik.

Faenais weliswaar ’n verdere verkenning van haar belangstelling in die SA ART TIMES. July 2011

Alan Crump, ’n kunstenaar wat jare lank as kunsadministrateur onder meer betrokke was as lid van die Grahamstad-feeskomitee, word vanjaar op die fees vereer met ’n omvattende oorsiguitstalling. Crump is in 2009 oorlede.

Federico Freschi is die kurator van Alan Crump: A Fearless Vision, wat tot onlangs te sien was in die Johannesburg-kunsmuseum.

Die merkwaardige aspek van dié uitstalling is dat ’n mens oorbluf staan deur die omvang van Crump se werk, asook sy beheersing van waterverf as medium. Die uitstalling sluit in van die vroeë konseptuele werk van die 1970’s – toe hy as Fulbright-genoot as ateljee-assistent vir Vito Acconci en Richard Serra gewerk het – tot die elegiese waterverfwerke wat in sy laaste solo-uitstalling in 2001 te sien was.

Die sentrum vir strokies- en geïllustreerde boekkuns van die Universiteit van Stellenbosch se kunsdepartement bied CO/MIX Pavilion 2011 aan.

Dit is ’n groepuitstalling waaraan 26 Suid-Afrikaanse en vier buitelandse kunstenaars deelneem. Dis veral die subversiewe sy van eietydse subkulture wat in dié uitstalling hoogty vier.

Die jare lange bydrae deur Caversham Press tot die vi­sue­le kunste (spesifiek wat grafiese drukwerk betref) word gedenk in ’n uitstalling van dié KwaZuluNatalse drukkers. Kunstenaars wie se werk te sien is, is William Kent­ridge, Mmakgabo Helen Sebidi, Robert Hodgins en Gabisile Nkosi.

Brodie/Stevenson bring die werk van Serge Nitegeka na die fees met ’n uitstalling getiteld …And Walk in My Shoes.

Nitegeka se ervaringsinstallasie verg interaksie van besoekers om die werk te voltooi.Besoek die webwerf www.nationalartsfestival.co.za vir besonderhede oor ander uitstallings, asook uitstallings op die randfees.

13

ART TIMES | NEWS / LEON BOTHA DIES / PETER CLARKE’S BIRTHDAY WISH

Artist and poet, Peter Clarke celebrates his 82nd birthday as he always wanted to,: eating cucumber sandwiches at the Nellie, together with a bit of sparkle. His next wish is to own a yacht and sail the seas, this is probably given to his childhood being spent in Simon’s Town and watching ships from all over the world sailing in.

Die lewe as ’n merkwaardige ‘performance’-kunswerk implikasies as vertrekpunt van kunstenaarskap gebruik. Eintlik het hy sy (afgemete, beperkte) bestaan ten volle as kunsoefening ontwikkel.

Reeds as seun het hy in die tekenkuns sy wêreld begin verken. In Graad 3 begin hy kunslesse aan die Tygerberg-kunssentrum en beëindig sy skooljare vroeg om voltyds kuns te bestudeer. Hy word later ’n bekende gesig as die platejoggie DJ Solarize en werk onder meer saam met Die Antwoord (die video van “Enter the Ninja” was ’n kultustreffer). ’n Openbare figuur met wye aanhang en teenwoordigheid.

Leon Botha Deur Melvyn Minnaar, Die Burger: Kaapstad - Leon Botha was ’n performance-kunstenaar. Hy had geen ander keuse nie; dit het hom waarskynlik aan die lewe gehou. Tot onlangs.

Toe dié merkwaardige Kapenaar en progerielyer op 5 Junie op die ouderdom van 26 jaar oorlede is, het hy al baie langer geleef as wat die meeste “vroegbejaardes” beskore is. Een van die langstes in die wêreld. Sy lewensdrif, nalatenskap en ja, deursettingsvermoë word gehuldig in die kuns wat hy gemaak het.

Botha het die onvermydelikheid van sy kort lewe aangegryp en die dramatiese lyflike metamorfose van die stropende siekte en die persoonlike 14

Sy eie skilderye word in 2007 onder die titel Liquid Swords; I am HipHop ten toon gestel. Dié opskrif, soos dié van ’n opvolg, Liquid Swords; Slices of Lemon, dui op die alternatiewe, semi-surrealistiese visuele idioom waarin hy wou werk en moontlik as ’n kondisie van sy lewe gesien het.

(Progerie is waarskynlik die mees paradoksale toestand waarin die mens hom kan bevind.)

Prof. Sandra van der Merwe het aan die Mail&Guardian gesê sy kuns is verwant aan die skemergebied waarin hy geleef het. Met sy dood is die diepe ironie opvallend. “Hy het duskant sy jare, chronologies en fisiek, geleef.

Hy het ’n vlak van volwassenheid bereik wat ’n leeftyd neem om te realiseer.”

Die uiteindelike triomf van sy kunstenaarskap is ’n reeks merkwaardige foto’s wat hy saam met die fotograaf Gordon Clarke aangepak het.

Ná die tentoonstelling van Who am I? Transgressions – ’n reeks groot, fyn gestileerde tablo-kleurfotos waarin hy talle “karakters” uitbeeld – verlede Februarie by die João Ferreira-galery in Kaapstad het hy internasionale aandag getrek.

Verbysterend in hul vindingrykheid, treffend in hul teatrale opset, deurdrenk met paradoks en surrealisme, is dié foto’s die soort wat uiteindelik die spieël op die vasgenaelde kyker draai. Kuns wat die menslike bestaan ongenaakbaar priem.

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

GOVERNMENT JOB CREATION IN THE ARTS SECTOR / NEWS | ART TIMES

Arts sector ‘could help boost economy’ (Also see letter to the Editor) Published in Businesslive The department of arts and culture is in the process of repositioning the arts, culture and heritage sector as a major contributor to the economy, Minister Paul Mashatile says.

Speaking in the National Assembly during debate on his budget vote, he said a national consultative conference on the contribution of this sector to the economy was held in April.

“The conference brought together more than 1000 delegates who crafted a clear path for our sector and defined its contribution to the economy.”

During the conference, delegates found that South Africa’s national heritage, measured by the value of eco-tourism, contributed R21 billion a year to the economy.

The music industry was worth around R1,7bn in sales and ranked 17th in the world in 2007. The craft sector contributed R1,1bn annually to GDP and employed 38,000 people. The visual arts sector had a turnover of nearly R2bn a year, with a workforce of about 17,000 people.

The total nett turnover of the book publishing industry in 2007 was estimated to be worth R3,2bn. The film industry generated over R5,5bn annually and provided employment to an estimated 30,000 people.

“Delegates declared that the creative economy in South Africa has the potential to be a leading sector in generating economic growth, employment and trade as is the case in many advanced economies,” said Mashatile.

He said that, in an effort to get the most out of the sector, interventions throughout the education system needed to be developed to identify and develop the artistic talent of pupils at a young age and to encourage them to pursue careers in the arts.

A National Skills Academy for the Arts and cultural precincts would also be established. “In the current financial year, work will begin to establish five cultural precincts, commencing with planning for a precinct in Mangaung,” said Mashatile.

An art bank would also be established to curate and display local art works

in public buildings. Mashatile said these initiatives meant that funding for the sector would have to be re-examined.

“We will be approaching National Treasury with a view to securing increased funding for our sector focusing on the priorities we have identified.

“We are confident that we will receive a sympathetic ear from National Treasury, because our priorities speak directly to job creation; which is the primary focus of the work of government. We are confident that our sector will also be considered for funding from the R9bn fund for job creation.”

Mashatile said there had also been discussions with the Lottery Fund Distribution Board for funding.

He said that the department had also appointed a director general, Sibusiso Xaba. His immediate task would be to ensure that all vacant posts were filled by the end of the financial year.

Mashatile said that plans for a National Liberation Heritage Route to honour those who contributed to the liberation of South Africa had begun.

As part of the legacy projects, grave sites of several struggle icons were upgraded last year. More grave sites or houses of struggle icons would be upgraded and declared heritage sites this year.

Liliesleaf and the Voortrekker Monument would also be declared heritage sites.

Mashatile said that the Robben Island Museum was an important world heritage site and that the department was working to ensure that it was preserved and remained a major tourist destination. He said the department would also focus on the need to develop an appreciation for the arts among young people.

“Some of the specific programmes we will engage in, include working with the Field Band Foundation to build mass participation of youth in music and performing arts. Working together with the Youth Development Agency we will support this year’s Youth Day celebrations.”

He said R6 million had been allocated for youth programmes in the current financial year.

Meanwhile, R549m had been set aside for performing arts and about R180m for cultural development. The National Language Service would get R101m, while the National Archives and Language Services would get R694m.

He said R763m would go towards the development of heritage institutions and museums.

DAILY SOUTH AFRICAN ART NEWS HAPPENS?: QUARTERLY ? MONTHLY? WEEKLY? DAILY THE SA ART TIMES WEBSITE DAILY UPDATED NEWS, OPENINGS, BREAKING NEWS, OPINIONS FROM ALL ANGLES & INTERPRETATIONS

WWW.ARTTIMES.CO.ZA SA ART TIMES. July 2011

15

2010 IN REVIEW / FEATURE | ART TIMES

THE SOUTH AFRICAN

GALLERY GUIDE SA ART TIMES. July 2011

17 Hannake Benarde: The Gaze, Print to be seen at The SA Print Galery, Woodstock. See www.printgallery.co.za

Sam Nhlengethwa new lithographs

Tribute to Deborah Bell. Hand printed lithograph, 57 x 76 cm. Edition 50.

The Artists’ Press Box 1236, White River, 1240 • Tel 013 751 3225 mark@artistspress.co.za • www.artprintsa.com

Art Times Sam June 2011 advert.i1 1

17/6/11 11:56:50

SUBSCRIBE To the

South African

Art Times R 320 pa to your door Call Tracey at 021 424 7733 or subs@arttimes.co.za

Free State Bloemfontein Oliewenhuis Art Museum Until 10 July, “Yebo/Yes” an exhibition by two young photographers, Oliver Dowdle, a student from Mangaung and Jonas Posman, a photographer from Ghent, in the Main Building.

Until 31 July, “Willie Bester: Recent Works” featuring recent sculptures and paintings, including a series of 21 portraits of people living in Montagu, will be on show in The Reservoir.

14 July – 14 August, “Andries Gouws: Pedestrian Paintings” in the Main Building.

An exhibition of Andries Gouws’s characteristic paintings of feet, interiors & still lifes, painted since 2007.

21 July – 31 July, “The Epic of Everlasting, The KWV Cecil Skotnes Exhibition Tour 2011” in the Annex.

A touring exhibition of Cecil Skotnes’s works from the KWV Collection.

16 Harry Smith Str, Bloemfontein. T.051 447 9609

Clarens Art & Wine Gallery on Main The Gallery houses an exquisite collection of art by well-known 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 art works, 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 Adler Museum of Medicine Until 11 July, “Reflect” paintings on canvas and paper

by Elaine Hirschowitz.

Adler Museum of Medicine, Wits Medical School, 7 York Rd, Parktown. T. 011 717 2067/81 adler.museum@wits.ac.za www.wits.ac.za/health/adlermuseum

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

FREE STATE, GAUTENG | GALLERY GUIDE Artspace –Jhb 2 – 30 July, “Step up or Step down” sculptures & paintings by Jaco Sieberhagen.

1 Chester Court, 142 Jan Smuts Ave, Parkwood, Jhb. T. 011 880 8802 artspace@wol.co.za www.artspace-jhb.co.za CIRCA on Jellicoe Until 9 July, “Living on a Horizon: A tribute to Bessie Head” paintings by Ann Gollifer and “Weapons of Mass Destruction” resin sculptures by Ronit Judelman. 2 Jellicoe Ave. T. 011 788 4805 gallery@circaonjellicoe.co.za David Brown Fine Art David Brown Fine Art has relocated to Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton City situated below the Michelangelo Hotel and next to Montego Bay Restaurant.

T. 011 783 7805 david@dbfineart.co.za www.davidbrownfineart.co.za David Krut Projects Until 9 July, “1:1” a solo exhibition of artworks on paper by Alexandra Ross.

140 Jan Smuts Ave., Parkwood, Jhb. T. 011 447 0627 www.davidkrutpublishing.com Everard Read Jhb Until 9 July, “Coloured People” paintings by Helen Joseph and “Imfuyo” paintings by Sipho Ndlovu.

6 Jellicoe Ave, Rosebank, Jhb. T. 011 788-4805 gallery@everard.co.za www.everard-read.co.za Gallery AOP 2 - 23 July, Artist’s books and etchings by Jessica Meuninck-Ganger.

44 Stanley Ave, Braamfontein Werf (Milpark) T. 0117262234 www.artonpaper.co.za Gallery MOMO Until 25 July, “La Tête de Dieu …” (the head of God…), multiple media works by Guy Wouete.

52 7th Avenue, Parktown North, Jhb. T. 011 327 3247 info@gallerymomo.com www.gallerymomo.com Gertrude Posel Gallery This gallery has a permanent exhibition of traditional southern, central & West African art.

University of the Witwatersrand, Senate House, Jorissen Str, Braamfontein.

T. 011 717 1365 julia.charlton@wits.ac.za Goethe - Institut Until 8 July, the exhibition “Comics, Manga & Co” will showcase various contemporary comics and mangas from Germany.

Goethe-Institut, 119 Jan Smuts, Johannesburg www.goethe.de Goodman Gallery 30 June–6 August, “Battiss & Company” presents wellknown as well as rarely and never before exhibited work by the late artist and will also include a section of the gallery dedicated to work by artists and people close to him both personally and professionally. Battiss’s context and influence can be seen in a section within the gallery displaying watercolours by his wife, Grace Anderson, as well as a rare self-portrait painting by John Muafangejo, internationally known for his black and white linocuts.

There are also works by Ephraim Ngatane, Cecil Skotnes, Rain Battiss, Norman Catherine & collaborations with renowned weaver Marguerite Stephens.

163 Jan Smuts Ave, Parkwood, Johannesburg T. 011 788 1113 jhb@goodman-gallery.com www.goodman-gallery.com

Grahams Fine Art Gallery The gallery houses one of the finest collections of art in South Africa, their focus is on absolute quality and are proud to offer an extensive selection of works for sale.

Unit 46, Broadacres Lifestyle Centre, Cnr Cedar & Valley Rds, Broadacres, Fourways, Jhb. T. 011 465 9192 sarah@grahamsgallery.co.za www.grahamsgallery.co.za Grayscale Gallery Until 7 July, “Overhead Sketch Battles” exhibition featuring some of Johannesburg’s finest young artists representing a wide range of styles.

33 De Korte Str, Braamfontein, Jhb. T. 011 403 0077 www.pressurecontrol.co.za/NET 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 www.16halifaxart.co.za See gallery guide for exhibition at Upstairs@Bamboo, Jhb. Johannesburg Art Gallery Until 7 July, Peter Mammas’ “Antagonistic Harmonies in First Arrangement” is on show in the Project Room.

Until 31 July, “Kasi Lama Kasi” Photographic Exhibition.

Until 15 August, “A.R.C. @ JAG (Acoustic Resonance Collector)” is the latest work by visual artist, Richard John Forbes.

Until 28 August, “Looking as learning: art in the 2011 schools curriculum” an exhibition of international and SA artists focused on the current school curriculum.

Also on view is the ongoing, updated installation by Stephen Hobbs in the Auditorium Entrance.

King George Str, Joubert Park, Jhb. T. 011 725 3130 khwezig@joburg.org.za www.joburg.org.za Manor Gallery Until 27 July, “Artful All Media Exhibition” an interesting selection of paintings by members of the Watercolour Society of South Africa including still life, wild life, portraits, abstracts etc. in all media.

Norscot Manor Centre, Penguin Drive, Fourways.

T. 011 465 7934 gallery@wssa.org.za www.wssa.org.za Market Photo Workshop Until 29 July, “Fale le Fale” an exhibition of photography by David Goldblatt.

2 President Str, Newtown, Entrance Bus Factory, Jhb. T. 011 834 1444 info@marketphotoworkshop.co.za www.marketphotoworkshop.co.za Resolution Gallery Until 13 August, “Dencity” a collaborative exhibition by André Clements and Daniel Hirschmann.

Unit 4, 142 Jan Smuts Ave., Parkwood, Jhb. T. 011 880 4054 info@resolutiongallery.com www.resolutiongallery.com Seippel Gallery Until 15 July, “Steel Time” sculpture by Robert Schad.

Arts on Main, Cnr of Fox & Berea, Jhb. T. 011 401 1421 www.seippel-gallery.com Sharon Sampson Studio 2-day printmaking workshop on 23 & 30 July.

