CURATED BY FEDERICA ANGELUCCI 1 DECEMBER 2011 – 14 JANUARY 2012
CONTENTS
THE IMPOSSIBLE REALITY OF LOVE FEDERICA ANGELUCCI 5 10 SIMON GUSH 12 MESCHAC GABA 20 LYNETTE YIADOM-BOAKYE 30 VIVIANE SASSEN 34 DINEO SESHEE BOPAPE 42 ANTON KANNEMEYER 50 ZANELE MUHOLI
<> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> 60 FRANCIS AL타S <> 70 GLENN LIGON <>
NICHOLAS HLOBO 16 ZINA SARO-WIWA 28 WIM BOTHA 32 CLAUDETTE SCHREUDERS 38 ERNESTO NETO 48 PENNY SIOPIS 54 DEBORAH POYNTON 58 IGSHAAN ADAMS 66 PIETER HUGO 72 ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES 76
THE IMPOSSIBLE REALITY OF LOVE FEDERICA ANGELUCCI
In Raymond Carver’s short story What we talk about when we talk about love, two couples sit drinking and conversing. Soon, different opinions emerge as to what love is: according to the cardiologist, real love can only be spiritual love; his wife describes the abuses, threats and suicide of her former boyfriend as acts of love. The narrator maintains that love is never an absolute, while his wife of 18 months dwells on the ‘honeymoon feeling’ they still share. They toast to true love, but doubt lingers among the four characters as they become drunker and, we perceive, increasingly sad. From their conversations, the carnal impulse, day-to-day caring and sentimental love all seem to be manifestations of true love, yet eventually they pale or mutate. We leave the four in the dark, in silence so deep they can hear Installation view with Claudette Schreuders' Great Expectations and Dineo Seshee Bopape's love strung
their hearts beating. The question expressed in the title is unanswered.
4 <> 5
THE IMPOSSIBLE REALITY OF LOVE
Of all the mythologies and
search is about because of the many
traditional fables surrounding the origin
different meanings of love in different
of romantic love, the one narrated in
times: passion, tenderness, care, courtly
Plato’s Symposium is probably the most
love, social contract, sacrifice, friendship,
renowned. In the dialogue, the genesis
mystical rapture, parental love, elective
of the sentiment is traced back to an
affinities, attraction of opposites,
age in which humans were composed
domestic intimacy, words, silence.
of two people, with two faces and eight
The feeling has multiple
limbs. Zeus, jealous of their perfect
manifestations, but the question is
balance, divided them in half, mutilating
what constitutes its kernel. Would it
them. Since then, individuals have been
be possible to state that there is no
constantly striving to find their ‘other
such thing as love but only people
half’ and to recreate the wholeness of
who love? As each individual has his
the original creature. The power of Eros,
or her values and personal history, so
god of sensual love, resides in his capacity
each will love in a different way and will
to heal the mutilation and reconcile
colour the expressions of the sentiment
the separation through physical union;
with different incidental attributes.
however, an emotional connection seems
Furthermore, the object of desire, the
to be equally desired.
missing element on which fulfilment
The allegory suggests the existence of a being once made of our very essence, whose destiny is inextricably
depends, is also profoundly mutable and subjective. It might be more appropriate to talk
intertwined with ours. Popular culture’s
about subjects of desire than objects
idea of romantic love, manifest in movies
of desire because, ultimately, it is what
and songs, is derived from this myth.
the object evokes in the individual that
Often the excitement of the encounter is
matters and not its attributes per se.
described as a ‘fall’, a free flow of mutual
The object, whether another sentient
recognition and understanding so intense
being, an activity or a state of mind,
as to be almost intoxicating. Subsequently,
will be perceived according to the
the communion weakens; it might slowly
individual’s projection, as it is arduous,
fade into estrangement. In the final stage
if not impossible, to behold the other
of a relationship the partner is often
for what it is, with no prejudice. Thus,
unrecognisable: the saviour has turned
maybe, the sense of completion and
into a betrayer. A new search begins.
wholeness, the thread binding us to our
Each time, one wonders what the
Platonic other half, can be provided by
anyone or anything to which we attribute
in an email, ‘According to Lacan, “truth
the manifestation of pain controlled and
such a capacity.
has the structure of fiction”. This reveals
sober. In Sarogua Mourning, her head
the most beautiful characteristic of love:
shaved as a sign of withdrawal from the
hypothesis that the missing element we
that it is both impossible and yet very
world, the artist confronts the camera
so deeply desire can actually be found
real.’ Paradoxically, it is in rejecting the
with alternating waves of desperation
within; that every relationship, with
influence of illusion in our life that we
and meditative wailing; gradually
people and situations alike, is moulded
cling most tightly to the false idea of
laughter finds its way through the tears.
and shaped by the relationship we have
stable, endlessly perfect love: we are the
One wonders whether the choreography
with ourselves. If this is the case, to
first to fail ourselves.
of pain is a necessary phase of the
This perspective prompts the
interact fully and satisfactorily with the
The artists of What we talk about
cathartic process.
‘other’, one has to first acknowledge and
when we talk about love observe
interact fully with one’s self. The ancient
the ‘illusion’ from different angles,
duality and connectedness between
Greek aphorism ‘Know thyself’ could be
investigating some of the forms assumed
opposites. Nicholas Hlobo’s Sukundipha
interpreted in this sense. It was inscribed
by the search for wholeness and what lies
Intlenge (loosely translated as ‘Don’t give
on the forecourt of the temple of Apollo
beyond it.
me the “gunge”’) exposes the hidden,
at Delphi, one of the most powerful
The public dimension of love and
Several works explore themes of
unromantic side of relationships. We shy
oracles of antiquity, who would answer
its associated feelings has its rituals.
away from dull and humble endeavours in
pilgrims’ questions with ambiguous
Meschac Gaba canonised them as a
favour of glamour, excitement and climax.
statements that could be interpreted in
performance celebrating his wedding
Yet fullness cannot be experienced
various ways. This is perhaps a further
in a museum space as part of his
through smoothness only, and in Hlobo’s
indicator that the ‘key’ is not what lies
monumental work, the Museum of
diptych it is a watery underworld of
ahead, but how one responds to this. It is hazardous to state that love is just a fantasy; yet it is elusive, always needing a symbol through which it
IT IS HAZARDOUS TO STATE THAT LOVE IS JUST A FANTASY; YET IT IS ELUSIVE, ALWAYS NEEDING A SYMBOL THROUGH WHICH IT CAN BE EXPRESSED AND MADE TANGIBLE
can be expressed and made tangible. It would be easy to cynically dismiss it
Contemporary African Art. Eleven years
strange ribbon creatures that fertilises
as an illusion and in so doing miss its
later, the Marriage Room displays in
the pretty life above the ground. Ernesto
efficacy. Perhaps the illusion is part
detail the visual documentation, the
Neto distills the endless oscillation of
of the equation, and imagination and
objects and memories of the event. In
connected layers of the same feeling
projection are functioning necessities
her video performance, Zina Saro-Wiwa
into an abstracted sculpture, suggesting
of love. This assumption does not make
reflects on the maieutic quality of crying.
a sensual and tactile experience.
feelings or emotions less real, it simply
Professional mourners are familiar
Two spheres of semiprecious stones
acknowledges the fictional element
figures in many cultures, although
enveloped in silky and thick crochet
intrinsic to them. As Simon Gush put it
nowadays there is a tendency to keep
seem to orbit in synchronicity: they
6 <> 7
THE IMPOSSIBLE REALITY OF LOVE
are distant yet never fully apart. Glenn
precedent and textual sources in her
Ligon’s Studies for Negro Sunshine
disquieting paintings that perturb our
drawings are titled after an expression
ideas about family, nurturing and caritas,
used by Gertrude Stein in the short novel
suggesting interspecies filial relationships.
Melanctha. The novel’s balanced cyclical
Zanele Muholi asserts the right to same-
structure and obsessive repetitions
gender love and rejects the notion of
draw the reader through the internal
homosexuality as aberration. In text
torments and emotional tensions of the
paintings using her own menstrual blood,
protagonist, towards a dramatic climax.
she exposes the ostracism and hate
Much like Stein’s writing, the drawings
crimes inflicted on black lesbians. Anton
are both accessible and impenetrable:
Kannemeyer’s sharp irony takes aim at
their cyclical structure and obsessive
the aura of hypocrisy surrounding sex in
repetitions are a visual litany. The choice
the media and pop culture, while paying
of inclusion or exclusion, of a way out or a
homage to DH Lawrence. Conundrums'
way in, is left to the viewer.
pure domestic scenes seem unreal,
Some forms of love are less accepted
their perfection almost difficult to look
than others, vehemently debated or
at. His drawings depicting sex explicitly
utterly opposed. In the famous anecdote
and unapologetically are the artist’s
by Latin writer Valerius Maximus, a
provocative response to the reduction of
daughter breastfeeds her own mother
the erotic to artificial soft porn. The fantasy of love is often entertained in our minds long before
THIS DANGEROUS AND APPARENTLY MEANINGLESS TASK CAN BE SEEN AS THE PARADOX OF REACHING PEACE THROUGH CHAOS, AS A METAPHOR FOR THE PROCESS OF PASSING THROUGH THE STORMS OF OUR OWN PROJECTIONS TO REACH AN INNER STILLNESS
the actual experience; our likes and dislikes take shape influenced by fairy tales and songs, setting the tone for our relationship with what we will long for, or fear. Great Expectations by Claudette Schreuders embodies the passivity of
to save her from starvation; the author
the heroine waiting for her saviour. Yet
questions whether this should be
the sculpture’s eyes are alert, and her
considered an act against nature or
clenched fist contradicts the abandon of
one of great piety and filial love. The
the lying figure: the waiting is conscious
breastfeeding scene has touched the
rather than oblivious. Dineo Seshee
imagination of many writers and painters,
Bopape’s drawings evoke waves of
and Penny Siopis draws on art historical
swirling thoughts and feelings, ranging
through disparate emotions with their
paintings on exhibition. Only the red dress
at the roots of the life he leads, looking
dreamy narratives of love blooming and
and controlled sway of Clamour for a
incessantly for his true birth line: in so
disappearing from existence.
Grip hint at movement. The characters
doing he finds ruin according to human
are ghostly creatures that appear to
values, but is blessed by the gods. His
emerges in Pieter Hugo’s There’s a
own the key to themselves; the fact
daughter Antigone symbolically buries
Place in Hell for Me and My Friends. The
that they don’t exist casts doubt on the
her brother in obedience to unwritten
portraits of the artist’s close friends
possibility of transcending the dualities
laws, an act of piety which is necessary
are the antithesis of the airbrushed
of love. Floating above the turmoil of
only to her and will cost her her life.
images that determine the canons of
relationships, the naked figure of Deborah
Perhaps in Tornado Alÿs questions how
beauty in movies and magazines. The
Poynton’s Land of Cockaigne I seems to
we live, suggesting obstinate counter-
sitters’ appearance is heavily marked by
have chosen the isolation of the void.
ways: they might not necessarily be
blemishes and sun damage; as vanity is
The pose suggests she is turning away
acknowledged, nor bring us to the centre
mortified a more unique attractiveness
from the world, drowning in the fabric, in
of the storm, but as few things are more
emanates from the faces. Viviane
a silence disallowing of residual echoes.
mutable and unstable than love, breaking
Sassen’s sophisticated photographs of
While Poynton’s painting offers no way
the mould that holds our beliefs can bring
faceless figures, on the other hand, erase
out, the spiritual search for wholeness is
us to interesting new places.
the individuality of their subjects. They
the theme touched on by Igshaan Adams.
could be a couple but look away from
I Am You is a circular maze of fabric
love letter) proposes an intervention in
each other, their features in deep shadow.
veils; the multiple layers do not isolate
the relationship between the curator and
The other is a simulacrum of the self, a
the viewer who enters but gently set him
the artworks in the exhibition space. In
blank canvas onto which we can project
apart, offering a symbolic path towards
this catalogue such engagement is made
our own desires. A perturbing beauty is
the search for an inner light.
tangible in the list of contents and the flow
The question of what is desirable
Finally Simon Gush’s Instructions (a
embodied in Wim Botha’s Fuse. Carved
In Tornado, Francis Alÿs is filmed
from one artist to the next. The choice of
from common construction timber, the
(and films himself) repeatedly attempting
whether to follow the pairings or find an
bust has no pretensions of refinement
to run towards the peaceful eye of the
alternative path to wander through the
or nobility, yet copper-chromium-arsenic
storm. This dangerous and apparently
matters of love is left up to you.
treated wood is enduring even in adverse
meaningless task can be seen as the
conditions. Unified and fragmented, the
paradox of reaching peace through
passionate embrace is at once stark
chaos, as a metaphor for the process
and sensuous, tender and destructive,
of passing through the storms of our
consuming and enduring.
own projections to reach an inner
At the other end of the spectrum of
stillness. There is also a tragic quality to
passions, the Olympian calm of Lynette
this enterprise: as in Greek mythology,
Yiadom-Boakye’s enigmatic subjects is
things are never what they seem.
palpable in the muted palette of the five
Oedipus insists on uncovering what lies
8 <> 9
Re: Instructions (a love letter)
SIMON GUSH
From: Federica Angelucci To: Simon Gush Dear Simon
Instructions (a love letter) 2011 Intervention
When entrusted with your instructions I began to list the characteristics of the artworks, looking for those conceptual elements that could be compatible, in affinity or disparity. As any experienced matchmaker would know though, the real success of a couple often has very little to do with the attributes of its members. It became clear to me that the strongest bonding element is disguised in the qualities that provoke attraction and interaction, and ultimately is independent from them. The bond resides in the willingness of the parties to be a couple, while keeping their respective individualities. The initial connection is powerless if not followed by a mutual decision. Human beings decide to share an emotional space; the works have been paired according to their willingness to share a physical one, or to point at an adjacent room where the discourse could take a different direction. It is the shared space that stands for love and makes it tangible: it is an analogue of love. Federica
InstructIons (a love letter) From: Simon Gush To: Federica Angelucci 1. All the artworks must be hung in pairs. 2. Artworks need not be hung on the same wall or even in the same room, especially in the case of video projections, but must be easily read as situated in direct relation to their counterpart. 3. All artworks must be partnered with other artworks; however, the following exceptions may be permitted: a) The artwork resists pairing with another artwork and rather is drawn towards pairing with a context, space, concept or ‘non-artwork’ (book, furniture, etc). b) An artwork demands to hang on its own by its concept. This should be avoided as much as possible. c) There is an odd number of artworks in the exhibition, in which case an artwork’s pairing may be resolved as suggested in a or b. 4. Series may be treated as singular or individual artworks – this decision must be made based on the way in which the artwork is best read. 5. No work may be paired with another work by the same artist. 6. Pairings should be conceptual rather than thematic, and never formal.