Course: Drypoint etching combined with Monotype printmaking. For more info contact Sharon. Illovo, Jhb. C. 082 322 6752 sharonsampson@ibsa.co.za www.sharonsampson.com Standard Bank Gallery Until 2 July, “Listening to Distant Thunder” featuring works by Peter Clarke.

Cnr of Simmonds & Frederick Str.’s, Jhb. T. 011 631 1889 www.standardbankarts.co.za

19

SSAMP_Art_Ad_136x93_ART[3].pdf

1

2011/06/20

12:46 PM

Experience the abundance of South African artistic talent by prominent South African Artists.

“Shore Crab” Monoprint, 19.5 x 28 cm

A. Rose-Innes, Three Women in Conversation 65 x 50cm, Pastel

www.artandwine.co.za anton@artandwine.co.za Tel/fax: 058 256 1298 Cell: 082 341 8161 279 Main Road, Clarens

2-day printmaking workshop Saturday 23 and 30 July, 9–3:30

Course: Drypoint etching combined with Monotype printmaking At: Sharon Sampson Studio, Illovo, Johannesburg.

With: Top printmakers experienced in teaching students of all levels.

For a workshop information sheet: Email: sharonsampson@ibsa.co.za Call: 082 322 6752 www.sharonsampson.com

FREE STATE, GAUTENG, MPUMALANGA | GALLERY GUIDE Stephan Welz & Co. Auctioneers of Decorative & Fine Arts.

13 Biermann Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg.

T. 011 880-3125 jhb@stephanwelzandco.co.za www.stephanwelzandco.co.za Stevenson Johannesburg 7 July - 12 August, photography by Zanele Muholi.

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 6 – 27 July, “Dislodge (Loswikkel)” featuring works by Angus Taylor and Rina Stutzer Cnr Kingsway & University Rd, Auckland Park, Jhb. T. 011 559 2099 aedempsey@uj.ac.za www.uj.ac.za/artscentre Upstairs@Bamboo 3 - 17 July, Dana MacFarlane & 16 Halifax presents “Lit in Tshwane” a group exhibition featuring six artists inspired in Pretoria. Oils, acrylics and mixed media works

by Frans Cronje, Michael Heyns, Leon Muller, Jennifer Snyman, Lynette ten Krooden & Mimi van der Merwe.

Cnr 9th Str & Rustenburg Rd, Melville, Jhb. T. 011 486 0526 Dana MacFarlane 082 784 6695 www.16halifaxart.co.za www.bamboo-online.co.za 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 www.thewhitehousegallery.co.za

Pretoria 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 www.artwessels.co.za Anton Smit Sculpture Park Until end July “Transfigure” an exhibition of new sculptures by Anton Smit.

Near Bronkhorstspruit Dam & Aquavista Mountain Estate.

Directions on website. info@antonsmit.co.za www.antonsmit.co.za Association of Arts Pretoria Until 2 July, “The Photographer’s Favourites” an exhibition of photographer by the Danish photographer Susanne Bjerg.

Until 6 July, “Perpetual Motion” an exhibition of new works by Kay Potts.

Opening 8 July @ 6:30pm for 7pm, “Bridgeworks”

by Georgia Papageorge, an exhibition of small and large scale working drawings, paintings and photographs emerging from the artist’s three major projects of the last 20 years. Until 27 July.

Walkabout: Saturday 16 July @ 11am.

Opening 29 July @ 6:30pm for 7pm, “Fopspeen: Moving Pictures” with works by Diek Grobler, Charles Badenhorst, Jansen Lourens & Marinda du Toit, until 17 August. 173 Mackie Str, Nieuw Muckleneuk, Pretoria. T. 012 346 3100 artspta@mweb.co.za www.artsassociationpta.co.za Bolsmann on Brooks Fine Art Gallery Oil paintings by Pretoria artist Eric Bolsmann.

163 Brooks Str, Brooklyn, Pretoria.

T. 012 362 6698 C. 083 454 1797 eric@ericbolsmann.co.za www.ericbolsmann.co.za Brooklyn Theatre Until 28 July, “Go (c) Art” exhibition with works by the following artists: ‘Chickenman’ Mkhize, Minette van Rooyen, Rain Battiss, Elaine du Toit, Nan Spurway & Annemarie Wessels.

Thomas Edison Str, Greenlyn Village Shopping Centre, Pretoria. For more information contact: Stuart C. 082 923 2551 trent.art@gmail.com www.trent-art.co.za/www.brooklyntheatre.co.za Fried Contemporary Until 9 July, “Designs of Self” participating artists are: Erna Bodenstein (Mixed media Painting), Amos Letsoalo (Drawing), Celia de Villiers (Sculpture), Collen Maswanganyi (Wood Sculptures) and Diane Victor (Etching, drawings and prints).

16 July – 20 August, “History” artists exhibiting work are: Nathani Lüneburg (video & printed images), Guy du Toit (bronze sculpture), Carla Crafford (photography) & Rozan Cochrane (mix media with light, shadow, Perspex and canvas).

430 Charles St, Brooklyn, Pretoria. T. 012 346 0158 art@friedcontemporary.com www.friedcontemporary.com Front Room Art & Artists 31 July – Sat 13 August, Front Room Art & Artists presents: “Human Spaces [within : without : between]” Oils, acrylics and mixed media works by Deon Lemmer, Gretchen Parrock, Alison Riordan, Jennifer Snyman & Elria Trahms. At The Green Olive, 229 Zambezi Ave, Derdepoort East, Pta. Jennifer Snyman 082 451 5584 www.frontroomart.co.za

Gallery Michael Heyns The Gallery has moved to 194 Haley Str, Weavind Park, Pretoria. T. 012 804 0867 michael@michaelheyns.co.za www.michaelheyns.co.za PanDora Art House 5 August, PanDora Art House and Postbox presents: “The Whatness of Allhorse” a group show with participating artists: Peter Mammes, Katharine Meeding, Retha Ferguson, Diaan Mynhardt, Guy Standly, Liebet Jooste, Koos Van Der Wat, Martinus Van Tee & Melanie de Bruyn.

PanDora Art House, 621 Berea Str, Muckleneuk, Pta. C. 0849973903 pandora.art1@gmail.com www.pan-dora.co.za Pretoria Art Museum Until 31 July, “Clare Menck: Hidden Life” Twenty years of painting (1990 – 2010).

Until 17 August, an exhibition of artworks by Severa Rech Cassarino, Marco Cianfanelli and Lorenzo Nassimbeni in collaboration with the Venice Biennale.

Permanent display of South African art in the South Gallery. T.012 344 1807/8 art.museum@tshwane.gov.za www.pretoriaartmuseum.co.za St Lorient Fashion and Art Gallery A lifestyle gallery offering guests a broad selection of designer fashions, accessories as well as artworks by leading and emerging South African artists. Amid the chic evening and day wear, art lovers can admire various art works ranging from paintings, professional photography to sculptures.

492 Fehrsen Street, Brooklyn Circle, Brooklyn, Pretoria.

T. 012 4600284 anastasi@iafrica.com www.stlorient.co.za The Tina Skukan Gallery Until 14 July, “Vry Staat” recent works by Willem Pretorius.

6 Koedoeberg Rd, Faerie Glen, Pretoria T. 012 991 1733 thea@tinaskukangallery.co.za www.tinaskukangallery.co.za Trent Gallery During July, Tim Foulds print studio exhibition of etchings and lino’s. Artists: Dikgwele Paul Molete, Colbert Mashile, Dumisani Mabaso, Kim Burman, Pat Mautloa, David Koloane, Zak Benjamin, Willam Boshoff, Mike Chibogo Khumalo &Cheryl Gage.

14 July - 28 July, an exhibition of works by Eric du Plan & Griet van der Meulen, oil on canvas and mixed media.

30 July - 3 August, Diane Victor’s Second year Tukies Students’ Etchings.

Cnr Milner & Long Str, Waterkloof, Pretoria.

T. 012 460 5497. Trent.art@gmail.com www.trent-art.co.za

Esther Booysen 082 6000 085

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

21

GALLERY GUIDE | NORTH WEST / MPUMALANGA / WESTERN CAPE - CAPE TOWN

Western Cape

UP Arts Until 29 July, an exhibition of 64 works by the famous South African avant-garde artist Christo Coetzee Edoardo Villa Museum, Old Merensky Building on the main campus of the University of Pretoria.

Contact Marie Breedt T. 012 420-2968 marie.breedt@up.ac.za www.up.ac.za

Soweto Ma Eli Art Gallery Gallery open by appointment specializing in African Art and Soweto Lifestyle Art Paintings.

686 Diepkloof, Phase 3, 1862, Soweto C.083 470 8161 maelimonaisa@gmail.com

North West Potchefstroom NWU Gallery Until 22 July, “Roommates - The Mute Opera” a group exhibition of paintings, sculptures and graphic work by Paul Boulitreau and friends (artist and writers).

North-West University Gallery, Building E 7, NWU Potchefstroom Campus, Hoffman Str, Potchefstroom. T. 018 299 4341 20061374@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 Ongoing, “Expression of freedom” by Branko Dimitrov Lifestyle Complex, shop no.4 on Cnr. Teding Van Berkhout & Hugenote/ Naledi Street, Dullstroom, Mpumalanga T. 013 254 5024 C. 082 679 5698 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 www.tlafoundry.co.za

22

Cape Town 34 Fine Art “Ensemble” group exhibition includes major works in various media by Norman Catherine, William Kentridge, Roger Ballen, Asha Zero, Lionel Smit, Jop Kunneke, Motel 7 as well as new work by Esther Mahlangu and others. The exhibition also includes work by International artists Damien Hirst and Takashi Murakami as well as the work of Cape Town Urban Contemporary artist Jade Doreen Waller. Winter times from 12 May - 8 Sept : Sat 10h30am – 13h30pm only or by appointment.

2nd Floor, The Hills Building, Buchanan Square, 160 Sir Lowry Rd, Woodstock.

T.021 461 1863 info@34fineart.com www.vgallery.co.za www.34fineart.com Absolut Art Gallery Ongoing permanent exhibition with some of the best Masters & Contemporary artists. Namely : Irma Stern, JH Pierneef, Gerard Sekoto, Hugo Naude, Tinus De Jongh, Frans Oerder, Gerard Benghu, Adriaan Boshoff, Robert Gwelo Goodman, Conrad Theys, to name but a few. Shop 43 Willowbridge Lifestyle Centre, Carl Cronje Drive, Bellville, Tyger Valley, CT. 021 914 2846 info@absolutart.co.za www.absolutart.co.za A+I Gallery 28 June- 15 July, “Small Memories & Other Tragedies: images of life through the eyes of the misunderstood” a collection of paintings by Kevin de Klerk.

51 Kloof Str, Gardens, CT. T. 021 422 5822 C.083 749 2719 www.aigallery.webs.com Art b Until 11 July, a Portrait Exhibition.

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 Artvark Gallery Until 31 August, mixed media sketches by Claire Christie.

48 Main Rd, Kalk Bay T. 021 788 5584 artvark@iafrica.com www.artvark.org AVA Until 8 July, Main Gallery: “The Duality of Remembering and Forgetting” by Corlie de Kock, Sandra Hanekom & Madelein Marincowitz.

Long Gallery: “We Hope You Enjoyed Your Visit”

by Colin Payne. Artsstrip: “Amanuensis” by Karen Cronje.

New Media: “And Not But” by Francis Burger & Christian Nerf (installation).

11 July – 5 August, “Mien” a portrait series by Paul Birchall www.paulbirchall.co.za Association for Visual Arts, 35 Church Str, CT. T.021 424 7436 art@ava.co.za www.ava.co.za Barnard Gallery 6 July – 31 August, “Muse” featuring paintings by Tracy Payne.

55 Main Str, Newlands. T. 021 671 1666 gallery@barnardgallery.com www.barnardgallery.com Blank Projects.

Opening 6 July- 30 July, “|O|O|M|P|H|” this exhibition aims to showcase cutting edge works by local emerging artists, featuring works by selected graduates from The Michaelis School of Fine Art and Stellenbosch University. Artists exhibiting: Andrea Burger, Andel de Beer, Stuart Buttle, Stuart Cairns, Karin Groenewald, Melanie Pack, Natasha Roux, Dédrik Lourens, Sigourney Smuts, Suzelle Stander.

Mediums: Photography, sculpture, installation, printmaking, collage, video.

113-115 Sir Lowry Rd, Woodstock, CT. T.072 1989 221 info@blankprojects.com www.blankprojects.com Cape Gallery Until 16 July, “Continuum” a group exhibition by participating artists: Jen Lewis, Tania Babb, Judy Woodborne, Leon de Bliquy, Seila Dorje, Kitty Dorje, Karen Ahlslager, Aidon Westcott, David Kuijers, Jan Uitlander, Mary Ann Orr, Rae Goosen, Sheperd Mbanya, Xolile Mtakatya, Carlos Carvalho, Derek Drake, Margot Hattingh, Niel Jonker, Richard Makintosch, Christopher Langley, Ellen Norbu, Lambert Kriedeman, Martin Layton, Paul Birchall & Thami Kitty.

Opening 17 July @ 4:30pm, “Let the Children Play” recent oil paintings by Makiwa Mutomba, until 6 August.

60 Church Str, CT. T. 021 423 5309 web@capegallery.co.za www.capegallery.co.za Carmel Art Dealers in Fine art, exclusive distributers of Pieter van der Westhuizen etchings.

Visit the new gallery at Cape Quarter Square, 27 Somerset Rd, Green Point. T. 021 4213333 www.carmelart.co.za Casa Labia Until 17 July, “Akoja to Lewa: A Beautiful Collection” an exhibition of Nigerian art and textiles featuring Judith Appio’s collection of Indigo cloth and textiles, works of oil on canvas and original illustrations by Polly Alakija Please note that Casa Labia will be closed from 28th June up to and including Monday 4th July 2011 for winter maintenance work.

Africa Nova at Casa Labia Cultural Centre, 192 Main Rd, Muizenberg. T. 021 788 6068 info@casalabia.co.za www.casalabia.co.za 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 David Krut Projects Cape Town Until 30 July, “Alchemy” an exhibition of works on paper

by Deborah Bell as well as “Recent Linocuts”

by William Kentridge.

Montebello Design Centre, 31 Newlands Ave, CT. T. 021 685 0676 alastair@davidkrut.com www.davidkrutprojectscapetown.com The Donald Greig Bronze Foundry and Gallery Donald Greig is a specialized wildlife sculptor and his sculptures ranging from life-size to paperweights will be on display. The foundry will do a bronze pour on most days and the entire ‘Lost Wax Casting Process’ can be viewed by the public through special glass windows.

The Nautilus Building, No.14 West Quay Rd, V&A Waterfront. T. 021 418 4515 greig@intekom.co.za www.donaldgreig.com Erdmann Contemporary /Photographers Gallery Opening 6 July @ 6 – 8pm, “Private Public” a photographic exhibition by Gary Van Wyk, until 2 August.

63 Shortmarket Str, CT. T. 021 422 2762 galleryinfo@mweb.co.za www.erdmanncontemporary.co.za Everard Read CT Until 14 July, “Fresh” a group exhibition showcasing emerging artists, primarily painters (and one sculptor) drawn from Cape Town and Johannesburg.

3 Portswood Rd, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, CT. T. 021 418 4527 ctgallery@everard.co.za www.everard-read-capetown.co.za

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

WESTERN CAPE - CAPE TOWN | GALLERY GUIDE Gill Allderman Gallery The Gallery has moved to a new space, still in Kenilworth.

It has many rooms so that various exhibitions can take place at once and now stocks art supplies & has a gift shop. In July, Opening Exhibition: A collection of works by various artists to celebrate the opening of this new space.

Concord House (Pam Golding Building), Cnr Main & Summerly Rds, Kenilworth.C.083 556 2540 gallery@new.co.za www.alldermangallery.co.za The Framery Art Gallery Until 8 July, “Coming Around” featuring paintings by Poul Hillar.

67G Regent Rd, Sea Point. T. 021 434 5022 debbiegrewe@gmail.com iArt Gallery Opening 6 July – 31 August,” Open Books” a group exhibition with participating artists: Audrey Anderson, Willem Boshoff, Tom Cullberg, Keith Dietrich, Stephan Erasmus, Liza Grobler, Sandra Hanekom, Marlize Keith, Norman O’Flynn, Chad Rossouw, Fabian Saptouw, Mark Splendid, Coljin Strydom, Heléne van Aswegen, Jan van der Merwe & Barbara Wildenboer.

Work of various mediums.

Opening 6 July – 31 August, “Towards an Architecture of Loss” by Beth Armstrong: Limited edition prints from a series of Engravings as well as sculptural works as well as a Ceramics exhibition by Ruan Hoffmann.