10 <> 11
Inventory
MESCHAC GABA
- stone sculpture of kissing couple, heart Wedding dress Wedding shoes Wedding pictures
Marriage Room From the Museum of Contemporary African Art 2000-9 Installation (see inventory) Dimensions variable
shaped - ceramic salt and pepper shakers in shape of crocodiles
- in gold frames: 16
- small jug
- in silver frames: 9
- cups, white outside, gold inside: 2
- in wooden frames: 15
- cigar boxes with souvenirs from India: 2
White guest book
- metal treasure chest with hippo piggy
Golden purse
bank inside
Black bag with wedding rings
- large glass with stand: 2
Wedding document
- empty bottle of ‘Bruidstranen’
Gifts
- plastic bouquet
- big pot with card signs
- nest with stone egg
- mirror/silver-coloured vase
- small wooden square
- golden vase
- ‘Homeless Megastore: emballé par JB
- straw bowls: 2
Koeman’
- grey vase with two ears
- book: Love
- metal strainers: 2
- frame with text by Picasso and picture of
- box of cutlery
chessboard
- wooden sculpture of kissing couple
- book with small paper planes
- plastic bag with card attached
- picture of stairway on wooden board
- mobile phone
- painting with geometric forms on
- small blue glitter purse, with two hacky sacks
wooden board - LP: ‘Ja, ik wil’
- present wrapped in gold paper
- painting of steam boat in silver frame
- card with picture of Alexandra as a
- CD by Oliver Mtukudzi
bridesmaid
- card game: ‘Happy Families’
- Keith Haring china cups and saucers: 4
Photos of wedding gifts on Plexiglas: 2
- old pottery from Africa: 3 pieces
Caricatures of Alexandra and Meschac: 1
- leather string with stoneware
each
- ‘Ja/Nee’ metal plates: 2
Abstract painting on paper
- small sculpture of Buddha and child
Picture of a frog made with fabric by
hugging - cork from champagne bottle
NICHOLAS HLOBO >
- jar of honey
Remy Jungermann DVD with fragments from the wedding
MESCHAC GABA
NICHOLAS HLOBO
No city is more inclined than Eusapia
else has access to the Eusapia of the dead
to enjoy life and flee care. And to make
and everything known about it has been
the leap from life to death less abrupt,
learned from them.
the inhabitants have constructed an
Sukundipha Intlenge 2011 Diptych, ribbon on tea-stained paper 75 x 105cm each
They say that the same confraternity
identical copy of their city, underground.
exists among the dead and that it never
All corpses, dried in such a way that the
fails to lend a hand; the hooded brothers,
skeleton remains sheathed in yellow skin,
after death, will perform the same job
are carried down there, to continue their
in the other Eusapia; rumour has it that
former activities. And, of these activities,
some of them are already dead but
it is their carefree moments that take
continue going up and down. In any
first place: most of the corpses are seated
case, this confraternity’s authority in the
around laden tables, or placed in dancing
Eusapia of the living is vast.
positions, or made to play little trumpets.
They say that every time they go
But all the trades and professions of the
below they find something changed in the
living Eusapia are also at work below
lower Eusapia; the dead make innovations
ground, or at least those that the living
in their city; not many, but surely the
performed with more contentment than
fruit of sober reflection, not passing
irritation: the clockmaker, amid all the
whims. From one year to the next, they
stopped clocks of his shop, places his
say, the Eusapia of the dead becomes
parchment ear against an out-of-tune
unrecognizable. And the living, to keep
grandfather’s clock; a barber, with dry
up with them, also want to do everything
brush, lathers the cheekbones of an actor
that the hooded brothers tell them about
learning his role, studying the script with
the novelties of the dead. So the Eusapia
hollow sockets; a girl with a laughing skull
of the living has taken to copying its
milks the carcass of a heifer.
underground copy.
To be sure, many of the living want a
They say that this has not just now
fate after death different from their lot
begun to happen: actually it was the
in life: the necropolis is crowded with big-
dead who built the upper Eusapia, in the
game hunters, mezzo-sopranos, bankers,
image of their city. They say that in the
violinists, duchesses, courtesans, generals
twin cities there is no longer any way of
– more than the living city ever contained.
knowing who is alive and who is dead.
The job of accompanying the dead down below and arranging them in the desired place is assigned to a confraternity of hooded brothers. No one
< MESCHAC GABA
Italo Calvino, ‘Cities and the Dead 3’, from Invisible Cities (1972)
NICHOLAS HLOBO
18 <> 19
A Voice in the Morning
LYNETTE YIADOM-BOAKYE
would get on the bus to his workplace in the city. The tube was quicker, but the bus
Carter Blackwell had little time for airs
ride allowed him to sit and read through
and graces, politeness, love, good nature
his itinerary, make notes in his diary
or sentimentality.
and, if there was time, read through the financial newspapers.
Much in Keeping 2011 Oil on canvas 70 x 60cm p23 Wishes Above Needs 2011 Oil on canvas 80.5 x 65.5cm p25 8pm Zaragoza 2011 Oil on canvas 200 x 120cm p26 Clamour for a Grip 2011 Oil on canvas 200 x 180cm p27 The Reason For 2011 Oil on canvas 30.5 x 25.5cm
He had little time for his wife or her laughable quest for self-fulfillment
It was on such a morning, a foggy grey
through pottery, drama, interpretive dance
day in November, that Carter Blackwell
or any of the other similarly pointless
bustled, shoved and pushed his way onto
activities with which she busied herself at
the bus and slipped into the last available
his expense.
seat, just ahead of a young man with a
He had no time for his mistress either,
limp who looked utterly defeated and
who berated him regularly for his failure
sank back against the window, steadying
to find time for her.
himself on the handrail.
Carter Blackwell had an incredibly
Carter Blackwell was very pleased with
busy and important job which involved
himself, and took out his diary and
wearing an excellent suit, attending
papers to read, apparently unaware of
many meetings, conferences and
a visibly pregnant girl and an extremely
seminars and travelling to foreign cities
old woman, neither of whom had a seat.
to talk very seriously with equally busy
The young man with the limp was busy
and important people.
trying to stay vertical. So engrossed was
However, nobody who knew Carter
Carter Blackwell with his papers that
Blackwell could actually tell you exactly
he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t notice the woman next to him
what he did for a living.
offer her seat to the pregnant girl who
And it is unlikely that he could either.
perched on it immediately. Neither did
But he made a lot of money doing it,
he see the boy in front of him stand
which somewhat removed the necessity to describe or define his occupation.
and give his seat to the old lady. The bus rolled and jolted onwards.
Courtesy of the artist and Corvi-Mora, London
ZINA SARO-WIWA >
Every morning, Carter Blackwell left his
Carter Blackwell sighed as he looked
Kensington home, his wife safely occupied
through his packed schedule. Such a busy
for the day with painting, tai chi, bird-
day ahead. The boy with the bad leg took a
watching or some such nonsense. He
novel out of his satchel and began to read.
Carter Blackwell made copious notes in readiness for a board meeting later that day. The bearded man sat next to him very nearly tripped over Carter’s briefcase as he got up to leave the bus. The man apologised to Carter, as the English always do when they are clearly not at fault, and Carter glanced up momentarily from his papers in irritation. Carter Blackwell let out a loud and hearty guffaw at the cartoon in the financial pages of his newspaper. The old lady in front of him jumped with fright and turned to find the source of the noise. Carter Blackwell did not look up at her. The boy with the bad leg alighted from the bus at the next stop. The driver had to wait a good thirty seconds for him, but did so patiently and the boy turned and whimpered a warm ’thank you‘ from the pavement. The passengers watched him hobble along, their eyes filled with sympathy and concern. Still, Carter Blackwell did not look up. Invisible rays of hatred, resentment and irritation flooded towards the oblivious Carter Blackwell from every passenger around him. But nobody said anything. For this was London, after all, where the greater the travesty, the louder the silence. So when the bus pulled up close to Carter Blackwell’s office and he, having gathered
20 <> 21
LYNETTE YIADOM-BOAKYE
his papers and made his way to the door,
trying very hard not to draw attention
don’t you find?’ The man’s footsteps were
felt hot breath on the back of his neck
to himself, the butt of the pistol never
as crisp and elegant as his voice. Most
and something rather like the end of a
shifting from its position in the small
likely Oxford brogues with leather soles.
stick poking into the small of his back, he
of his back. He could feel someone
He took in the cold morning air noisily
thought little of it.
behind him, smell a familiar and
through his nostrils breathing out through
At first.
expensive cologne, but he didn’t dare
his mouth. Carter Blackwell felt the warm
It was only when he heard a man’s
turn around to face his tormentor. He
breath hit the back of his neck.
voice say, ‘If you turn around, speak, or
felt sure that someone would soon
draw any kind of attention to yourself,
see what was happening and call the
then I will be obliged to kill you,’ that
police. They crossed the busy junction
Carter Blackwell realised that something
next to Waterloo Bridge, onto Aldwych
was amiss. The voice was posh, clipped
and carried on up to Fleet Street in the
and icy.
direction of St Paul’s Cathedral.
‘What the...’ he began to splutter as
They passed dozens of people:
‘Y...yes, quite... who are you?’ he whispered. ‘Oh, just a concerned citizen,’ the voice replied. At that point, a barrister rushed past them with his briefcase. Of course,
he felt himself being pushed onto the
commuters, tourists, three nuns, a jogger
thought Carter, the Royal Courts of
pavement. The other passengers got off
and a troupe of schoolchildren with their
Justice two minutes ahead of them! There
around him and disappeared into the city
teacher. He stared at them all imploringly
were always police and guards outside. It
fog. Nobody seemed to have noticed what
but none reacted. The teacher even
was their job to protect him, they couldn’t
was happening.
smiled at him, seemingly unperturbed
turn a blind eye like everyone else. He felt
at having just walked her charges past a
suddenly relieved. He would be rescued
around,’ said the voice with a coldness
gun-toting madman. There was something
presently. He just had to keep this lunatic
that made Carter Blackwell turn rigid and
wrong with Londoners, thought Carter.
happy for a few more steps and then it
break out in a sweat. He was terrified.
People here would sooner watch you get
would all be over.
Instinctively, he put his hands up. ‘What
killed like a dog in the street than risk the
do you want with me? Take my wallet, it’s
embarrassment of social interaction. He
in my pocket here...’
didn’t expect heroics, he himself certainly
‘I’m very serious sir, do not turn
‘I suppose you’re wondering why I’m doing this,’ said the voice. ‘The thought had crossed my mind,
‘I said do not draw attention to
wouldn’t challenge a gunman to save a
yourself, you may put your hands down,
stranger (or his wife for that matter) but
this is most definitely not a stick-up.
just to alert the police would be enough.
of Economics. A young Indian woman
Although I am prepared to kill you, should
The man behind him was whistling Blue
rushed inside, her arms laden with books
you happen to necessitate such drastic
Monk as calmly as though they were two
and folders. She didn’t look at him.
action. Walk a while with me, Mr Blackwell.
lovers taking a stroll.
It is a lovely morning.’ Carter Blackwell began to walk stiffly,
yes.’ Carter Blackwell’s voice was shaky. They passed the London School
‘Your conduct on the bus really was most ungentlemanly,’ the voice said
‘I simply adore these brisk winter
softly. ‘I felt that I simply had to discuss it
mornings,’ said the voice. ‘Invigorating,
with you.’
‘My conduct? What do you...’ Carter Blackwell trailed off as a bus thundered by. They had reached the courthouse. There were two policemen standing sentry by the entrance. Carter Blackwell looked over at them with an expression of sheer desperation. He winked. They looked at him strangely, muttered a few words between them, looked at him again and laughed. They didn’t move. This was it, thought Carter, England had finally gone mad. If he got out of this alive he would leave, move to a village in southern Italy or Spain, where everybody knew everybody, where people still helped one another. ‘My darling Carter, there really is no point in trying to alert them. They can’t help you because they can’t see me. Just as you couldn’t help that poor boy with the bad leg.’ Carter Blackwell was flummoxed. ‘Can’t see you? … Boy with the bad leg? And how do you know my name?’ The voice went on, ‘Or the old lady, or the pregnant girl...’ Carter Blackwell had no recollection of these people and no idea what he was supposed to have done to them. ‘You could have offered one of them your seat. It would have been the correct way to behave.’ Carter Blackwell could hear the gun being cocked, ready to shoot.
22 <> 23
LYNETTE YIADOM-BOAKYE
‘Please, you can’t kill me for not giving up my seat on the bus, that’s absurd!’ ‘You think that I am being absurd? You find me ridiculous?’ ‘N…no! I didn’t say that, I simply meant…’ ‘I assure you, my dear Mr Blackwell,
‘Not to me! To your victims. The boy
one there in the first place. But that was
with the limp, the expectant mother and
impossible since Carter had heard him.
the old lady.’
Even though no one else had. Carter felt
‘But I won’t ever see them again. And how do you expect me to find them?’ ‘They get the bus with you every day!
too exhausted to ponder the impossibility of this in any depth but resolved not to go to the police.
You have simply never condescended to
that there is nothing absurd in the
notice them. They will be there tomorrow.
And, as promised, when he got on the bus
expectation of common courtesy from
As will I, to ensure that you do say sorry.
the following day, Carter Blackwell made a
others.’
Or else we will need to walk together
simpering and very public apology to the
again tomorrow morning. And as much
boy with the limp, the pregnant girl and
‘surely you can appreciate that it might be
as I’ve enjoyed speaking with you today, I
the old lady. They were all very confused
seen as something of an overreaction to
might not be so understanding then. Do I
by this but accepted it graciously anyway.
execute me for not giving up my seat on
make myself clear?’
Following his announcement, he looked
‘With all due respect,’ Carter trembled,
the bus!’ ‘I’m sure that your victims would disagree. And I happen to believe that
‘Absolutely, it won’t happen again,
about furtively, checking all of the other
really! Just please let me go, I’ll say sorry
passengers’ faces for some sign, reaction
tomorrow, you’ll see!’
or clue from his would-be murderer.
politeness is of the utmost importance.
Carter Blackwell blustered tearfully.
Society would collapse if everyone were
Suddenly he could no longer feel
distracted, reading, chatting, knitting or
like you. I only want to help.’
But everyone was somehow
anything poking him in the back. He was
just staring blankly out of the window or
‘By murdering me in broad daylight?’
stood across the road from the cathedral.
into the middle distance. No smiles or
A black priest in a dark blue overcoat
Very slowly he turned to check his
grimaces were directed at him. After a
looked at him, shook his head in pity and
reflection in an adjacent shop window. He
slow progress through to the city, Carter
hurried past them. What was wrong with
was relieved to find himself completely,
Blackwell alighted at Aldwych and went
everyone? Couldn’t they see that he was
blissfully alone. Carter Blackwell fell to his
about his way through the grey fog,
pleading for his life?
knees and gave thanks to God for his life.
hardly a changed man but certainly a
Passers-by glanced at him, tutted, shook
more wary one.
‘Murder is such a strong word, an ugly word,’ said the voice. They were now at the end of Fleet
their heads in pity and kept walking. It takes rather a lot to shock the good
Street. Carter could see St Paul’s in the
people of London. Carter looked about
distance. He had no religion but prayed
him wondering where his attacker had
anyway.
gone. But there was no sign of anyone
‘In any case I don’t have to kill you. Just apologise.’ ‘I’m so sorry, really, I didn’t mean to...’
running off or acting at all suspiciously. The man had simply disappeared into thin air. It was almost as if there had been no
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye
24 <> 25
LYNETTE YIADOM-BOAKYE
26 <> 27
i have to talk.
ZINA SARO-WIWA
it’s about the idea of hanging on to pain. sometimes i think when i get upset about some guy or whatever, it’s because i am trying to hang on to a kind of pain.