71 Loop Str, CT. T. 021 424 5150 info@iart.co.za www.iart.co.za iArt Gallery Wembley Until 15 July “The Swimmers” a series of photographs by Carla Liesching.

Opening 20 July - 17 August, “The Animals in Alice” Limited edition prints by Wilma Cruise.

Wembley Square, Gardens, CT. T. 021 424 5150 info@iart.co.za www.iart.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 www.infinart.co.za Irma Stern Gallery Opening at 11am on 9 July - 30 July, “Beguiling : The Self and The Subject” featuring: Lisa Brice (painting),Steven Cohen (photography),Georgina Gratrix (Painting), Hasan & Husain Essop (photography),Pieter Hugo (photography), Zanele Muholi (photography), Andrew Putter (photography),Claudette Schreuders (Sculpture), Guy Tillim (photography), Nontsikelelo Veleko (photography) & Sue Williamson (photography).

Also on display painting & sculpture by Irma Stern.

Cecil Rd, Rosebank, CT. T. 021 685 5686 www.irmastern.co.za Iziko SA National Gallery Until 14 Aug, “The Indian in Drum Magazine in the 1950’s” a photographic exhibition.

Until 21 August, “Random Works” a selection from the permanent collection.

Until 11 Sept, “Through the Lens of Durban’s Veteran Photographer” photography since 1945 by Ranjith Kally.

Until 25 September, “Tretchikoff: The People’s Painter” a retrospective exhibition of works by Vladimir Tretchikoff.

25 Queen Victoria Str, CT. T. 021 467 4660 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

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

Iziko SA Museum Until September, “Made in Translation: Images from and of the Landscape.”

25 Queen Victoria Str, Gardens, CT. T. 021 481 3800 info@iziko.org.za Johans Borman Fine Art Currently showing a selection of works by Irma Stern, Maggie Laubser, Gerard Sekoto, Walter Battiss, Hugo Naudé and Cecil Skotnes.

In Fin Art Building, Upper Buitengracht Str, CT. T. 021 423 6075. art@johansborman.co.za www.johansborman.co.za Kalk Bay Modern Until 15 July, a Sculpture & Ceramics Exhibition.

1st Floor, Olympia Buildings, 136 Main Rd, Kalk Bay. T.021 788 6571 kbmodern@iafrica.com www.kalkbaymodern.com 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 The Lovell Gallery 1 – 30 July, a group exhibition of the winners of the Lovell Gallery Artists Competition.

The gallery has moved to 139 Albert Rd, Woodstock, CT. C. 084 627 2951 info@lovellgallery.co.za www.lovellgallery.co.za Michaelis Gallery Until 2 July,“The Underground, The Surface & The Edges” a video show including works by William Kentridge, Steven Cohen, Stephen Hobbs & Marcus Neustetter, Zen Marie, Berni Searle, Minnette Vari, Anthea Moys, Johan Thom, Leora Farber, Maja Marx & Gerhard Marx, Nina Barnett, Theresa Collins & Mocke J van Veuren & Die Antwoord.

Exhibition Opening 12 July, and Auction on 20 July, showcasing prestigious alumni, staff & friends together with an auction to raise funds for bursaries and scholarships. UCT, 31-37 Orange Str, Gardens, CT. T. 021 480 7170 nadja.daehnke@uct.ac.za www.michaelis.uct.ac.za MM Galleries “The Mother Africa Treasure Collection” an exhibition of african textiles, beaded jewellery and wooden carvings.

Shop 3, 31 Palmer Rd, Muizenberg, CT. T. 021 788 8370 www.mmgalleries.co.za Rose Korber Art Extended until 31 July, “Recent Works” This exhibition is a survey of paintings, mixed media works & original prints by leading, contemporary South African artists, including: William Kentridge, Sam Nhlengethwa, Robert Hodgins, Willie Bester, Willem Boshof, Walter Oltmann, Richard Smith, Robert Slingsby, Stephen Inggs, Hanneke Benade, Pamela Stretton, Georgia Lane, Davie Koloane & Charles Gassner.

Also extended to 31 July, “Ceramics Cornucopia” a celebration of the extraordinary diversity and vitality of 10 contemporary South African women ceramists.

48 Sedgemoor Rd, Camps Bay, CT. T. 021 438 9152 C.083 261 1173 roskorb@icon.co.za www.rosekorberart.com Rust-en-Vrede Gallery Until 7 July, Salon A: “Dinner Time” Ceramics by Martin Swart. Salon B: “Dinner Time” a group exhibition of paintings by various artists. Salon C: paintings on paper by Thelma van Rensburg.

Opening 12 July @7pm until 3 August, Salon A: “Weaverbird” Ronel Coetsee weaves with pure cotton during the duration of the exhibition.

Salon B: Functional and non-functional ceramics by

Linga Hojem.

Salon C: Etchings by Frieda van Zyl. 10 Wellington Rd, Durbanville. T.021 976 4691 www.rust-en-vrede.com Salon 91 Until 9 July, “First Editions” a group exhibition of beautifully crafted first edition books by artists, accompanied by illustrations, prints, collages, paintings and animated works. Participating artists: Adrie le Roux, Katrin Coetzer, Maria Lebedeva, Tamlyn Young, Carla Kreuser, Carla Visser, Lucy Stuart-Clark, Kirsten Beets, Marli Lyon Nieuwoudt, Pienette Laubser & Elizabeth Stofberg.

Opening 13 July @ 7:30pm, “Winter Wonderland” a group exhibition by some of this country’s most talented young illustrators, as well as a handful of budding international stars, until 6 August. Featured artists include: Kronk, Adam Shear, Sindiso Nyoni, Bruce Mackay, Motel7, Jaco Haasbroek, Jean de Wet, Katrin Coetzer, Mine Jonker, Lorraine Loots, Leonora van Staden, Jade Klara, Simon Berndt, Jordan Metcalf, Adam Hill, Cassandra, Mieke van der Merwe, Emma Cook, Jade Waller, Daniel Hugo, Lauren Fowler, Candice Jezek, Bison, Andy Sutherland, Miss Yucki & More… 91 Kloof Str, Gardens, CT. T 021 424 6930 info@salon91art.co.za www.salon91.co.za SMAC Art Gallery, Cape Town Until 30 August, “Collection 14” featuring works by the following artists: Jake Aikman, Wayne Barker, Willem Boshoff, Barend De Wet, Georgina Gratrix, Kay Hassan, Anton Karstel, Johann Louw, Whitney McVeigh, Samson Mnisi, Sue Pam-Grant, Joachim Schönfeldt, Simon Stone, Herman van Nazareth, Ed Young & Jacques Coetzer.

In-Fin-Art Building, Cnr of Buitengracht & Buitensingel Str, CT. T. 021 422 5100 info@smacgallery.com www.smacgallery.com South African Jewish Museum “Zapiro: Jiving with Madiba” an exhibition of work by the well-known cartoonist, Jonathan Shapiro, all of which depict or otherwise involve Nelson Mandela.

The exhibition officially opens on 14th July, but Art Times Readers are invited for a Sneak Peak of the full exhibition starting 3 July.

88 Hatfield Str, Gardens, CT. T. 021-465-1546 info@sajm.info www.sajm.info South African Print Gallery Joshua Miles Show until 30 June. 2nd June: Theo Vorster lino cuts. A wide selection of fine art prints by South African masters and contemporary printmakers.

109 Sir Lowry Rd, Woodstock, CT. T. 021 462 6851 info@printgallery.co.za www.printgallery.co.za Stephan Welz & Co. Auctioneers of Decorative & Fine Arts.

The Great Cellar, The Alphen Hotel, Alphen Drive, Constantia. T. 021 794 6461 ct@stephanwelzandco.co.za www.stephanwelzandco.co.za Stevenson Cape Town Until 23 July, “Shimmer” video installation by Berni Searle and “Ghost Towns” photography by Sabelo Mlangeni.

Opening 27 July from 6-8pm, “Second Nature” an exhibition of new photographs by Guy Tillim, until 3 September.

Ground Floor, Buchanan Building, 160 Sir Lowry Rd, Woodstock, CT. T. 021 462 1500 cpt@stevenson.info www.stevenson.info

23

SNEAK PREVIEW FROM 3 JULY 2011

Jiving with Madiba Jonathan Shapiro’s Mandela 14 JULY TO 27 NOVEMBER 2011

1st oor Cape Quarter Square 27 Somerset Road, Green Point Ph: 021 421 3333

MUSEUM ADMISSION NOW ONLY

R15 Kids Free!

email: carmel@global.co.za website: www.carmelart.co.za

wide selection of works by leading South African contemporary artists Exclusive distributors of

Pieter van der Westhuizen etchings

full selection on website

WESTERN CAPE - ALL | GALLERY GUIDE Strauss & Co. Fine Art Auctioneers & Consultants.

The Oval, 1st Floor Colinton House, 1 Oakdale Rd, Newlands. T. 021 683 6560 ct@straussart.co.za www.straussart.co.za

Bellini Gallery & Cappuccino Bar 1 - 17July, Cabinet Exhibition by resident artist Ed Bredenkamp, My Wild Life, oil on canvas.

167 Main Rd, Hermanus. T. 028 312 4988 bellini@telkomsa.net www.bellini-gallery.co.za

What if the World Gallery Until 30 July, a solo exhibition of abstract paintings by Daniel Levi.

208 Albert Rd, Woodstock, CT. T. 021 448 1438 info@whatiftheworld.com www.whatiftheworld.com

Originals Gallery The art studio and gallery of Terry Kobus. See the artist at work in his studio and view his latest paintings in

Franschhoek

Galerie L’ Art A permanent exhibition of South African old masters & contemporary art.

Shop no 3, The Ivy, Kruger Str, Franschhoek T. 021 876 2497 www.galart.co.za The Gallery at Grande Provence Until 7 July, an exhibition of lithographs, created at the Pons Studio in Paris, by six renowned South African artists in collaboration with The Rendezvous Art Project.

The show, titled “Back From Paris”, feature works by Johann Louw, Musha Neluheni, Pontsho Sikhosana, Hanneke Benade, Molefe Thwala, Lehlogonolo Mashaba and selected young French artists. In the Project Room, “Zoom In” photographic work by Shani Marais.

Opening 10 July @11am, “New Identity” a group exhibition with Dustin Kramer, JP Meyer, Madelein Marincowitz, Dale Yudelman, Zhann Solomons, Bongi Bengu, Louise Hall, Gordon Froud, Anton Smit, Ruhan Janse van Vuuren & others, until 10 August.

Main Rd, Franschhoek. T. 021 876 8600. 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 Is Art Until 17 July a group exhibition by Hanneke Benade, Nicolene Swanepoel, Fana Malherbe & Marlise Keith.

Ilse Schermers Art Gallery at Le Quartier Francais, 16 Huguenot Str, Franschhoek. T. 021 876 8443 isart@lqf.co.za www.is-art.co.za

George Strydom Gallery Until 9 July, Strydom Gallery’s annual winter exhibition “South Cape Exhibition 2011.” Selected artwork from artists of the Southern Cape.

79 Market Str, George. T. 044 874 4027 info@artaffair.co.za www.artaffair.co.za

Hermanus Abalone Gallery During July in the Main Gallery : A selection of works by Alta Botha, Lien Botha, Christo Coetzee, Hannes Harrs, Lynette ten Krooden, Carl Roberts & Susanna Swart. In the Annex: exhibition until 15 July: Exchange of graphic art: Flanders - South Africa.

16 July - 16 August: Lucky Sibiya woodcuts (Umabatha series) and silkscreens, El Loko woodcuts, Hannes Harrs woodcuts.2 Harbour Rd, The Courtyard, Hermanus.

T. 028 313 2935 info@abalonegallery.co.za www.abalonegallery.co.za

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

an intimate gallery space.

Shop 22 Royal Centre, 141 Main Rd, Hermanus.

T. 083 259 8869 originals@hermanus.co.za www.originalshermanus.blogspot.com 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

Knysna Dale Elliott Art Gallery Exhibition of new images of the Garden Route by Dale & Mel Elliott Woodmill Lane Shopping Centre, Knysna.

Anneline: T. 044 382 5646 dale@dalelliott.co.za www.daleelliott.co.za

Langebaan Bay Gallery Opening 1st July 6pm to 8pm, a new exhibition entitled “Flowers, Feather and Fur” will be on during the West Coast Flower Season until end of August.

Marra Square, Bree St., Langebaan.

Contact: Daphne 073 304 8744 baygallery@xsinet.co.za www.baygallery.co.za

Oudtshoorn Artkaroo Gallery A selection of authentic Karoo fine art by various established and emerging artists.

107 Baron van Reede, Oudtshoorn. T. 044 279 1093 janet@artkaroo.co.za www.artkaroo.co.za

Paarl Hout Street Gallery Visit their Winter Gala from 30 June to 31 August. 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

Piketberg AntheA Delmotte Gallery Until 27 July, a solo exhibition by self-taught artist Susan Kemp whose works range from massive copies of master works to ceramics, book illustrations, multimedia, handmade books & any medium.

47 Voortrekker Str, The Old Bioscope, Piketberg.

C. 073 281 7273 anthea@lantic.net

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 2210mwdawns@mweb.co.za www.lookout-art-gallery.co.za

Prince Albert Prince Albert Gallery Until 10 August, Niel Jonker exhibits his landscape paintings executed in situ at various Western Cape locations, as well as a full compliment of figurative bronze sculpture including the much publicised ‘Fighter on the Roof’.

57 Church St. Prince Albert T. 023 541 1057 www.nieljonker.co.za

Somerset West Liebrecht Art Gallery Opening 20 July, a group show of works in a variety of mediums. Participating artists: Corlie de Kock, Salome Briers, Elaine Schraader, Jeanne Hendriks, Jaco Coetzee, Diane White, Susan Kruger-Grundlingh, Liza Meyer, Neels Coetzee, Heidi Beyers, Hazel Swart, Keith Byron, Annaliese Brink & Marius Maritz.

34 Oudehuis Str, Somerset West. T. 021 852 8030 C. 082 304 3859 vineyardartists@gmail.com www.liebrechtgallery.com Marzé Botha Art Gallery Dealers in original South African Art situated in the Wine Cellar of the Lourensford Wine Estate.

Lourensford Rd, Somerset West.

T. 021 847 2300 C. 082 847 1022 info@mbgallery.co.za www.mbgallery.co.za

Stellenbosch Art on 5 Permanent exhibition of paintings and ceramics by Maryna de Witt, Pera Schillings & Karen Kieviet.

7b Andringa Str., Stellenbosch. T. 021 887 7234 101 Dorp Gallery Upcoming exhibition 12 – 26 August, “Verse in Komberse” - Interwoven thoughts & memories on quilted designs by Marie Schoeman. Creative quilting and embroidered phrases on fabrics collected on the artist’s travels through Africa.

101 Dorp Str, Stellenbosch. T. 021 887 3385 101dorp@slee.co.za www.slee.co.za Glen Carlou Estate On exhibition is The Hess Art Collection, including works

by Deryck Healey, Ouattara Watts & Andy Goldsworthy.

Simondium Rd, Klapmuts. T. 021 875 5314 www.glencarlou.co.za Sasol Art Museum Until 23 July, “Lens.” The exhibition will include works of diverse media where the lens is used as primary device for image production. Participating artists: Andrew Putter, Araminta de Clermont, Avant Car Guarde, Bridget Baker, Carla Liesching, Dineo Bopape, Gerhardt Coetzee, Hentie van der Merwe, Husain & Hasan Essop, Jessica Meuninck-Ganger, Jo Ractliffe, Kathryn Smith, Lien Botha, Nathaniel Stern, Pieter Hugo, Richardt Strydom, Sonya Rademeyer, Steven Cohen, Stephen Hobbs, Svea Josephy & Zanele Muholi.

52 Ryneveld Street, Stellenbosch T. 021 808 3691

25

PRESENTING...

Mieke van der Merwe, Kronk, MotelSeven, Katrin Coetzer, Mine Jonker, Sindiso Nyoni, Jade Waller, Lorraine Loots, Jade Klara, Jordan Metcalf, Jaco Haasbroek, Adam Shear, Andrew Sutherland, Miss Yucki, Clement de Bruin, Emma Cook, Animal Kingdom, Daniël Hugo, Adam Hill, Cassandra Johnson, Linsey Levendall, Jean de Wet Lauren Fowler, Bruce Mackay, Simon Berndt & Candice Ježek.