Sarogua Mourning 2011 Digital video, 11 min 37 sec, colour, sound Edition of 3
and that’s what i’ve been looking for… i’m looking for pain. so i look for these guys that are in pain or that cause me pain. my emotional juices need something to masticate on, you know? and release themselves on. because the other stuff’s too hard. the other stuff is never-ending. so you’re actually seeking catharsis, small arcs through these guys who you will get over. but your family member dying you might not get over. so you need something smaller to work through it and joy is hard you know? letting go and releasing is really hard. and having nothing, especially if you’re used to pain, is really hard. that’s what this session is teaching me… how to have joy. Zina Saro-Wiwa
< LYNETTE YIADOM-BOAKYE
VIVIANE SASSEN
Weru Weru and Kinee 2011 C-prints Diptych, 80 x 65cm each Edition of 5 + 2AP
Paul: … The aura about this book [JD
take us into the real world. I believe the
Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye] – which
imagination is merely another phrase
perhaps should be read by everyone
for what is most uniquely us. Jung says,
but young men – is this. It mirrors like
‘The greatest sin is to be unconscious.’
a funhouse mirror and amplifies like
Holden says, ‘What scares me most is the
a distorted speaker one of the great
other guy’s face. It wouldn’t be so bad
tragedies our time: the death of the
if you both could be blindfolded.’ Most
imagination. Because what else is
of the time the faces that we face are
paralysis? The imagination has been
not the other guy’s but our own faces.
so debased that imagination, being
And it is the worst kind of yellowness to
imaginative rather than being the
be so scared of yourself that you would
lynchpin of our existence, now stands
put blindfolds on rather than deal with
for a synonym for something outside
yourself. To face ourselves, that’s the
ourselves. Like science fiction or some
hard thing. The imagination, that’s God’s
new use for tangerine slices on raw pork
gift: to make the act of self-examination
chops. What an imaginative summer
bearable.
recipe! And Star Wars, so imaginative! And Star Trek, so imaginative! And Lord of the Rings, all those dwarves, so imaginative! The imagination has moved out of the realm of being our link, I mean our most personal link, with our inner lives. The world outside that world, this world we share. What is schizophrenia but a horrifying state where what’s in here doesn’t match up with what’s out there? Why has imagination become a synonym for style? I believe the imagination is the passport that we create to help
WIM BOTHA >
From the play Six Degrees of Separation by John Guare, 1990
30 <> 31
WIM BOTHA
Fuse 2011 Burnt CCA-treated pine, wood, lacquer 204 x 61 x 54cm
< VIVIANE SASSEN
DINEO SESHEE BOPAPE love strung 2008-11 Installation of 110 drawings, mixed media on paper Dimensions variable
CLAUDETTE SCHREUDERS >
DINEO SESHEE BOPAPE
CLAUDETTE SCHREUDERS Great Expectations 2011 Jelutong, enamel and oil 28 x 46 x 125cm
As a young girl I liked to think about my own future love. Before I fell asleep I liked to position myself on my pillow just so, as I imagined Sleeping Beauty lay, and I would look most attractive when he finally appeared. Pip, a film version of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, was the first ‘grown-up’ movie I was allowed to watch as a child. I never saw the movie again but I still remember vividly the image of old Miss Havisham rotting away in her wedding dress, waiting for her betrothed who never appeared. Claudette Schreuders
< DINEO SESHEE BOPAPE
38 <> 39
CLAUDETTE SCHREUDERS
40 <> 41
ANTON KANNEMEYER Immoral Man 2011 Black ink and acrylic on paper 20 x 29cm p44-45 Conundrums by DH Lawrence 2011 Black ink and acrylic on paper Diptych, 68 x 50cm each p46 Beware! Oh My Dear Young Men 2009 Black ink and acrylic on paper 22 x 29cm ‘Gross, Coarse, Hideous’ 2009 Black ink and acrylic on paper 22 x 29cm p47 I Will Enjoy My Heart with No One 2003 Black ink and acrylic on paper 29 x 20cm The Risen Lord 2011 Black ink and acrylic on paper 29 x 20cm
ERNESTO NETO >
‘Sex isn’t sin, ah no! sex isn’t sin, nor is it dirty, not until the dirty mind pokes in.’ DH Lawrence, Sex Isn’t Sin
42 <> 43
ANTON KANNEMEYER
44 <> 45
ANTON KANNEMEYER
46 <> 47
ERNESTO NETO
Untitled 2011 Crochet, sodalite ball and dolomite ball 20 x 70 x 40cm Courtesy of the artist and Galeria Fortes Vilaça, São Paulo
Quantum mechanics implies that the
falling into the black hole can be
whole of space is filled with pairs of
regarded as a particle coming out of
‘virtual’ particles and antiparticles that
the black hole but travelling backward
are constantly materializing in pairs,
in time. When the particle reaches the
separating and then coming together
point at which the particle-antiparticle
again and annihilating each other. These
pair originally materialized, it is scattered
particles are called virtual because, unlike
by the gravitational field so that it travels
‘real’ particles, they cannot be observed
forward in time. Quantum mechanics has
directly with a particle detector. Their
therefore allowed a particle to escape
indirect effects can nonetheless be
from inside a black hole, something that
measured and their existence has been
is not allowed in classical mechanics.
confirmed by a small shift (the ‘Lamb
There are, however, many other
shift’) they produce in the spectrum
situations in atomic and nuclear physics
of light from excited hydrogen atoms.
where there is some kind of barrier that
Now, in the presence of a black hole one
particles should not be able to penetrate
member of a pair of virtual particles
on classical principles but that they are
may fall into the hole, leaving the other
able to tunnel through on quantum-
member without a partner with which
mechanical principles.
to annihilate. The forsaken particle or antiparticle may fall into the black hole after its partner, but it may also escape to infinity, where it appears to be radiation emitted by the black hole. Another way of looking at the process is to regard the member of the pair of particles that falls into the black hole – the antiparticle, say – as being really a particle that is travelling backward in time. Thus the antiparticle
< ANTON KANNEMEYER
Stephen W Hawking, ‘The quantum mechanics of black holes’, Scientific American Vol 236, No 1 (January 1977), 34-40.
48 <> 49
ZANELE MUHOLI
No Title III 2011 Blood on fabric 220 x 119 cm
I sat with no direction, like a cow stuck
p52 No Title II 2011 Blood on fabric 137 x 120.5cm
hairy legs and waited for the bloed clot
in the middle of the road. Then I realised, I am bleeding. Took the piece of white paper, opened my to drop. I shot the damn thing. My menstrual blood is used as a medium
p53 No Title I 2011 Blood on fabric 142.5 x 124cm
to begin to bridge what I feel as I become witness to the pain of rape experienced by many of the girls and women in my black lesbian community. We bleed from our vaginas and our minds. Zanele Muholi
PENNY SIOPIS >
50 <> 51
ZANELE MUHOLI
52 <> 53
PENNY SIOPIS
Memorable Acts of Piety 2011 Ink and glue on canvas 61 x 50.5cm p56 How Do I Love Thee? 2011 Ink and glue on canvas 200 x 125cm p57 Let Me Count the Ways 2011 Ink and glue on canvas 200 x 125cm
4.7. […] A freeborn woman appeared
4.ext.1. The same consideration should
before the praetor’s court and was found
apply to the dutiful actions of Pero. Her
guilty of a capital offense. The praetor
father, Mycon, when he was a very old
handed her over to the prison manager
man, suffered the same misfortune and
to be jailed and executed. When she
was likewise sent to jail. Pero took his
arrived there, the man in charge of the
head to her breast and nursed him, as if
prison was moved by pity for her and did
he were a baby. When people look at a
not strangle her immediately. He also
painting of this deed, they are amazed
allowed her daughter to visit her, but
and cannot take their eyes away. As they
the daughter was carefully searched to
admire the representation in front of
make sure she was not bringing any food
them, the reality of what happened so
with her. He imagined that his prisoner
long ago is brought back to life. In the
would eventually die of starvation. When
silent depiction of those human forms,
several days went by, however, he started
they believe they can see living and
to wonder how it was that the mother
breathing bodies. But the human mind
was surviving for so long. He observed
will inevitably have the same experience
the daughter more carefully, and he
if the even more effective art of painting
realized that she was taking out her
in words stimulates it to visualize such
breast and lessening the pangs of her
ancient deeds as if they had just occurred.
mother’s hunger with her own milk. He was amazed at this strange spectacle, so he reported it to the prison manager, the prison manager reported it to the praetor,
Valerius Maximus: Memorable Doings and Sayings, Vol I Books 1-5, trans DR Shackleton Bailey (Loeb Classical Library)
the praetor reported it to the committee of jurymen, and her sentence was
< ZANELE MUHOLI
commuted. Where does the sense of duty
In 1988 the Utne Reader published
not penetrate? What does it not think
Rosalind Soloman’s photograph of a
up? Even in jail, it invented a novel way of
Peruvian woman, Catalin Valentin, breast-
saving a mother’s life. What could be so
feeding a lamb. This photograph provoked
extraordinary, what could be so unheard
an extreme response from the readership.
of, as the tale of a mother being breast-
Some saw an image of peace, nurturance,
fed by her own daughter? Someone
and harmony between species. Others
might think that this action was against
found the picture shocking, even
the laws of nature; but in fact, to honour
grotesque, a gross and indecent violation
one’s parents is the greatest law of nature.
of a natural boundary between species.