A|91 Kloof Street, Cape Town E|info@salon91art.co.za W|www.salon91art.co.za

THE MOTHER AFRICA TREASURE COLLECTION

an exhibition of african textiles, beaded jewellery and wooden carvings

SHOP 3, 316-16-11 PALMER RD,SA MUIZENBERG, CAPE TOWN – TEL: 021 788 8370 – www.mmgalleries.co.za Art Times Makiwa.pdf 1 2011/06/15 11:26 AM

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

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.

Featured above is artist Makiwa Mutomba

THE CAPE GALLERY

Open: Mon - Fri: 9h30 - 17h00 Sat: 10h00 - 14h00 Tel: 27 21 423 5309 Fax: 27 21 424 9063 E-mail: cgallery@mweb.co.za Web: www.capegallery .co.za

American express, Mastercard, Visa & Diner cards are accepted. Reliable arrangements can be made to freight purchaces to foreign destinations.

WESTERN CAPE- ALL / EASTERN CAPE / KZ - NATAL | GALLERY GUIDE SMAC Art Gallery Until 26 August, “Abstract South African Art: Revisited” featuring works by the following artists: Kevin Atkinson, Kenneth Bakker, George Boys, Bettie Cilliers-Barnard, Christo Coetzee, Trevor Coleman, Nel Erasmus, Charles Gassner, Sydney Goldblatt, Sydney Kumalo, Erik Laubscher, Louis Maqhubela, Albert Newall, Douglas Portway, Cecily Sash, Fred Schimmel, Larry Scully, Cecil Skotnes, Frank Spears, Hannatjie van der Wat, Eben van der Merwe & Edoardo Villa.

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 US Art Gallery (University of Stellenbosch) Until 23 July, “BOS” Constructed Images & the Memory of the South African ‘Bush War’ by Christo Doherty.

Cnr of Dorp and Bird Str, Stellenbosch.

T. 021 808 3524/3489

Villiersdorp Elliott Art Gallery Themed Boland and Overberg Exhibition by Dale and Mel Elliott 80 Main Rd, Villiersdorp.

T. 028 840 2927 dale@daleelliott.co.za www.daleelliott.co.za

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 Pharoah Art Gallery Following the fire that destroyed the gallery in June last year the newly opened gallery features an exquisite collection of Peter Pharoah’s fine art originals & prints including rich colourful portraits, unforgettable African wildlife and bold textured abstracts that are inspired by his travels around Africa.

Wilderness Centre, George Road, Wilderness T. 044 877 0265 C. 076 976 2629 gallery@peterpharoah.com www.peterpharoah.com

Eastern Cape East London Ann Bryant Gallery Until 2 July, “Young Emerging Artists Exhibition” an exhibition for artists between the ages of 18 - 35 years of age.

Until 9 July, Ann Bryant Permanent Collection, a cross section of some European and South African Art spanning three centuries including names such as Norman Catherine, Judith Mason, Walter Battiss, Sydney Carter, George Pemba, John Maufangejo, Cyprian Shilakoe, Willie Bester and many others.

Opening 7 July @ 6:30pm at the Couch House, an exhibition by 3 artists: Buntu Qina, Maxama Chumani & Tshiva Sinoxolo in various mediums, until 21 July.

14 July- 28 August in the Main Gallery, “South African

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

Photography 1950 – 2010” a historic photographic overview of South African culture and lifestyle from the 1950’s to the present, comprising mostly of black and white photography.

Opening 28 July @ 6:30pm at the Coach House, “Escapade” a two woman art Adventure Exhibition by Xenia Winther & Maxie Steenkamp, these artists work mainly in oils and acrylics. Until 13 Aug.9 St. Marks Rd, Southernwood, East London. T. 043 722 4044 annbryant@intekom.co.za www.annbryant.co.za The Art Gallery Ongoing exhibition of oil paintings by Malcolm Dewey plus works by a selection of local artists.

Floradale Centre, Beacon Bay, East London.

T. 043 7481229 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

Grahamstown National Arts Festival 30 June – 10 July, a spirit of artistic innovation with a range of national, continental and world premieres in theatre, dance, music and visual art will be celebrated at this year’s National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.

Now in its 37th year, it has grown to be one of the leading arts festivals in southern Africa.

T. 046 603 1103 info@nationalartsfestival.co.za www.nafest.co.za Albany Museum 30 June-10 July, one of the most respected and leading South African open air painters Daniel Novela, will be exhibiting at the Albany Museum, Class Room for the duration of the National Arts Festival.

T. 018 489 1780 C. 082 262 3600 info@danielnovela.co.za www.danielnovela.co.za Another exhibition for the same time period at the Albany Museum, “States of Being” featuring paintings by Bretten Anne Moolman (BFA Rhodes).

T. 041 581 2047 C.083 728 5295 info@artwork.co.za www.bamoolman.co.za Also at the Albany Museum, 30 June – 14 July, “Alan Crump: A Fearless Vision.”

Johan Carinus Art School 30 June-10 July, “100 Grande Vessels” a contemporary ceramics exhibition by Charmaine Haines.

Venue: Johan Carinus Art School. 84 Beaufort Street.

Grahamstown.

Open 9am to 6pm daily for the duration of the National Arts Festival.

Wenkidu 30 June-10 July, “African Heartbeat” exhibition by Martin Wenkidu, Hildegard & Rae at the National Arts Festival. Steve Biko, Room 2. T. 031 769 1166 C. 082 371 0088 wenkidu@mweb.co.za

Port Elizabeth artEC (Previously EPSAC) Until 15 July, “Finding Kaggen” exhibition: In search of Thikoloshe. This open group exhibition is the official fringe event on the National Arts Festival, in the Lower and Upper Gallery.

19 - 29 July, in the Lower gallery, Group Photography Exhibition curated by Sandi Coffey.

26 July – 5 August in the Upper Gallery, St Thomas Exhibition. This exhibition will showcase the results of the Young Artists Development Programme based at

St Thomas School in Gelvandale.

36 Bird Str, P.E. T. 041 585 3641 gallery@epsac.co.za www.artecpe.co.za Athenaeum Until 15 July, Exhibition: 200 Eastern Cape Artists. One work by each artists represented in the 200 Eastern Cape Artists book.

Book launch: “200 Eastern Cape Artists 2011” in honour of Tossie Theron. Exhibition: Eastern Cape Potters Association exhibition with ceramic workshops. c/o Castle Hill and Belmont Terrace, Port Elizabeth.

Contact: Greg Everard (President) gregeverard@gmail.com Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum Until 10 July, “Skin” the annual exhibition of the Friends of the Art Museum. A contemporary fine art exhibition based on the theme ‘skin.’

Until 31 July, “Weird and Wonderful” filled with treasures from the NMMAM’s permanent collection, this exhibition promises to delight the senses and ignite the imagination.

Selected works includes prints by Walter Battiss, ceramics by Hylton Nel & paintings by Derrick Erasmus 1 Park Drive, PE. T. 041 506 2000 www.artmuseum.co.za Red Location Museum Until 14 July, a photographic exhibition of works by Ernest Cole.

T. 041 408 8400 nhoza@mandelametro.gov.za www.artsjourney-nelsonmandelabay.co.za www.freewebs.com/redlocationmuseum Ron Belling Art Gallery The Gallery prides itself in promoting and exhibiting the work of selected “up and coming” Artists. As a result of the high standard of their exhibitions, the Gallery has acquired an international reputation of quality.

30 Park Drive, P.E. T. 041 586 3973 ronbelling@mweb.co.za www.ronbelling.co.za

Kwazulu- Natal Ballito Imbizo Gallery Until 30 July, “Recycle” a solo exhibition of works

by Frans Groenewald.

Shop 7A, Ballito Lifestyle Centre, Ballito 4418, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa T. 032 946 1937 info@imbizogallery.co.za www.imbizogallery.co.za

Durban The African Art Centre Until 17 July, a solo exhibition of acrylic on paper

by Derrick Nxumalo.

94 Florida Rd, Durban. T. 031 312 3804/5 africanartcentre@afri-art.co.za www.afriart.org.za ArtSPACE Durban 27 June – 16 July, “Onthaal Onthul” mixed media works

by Naretha Pretorius – Durban University of Technology MTech show and “The History of Umkhonto we Sizwe: Told Through Artistic Expression” paintings by Welcome Danca.

18 July – 6 August, “Playoff” an exhibition of sculptures

by Gordon Froud and paintings by Lance Friedlande.

3 Millar Rd, Stamford Hill, Durban. T.031 312 0793 info@artspace-durban.com www.artspace-durban.com

27

Tel: 044 874 4027 • www.artaffair.co.za 79 Market Street, George • GPS 33°57’42.66’’S | 22°27’24.54’’E

New Director Needed for Greatmore Studios After successfully steering Greatmore Art Studios for two and a half years, Kate Tarrat Cross is vacating the post of Director to pursue new development opportunities.

Greatmore Studios thus seeks a new Director who can build on the solid foundations laid and give inspired leadership and direction to its work.

Knowledge and networks within the South African Art world and the ability to work flexibly and creatively in a culturally diverse & changing environment, are important attributes for the position.

The position also requires skill and experience in managing a small organisation with a limited budget and taking full responsibility for marketing , communications and fundraising initiatives.

A detailed job description and person specification for the Director is available on our website (http://greatmoreart.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layou t=blog&id=1&Itemid=50) If you are or know of a candidate who is skilled at working creatively with artists and promoting general awareness of the visual arts and have proven qualities which include leadership, operations and budgetary skills, we would like to hear from you.

Kindly email a motivation letter, resume of your skills, experience and qualifications as well as details of contactable references to; The Chairperson, Greatmore Art Studios Board at info@greatmoreart.org.

Key dates: Closing date for Applications; July 20, 2011. Interviews will begin on Monday 25 July. It is hoped that the successful candidate can commence duties by 1 September, or sooner, but this will be subject to negotiation.

WESTERN CAPE | GALLERY GUIDE The BAT Centre Until 8 July, “Identify Me” a group exhibition from former and current D.U.T and BAT Centre students.

45 Maritime Place, Small Craft Harbour, Victoria Embankment, Durban T. 031 332 0451 publicity@batcentre.co.za/ events@batcentre.co.za www.batcentre.co.za

KZNSA Gallery Until 23 July, in the Main Gallery and Multimedia Room, “The Dream” mixed media installations by Frances Goodman and in the Mezzanine Gallery is Rosemary Marriott’s touring exhibition, “Relaas” using animal skin, bone and other materials.

166 Bulwer Rd, Glenwood. T. 031 277 1705 gallery@kznsagallery.co.za www.kznsagallery.co.za

Margate Margate Art Museum Museum’s art collection on display which comprises a variety of modes, techniques and media that attempts to reflect the cultural and artistic diversity of the KZN region.

Margate Civic Centre, Dan Pienaar Square,

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

Vikings Rd, Margate. T.039 312 8392 C.072 316 8094 huey@hcm.gov.za www.mam.org.za

Pietermaritzburg The Blue Caterpillar Art Gallery 3 - 30 July, work by Dianne van Wyk who has a successful career and continues to grow her art from the human profile to dancers.

Also, current work by Didier Lorenco, Charmaine Eastment & Christiaan Nice.

The Blue Caterpillar Art Gallery at Butterflies for Africa 37 Willowton Rd, Pietermaritzburg.

T. 033 387 1356 art@butterflies.co.za/ bluecaterpillarart@hotmail.com www.butterflies.co.za Tatham Art Gallery Opening 14 July @6pm, National Arts Council Craft Exhibition in the Main Exhibition Room.

Cnr of Chief Albert Luthuli (Commercial) Rd & Church Str. (Opposite City Hall) Pietermaritzburg.

T. 033 342 1804 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 A gallery specializing in South African fine art landscape photography and ceramics. Owned by photographer Lawrance Brennon & his potter wife, Catherine Brennon, the gallery is set in a delightful garden facing the mountains. Currently on show is a photographic exhibition entitled ‘Disintegration’ featuring Lawrance’s black & white pinhole images and a selection of Catherine’s newest ceramic work.

21 Ridge Rd, Underberg. Signage from R617 T. 033 701 2440 C. 072 141 9924 / 082 872 7830 www.underbergstudio.co.za

29

ARTLife THE SOUTH AFRICAN

WESTERN CAPE | GALLERY GUIDE

The Pretoria Art Scene Contributors: Christo Harvey: photography Wilhelm van Rensburg: words and interviews Gabriel Clark-Brown: captions and concept.

John Hodgkiss for images of Elza Miles

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

31

The Pretoria Art Scene

ARTLife | THE PRETORIA ART SCENE

Wilhelm van Rensburg My experience of the Pretoria art scene has always been mediated by the short stories of Ivan Vladislavić, the celebrated South African writer who was born and raised there. Such stories as ‘We came to the monument’, and ‘Propaganda by monuments’ invoke a post apocalyptic wandering tribe, inhabiting the ‘plaashuis’ museum at the Voortrekker Monument in the former story, and in the latter, a post-apartheid shebeen owner who wants one of the many discarded bronze statues of Lenin from the defunct USSR - just as big as the Strijdom bust that used to stand on the square next door to the State Theatre - for the front yard of his bar! I had to settle for the exceptional Bratina sculpture, donated by the Russians to Paul Kruger after the Anglo-Boer War, in the Museum behind Paul Kruger House in Church Street.

I have also relished the various non-fiction attempts at deconstructing the symbols of apartheid, such as the Voortrekker Monument, by reading the books of such poststructuralist cultural workers as Annie Coombs (Visual Culture and Public Memory in a Democratic South Africa), Steven Dubin (Mounting Queen Victoria: Curating Cultural Change), and Albert Grundlingh’s essay, ‘A Cultural Conundrum? Old Monuments and New Regimes: The Voortrekker Monument as Symbol of Afrikaner Power in a Postapartheid South Africa’ in Daniel Walkowitz and Lisa Knauer’s Contested Histories in Public Spaces. These texts all deal with re-inventing a history and a culture, not only for Pretoria, but for the whole of the new South Africa. Today the way to Freedom Park is better known than the one to the Monument. My perception of the Pretoria art scene, in other words was one of continuous deconstruction and re-construction, with a good dose of the absurd.

I was ill prepared for the torrid of young talent that seems to flow out of the public tertiary educational institutions such as the University of Pretoria (UP), Unisa and Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), and from private art schools, such as The Open Window. These young people are Linda Antelme, Meredith Baker, Jana Burchell, St John Fuller, David Keyser, Philiswa Lila, Nathane Luneburg, Daniel Steyn, Arone van der Merwe, Cornelia van der Vyver, Claire van der Watt, Yolande van Loggerenberg, Ilka van Schalkwyk, and Fabian Wargau, among many others. They have all been selected for such national art competitions as the Absa L’Atlier Art Competition, the Sasol New Signatures Art Competition and the PPC Cement Young Concrete Sculptor Awards Competition. They follow in the wake of an older generation of such Pretoria artists as John Clarke, Carl Jeppe, and Andre Naude, and such mid-career artists as Haneke Benade, Wim Botha, Chris Diedricks, Abrie Fourie, Dick Grobler, Helena Hugo, Mark Kannemeyer, Angus Taylor, Jan van der Merwe and Minette Vari.

Leading the young crowd, however, is undoubtedly Zander Blom and Jaco van Schalkwyk, “The reigning orthodoxy among Pretoria artists is photorealism”, remarks one 34

Pretoria artist. “Whether they work in a conventional manner, or conceptually, they all resort to photorealism. Even Abrie Fourie’s art, the best thing that has happened to Pretoria, with his famous Outlet Gallery at TUT, can be traced back to photorealism. That is why the most important artist to have emerged from Pretoria is Asha Zero. He tears up photographs, makes collages and montages of the pieces and paints them again. But he has sadly left Pretoria for Cape Town.” Another artist concurs: “You can stay there for a while, but you can’t live there forever: it is not healthy for your art.”

Many are in the Rooke stable in Johannesburg: Liam Lynch, Olaff Bischoff, Rina Stutzer and Zander Blom. Pretoria, however, is a good nursery school for art.

Many of these young artists come from feeder schools, specializing in the arts, such as the Pro Arte School (Blom and Van Schalkwyk, for example) and Pretoria Boys High School. Boys High, incidentally, has a vast collection of the work of Walter Battiss, who was art master at the school from 1935 to 1963 when he went on to become Professor of Fine Arts at Unisa. Befitting an exclusive institution, the collection is not open to the public, but can be viewed by appointment. Mr Gibbs is custodian of the school museum. The museum purportedly also holds important Battiss’ notes on art education.

These young artists, more often than not, have been taught by such celebrated South African artists as Diane Victor at the University of Pretoria.

Art education at the University is headed by Jeanne van Eden, a visual culture specialist. Her lecturers are all famous South African artists: Frikkie Eksteen, Guy du Toit, Berco Wilsenach, amongst others.