One woman saw perversion: ‘The photo mimics the innocent gesture of the mother/child images of our traditions yet it presents the perverted usage of a woman’s body to feed the appetites of an animal.’ Others felt it was an ‘exquisitely tender photo,’ a ‘beautiful image – lyrical, erotic, peaceful’ and ‘nothing short of “real-world” holy’. Brian Luke, Brutal: Manhood and the Exploitation of Animals (Urbana and Chicago, University of Illinois Press, 2007), 27.
54 <> 55
PENNY SIOPIS
56 <> 57
DEBORAH POYNTON Land of Cockaigne I 2011 Oil on canvas 200 x 250cm
‘A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.’ WH Davies, Leisure, 1911
I want to fold myself up in paintings and not think or even feel. I was entranced by François Boucher’s paintings when I saw them earlier this year in Paris, so I have used one of his favourite poses. His paintings are sensual worlds to be savoured. Shallowness, surface loveliness and perfection in painting ease my mind. The subject doesn’t matter, as long as it can deliver this sense of relief: the chatter of anxiety in my head is calmed, and my eyes have time to stare. Deborah Poynton
58 <> 59
FRANCIS AL타S
p62-63 Tornado In collaboration with Julien Devaux 2000-2010 Single-channel video projection, 39 min, colour, surround sound Courtesy of David Zwirner, New York p64-65 Untitled 2005-2011 Series of 8 drawings, oil, pencil on tracing paper 37.5 x 31cm each, framed Courtesy of Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich
IGSHAAN ADAMS >
The Meaning of Things is Never Stable
Deception
Anything Can Mean Anything
Defection Deflagration
Abandon
Destabilization
Absorption
Destruction
Absurd
Disarray
Accident
Disarticulation
Action
Disgrace
Aleatory
Disintegration
Anarchy
Disorder
Anger
Dispersal
Anomie
Disruption
Apathy
Dissemination
Arbitrary
Distortion
Atrophy
Ecstasy
Attraction
Elements
Attrition
Enlightenment
Barrage
Entropy
Calmness
Equation
Catastrophe
Erosion
Catharsis
Excess
Chance
Explosion
Chaos
Failure
Coincidence
Fear
Collapse
Fermentation
Compulsion
Fission
Confusion
Flux
Constriction
Fluxus
Contagion
Friction
Contention
Frustration
Contingency
Fusion
Control
Grace
Corruption
Harmony
Counter Information
Hemorrhage
Crisis
Impasse
Implosion
Senselessness
Indeterminate
Silence
Inertia
Simulacrum
Intelligence
Simultaneity
Intolerance
Spectacle
Laughter
Stagnation
Lethargy
Stasis
Loss
Strategy
Marasmus
Sublime
Mediation
Suspension
Mimesis
Symbiosis
Negotiation
Tactics
Noise
Terror
Norm
Time
Order
Tolerance
Outburst
Torpor
Pathos
Transformation
Pause
Transgression
Power
Trauma
Pretense
Truce
Procrastination
Turbulence
Quiescence
Turmoil
Random
Uncertainty
Reaction
Uncontrolled
Rebellion
Violence
Recovery
Wrath
Representation Repulsion
In a given situation
Resilience Resistance Reversion
Francis Al每s, In a Given Situation (S茫o Paulo: Cosac Naify, 2010)
Revolution Ridicule Sabotage Sclerosis
60 <> 61
FRANCIS AL타S
FRANCIS AL타S
64 <> 65
IGSHAAN ADAMS
p67, 69 I Am You 2011 Fabric, wood, metal hooks, light, crochet pillow 300 x 350 x 350cm p68 I Am You 2011 Bronze 13 x 14 x 13cm Edition of 5 + 2 AP
< FRANCIS AL타S
IGSHAAN ADAMS
GLENN LIGON
Study for Negro Sunshine II #26 2011 Oil stick and gesso on paper 24 x 19cm Courtesy of the artist and Regen Projects, Los Angeles
Melanctha Herbert had not yet been
Melanctha Herbert had not loved herself
really married.
in her childhood.
…
…
Melanctha Herbert was a graceful, pale
Melanctha Herbert had always had a
yellow, intelligent, attractive negress.
break neck courage.
…
…
Melanctha Herbert had not come yet
Melanctha all her life was very keen in her
to know how to use religion. Still too
sense for real experience.
complex with desire.
…
…
Melanctha always loved and wanted peace
Melanctha had not found it easy with
and gentleness and goodness and all her
herself to make her wants and what she
life for herself poor Melanctha could only
had, agree.
find new ways to be in trouble.
Melanctha Herbert was always losing
…
what she had in wanting all the things
Melanctha Herbert had always been old
she saw. Melanctha was always being left
in all her ways and she knew very early
when she was not leaving others.
how to use her power as a woman, and
Melanctha Herbert always loved too
yet Melanctha with all her inborn intense
hard and much too often. She was always
wisdom was really very ignorant of evil.
full with mystery and subtle movements
…
and denials and vague distrust and
Melanctha had a strong respect for any
complicated disillusions. Then Melanctha
kind of successful power.
would be sudden and impulsive and
…
unbounded in some faith, and then
Melanctha Herbert wanted very much to
she would suffer and be strong in her
know and yet she feared the knowledge.
repression. Melanctha Herbert was always seeking rest and quiet, and always she could only find new ways to be in trouble. Melanctha wondered often how it was she did not kill herself when she was so blue. Often she thought this would be really the best way for her to do. …
PIETER HUGO >
Gertrude Stein, Melanctha, from Three Lives (New York: Penguin, 1990)
70 <> 71
There is a place
PIETER HUGO
Reserved For me and my friends And when we go We all will go So you see
There’s a Place in Hell for Me and My Friends 2011 Series of prints, archival pigment ink on semi-matte fibre paper Paper size 56 x 47cm Image size 46 x 37cm Editions of 5 + 2 AP
I’m never alone There is a place With a bit more time And a few more Gentler words And looking back We will forgive (We had no choice We always did) All that we hope Is when we go Our skin And our blood And our bones Don’t get in your way Making you ill The way they did When we lived Oh, there is a place A place in hell Reserved For me and my friends And if ever I Just wanted to cry Then I will Because I can Morrissey, There’s a Place in Hell for Me and My Friends, from the album 'Kill Uncle', 1991
< GLENN LIGON
Ashleigh McLean, Cape Town, 2011 David Scholtz, Cape Town, 2011
Themba Tshabalala, Cape Town, 2011 Oliver Kruger, Cape Town, 2011
Federica Angelucci, Cape Town, 2011 Rob van Vuuren, Cape Town, 2011
72 <> 73
PIETER HUGO
Sarah Raymond, Cape Town, 2011 Carl Wessels, Cape Town, 2011
Yasser Booley, Cape Town, 2011 Ulrica Knutsdotter, Cape Town, 2011
Matthew Blackman, Cape Town, 2011 Pieter Hugo, Cape Town, 2011
Stacy Hardy, Cape Town, 2011 John Day, Cape Town, 2011
Tamsyn Reynolds, Cape Town, 2011 Toby Newsome, Cape Town, 2011
74 <> 75
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
IGSHAAN ADAMS (born 1982 in Bonteheuwel,
Ateliers in Amsterdam and in 2010
Cape Town) graduated from the Ruth
completed an MFA at Columbia University,
Prowse School of Art and is a resident
New York. She was the winner of the 2008
artist at Greatmore Studios in Cape Town.
MTN New Contemporaries Award, and the
He was included on Greatest Hits of 2009
recipient of a 2010 Columbia University
at the Association for Visual Arts (AVA),
Toby Fund Award. She held solo exhibitions
Cape Town, and held his first solo show
at Stevenson, Johannesburg and Cape
at the AVA in 2010. He showed in the side
Town, in 2011 and 2010. Recent group
gallery at Stevenson, Cape Town, in 2011
shows include Act IX: Let Us Compare
and took part in the Infecting the City
Mythologies at Witte de With, Rotterdam
public arts festival. Group shows include
(2010); Rebelle: Art and Feminism 1969-
Swallow My Pride at blank projects, Cape
2009, Moderne Kunst Museum Arnhem,
Town (2010).
the Netherlands (2009); and The Generational: Younger Than Jesus, New
FRANCIS ALŸS (born 1959 in Antwerp)
Museum, New York (2009).
moved to Mexico City in 1986 and continues to live there. He was the subject
WIM BOTHA (born 1974 in Pretoria; lives in
of a major survey, Francis Alÿs: A Story of
Cape Town) is a graduate of the University
Deception, on view from 2010 to 2011 at
of Pretoria. Recent solo shows have taken
Tate Modern, London; Wiels Centre d’Art
place at Stevenson, Cape Town (2011
Contemporain, Brussels; and the Museum
and 2009), and Galerie Jette Rudolph
of Modern Art and MoMA PS1, New York.
(2008). Group exhibitions include the
Recent solo exhibitions have taken place
Göteborg Biennial (2011); Memories of the
at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin
Future: The Olbricht Collection, La Maison
(2010); The Renaissance Society at the
Rouge, Paris (2011); the 11th Triennale für
University of Chicago (2008); and the
Kleinplastik, Fellbach, Germany (2010);
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2007).
and Peekaboo: Current South Africa,
He has participated in the biennales of
Tennis Palace Art Museum, Helsinki
São Paulo (2010, 2004 and 1998); Venice
(2010). Botha won the Standard Bank
(2007, 2001 and 1999); Shanghai (2002);
Young Artist award in 2005.
Istanbul (2001 and 1999); and Havana (2000 and 1994).
MESCHAC GABA (born 1961 in Cotonou, Benin; lives in Rotterdam) studied at
DINEO SESHEE BOPAPE (born 1981 in
the Rijksakademie voor Beeldende
Polokwane) is a 2007 graduate of De
Kunsten in Amsterdam. His retrospective
exhibition Museum for Contemporary
NICHOLAS HLOBO (born 1975 in Cape Town;
Rome (2011); the Institute of Modern
African Art & More travelled to the
lives in Johannesburg) was the Rolex
Art, Brisbane (2010); Le Chateau d’Eau,
Museum de Paviljoens in Almere, the
Visual Arts Protégé for 2010/11, with
Toulouse (2010); the Australian Centre
Netherlands; the Kunsthalle Fridericianum
Anish Kapoor as his Mentor. He was
for Photography, Sydney (2009), and
in Kassel, Germany; and the Centro
nominated for the Future Generation
Foam_Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam
Atlántico de Arte Moderno in Las Palmas,
Art Prize in 2010 and won the Standard
(2008). Group exhibitions in 2011 include
Canary Islands, in 2009/10. Recent
Bank Young Artist award in 2009. His
The Global Contemporary: Art Worlds
group exhibitions include The Global
first survey exhibition took place at the
after 1989 at ZKM Center for Art and
Contemporary: Art Worlds after 1989 at
National Museum of Art, Architecture
Media Karlsruhe; ARS 11, Kiasma Museum
ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe,
and Design, Oslo, in 2011; he has held
of Contemporary Art, Helsinki; Figures
Germany (2011); Museum Show: Part
solo shows at the Level 2 Gallery, Tate
and Fictions: Contemporary South
1, Arnolfini, Bristol (2011); Touched, the
Modern, London (2008), and the Boston
African Photography, V&A Museum,
Liverpool Biennial (2010) and the São
ICA as part of the Momentum series
London; Mannheim Photo Festival,
Paulo, Gwangju, Sydney and Havana
(2008). Recent group exhibitions include
Germany, and the Contact Photography
biennales in 2006.
The World Belongs to You at the Palazzo
Festival, Toronto.
Grassi, Venice; Dada South?, South SIMON GUSH (born 1981 in Pietermaritz-
African National Gallery, Cape Town
ANTON KANNEMEYER (born 1967 in Cape
burg) is a graduate of the University of the
(2009); and Flow, The Studio Museum,
Town; lives in Cape Town) is a co-founder
Witwatersrand and the Hoger Instituut van
Harlem, New York (2008), in addition to
and co-editor of the Bitterkomix series,
Schone Kunsten, Ghent, Belgium. He was
the biennales of Venice (2011), Liverpool
which started in 1992; issue #16 is due
a 2011 Fellow at the Gordon Institute for
(2010), Havana (2009) and Guangzhou
out in 2012. His most recent solo show,
Performing and Creative Arts, University of
(2008); he has been selected for the
After the Barbarians, took place at the
Cape Town. He has held solo exhibitions at
Sydney biennale in 2012.
Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, in
Stevenson, Cape Town and Johannesburg,
2011. Recent group exhibitions include
in 2009, 2010 and 2011, and at Galerie West
PIETER HUGO (born 1976, Cape Town;
Impressions from South Africa, 1965
in The Hague, the Netherlands, and SMAK
lives in Cape Town) won the Seydou
to Now at the Museum of Modern Art,
in Ghent in 2010. Recent group exhibitions
Keita Award, the top prize at the
New York (2011); Les Afriques de Papa,
include Connections at the Kunsthalle
9th Rencontres de Bamako African
l’Espace du Collectif Sadi, Kinshasa, DR
Luzern, Switzerland (2011); Halakasha!,
Photography Biennial in 2011, for his
Congo (2010); Peekaboo: Current South
Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg
series Permanent Error; he is shortlisted
Africa, Tennis Palace Art Museum, Helsinki
(2010); the Luleå Summer Biennial,
for the Deutsche Börse photography
(2010); …for those who live in it: Pop
Sweden (2009); Die Keuze van Koen van
prize 2012. A retrospective exhibition
Culture, Politics and Strong Voices, MU
den Broek, Indian Caps, Antwerp (2009);
of his work opens at the Fotomuseum
Eindhoven, The Netherlands (2010); and
and .za: Giovane arte dal Sudafrica, Palazzo
Den Haag in March 2012. Recent solo
The Graphic Unconscious, Philagrafika,
delle Papesse, Siena (2008).
shows have taken place at MAXXI in
Philadelphia (2010).