Apart from practicing artists, an intellectual tradition in the Pretoria art scene is also most strong at UP. F.G.E. Nilant wrote extensively on Pierneef and South African ceramics; Murray Schoonraad wrote on Battiss; Muller Ballot on Christo Coetzee; and Alex Dufy on Anton van Wouw.

The most visible aspect of the arts at the University of Pretoria, however, is managed by UP Arts. chief curator Gerard de Kamper and researcher Chris de Klerk. They proudly showed me around the phenomenal collections of the University. The old Arts Building (1910) houses the Van Tilberg collection of mainly ceramics, counting 10000 at present and dating from 2000 BC to the present. It holds a rare turquoise Japanese Chun Yao stoneware vase, clearly the inspiration of the famous Linnware glazes from the Cullinan Refractories, just east of Pretoria, that was used extensively in the 1940s and 50s. The Rembrandt portrait in the Dutch Collection, The Old Jew was verified recently by an expert on Van Rijn’s Jewish subject matter.

In addition to the Mapungupwe gold rhinoceros, centre piece of yet another famous collection, university restorers with their own internal restoration facilities have pieced together two other gold animals from that time, a bovine and a leopard, from roughly 2000 little bits of gold.

Roughly 3000 school children visit this exhibit each year.

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

THE PRETORIA ART SCENE | ARTLife The old Merensky Library next to the old Arts Building houses the Anton van Wouw sculpture collections (123 pieces in total!) as well as the Eduardo Villa collection (to date, 184 pieces!). A superlative show of the university’s holdings of the work from the estate of the late Christo Coetzee is on exhibition till the end of July 2011. Such gems as a painted pink water pitcher is on display, along such quirky works as one of his wife,Ferrie Binge’s painted shoes and a painted miniature grand piano. “His first master piece, according to the artist himself”, comments De Kamper. The most anticipated shows are the Fanie Eloff retrospective exhibition, planned for later in 2011, with a complete list of all his 148 works, and a retrospective exhibition of Villa’s bronze casts in 2012, with a complete list of all 330 casts and the edition numbers of each one. “Sculpture is indeed the strength of the UP art collection. We have about 830 pieces. All the curators of the UP collections to date have had a strong interest in sculpture. We are the only university in South Africa where Sculpture as subject is offered as autonomous field of study”.

At Unisa, the Head is Frikkie Potgieter, with lecturing staff that includes Gwen Miller, Celia de Villiers, Anja Krajefska, Nombi Mpako, Sharleen Khan and Lawrence Lemaoana. Unisa boasts it own illustrious intellectual tradition: Walter Battiss did extensive research on Rock Art, Karen Skawran on Byzantine frescos, Marion Arnold on South African women artists, and especially on Irma Stern, and so on.

Bernadette van Haute heads the Art History department and is editor of one of the only accredited art journals in the country, De Arte. Unisa recently acquired a new exhibition space, headed by Bongani Mkonza, with, currently, a Pitika Ntuli sculpture exhibition, and the official opening planned for 10 August 2011. This gallery has done some stunning shows in the past, for example the Resurrection show and catalogue, of artists from the greater Tshwane area.

At Tshwane Univeristy of Technology, the ‘main manne’ are Carl Jeppe, who head Drawing, Andreas Schonfeldt, Head of printmaking, and Retierf van Wyk, from Ceramics, who collaborated with Robert Hodgins on his ceramic works and wrote the well-known book on these works.

At the Open Window, the best work done there is the experimental filmmaking courses run by head, Pluto Panoussis and Jaco van Schalkwyk.

The art scene is still dominated by the Pretoria Art Museum, headed by Dirk Oegema. The museum houses an impressive array of collections, such as the Lady Michaelis collection of 17th century works of art, and the PELMAMA permanent art collection. It offers an invaluable education and development programme, including the educational assistants programme, Artflux for disadvantaged children in Tshwane, the PAM Kidz Club, the Kopanong Art Studio Initiative, the Children’s Tile Art Project, the Children’s Gallery and the Creative Industries Consortium.

Oegema highly recommends the current exhibition by Claire Menck: Hidden Life, Twenty years of painting 1990-2010. Her predominant portraits and figure studies are eclipsed by the small selection of still-lifes. That is where she is at her best.

Pieter van Heerden heads the Association of Arts in Pretoria, the oldest in South Africa with a history going back 60 years. The Association manages two national competitions every year, the PPC Cement competition and the Sasol New Signatures Art competition. In addition, it serves as one of the assembly points for the Absa L’Atelier Art competition. It also organizes the Inni Bos Kunstefees in Nelspruit. The premises constitutes three exhibition spaces and more than 30 shows are mounted annually, each running for three weeks. It offers figure study classes, lectures, crit sessions and guided tours by the artists during each exhibition. The Association has a strong international presence, with arguably one of the best exhibitions, the South African art exhibition in Hyderabad, India in 2010, celebrating 150 years of Indians in South Africa. An exhibition of contemporary Indian art was mounted at the Association during that time. “What was astounding”, according to van Heerden, “was the incredible press coverage: the exhibition was front page news in 30 Indian newspapers. I was blinded by the flashlights of the photographers during opening night!” One of the best recent shows at the Association, according to him, was the Easter Exhibition, SA ART TIMES. July 2011

depicting the 15 Stations of the Cross. The show he is looking forward to the most is the one by Elizabeth Riding in November.

Various other sectors provide large scale support for the arts in Pretoria.

Telkom is squirreling away an art collection. The Reserve Bank has recently published a catalogue of their impressive holdings, Figure/Ground: Reflections on the South African Reserve Bank Art Collection, edited by Rory Bester in 2007. Idasa commissioned the Wall of Democracy, by Neels Coetzee. Alec Wapnick from City Properties has an impressive private collection of old masters depicting historical scenes from Pretoria. And many of the old administrative buildings still house murals commissioned from such artists as Walter Battiss (Sanctuary) and Alexis Preller (Discovery) in the old Transvaal Administration Building.

When it comes to art galleries, Pretoria is rampant with pragmatism.

Galleries more often than not double up with various other entrepreneurial enterprises. A gallery serves as framing shop (Trent Gallery/Cameo Framers), or bridal boutique (St Lorient Fashion and Art Gallery), art supply store (Schweikerdt’s), art studio (Fried Contemporary), or pancake bar (Harrie’s Pancake Bar). “‘n Boer maak ‘n plan” quips one artist. “The pursuit of money is the downfall of the gallery sector”, remarks another, rather cynical but successful Pretoria artist. “The Pretoria art scene is the stage of the rich and affluent. They send their children to the public (university) and private art schools. They can afford the high price tag that accompanies mounting an exhibition at a Pretoria gallery. They buy each others’ expensive art. It is ‘society art’. There is little sense of curating or conceptualizing proper shows here.”

Stuart Trent from Trent Gallery/Cameo Framers would disagree. His best show was curated by Erica Fraser, in conjunction with the Pretoria Art Museum, titled Pretoria Remastered (September 2010) in which artists were asked to create a new work, inspired by one master piece in the Museum collection. He showed Diane Victor smoke drawings long before they became de rigueur on the main circuit. He promoted the young Frikkie Eksteen when he was just out of art school. Stuart’s most anticipated show in the near future is Annette Pretorius who will exhibit at his gallery in August 2011.

Lucy Anastasiadis from St Lorient Fashion and Art Gallery does not hesitate to vacate her large wedding dress display shop floor to make way for an art exhibition. “Fashion has always been inspired by art, and vice versa. Look at the surrealists and see for yourself how many art works were inspired by fashion. Simply put, fashion and art articulate the zeitgeist!” A notable exhibition was the Treasures from Trash show in 2009, with life size tin dolls by Marinda du Toit that reminded me of similar ones by Sophie Tauber Arp I saw at the Dada exhibition in New York in 2006. Watch out for Lucy’s next sculpture exhibition, Rooftop 3, curated by Gordon Froud in September 2011.

The elegant Fried Contemporary Fine Art Gallery and Studio hosts a show, entitled Designs of Self, with such artists as Erna Bodenstein, Celia de Villierrs, Amos Letsoalo, Collen Maswanganyi and Diane Victor, till 9 July 2011. The Tina Skukan gallery nestles in a rural setting and exhibits such artists as Dick Grobler, Michelle Negini, Craig Muller, and Chris van der Walt. For old masters, Pretoria is spoiled for choice: Globe Art Gallery, Aletta Wessels and the Bernardi Auction House will all offer you that rare and elusive masterpiece.

As soon as one gallery closes, such as the sad case of the demise of Platform on 18th, others open in its wake, such as the eagerly anticipated Pan Dora Art House, specializing in performance art and experimental film making, and the Gag Gallery, opening in August 2011.

I have decided to put aside all my erudite, deconstruction texts about Pretoria and pick up another type of text that seems to be pumping with new energy, articulating another dimension of the Pretoria art scene, although not exclusively so. It is an annual magazine called Pomp, published by Hendrik Venter and started in Pretoria in 2008.

35

Photo: John Hodgkiss

INTERVIEW WITH ELZA MILES| PRETORIA ART SCENE | ARTLife

Elza Miles Arts writer and Artist

Wilhelm van Rensburg The way in which knowledge is generated and circulated has always been at the heart of the art and art writing of Elza Miles. Her famous and controversial Butterfly Boxes of the late-1970s and early-1980s attest to that. Cut-out linocut butterflies fill numerous display boxes fashioned from discarded old wooden school desks and drawers, purportedly to assemble a collection of various rare and common Lepidoptera species. But the knowledge these boxes contains, suggests a much deeper understanding of the South African socio-political context at the time. She ‘labels’ her butterflies with the names of political prisoners who died in detention – knowledge not commonly circulated at the time. Such men as Steve Biko and Neil Aggett were well-known leaders in the resistance movement, but most prisoners went unnoticed, unacknowledged and uncelebrated, except to their immediate families and close circle of friends. Miles’s boxes indexed alternative forms of resistance and simultaneously captured the spirit of the time and commemorated the personal sacrifices that were made.

The knowledge Miles generates and circulates in her writing about art is similarly spectacular. The conversations she had with her close friend, Maggie Laubser served as basis for a lifelong interest in Laubser’s art and manifested itself in various ways. Her Masters Degree in Arts in Art History at the University of Pretoria, entitled The Life and Painting of Maggia Laubser, was completed in 1964. In addition, her doctoral dissertation at the University of Johannesburg was entitled An Iconological Investigation into the Iconography of the Paintings of Maggie Laubser and completed in 1983. Miles was also involved with the catalogue, A Liberatory Vision: Maggie Laubser from the Sanlam Art Collection, published in 2004.

Miles was art critic for the Afrikaans newspapers Rapport and Beeld from the seventies until 1990. She taught History of Art at FUBA (Federated Union of Black Artists) and undertook research for the organization into the work of black South African artists from 1987 until 1994. Again she found a novel way to disseminate her findings: a calendar, Artists’ birthday calendar 1993, plotting the birthdays of hundreds of black artists in every month and illustrating each month with carefully selected images of senior black artists’ work and short write ups about them.

From 1994 to 2003 she was involved in research for the Johannesburg Art Gallery where she curated four major retrospective exhibitions: in 1995, Hand in Hand, about the work of Ernest Mancoba and Sonja Ferlov; in 1996 a retrospective of the work of Selby Mvusi; in 1997 Land and Lives, A Retrospective of the Work of South African Black Artists born before 1930, and in

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

2002, a retrospective of the work of Gladys Mgudlandlu. She was awarded a Vita for Hand in Hand.

Miles was awarded the Recht Malan Prize and the Old Mutual Award, as well as an honourable mention from the 1994 Noma Awards for publications from Africa. She wrote numerous other books: Ernest Mancoba: A Resource Book; Current of Africa: The Art of Selby Mvusi; Land and Lives: A Story of Early Black Artists (Human & Rousseau, 1997); The World of Jean Welz (Rembrandt van Rijn Art Foundation and Fernwood Press 1997); Nomfanekiso, Who Paints at Night: The Art of Gladys Mgudlandlu; and Polly Street: The Story of an Art Centre (The Ampersand Foundation, 2004). Miles has recently finished the manuscript of a monograph on Selby Mvusi.

Presently Miles, who is better known as an artist by her maiden name, Elza Botha generates another kind of knowledge altogether in and through her art: that of the complexity of the human mind and spirit and the way in which humans react to and defy any form of adversity. The symbols she uses to generate a new body of work, exhibited at Art on Paper Gallery in June 2010 are no less complex and subtle than those of her butterflies. The bull, the cow, the owl seem to constitute a fresh iconographic framework in her art.

Dancing bulls and cows in her new work are of the Afrikaner cattle breed – Miles’s wry visual response to those who always broker an Afrikaner-identity for her in their discourse. Her preferred, but totally irreverent response in her mind’s eye to such a label is that the interlocutor is referring to cattle, not the linguistic or ethnic group of people in South Africa.

Miles is often alone in her Melville house with one of Jane Alexander’s famous Butcher Boy-sculptures for company, but more often than not such luminaries as Christo Coetzee, Wopko Jensma, and Breyten Breytenbach had kept her company at some point in her life!

Elza Miles combines cultural and art history, folklore and psychological insight to reveal the astonishing myths and magic that inform daily life and the admirable way in which humans overcome their fears and harness their energy in creative and innovative ways in her work. Her work (visual and verbal/written) is distinguished by its ferocious intelligence, a slyly subversive feminism and a deftly handled visual and verbal language. The knowledge she creates is infectious.

Of herself she says: “Ek lag en huil ewe maklik.” [I laugh and cry equally easily].

37

ARTLife | THE PRETORIA ART SCENE

The Pretoria Art Museum

The Pretoria Art Museum from the outside

The Pretoria Association of Arts

Pieter van Heerden, Nandi Hilliard, Dirk Oegema and Anton Laubsher

Dirk Oegema, Director of The Pretoria Art Museum

Anton Laubsher, Vice President of SANAVA

38

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

THE PRETORIA ART SCENE | ARTLife

Lovers on Church Square

Oom Paul still stands watch

Art patron at a Graffitti show at: St Lorient Fashion and Art Gallery

Couple doing business on Church Square

Design Students on the town

Artist Rendition of the new Aula Foyer at The UP

The old Merensky Library next to the old Arts Building houses the Anton van Wouw sculpture collections as well as the Eduardo Villa collection SA ART TIMES. July 2011

39

ARTLife |

Jaco van Schalkwyk Photo: Christo Harvey

INTERVIEW WITH JACO VAN SCHALKWYK | PRETORIA ART SCENE | ARTLife

Jaco van Schalkwyk Contemporary Artist Wilhelm van Rensburg Fort Greene, Brooklyn is pivotal in the life and work of young artist Jaco van Schalkwyk. He worked as a bartender at the Alibi, a neighborhood dive bar, while studying at the Pratt Institute, known for its drawing department. Henry Miller purportedly frequented the Alibi around the time of writing Tropic of Capricorn. Spike Lee filmed Do the Right Thing down the road. It was at the Alibi where Van Schalkwyk befriended Carl Hancock Rux, with whom he would collaborate for much of his time in America.

Van Schalkwyk left South Africa for New York at the age of 19. He stayed there for nine years, in Fort Greene and Bedford-Stuyvesant. Pratt is a Bauhaus type art school with foundation courses- Figure Drawing is a compulsory subject. Having enrolled to study Industrial Design, Jaco found himself gravitating to Drawing in stead. He was, ironically, not particularly good at drawing in high school, compared to his fellow students. (In the 90s, Pro Arte high school in Pretoria was a breeding ground for artists such as Wim Botha, Zander Blom, and Jan Henri Booyens).

In the Drawing department, van Schalkwyk studied under Dennis Masback, Sal Montano and William Sayler, who encouraged the students to copy Michaelangelo, Raphael and Tintoretto. This while attending anatomical dissection lectures at Columbia Medical University. And, of course, the work of these Renaissance artists was just down the road at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where art students were allowed to draw the collection. In his spare time, Jaco copied the drawing style of William Kentridge.

were already open. But he opened my soul. Absolutely”.

Van Schalkwyk, however, felt that he did not always want to be the apprentice. (“’Nothing grows in the shadow of great trees’, Brancusi said of Rodin”, he observes wryly.), He needed to come into his own. Back in South Africa, Jaco teamed up with Zander Blom to form Jaco + Z-dog. They perform around the country, mostly in tiny bars, and produce and market their own EPs. “I wanted to get out from behind the laptop. Zander and I messed around trying out different roles and instruments until the one day, very surprisingly, it turned out that I could kinda sing. So we went with that. Now I get to perform in a way that is very different to the way I used to before. The interaction with the music is much more immediate. In stead of a keyboard, I use my voice, which means I get to talk to the audience directly.”

While performance is a vital part of Jaco’s creative output, working with Blom highlighted a burning desire to return to the relative safety of the artist’s studio. He took up drawing again, culminating two years later in his first solo exhibition at GALLERY AOP in April 2011. He had gotten a crash course in South African contemporary art when designing the 2009 Johannesburg Art Fair catalogue. While coveting the images of Walter Battiss’ rare photo screen prints, Robert Hodgins’ unknown digital prints, and Zanele Muholi’s Miss Divine series, he was surprised to discover the work of Avant Car Guard. “What they were doing seemed so fresh, after what I thought was a very staid New York contemporary art scene. And then I realized, hold on, that’s Jan-Henri at Pierneef’s grave. These are my peers, man.”

Pratt also offered filmmaking. One of Jaco’s instructors in that department was Bob Knight who taught him film editing, splicing 16mm film on flatbed Steinbecks. His interest in experimental filmmaking was ignited. Van Schalkwyk assisted Astria Suparak during her Pratt Film Series screenings (1997 - 2000), where he was able to immerse himself in rare experimental film. This experience compelled him to take up time-based media, ‘drawing over time’, such as Video Art, as part of his practice.

But Van Schalkwyk actually stopped drawing for eight years. This was partly due to another subject he took at Pratt, the Philosophy of Mathematics, under the tutelage of Robert Richardson. He encountered such philosophical problems as modality, infinity, radically singular events and non-Euclidian Geometry. Yet, when he tried to visualize this in drawing, he was stumped. “I began to feel that all my compositional decisions were essentially pre-determined. The stuff I wanted to investigate, I thought at the time, simply could not be expressed on paper. That’s when I began working in video more seriously.”

It was Van Schalkwyk’s video work that formed the basis for his collaboration with Carl Hancock Rux, renowned author/performer/multi-disciplinarian.

“Carl taught me almost everything I know about being a multi-disciplinarian, but also about performance and cadence, and about the history and tradition of that cadence.” Rux became his teacher and mentor, encouraging him to try his hand at musical composition and performance as a laptop musician.

At the same time, Rux often had to protect him against hostile audiences and occasionally even other band members. “When I messed up during the Central Park rehearsals, and the band confronted Carl about his inclusion of a total novice, Carl stood his ground. It is something that I’ll never forget. It allowed me to grow into places, creatively, I could never have dreamt of.”

A return to drawing proved to be tougher than he had anticipated. “When I took up drawing after those eight years, I was shocked to discover that I had lost the finger muscles, the skills to draw. So I drew under a pseudonym – it took the pressure off! I could make clumsy lines for a few years while my hands lost their amnesia. In the end, the practical and philosophical solutions to my drawing problems just took time to solve. Previously I had feared comparing my work to the old masters. I mean, when you draw, they too are like your peers. Before, I just had no fun playing with guys 500 times my size.

But now, having grown a bit, it is a liberating experience. Now my peers are my inspiration. It is an immensely satisfying position to be in, and I feel quite lucky.”

Rux and van Schalkwyk ended up working closely together for three years, collaborating on Mycenaean, performed at the BAM Next Wave Festival in 2006, ASPHALT, performed at REDCAT, Los Angeles and Rux’s third studio album Good Bread Alley released on Thirsty Ear Records. Says van Schalkwyk: “All of a sudden I was an Afrikaans boy from Pretoria touring in a Black American blues band. I got to meet people, truly great people, who I didn’t even know existed before. I wouldn’t say that Carl opened my eyes... they

The freedom he gained in performance seems to be transforming the way he interacts with drawing: “Where before I used to hang on to the work vehemently, now I want the drawings to go out into the world. Only when the drawings are sold and removed from the gallery, are they finished”, he says.

“They must move!”

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

41

ARTLife | THE PRETORIA ART SCENE / ART EDUCATION

Pluto Panoussis, Director of The Open Window Film School

Open Window Students go through their hectic scedule

The Open Window Film School, Pluto delivers the news.

Open Window for those who want to learn a range of filming craft.

(Next 3 images) Fashion design students at The University of Pretoria go through their paces

Mimi vd Merwe teaches through her home school named Tait Modern 42

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

THE PRETORIA ART SCENE / ART EDUCATION | ARTLife

Above: (Next 3 pictures: Printmaking Students get their hands dirty at TUT

Sculpture Student at TUT

Studio Collective teaches numerous diciplines including puppettry, drawing and painting see: www.artscollective.co.za

Studio Collective SA ART TIMES. July 2011

Ernst de Jong Academy of Fine Art 43

44

Karen Maria Skawran Photo: Christo Harvey SA ART TIMES. July 2011

INTERVIEW WITH KAREN SKAWRAN | PRETORIA ART SCENE | ARTLife

Karen Skawran Arts Academic

Wilhelm van Rensburg “A room with a table and a typewriter, that is with what I started the Department of History of Art and Fine Arts at Unisa in 1961”, Karin Skawran fondly remembers her early days as a 21 year old Acting Head and Lecturer at the University. She singlehandedly drew up all the curricula, typed up all the study guides and wrote all the Tutorial Letters. ‘The system at Unisa at the time was students registering for a Fine Arts degree had to find an artist,, with at least a BA degree in Fine Arts, to prepare them for the practical examination. “Anyone who had a degree in the country could teach our students.

Two teachers I will always remember as part of that system were George Boys and Cecil Skotnes. Walter Battiss was also one of these teachers. The Fine Arts degrees were awarded by Unisa. Stephan Welz, believe it or not, at the very beginning was the examination administrator for the Fine Arts practical examinations and oversaw the whole process.” Four years later Skawran was afforded the opportunity to revise the whole system, and she remembers vividly the pleasant evenings and weekends she and art historian, Rayda Becker, artists Robert Hodgins, Nina Romm and Alan Crump all helped to structured a proper Unisa history of Art and Fine Arts curriculum and took over the teaching of the practical component of the course.

The dynamics of her Department changed dramatically at this time. Skawran remembers an incident when much valued art historian Frieda Harmsen, usually a very level-headed and gentle person, got so annoyed with Anna Vorster, that she hurled an African Violet at her! When Walter Battiss was appointed as Professor and Head of Department in 1966, Karin still had to take care of all the administrative duties. There came a point when it was her turn to hurl a wad of administrative documents at him in utter frustration!

Battiss had a profound influence on her. Skawran remembers his very first day: “He erected a throne behind his desk with a mechanism that would extend an artificial wooden arm whenever somebody came in to greet him. He pinned controversial, bizarre and at times even gruesome billboards, which he took down from lampposts along his way to work, on a washing line put up across his office.” Battiss became a close friend. She remembers the first time she visited him at his famous Giotto’s Hill residence in Brooklyn: he was stark naked inside a large box in his wild garden. “I want to feel what it must feel like to be a battery chicken”, was his only reply. Skawran remembers the peculiar nature of his exhibitions. “All the works on his Yes/No Part I exhibition in Pretoria in 1967 were wrapped in transparent plastic, and visitors were told to bring torches as the gallery space of the SA Association at Church Square then, would be completely in the dark. When Grace Anderson, his wife, entered the exhibition, and saw that Battiss had piled eggs on one of her own precious ceramic plates, she unceremoniously whipped the plate off the table!”

Skawran became Full Professor and Head of Department after Battiss’ retirement in 1971. She left Unisa after 35 years in 1996. “Towards the end my time was almost entirely consumed by administrative tasks. The nature of Higher Education had changed radically, and I woke up one morning realizing that I had not been afforded the time to do any research of importance nor had I published an article for quite some time.”Well-known artists and treasured colleagues such as Keith Dietrich, John Clarke and Marion Arnold also left the Department at about that time. Karin’s focus shifted to art education in general in South Africa, curating exhibitions, writing articles on South African art and contributing towards community art. She initiated the Mapula embroidery Project in the Winterveldt as early as 1991.

In 1994 Skawran was appointed vice-chairperson of ACTAG (Arts and Culture Task Group) appointed by the then minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology to develop and structure the Arts and Culture Policies for the SA ART TIMES. July 2011

country in our new democracy. At the time she worked with such luminaries as Gibson Kente, Andries Oliphant, Jay Pather and Sibongile Khumalo and others. The proposals by ACTAG, which took into consideration recommendations from all over the country, were contained in the White Paper submitted to and approved by Parliament in the same year. Many of ACTAG’s recommendations, such as the introduction of Arts and Culture as a compulsory learning area up to Grade 9 level, were to be implemented. She served on the Matriculation Board and later SAFCERT, from 1981 to 1995, and today she is still the External Moderator for Visual Arts for UMALUSI, the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training.

What is not commonly known about Skawran today, or forgotten by an earlier generation, is the fact that she is an international Byzantine scholar. Initially she wanted to study Doric sculpture, but on her first visit to Greece in 1954, what struck her most, were the Byzantine icons and frescoes in the Byzantine Museum in Athens. She took out books from the UNISA library and wrote to the publishers of Byzantine books to provide her with the addresses of the authors of these books, all of who were well-known international scholars on Byzantine art. Talbot Rice referred her to AHS Megaw, Director of the British School of Archaeology in Athens, who suggested she researched MiddleByzantine fresco painting in Greece, a yet unexplored terrain.

Skawran duly obtained a scholarship and, on the first evening of her studies in Athens, was asked by Megaw whether she could speak and read Greek.

Skawran replied in the affirmative and her sister, who accompanied her on that occasion and who knew that Karin could not speak the language, was aghast at her sister’s temerity! Karin subsequently traversed Greece with a dictionary under her arm, staying only with peasants so that she was compelled to learn Greek quickly. Also under her arm was a notebook, to document the Middle Byzantine frescoes, as well as her tripod to photograph the paintings. She also carried a bottle of water, to wet the frescoes gently - when nobody was looking - in order to make the colours appear clearer for photography. Skawran was soon able to present papers at international Byzantine art conferences and to write numerous articles, at times challenging international scholars, on certain theories they had about the dating of certain frescoes. “Years later”, she recalls wryly “a taverna-owner in Macedonia recognized me from an earlier visit and greeted me with the words: ‘Oh, I remember you. You are the girl with the bible under her arm!’”

Whilst studying Art History in Munich in 1959-’61, she also had the chance to attend summer art classes offered by Oscar Kokoschka in Salzburg, Austria. She saw the original paintings by the German Romantic, Caspar David Friedrich, for the first time and considers him to be one of the very first ‘conceptual’ landscape artists. Her expertise in Art History earned her a place as Founder Member and first Chairperson of the South African Association of Art Historians and of Chairperson of the Board of the South African National Gallery, Cape Town (Iziko) and member of the Curatorium of the Pretoria Art Museum.

Over the past years Skawran’s creative and intellectual energies are channelled into curating exhibitions, such as the comprehensive exhibition, Stained Paper: South African images in watercolour, at the Standard Bank Gallery in 2000, which she curated together with Keith Dietrich, and the seminal retrospective exhibition, Walter Battiss – Gentle Anarchist at Standard Bank Gallery in 2005. She has recently written the leading article for the exhibition catalogue for the late Alan Crump exhibition at the Johannesburg Art. Currently she is researching the work of the sculptor, Willem Strydom, for another catalogue essay for an exhibition in Stellenbosch later this year.

Karin Skawran has come a long way from the table-and-typewriter years!

45

ARTLife | THE PRETORIA ART SCENE / HOTSPOTS / PANDORA ART HOUSE

PanDora Art House on a quiet day

(Images: left to right: Frans de Bruyn aka Sam Boga, multitalented chef and partner at PanDora Art House. Photo by Alexis Basson / Guest admiring work by André Clements. Photo by Gert Spruyt. Valiant Swart performing at PanDora Art House. Photo by David Butler With its vantage point overlooking the Pretoria East, Brooklyn, Hatfield, Arcadia, Sunnyside and Pretoria Central vista, PanDora Art House is a hub of art and culture for the connoisseur of the non beaten track. The Art House concept came to life with its first exhibition “Pandora” on 18 March 2010 when the initial idea to host art exhibitions in recycled spaces (such as the house in Muckleneuk which is currently awaiting demolishment) turned into a cultural hotspot showcasing art exhibitions, art and culture films, music evenings, performance art and delicious menus from our unique and creative kitchen.

in October. Gordon named the group exhibition “Altered Pieces – Artists respond to the lyrics of Leonard Cohen”, and 50 artists have made altarpieces using Cohen’s lyrics as the starting point for an artwork that will incorporate the songs of Cohen as an MP3 within the work. A performance piece with music, collage, interview and Cohen’s Art will be presented at various points in the run. Participating artists include Ian Marley, Chris Diedericks, Paul Boulitreau, Diane Victor, Debbie Cloete, Anni Snyman, Gordon Froud, Diek Grobler and Ricky Burnett amongst others. For further information contact Gordon Froud on 0844238635.

Our upcoming exhibition is curated by Gordon Froud and will open on 20 August 2011 at 14:00, running until 24 September before going to Aardklop

For more information on PanDora Art House go to the website, www.pan-dora.co.za

46

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

ART GALLERIES | THE PRETORIA ART SCENE | ARTLife

Michael Heyns Gallery (left and right)

Fried Art Gallery (left and right)

UNISA Art Gallery (left and right)

Anton Smit’s Sculpture Park (left and right) SA ART TIMES. July 2011

47

ARTLife | THE PRETORIA ART SCENE | ART GALLERIES | ST. LORIENT FASHION AND ART GALLERY

Roof top art exhibition curated by Gordon Froud.

Orlando de Almaida & Eric Lubisi

Portraiture Opening

Outside view of St Lorient Fashion and Art Gallery 48

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

ART GALLERIES | THE PRETORIA ART SCENE | ARTLife

Fient Lifestyle Gallery

Front Room Gallery

Rookls Studio

Kunsuniek Gallery

Glass forming academy SA ART TIMES. July 2011

Bolsman on Brooks

Salomi Prinsloo Signature Gallery

Skinner Galleries 49

ARTLife | THE PRETORIA ART SCENE | ARTISTS

Adele Adendorf

Annmarie Stone

Guy du Toit

Hilton Edwards

Erica Frazer

Andre Naude

Hardus Koekemoer 50

Anki du Plussis

Diek Grobbellaar

Obsidian Glass SA ART TIMES. July 2011

ARTISTS | PRETORIA ART SCENE | ARTLife

Bardenhorst

Nicolene Louw

Rain Battiss

Helena Hugo SA ART TIMES. July 2011

Ronel Kellerman

Vasti Wilkinson

Vasti Wilkinson

Ruan Hoffman 51

GALLERY STUDIO INSPIRATIONAL TALKS Tel/Fax +27 12 36 16 777 Cell: +27 83 554 20 27 aletam@icon.co.za~www.art.co.za/aletamichaletos

I was born into a family of Hoteliers in 1952. My father, a second generation Greek, married a shy, Afrikaans farm girl from the Karoo. This rich mixture of cultures and background, guaranteed an extra-ordinary and multifaceted childhood, which not only inuenced my life but also my art. Breadth of vision, hard work, erce independence, business acumen, enthusiasm and perpetual transformation (sprinkled with the ever present magical) have become the key qualities that enrich and energize my Art Practice.

Not yet a teenager, I became the student of the eccentric painter of Presidents, Johanna Wassenaar. Ever since then, portraiture has been a substantial p0art of my oeuvre. Practically growing up on building sites, I studied a year of Architecture in 1970, before completing my BA Fine Arts degree in 1974. Several of my earlier portraits, architectural studies and oral pieces were meticulously executed using a delicate architects drafting pen. My work is still precise but occasionally I am irtatious and have a ing, with a wildish painting.

‘DEUS EX MAYACHINA: Yellow Widow’ 2009, oil on board

Detail: ‘Magnolia Orientalis’ 2010, oil on board

Lately, Architectural elements have regained prominence in several commissioned projects, resulting from my visits to Middle Eastern and South East Asian countries.

Rebirth’ 1994, Aquarelle UN Art & Philatelic Award

Pressing Matters’, Morocco 2006’, oil on board

Detail: ‘COSMORGANIC: Odyssey’ 2005, oil on canvas

During the tumultuous sixties, our hotel became a sanctuary for traumatized refugees from the Belgian Congo. As a result, I became politically aware and sensitized at a very tender age. Ever since then (possibly my response to overcome a sense of helplessness) I’ve been driven to reconcile opposing forces. This is clearly illustrated in the prophetic ‘Precious Circle’ Project (1989-94) (50 collages created entirely from newsprint and which resulted in the creation of ‘Rebirth’). The concept of transformative Alchemy or the Parcae (spinners of gold) where humble objects (my source of inspiration) are transformed and become precious, is best illustrated in ‘Precious Circle’. ‘Rebirth’ won the U.N Art & Philatelic Award in 1994 and I share this honour with previous recipients such as Dali, Miro, Erni, Calder, Chagal & Vasarely.