76 <> 77
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
GLENN LIGON (born 1960 in the Bronx;
by Prestel in 2010 and received a
Island School of Design from 1987 to
continues to live in New York City) is a
nomination as best photobook of the year
1989. She has a solo exhibition, Land of
graduate of Wesleyan University and
at the International Photobook Festival
Cockaigne, at Stevenson, Johannesburg,
the Whitney Museum Independent
in Kassel. The series was included on the
in 2012, following Arcadia at the Cape
Study Program. He is best known for
29th São Paulo Biennale (2010), and on
Town gallery in 2011. Her first US solo
his text-based paintings and for his
Face of Our Time at the San Francisco
exhibitions took place at the Savannah
incisive exploration of American history,
Museum of Modern Art (2011). Other
College of Art and Design’s galleries
society and culture. In 2011 the Whitney
group exhibitions include Appropriated
in Savannah and Atlanta in 2009,
Museum in New York staged a mid-career
Landscapes at the Walther Collection,
accompanied by a monograph. Recent
retrospective of his work titled America,
Neu-Ulm/Burlafingen, Germany, and
group exhibitions include A Conversation
touring to Los Angeles County Museum of
Figures and Fictions: Contemporary South
with Bolus at the Michaelis Upper
Art and the Modern Art Museum of Fort
African Photography at the V&A Museum,
Gallery, University of Cape Town (2011);
Worth. In 2009 he received the Studio
London. Her documentary Difficult Love
and Von Liebeslust und Lebenslast - der
Museum’s Joyce Alexander Wein Artist
(2010) has been seen at film festivals
inszenierte Alltag, Corvey Castle, near
Prize. Recent group exhibitions include
around the world.
Höxter, Germany (2009).
the Contemporary Jewish Museum,
ERNESTO NETO (born 1964 in Rio de
ZINA SARO-WIWA (born 1976 in Port
San Francisco, and the National Portrait
Janeiro; lives in Rio de Janeiro) is one of
Harcourt, Nigeria; lives in Brooklyn,
Gallery, Washington, DC (2011); Collecting
the most important contemporary artists
New York) is a filmmaker, video
Biennials, Whitney Museum, New York
to emerge from Brazil, best known for
artist and writer. She has made
(2010); 30 Seconds off an Inch, The
sculptures and installations incorporating
three documentaries; the latest, This
Studio Museum in Harlem, New York
commonplace and organic materials.
is My Africa, was included on the
(2009); Here is Every. Four Decades of
His work has been shown in solo and
FOREX project series at Stevenson,
Contemporary Art, Museum of Modern
group exhibitions around the world, most
Cape Town, in 2009, and has been
Art, New York (2008); and the 2008
recently at venues including the Faena
shown on HBO since 2010. She has
Gwangju Biennial.
Arts Center, Buenos Aires (2011); the
made two experimental Nollywood
Hayward Gallery, London (2010); Astrup
films, Phyllis and The Deliverance of
ZANELE MUHOLI (born 1972 in Umlazi,
Fernley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo
Comfort, and curated an exhibition
Durban; lives in Cape Town) won the
(2010); and the Museu de Arte Moderna
about Nollywood titled Sharon Stone
Casa Africa award at the Rencontres de
MAM, São Paulo (2010). He represented
in Abuja that opened in New York
Bamako biennial of African photography
Brazil, along with Vik Muniz, at the 2001
in 2010. Sarogua Mourning is the
in 2009, and had a solo exhibition,
Venice Biennale.
latest film in her Mourning Class
Seeing Gertrude Stein: Five Stories at
accompanied by a monograph, at Casa
video performance series, and is
Africa, Las Palmas, in 2011. The first part of
DEBORAH POYNTON (born 1970 in Durban,
the first of seven video installations
her Faces and Phases series was published
lives in Cape Town) studied at the Rhode
she is making about her family.
VIVIANE SASSEN (born 1972 in Amsterdam;
United States in 2004/5. Recent group
Her first solo museum exhibition, Any
lives in Amsterdam) first studied fashion
exhibitions include Impressions from
Number of Preoccupations, took place
design followed by photography at
South Africa, 1965 to Now at the Museum
at the Studio Museum in Harlem, New
Hogeschool voor Kunsten Utrecht and
of Modern Art, New York (2011); Peekaboo:
York, in 2010/11. Group shows include
Ateliers Arnhem. She was awarded the
Current South Africa, Tennis Palace Art
Secret Societies: To Know, To Dare, To
Dutch art prize, the Prix de Rome, in 2007,
Museum, Helsinki (2010); and Mami Wata:
Will, To Keep Silence at Schirn Kunsthalle
and in 2011 won the International Center
Arts for Water Spirits in Africa and its
Frankfurt, Germany (2011); Living
of Photography in New York’s Infinity
Diasporas, Cantor Arts Center, Stanford
Together: Towards a Contemporary
Award for Applied/Fashion/Advertising
University, and other venues (2009-2011).
Concept of Community, Centro Cultural
Photography. She was one of six artists
Montehermoso, Vittoria-Gasteiz, Spain
selected for the 2011 New Photography
PENNY SIOPIS (born 1953 in Vryburg; lives
(2009); Flow, the Studio Museum in
exhibition at the Museum of Modern
in Cape Town) is an Honorary Professor at
Harlem, New York (2008); Bloomberg
Art in New York. Solo exhibitions have
Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of
New Contemporaries, Barbican, London
taken place at FORMA in Milan (2009)
Cape Town. Solo exhibitions include Red:
(2004); and the biennales of Lyon (2011),
and FOAM in Amsterdam (2008). Recent
The Iconography of Colour in the Work
Gwangju (2008) and Seville (2006-7).
group shows include No Fashion, Please!
of Penny Siopis at the KZNSA Gallery,
Photography between Gender and
Durban (2009), and Three Essays on
Lifestyle at the Vienna Kunsthalle (2011);
Shame at the Freud Museum, London
Figure and Ground: Dynamic Landscape at
(2005). Recent group exhibitions include
the Museum of Contemporary Canadian
Appropriated Landscapes at the Walther
Art in Toronto as part of the Contact
Collection in Neu-Ulm/Burlafingen,
Photography Festival (2011); and the 2010
Germany (2011), Peekaboo: Current South
Brighton Photo Biennale.
Africa, Tennis Palace Art Museum, Helsinki (2010); and Black Womanhood: Images,
CLAUDETTE SCHREUDERS (born 1973 in
Icons and Ideologies of the African Body,
Pretoria; lives in Cape Town) received
Hood Museum, New Hampshire, and other
her master’s degree from the Michaelis
venues (2008). She has taken part in the
School of Fine Art, University of Cape
biennales of Sydney (2010), Havana (1997
Town, in 1997. In 2011 her first major
and 1994), Johannesburg (1997 and 1995)
monograph was published by Prestel; she
and Venice (1993).
held a solo exhibition, Close, Close, at the Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, and
LYNETTE YIADOM-BOAKYE (born 1977 in
took up an artist’s residency at the Lux
London; lives in London) completed
Art Institute in Encinitas, California. Her
her postgraduate studies at the Royal
first solo museum exhibition toured the
Academy Schools in London in 2003.
78 <> 79
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Federica Angelucci would like to thank all the artists, as well as Gabeba Baderoon, Martin Barnes, Tommaso Corvi-Mora, Salim Currimjee, Joel Fennell, Alexandre Gabriel, Bellatrix Hubert, Antonio Pinto Ribeiro, Shaun Regen, Annemarie Reichen, Stephanie Stockbridge and the staff at Stevenson, Cape Town and Johannesburg. Francis Al每s courtesy of David Zwirner, New York, and Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich. Glenn Ligon courtesy of Regen Projects, Los Angeles. Ernesto Neto courtesy of Galeria Fortes Vila莽a, S茫o Paulo. Lynette Yiadom-Boakye courtesy of Corvi-Mora, London.
CAPE TOWN Buchanan Building 160 Sir Lowry Road Woodstock 7925 PO Box 616 Green Point 8051 T +27 (0)21 462 1500 F +27 (0)21 462 1501 JOHANNESBURG 62 Juta Street Braamfontein 2001 Postnet Suite 281 Private Bag x9 Melville 2109 T +27 (0)11 326 0034/41 F +27 (0)86 275 1918 info@stevenson.info www.stevenson.info Catalogue 61 December 2011 Cover Francis Al每s, Untitled (1/8), 2005-2011, from a series of 8 drawings. Courtesy of Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich Editors Federica Angelucci, Sophie Perryer Design Gabrielle Guy Photography Mario Todeschini Printing Hansa Print, Cape Town