‘Precious Circle’ no.50 (1989-1994)

Detail: ‘Pilgrimage’ 2008, oil on board

In 1983 I established an art Gallery, where I actively promoted and mentored the careers of budding artists who are all now, with out exception, independent and successful.

This bold step was a rewarding alternative to free me from the temptations of commercial Galleries and agents. Through hard work I succeeded in securing my independence, which allowed me to pursue the unrestricted development of my own art. It also taught me valuable lessons concerning intriguing aspects of the art market.

Earlier work up to the mid 90’s, such as the ‘ALETHEA’ series (which was exhibited during my retrospective in the Karl Hofer Museum, Schloss Ettlingen, Germany in 1991) were meticulously painted in the’ a la Prima’ technique and the ‘Horror Vacui’ so evident in this series, simply mirrored the multiplicity of my personal life.

Detail:‘Holding onto Innocence: The Little Halo’ 2011, oil

Detail: ‘Contemplation’ 2010, oil

Using art as my tool, I try to make sense of the constant deluge of intellectual, visual, emotional, spiritual or trivial information that constantly overwhelms me. In the process I hope to succeed in creating an intricate and continuous body of work, where orderliness has been created from the chaos. I collect experiences, objects and ideas, which result in an over-abundant accumulation and which in turn is the divine driving force (élan vital) inside of me, that keeps me energized and in voluntary enslavement to my art.

Detail: ‘ALETHEA: ‘Wild Spirit’ 1991, oil on Marine ply

Eventually I could travel more freely. 2 trips to the Namib resulted in yet another paradigm shift. Directly contrasting with my busy household (which included 4 young children), I now encountered muted and natural colours and the silence I yearned for. However, suddenly surface texture became as important to me as the represented image. Instead of my previous ‘monologues’ I now had a dialogue with the surface on which I painted. I am inspired by complexity, possibilities, permutations and the interconnectedness of all things. Faithful to nding harmony through paradox, the ‘COSMORGANIC’ series was born a twin of the ‘POETRY OF SILENCE’ series, the one capturing the mysticism, simplicity and uid lines of the desert and the other, piercing the very heart of creation.

Daily walks and my keen observation of Nature are a crucial part of my art practice, which has lately branched off into the written word. This has resulted in my ‘Catch of the Day’.

The last few years I have written volumes on my growing fascination with the process of decay as springboard for creation.

Detail: ’COSMORGANIC: Genesis’ 1997, oil on board

‘Darling 1’ 2011, oil on board 1 of 3 landscapes recently commissioned by the Philippine Embassy

’CRANIUM SERIES: P’Aleta’ 2002, oil on perspex

LOUIS BOTHA PHOTOGRAPHER

I treasure the simple things in life and my work is testimony to my belief that less is more. My preference is to capture the beauty within remote landscapes, ordinary people and things. I am intensely aware of the value of Light and Time each time I press the shutter.

Heavens (car wreck near Hofmeyer, Karoo on a misty morning)

His Light (special light effects one afternoon on the outskirts of Prince Albert)

I came to realise that Life is short, Art is long! I have therefore rearranged my lifestyle completely in order to make more time to express my vision and feelings through using Light reflecting off still and/or moving subjects.

My philosophy about photography is that every photograph is a statement, or an interpretation of the subject matter, but it is also saying something about the photographer, how he sees it, how he feels about it. For me the challenge is to communicate without words, to evoke emotion without saying anything, to tell a story or to present the ordinary in an unordinary way, to make the viewer look again, think again, feel again, appreciate again. I am attracted by discovering the other side of people and things, the treasures waiting to be discovered in seemingly empty relationships and vast open spaces.

The challenge is to remove the clutter and the pretentions, to reveal what is real. Photographers work with Light and with Time, with depth and with movement, with expressions and with emotions, with pretentions and with expectations, with what is and with what isn’t and it is the photographer’s duty to present the truth, to be honest and to show respect to those in front of the lens and those appreciating his work.

The Game (Italian men playing cards)

Riding free (b;oy riding his bike in historic Sorrento, Italy)

I do use digital photography and recently reintroduced medium format film into my portraiture and panorama landscape portfolios.

Madame Niloufar (French shopowner in

Courage (Swartberg pass, took courage from Bains to build)

My satisfaction comes when someone remarks: “I never realised this or that person or object is actually so interesting” or “I never considered it from this angle before which makes it look so special, I can now see I should make more time for..........”

My preferred end product is an image that is printed

on high quality fine art paper or canvas and that is displayed on a very special wall.

I offer a Photography Course in Prince Albert, Karoo and use it to introduce visitors to the abundance of silence, peace, beauty and Light of the land and the people of the Karoo.

Some of Louis’ work can be seen in Rookls (Waterkloof Corner Shopping Centre, Pretoria) and in the Prince Albert Gallery (Seven Arches, Church Street, Prince Albert) or on www.louisbothaphotography.co.za.

Louis can be contacted on 082 453 5130 or at lj.botha@iafrica.com

Tannie Elizabeth (80 year old, proud resident of Prince Albert)

Heading west (Road to Gamkapoortdam)

ARTLife | REVIEW | RECOLLECT BY HENDRIK STROEBEL AT KZNSA GALLERY

Hendrik Stroebel: RECOLLECT KwaZulu Natal Society, Durban 31 May to 25 June

Marilyn Martin Turquoise is the leitmotif that runs through Hendrik Stroebel’s exhibition Recollect and that connects the works visually and metaphorically. The word that describes the opaque, blue-to-green stone derives from the French turques, because it was first brought from Turkey via Persia to Europe.

Stroebel’s turquoise journey started in Turkey in 1990 when he interrupted his nine-month stay at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris for a brief visit; over the years his purview expanded to include Egypt, Uzbekistan, Jordan and Iran. The artist collected images (photographed and etched in his mind) amulets and souvenirs, and returned to Durban to capture his experiences and memories in embroidery cotton and ceramics.

Stroebel has a profound interest in and love for Antiquity and the Biblical lands with their multiple layers of civilisations and cultures. What started as a personal journey of discovery and enrichment soon developed into an admiration for the beauty and perfect balance of historical Islamic art and architecture, the friendliness and charm of the people, and their grace in poverty. He appreciates the customs and creative traditions that survive, while at the same time being acutely aware of the challenges, contradictions and conflicts that characterise contemporary society in the Middle East.

To understand how this complexity finds expression in embroidery and ceramics it is necessary to consider briefly the artist’s background and training. After graduating in painting he completed a three-year diploma course in ceramics at the former Natal Technikon, now the Durban University of Technology, where he is head of the ceramics department. In the 1980s his lecturer, Penny Siopis, encouraged him to change his paint brush for needle and thread. The talent is in his blood – embroidery and appliqué were always part of his family and his life.

Early in his career Stroebel gained recognition as a ceramist and he was at the forefront of challenging the disciplinary boundaries between fine art and craft. His coiled earthenware vessel, Red Roses for a Blue Lady, is resplendent on the cover of the book Contemporary Ceramics in South Africa (1991)

by Wilma Cruise and Doreen Hemp. In 1989 he won the Volkskas Atelier Award with a ceramic sculpture entitled By Night, an enormous vessel on a classical Ionic base. The decorative impact was powerful and four small pieces of embroidery appeared in the handles.

While Stroebel continues to work in three dimensions, Recollect comprises mainly works in which clay serves to frame the embroideries, and where its use – as in the superb installation of 131 eight-cornered ceramic stars entitled The Turquoise Journey – is primarily two-dimensional.

There is a wealth of small, individual works depicting scenes from Persepolis and Karnak, antique sculptures in Turkey, portraits of Bedouins. Ubiquitous are women, anonymous behind their bur’qas, as they move like shadows through the streets and between screens and closed doors in Iran. They become symbols of a closed society and the place of women in their world.

Stroebel does not use a single known embroidery stitch; instead he has developed a painterly technique and a vast vocabulary of stitches capable of capturing every theme, subject and emotion. He mixes different threads and shades in the needle – like paint on a pointillist’s brush. This imparts great subtlety and variety to the images. Frames are specially created for the small works and they become physical and visual extensions of the embroidery – clay, sometimes with images that pick up the patterns of the place scratched onto it, or mosaics fired into it; souvenir insets; rusted metal supports. In the monumental works the separate vignettes are set in frames of ceramic, wood, tiles or metal.

The eight embroideries in Remains of Tamerlane (2001-2002) portray ruins, mosques with brilliant turquoise domes, a minaret against a golden sky, a portrait of Timur the Great (1336-1405) and decorative elements in the tiles that are rendered in the finest detail. In the middle there is a tiny painting – a souvenir that the artist bought in a souk in Bukhara. The frame is crafted from a mango wood room divider from India, which was acquired at the Durban Victoria Market. Embellished with glazed Islamic amulets, the frame echoes the architecture of the Silk Road cities of Uzbekistan.

Stroebel’s approach, from the very beginning, was non-conformist but true to the integrity of his medium. He is at once the playful, experimental bricoleur and the serious, technically sophisticated creator working in two diametrically opposed ways. His embroidery and ceramics sit at the extremes of art making – the one is intimate, precise and time consuming; the other malleable, physical and unpredictable. In Stroebel’s mind, imagination, eyes and hands they are inextricably linked and become unique expressive vehicles for memorable works of art that embody his journeys, experiences and memories.

Maggie Laubser (1886-1977) oil, innocence, 50x45cm (Dalene Marais cat No 899, page 247) Estimate R2,000,00-R3,000,000 Selected Prestigious Works from Various Estates and Entries. Over 400 Lots.

Date

Venue

The full catalogue for this Sunday, 31 July 2011 @ 10am 5th Avenue Fine Art Auctioneers, auction will be posted on Viewing 404 Jan Smuts Avenue, Thursday 28 July 9am - 5pm Results from previous acutions can July 20th on our website: Craighall Park, Sandton Friday 29 July 9am - 5pm be found at either our website, www.5thaveauctions.co.za 011 781 2040/1 artprice.com or artvault.co.za Saturday 30 July 10am - 4pm

BUSINESS ART Basel art fair suggests boom times are back bworldonline.com: BASEL, SWITZERLAND -- Wealthy collectors at Art Basel, the world’s top fair for modern and contemporary art, had to dig deep into their pockets last week to get hold of high-quality works, amid signs the market was returning to pre-crisis peaks.

In times of low interest rates, many investors seek to diversify their portfolios, and masterpieces by 20th-century artists like Picasso and Miro, or contemporary stars such as Anish Kapoor or Antony Gormley, are in high demand.

Almost 300 private jets landed at Basel airport during the first day of the fair to fly in VIPs like supermodels Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista, and the crowds were still large on Wednesday and Thursday when Art Basel was open to the public.

Art lovers and dealers peered at the works on display, took pictures on the latest mobile telephones to send back to clients and slipped handwritten notes into expensive designer handbags.

“There were more people than last year at the opening. The market feels solid, not crazy, but very solid,” said Sukanya Rajaratnam, director of New York art gallery L & M Arts.

She said the gallery had already sold some of its best lots on display. An orange Mark Rothko was sold for a price “in the range of $5 million,” while a giant red tripod by Paul McCarthy changed hands for about $2.5 million.

“FEEDING FRENZY” Philip Hoffman, chief executive of the Fine Art Fund Group which has assets under management of around $100 million, said his fund had sold pieces for around $8 million on the first day of the fair alone.

“With currency volatility, cash earning next to zero and inflation at 4.5% in London, a lot of people are looking at art right now as a safe haven for their money,” he said.

“We’ve seen a feeding frenzy of buyers and some very good works on sale fetching world record prices, above 2007-2008 levels,” he said, adding that fairly priced pieces could find buyers within an hour or two at the fair.

Several major galleries had to re-hang their spaces due to brisk sales of their original displays, and at Daniel Templon, around 90% of the art was snapped up by Europeans.

“There are very few Americans this year,” said the gallery’s director AnneClaudie Coric. “I suspect this is due to the weakness of the dollar.”

The buoyant mood was in stark contrast to 2009, when the volumes of private sales and public auctions at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and their smaller rivals contracted dramatically.

Turnover bounced back sharply in 2010 -- Christie’s, the world’s largest auc-

tioneer, saw sales hit $5 billion last year, up 53% from 2009, while Sotheby’s posted revenues of $4.3 billion excluding private deals versus $2.3 billion in 2009.

The emergence of super-rich Chinese investors and collectors has been a major factor behind the surge in prices for Chinese art as well as for “bluechip” Western names like Picasso.

Some analysts warn, however, that the rate of increase in some sectors of the art market is unsustainable and a bubble could be developing.

BILLIONS OF DOLLARS Art Basel features about 300 galleries from around the globe, and more than 2,500 artists, including the latest generation of emerging stars, exhibit their paintings, sculptures, drawings, installations, photographs and videos.

The combined worth of works displayed at the 42nd edition of the Basel art show is around $1.75 billion, according to specialist insurer Hiscox, up around 15% from 2010.

“In general, the mood is extremely positive. It feels a bit like 2007 again,” said Jonathan Binstock, senior adviser at Citi Private Bank’s Art Advisory Group.

“The market for emerging artists is stronger than in recent years and this is a sign of renewed strength,” he said in Basel, adding he was advising his clients to stretch their budgets as strong demand made it harder to obtain outstanding pieces.

At the Gagosian gallery, founded by influential US art dealer Larry Gagosian, Jona Lueddeckens was also satisfied with the early part of the fair that ended on Sunday.

“We had a very strong start,” he said, declining to give further details of which works had been sold.

And Florian Berktold, director of the Hauser & Wirth gallery that sold a sculpture by Ron Mueck for £450,000, added: “There are buyers from all over the world here, Chinese, Americans, Russians. There is a great energy.

“People are willing to spend again but they calculate and are selective. For a very good work they are willing to pay a good price.”

Of course, not everyone was happy about the art market boom.

Investors’ appetite for art is sometimes making it unaffordable for even the richest art enthusiasts, said a Dutch collector who was tempted by a wooden sculpture by British artist Tony Cragg but put off by the price.

“The gallery owner wants €360,000 for it. I would maybe pay half of that,” said the collector, who did not want to be named. Prices for works by contemporary artists like Damien Hirst or Jeff Koons could reach unreasonable levels, he said. -- Reuters

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. See www.arttimes.co.za, SA’s only daily visual arts news website

58

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

NEW MARKET DIRECTIONS | BUSINESS ART

A Resurgence in Art Buying Over the Web Published in The New York Times:

By Randy Kennedy Roland Sledge, a 65-year-old lawyer for an oil and gas company in Houston, is no art world habitué. He began collecting prints and works on paper a little more than a decade ago, focusing on Abstract Expressionism, and has done some business with small New York galleries, “though I mostly just stumbled into things that I liked,” he said in a broad Texas accent.

“I don’t have a lot of connections,” he added.

But Mr. Sledge, and a growing number of collectors like him, have lately been demonstrating that connections may not be as important as they once were — and that online sales, a segment of the art business given up for dead not long ago, are becoming an increasingly important part of its future.

Over the last year and half, Mr. Sledge has collected almost exclusively online, buying nine pieces at an average of about $4,000 each at online-only auctions through Artnet, the art market information company. Artnet tried and failed to become one of the pioneers of online sales in 1999, suspending those auctions two years later after it lost millions of dollars and decided that the market wasn’t ready. But it got back into the business in 2008, and after less than three years, the auctions now account for 14 percent of the company’s income.

The glamorous, newsmaking sales of Sotheby’s and Christie’s these are not. The average price of an artwork won through an Artnet auction is about $6,800 now, up from $5,600 last year, which wouldn’t come close to paying the commission on most high-end auction sales. But Artnet is one of many companies that believe the time might finally be right for a sizable portion of the art market to begin migrating online, the way sales for specialized items like rare books and antiques already have.

The VIP Art Fair, a weeklong online event that mimicked the mechanics of a traditional art fair with virtual booths, attracted a large international group of blue-chip galleries last January and, despite some well-publicized technical glitches, was seen as a success by dealers and collectors. Art.sy, a venture that will use Pandora-like technology to help art buyers find pieces and the galleries selling them, has already lined up heavyweight supporters like the dealer Larry Gagosian and Jack Dorsey, a founder of Twitter. And most major auction houses also now allow online bidding for sales happening in the physical world.

But while online bidding and fairs and services like Art.sy essentially serve as a digital bridge to bricks-and-mortar galleries and auction houses, Artnet officials say that much of the art market below a certain price level will soon operate almost entirely in the virtual realm. Auctions on Artnet take place around the clock, eBay-style (though the lots close only on weekdays, so far), and the company vets sellers and relies on their photographs and descriptions of the provenance and quality of artworks.

Art sellers have been waiting for it to happen for many years. Sotheby’s tried online-only sales for lower-priced works in the late 1990s, but, like Artnet, it abandoned the initiative a few years later, convinced that buyers simply were not willing to pay four- or five-figure sums for art they had not seen in person.

Mr. Neuendorf said several factors led Artnet, a public company based in Berlin, with offices in New York, to venture back into the field. One was the comfort people have begun to feel with online commerce in general, he said. But the more important factor was the considerable increase in the last decade in the number of people who spend money on contemporary art as a pastime or as an investment. They tend to see online art sales as more accessible and transparent than sales in the gallery world, with its reputation, fair or not, for being a kind of exclusionary club. And as many online art vendors like to point out, there are far more $5,000 and $10,000 prints and photographs in the world than there are $50,000,000 Warhols changing hands at marquee auctions.

Michael Moriarty, the chairman of Skate’s Art Market Research, a consulting firm that closely follows Artnet’s business, said his analysts had been skeptical about Artnet’s ability to make online auctions a significant part of its business. Artnet has long been known as the Bloomberg terminal of the auction business; it made its name even before the advent of the Web by building a database of historical auction prices that now numbers in the millions, on which collectors, dealers and auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s rely.

But the company’s online auction business has now moved more than 6,500 pieces, generating $2.5 million in commissions on $12 million in sales for Artnet in 2010, including a few high-dollar outliers, like a Richard Prince painting that sold for $295,000 (before commissions). The business is not yet profitable for Artnet, but the company says that is only because it has been spending considerable money to develop the auctions. It projects that they will begin to turn a profit toward the end of next year.

“Now it seems that the technology has reached a point, and the market has evolved to a point, where this kind of business is really gaining traction,” said Mr. Moriarty, a former lawyer for the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Of Artnet, he added, “It’s not going to be long before they’re going to have to worry about a lot of competition.”

If Mr. Sledge is any guide, art buyers still need a little live reassurance from human beings that what they are seeing and reading about on the screen is what it appears to be. The former East Village art dealer Gracie Mansion, who now works as a specialist for Artnet’s auctions, speaks often with Mr. Sledge when he has questions.

“It’s one thing to point out to someone where they can find something and give them a gallery’s phone number,” said Hans Neuendorf, the company’s chief executive, referring to many other online art-selling services. “It’s another thing to make a sale online.”

“She’ll go and take a close look at the information she has and tell me there’s some foxing on it or some other problem,” said Mr. Sledge, whose name was provided to a reporter by Artnet, along with those of several other frequent buyers. “I didn’t even know what foxing was, to tell you the truth.” (It refers to spots or browning on paper works.)

He added, however, that his main reason for starting to buy through online auctions (one recent acquisition was a small Elaine de Kooning work on paper) was the prices: “My sense is that a lot of the sellers aren’t taking a haircut by having to go through galleries, and so those savings are coming to me.”

Mr. Neuendorf said that while Artnet operated in a different world from Sotheby’s and Christie’s, he believed that it had only begun to mine a huge swath of the secondary art market that will move onto the Web. “I think they’re very happy doing what they’re doing; we’re not even on their radar,” he said of the major auction houses.

“That’s a sea change, in my opinion,” said Mr. Neuendorf, who presents himself as a kind of revolutionary, “and it’s happening.”

“And that’s good,” he added with a wink, “because it gives us time to catch up.”

A buyer, who pays a 15 percent commission to Artnet, usually sees only a single picture of the work and often doesn’t talk to the seller, who could be an art dealer, a private collector or an artist’s family. (Sellers pay a 10 percent commission.) After the auction, the buyer pays the seller, and the work is shipped.

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

59

BUSINESS ART | INTERNATIONAL ART AUCTIONS 2011 REVIEW

Bonhams unveils design for its new international HQ in London

Stanley Spencer’s rising prices start to break records

Bonhams is to build a new international headquarters in London to provide the most advanced salerooms in the world.

Designed by award-winning architects Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, the building is to be constructed on the site of the company’s current headquarters at 101 New Bond Street. The 20th century façades on New Bond Street and Blenheim Street will be retained, but behind them will emerge a new 21st century structure offering the most modern facilities and auction experience in the world. The Haunch of Venison Yard elevation, accessed from Brook Street, will reveal the new building’s unique features including three large new salesrooms (double-height with skyboxes to maximise viewing of sales), preview galleries, a café and high quality, daylit workspace for Bonhams’ specialist staff.

The new premises, with its accent on new technology and customer service, is a key part of the company’s plans to build on the growth which has transformed it over the past 10 years from solid, traditional British auctioneer to one of the fastest growing international houses in the world.

Construction work is to be phased to ensure that Bonhams’ programme of sales will continue unaffected. Indeed, as each stage of development is completed, Bonhams clients will benefit from better facilities and a much enhanced experience, including a cafe and welcoming public spaces. The project is to be submitted for planning consent in June 2011 and is due for completion in December 2013.

Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands is renowned for its innovative and high-profile designs, ranging from bridges to buildings of all types. Recent projects include the new flagship Tsvetnoy food store and restaurants in Moscow, and the historic La Rinascente department store in Milan. Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands also has a 15-year relationship with Harvey Nichols, creating their restaurant brand with six restaurants in London, Edinburgh and Manchester. The studio is currently designing a number of leading London projects including the new Foyles bookshop on Charing Cross Road. Close

by Bonhams, Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands is also designing a large mixed use development at Hanover Square above the Crossrail station and also has been recently appointed to design a scheme for the Middlesex Hospital site.

Robert Brooks, Bonhams Chairman, commented, “Over the past 10 years we’ve grown rapidly to become one of the world’s leading auction houses.

We’re now starting to outgrow our existing premises and if we are to fulfil our plans for the future we need a new space to provide our customers with the improved quality of experience we believe they deserve. Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands have come up with a concept which will be a real enhancement to this historic area of London and, I believe, the most fantastic auction setting anywhere.”

Alex Lifschutz of Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands said, “We’re very excited to have been entrusted with this prestigious and challenging project for Bonhams. Our design responds to Bonhams’ rich British history, the particular architecture of the locality and to realising the company’s vision for the future.

We look forward to creating an important destination for what is one of the world’s fastest growing cultural institutions.”

Construction Timetable: - Phase 1 (the refurbishment of Blenstock House) will be completed by the end of December 2011 - Phase 2 (the new build element) starts on site mid-2012.

For more information go to: www.bonhams.com 60

The sale of the Evill/Frost Collection brought to the market the most important group of works by Stanley Spencer ever, with a total of 7 works appearing in tonight’s sale, raising a combined total of £23,016,750 / $37,613,974.

London (Reuters).- http://www.artdaily.org (Reporting by Mike Collett-White; editing by Patricia Reaney) The auction record for a work by British artist Stanley Spencer fell twice in one sale at Sotheby’s on Wednesday, while a Lucian Freud picture on paper also set a new high.

Seven works by Spencer, described by the auctioneer as one of the 20th century’s most important British painters, were on offer at the first section of a three-part sale of the Evill/Frost Collection.

They made a total of 23.0 million pounds ($37.6 million), including a record 4.7 million pounds for “Workmen in the House,” which was eclipsed minutes later by the 5.4 million pounds paid for “Sunflower and Dog Worship.”

The first work had been expected to go under the hammer for 1.5-2.0 million pounds and the second for 1.0-1.5 million. The final sale price includes the buyer’s premium, where as pre-sale estimates do not.

Overall the auction raised 37.5 million pounds ($61.2 million), well over double the pre-sale high estimate of 16 million pounds. Eight auction records were set in total and every lot found a buyer.

The paintings once belonged to solicitor Wilfrid Evill, who bought his first painting in 1925, and are considered by experts to make up the greatest collection of modern British art ever assembled.

Analysts argue that the sector has been undervalued relative to other art periods and styles which have seen spectacular gains in the last 18 months.

Much of Evill’s estate passed to his ward Honor Frost, an artist and underwater archeologist who died last year aged 92.

As well as the Spencer records, a Lucian Freud work on paper “Boy on a Sofa” fetched 1.5 million pounds compared with expectations of 400-600,000 pounds. It was a new auction record for a work on paper by the veteran British painter.

Last month, Sotheby’s rival Christie’s set an auction record for a work by another prominent British painter Laurence Stephen Lowry when “The Football Match” sold for 5.6 million pounds.

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

STEPHAN WELZ & CO. / SA ART AUCTIONS 2011 REVIEW | BUSINESS ART

Next Stephan Welz & Co. Sale Johannesburg on the 16th and 17th August 2011 After a successful sale in Cape Town, several remarkable and historically significant artworks will go under the hammer at Stephan Welz & Co. in Johannesburg on the 16th and 17th August 2011. The selection of over 170 items includes important works by iconic modern South African artists.

Lot 425, Irma Stern’s Young Arab (R10 000 000 – 15 000 000) (Right) , features strongly in the evening session of the Fine Art sale. Complete with original Zanzibar frame, the exquisite study is a highlight of Stern’s ‘Golden Period’. Another noteworthy portrait included is lot 406, Maggie Laubser’s Woman with a Red Kopdoek (R700 000 – 1 000 000). Infused with compassion and empathy, this painting was among Frans Claerhout’s treasured possessions at the time of his death.

Lot 431, a rare and arresting self-portrait by Alexis Preller (R600 000 – 900 000), resonates with the influences of Expressionism and African Art that fundamentally informed his own unique visual language. Completed in 1932, the Station Panels commission was one of Jacob Pierneef’s most important projects. Critical to the realization of one of the 32 individual canvasses, lot 410, Old Harbour, Hermanus (R1 000 000 – 1 500 000) (Below right) preceded the Hermanus Panel and is one of two Pierneef oils that may be purchased.

Of the several sculptures included, significant works by renowned late artists Lucas Sithole and Edoardo Villa are available. Sithole’s sensitively carved head of a woman, lot 480, Thokozile (R200 000 – 300 000)( Below middle) , is regarded as an important work in its expression of his African aesthetic ideals. The two large abstracts by Edoardo Villa on the sale, lot 482 (R300 000 – 600 000) and lot 483 (R150 000 – 200 000), have a commanding presence.

The sale will take place at Stephan Welz & Co (Pty) Ltd in Johannesburg.

For further information, please contact our specialists at 011 880 3125. The catalogue will be available shortly.

Please note that our website has been changed to www.stephanwelzandco.co.za

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

61

BUSINESS ART | NUSHIN ELAHI’S LONDON LETTER

Nushin Elahi’s London Letter Three major exhibitions with wildly disparate content and styles offer something for everyone in London. is a space where established names hang side by side with total unknowns. It is the largest exhibition in the world where anyone can show their work, and every year, rather like the Turner exhibition, there is heated debate about what did or didn’t get displayed.

The main room has been hung in salon style against a dark wall with the work stacked up to four deep, and it is strikingly successful. The paintings, often unframed or with simple surrounds, battle it out with each other and the bold statements, abstract and figurative, complement each other well. Spanning generations and styles, this is a feast for the eyes.

Across from this is a room which features only entries by Academicians, dismissing any idea of fusty old-timers with Tony Cragg balancing earthy black discs, Cornelia Parker suspending flattened tea caddies, Anish Kapoor’s tubular structure and Richard Wilson’s humorous bus teetering on an edge in Hang On a Minute Lads, I’ve Got a Great Idea (remember the final scene from The Italian Job?) In the War and Death room there are powerful sculptures such as Tim Shaw’s burning man made of wax, Stephen Cox’s pair of marble plinths, a gun peeking from behind lace curtains and an amusing motorised dog eating from a rubbish bin. Elsewhere is the metal structure of German Anslem Kiefer’s Potemkin warship, shown alongside his compatriot Georg Baselitz’s coloured Dalmatians. Invited Danish artist Per Kirkeby shows an energetic large abstract, Keith Tyson’s intense swirling inferno gives a unique rich hue on aluminium, and Jack McFadden shows a hypnotic empty landscape in Dagenham. In the courtyard American Jeff Koons’ huge brightly coloured transparent shapes stand in stark contrast to James Butler’s war memorial.

Often forgotten in the dialogue around the Summer Exhibition is the fact that the proceeds go to fund the training of young artists at the RA Schools, so like it or loathe it, it supports a great cause. (until 15 August) The BP Portrait Award is one of Britain’s top art prizes and a leading showcase for portrait artists. It’s a wonderfully warm and heartfelt exhibition, with loving portraits of sons and lovers, parents, friends, children and the occasional celebrity thrown into the mix.

The winning portrait by Dutch artist Wim Heldens has shades of Vermeer in its brooding, almost monotone picture of a wistful young man. Other paintings reference the past. Inspired by Reynolds’ portrait of the Clive of India family, an artist paints his own wife and daughter in traditional garb, while another takes neo-classical painters as his departure when depicting a friend’s arresting gaze.

These all feel like honest attempts to interpret a reality. Not so with Louis Smith, who won second prize for Holly, a painting that Guardian art critic and BP judge described as a work Hitler would admire. This huge 8-foot painting surrounded by an enormous gilt frame that looks more like a mantelpiece, depicts a limpid naked girl, cloth draped coyly across her lap, chained in a mountainous landscape. This excuse for soft porn is apparently a modern reworking of a Baroque painting of Prometheus. Kitsch and exploitative, it contrasts sharply with the authenticity of the rest of the works.

There is for example, the gentle humour in the nudity of a portrait of three generations, or the father and son bathed in Israeli farm sunlight, a child bouncing between two iron bedsteads or even the disenfranchised youth glowering in a school room – probably the only portrait of a sullen teenager. Most are probing close-up faces, or head and shoulders. There’s a lot of photorealism where every pore is visible (why does Glenda Jackson have to look so hideous?), but above all, there is a delight in the life reflected in every face we meet. (The National Portrait Gallery until 18 September) For the first time ever, the Government Art Collection – or a small part of the 13 500 pieces – is on public show. Over the next year, five separate exhibitions, each with a different theme, will have work on display at the Whitechapel Gallery rather than in British government buildings around the globe.

A more eclectic collection would be hard to find. The first in the series, At Work has been picked by, amongst others, the Minister of Culture, the Prime Minister’s wife and the former High Commissioner to South Africa, Lord Boateng, who chose a wartime oil of men in a barracks at Aldershot which used to hang in the embassy in Cape Town. Two huge oils of the King and Queen of Bohemia, dating from 1630, and a small unflattering portrait of Queen Elizabeth I sum up most of the art predating the 20th century. From there a leap to Sickert in 1904 and most of the rest ranges from the Seventies onwards. There is a gem of a Lowry with his familiar stick figures at a county fair that currently hangs at 10 Downing Street. Lord Mandelson has juxtaposed the two Queen Elizabeths – the Tudor portrait and a photograph of Lucian Freud painting the current queen. The exhibition is beautifully hung for such disparate styles, and judging by the crowds, the public are keen to see what they own. (until 4 September) Still on strange collections, in Hoxton you can view Lost, the artwork that has been left behind on the Tube at the KK Outlet until 30 June.

The Courtauld Gallery looks at the relationship between Toulouse-Lautrec and Jane Avril: Beyond the Moulin Rouge with pictures of the exotic dancer off-stage (until 18 September).

Also at the Royal Academy an exhibition dedicated to the birth of modern photography, featuring the work of five Hungarian artists who profoundly influenced the course of modern photography, until 2 October.

The Fine Art Society presents the Camden Town Group Centenary Exhibition until 14 July. The group was at the forefront of modern art in Britain in the years running up to the First World War and was named after the area where founder Walter Sickert lived and worked.

Four galleries have opened recently in the counties – commissioned before the current age of frugality.

In Margate there is the new Turner Contemporary, which hosts one-off shows, in West Yorkshire the Hepworth Wakefield is the largest new gallery in Britain since the Tate St Ives opened in 1993 and the Georgian Holbourne Museum of Art in Bath, something of a regional Wallace Collection, has been criticised for its use of green ceramic in the extension rather than the honey coloured Bath stone. The Watts Gallery, named after one of the giants of Victorian art, reopens in Compton, Surrey, after a major restoration with an exhibition on the artist’s links with the Tate.

62

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

NUSHIN ELAHI’S LONDON LETTER | BUSINESS ART

Captions:

The Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition Installation view of Gallery III The BP Portrait Award : Wim Heldens: Distracted, Wendy Elia’s I could have been a contender,, Louis Smith, Holly, Cumberland Just to feel normal Government Art Collection: Lowry , Jeff Koons Coloring Book, Peas are the new beans.

SA ART TIMES. July 2011

63

Exhibition and Book Launch

67 Public Art works and interventions...

“Finding Kaggen” A Contemporary Fine Art Exhibition

Earnest Cole Exhibition

Contemporary Fine Art Exhibition