Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ART TIMES
www.arttimes.co.za • July 2008 • Issue 7 Vol 3 • SA Home subscription 180 p.a • July Print & Distrib. 11 000 copies • RSA free from select outlets. Available in Namibia & Zimbabwe
Dear Editor
The South African
In response to the June edition of Art Times,
Art Times
pg 4, “Droopy moustaches over Stellenbosch
art gallery”, I want to add my voice to those
who had a bad experience with Barnard, the
gallery owner, because I am afraid he is the
July 2008
type of person who would regard the report
www.arttimes.co.za as advertisement for himself and his doings at
his gallery. He claimed there were only three
Published monthly by
unhappy artists. I felt obliged to write when I
Global Art Information read that he said “Artists are emotional” after
being confronted with the response of artists
PO Box 15881 Vlaeberg,
8018, Cape Town who have been treated badly by him. I think
Tel. 021 424 7733 most of us just do not take the trouble to tell
Fax. 021 424 7732 such a guy what we think of him, one simply
moves on – life is short. You could just as well
Editor say that artists are sensitive and trusting and
Gabriel Clark-Brown sharks abuse those qualities.
editor@arttimes.co.za
Craig Wylie continued from page 1
I have erased all of his details and only kept
one of his emails as a reminder of a bad
Advertising about vulnerability,” he says.
Leone Rouse experience which I would like to avoid in
future. Barnard originally phoned me; saying
In a statement on K issued after
leo@arttimes.co.za
he had seen some of my work on www. the award he explained that: “On a
Subscription subs@arttimes.co.za southafrican artists.com and told me that he formal level this work is about con-
News: press@arttimes.co.za would like to have three of my sculptures for an tradiction. I wanted to use a strictly
Shows: show@arttimes.co.za
Artwork: art@arttimes.co.za
art event. He also made promises of buying classical composition, formal, even
some of the work if we could negotiate about stiff, and then try to subvert the
Layout and Design: New Start the cost. I met him in Stellenbosch and left 3 stillness these tenets imply. This
sculptures with him for the art event. He was
internal friction between elements
very talkative. After I got home it bothered
Deadlines for news, articles and clas- me that he never mentioned buying the
in the painting give it its quiet
sifieds 20th of each month
work and I felt uneasy about having been too dynamism.”The size of the work
The Art Times is published in the first
was intentional: “Enlargement (Left) K, 2008. Oil on Canvas 210 x 165 cm. (Above) Naked Woman on chair, Oil on canvas 110 x 110 cm.
week of each month. News and ad- trusting. I replaced my work at his gallery with
vertising material need to be with the cheaper variations as soon as was possible creates for the viewer both a con-
news and marketing managers by the
15th- 20th of each month.
and decided to give it a 6 month trial period. frontational vortex and a sacrifice wasn’t too bad,” he says. The move to London was not easy. with an oxygen mask over his face
Newspaper rights After 6 months I turned up unannounced and to scrutiny as the viewer can step Wylie studied at Rhodes University Although he had money from a – a clear commentary on the state
The newspaper reserves the right to reject retrieved my work, all but two small terracotta into the paintings personal space in Grahamstown between 1992 show in Zimbabwe, when that dis- of his home country.
any material that could be found offensive
figures which he told me he was buying. He
by its readers. Opinions expressed in the in a way not possible with smaller and 1996, graduating with distinc- appeared “it was a bit awkward”. His mother and some friends are
SA Art Times do not necessarily represent had my bank details, I was in a hurry and had
the official viewpoint of the editor, staff or to leave it at that. After a month I called him
works. Gigantism also affects the tion with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. “To find representation is quite dif- still in Zimbabwe and the last time
publisher, while inclusion of advertising
wanting to know when the payment would be psychological edge of the sitter. He initially began studying journal- ficult. There are a lot of galleries, he visited was in October.
features does not imply the newspaper’s
endorsement of any business, product or made. He had some or other excuse. After On one level the viewers intrusion ism, but from his second year but there is so much competition.” “It’s just dreadful and it’s really a
service. Copyright of the enclosed mate- a month or two I again turned up unannounced into the sitters emotional state is onwards “art took over” in the He did odd jobs for a short period crying shame,” he says about the
rial in this publication is reserved. at his gallery only to find a Zim artist who was tacitly accepted, on another it is place where, like many Rhodes of time but quickly realised that he situation under Mugabe, “All I can
seemingly being had in a bigger way than positively rebuffed.” graduates, he remembers having would never be able to paint if he do really from here is make a small
me. This artist told me that he was working for an “excellent time”. did “crappy jobs” and so he lived contribution in terms of finances.
SUBSCRIPTIONS Barnard in return for being helped to forward
It was a case of third-time lucky for A move back to Zimbabwe after clandestinely in his rented studio It’s sad.”
his career in South Africa. I liked his work and
asked him whether he had sold some. He re-
Wylie when it came to K, which he graduation and a show in his home space and “cracked on with it”. For artists planning the move to
NAMIBIA
Call John at: plied that Barnard only sells his own paintings, had started on two separate country could not prevent the pull Other than painting portraits, he London, Wylie points out that it’s a
Tel: +264 81 1286585 but not much of anyone else’s and he asked occasions, the first in 2006, before to London. says he “just wants to get on with tough and expensive city, but does
me for advice. I referred him to Greatmore completing the final version. “I just wanted to come and see my thing”, which involves a variety have its benefits.
ZIMBABWE studios. I made enquiries about my work After completing the portrait, he what was going on and I thought of projects that include working “I guess you just have to stick
and described it to him. He told me that it said he had “not had much time as far as art is concerned it’s the from live models and combining to a level of belief and see your
Gallery Delta
was still there and brought both sculptures with it” before it was sent for entry place to be,” he says. them with objects like fridges, projects through as well as you
110 Livingstone Avenue,
forward. Not only were they broken, but they
Greenwood Park, Harare, to the competition. He doesn’t have plans to return to broken chairs or suit cases. can and then keep pushing, trying
were broken off their mountings as well. I was
Tel/fax: (263-4) 792135
horrified and angry, took the pieces and left. I
It was two and a half months Zimbabwe or South Africa on He is also working with images to find the openings and chasing
ael@twinarts.co.zw received no apology or explanatory phone call before the two were reunited. a permanent basis, but does not taken from the internet and blown them down and ploughing through
from him and am just glad that I do not have “When I saw it again I was pleas- rule out spending more time on the up in size, one of which is taken the opportunities that are avail-
Get your free copy anything further to do with him. antly surprised and thought it continent “especially during the from a news report on Zimbabwe able. It’s a question of persever-
delivered to your door
Desireé Brand
winter”. and shows a man lying on his back ance I guess,” he says.
www.arttimes.co.za
KUNSGALERY
JOHANS BORMAN
FINE ART GALLERY
CAPE TOWN
Hayden Proud: Cedric, Wyson, Jamie, Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, Oil on canvas, Painted 1979
www.grahamsfineartgallery.co.za
A farewell to post-colonialism
Artists have been called to “He becomes one with [cultural different ways.”
renovate the theoretical interface stereotypes] so that they will not He believes that it is a “time of
of contemporary art – to depart colonise him,” and “when you play change” in terms of people’s views
from pervasive socio-economic with stereotypes, you re-appropri- of South African art.
discourse, and work to create ate them, and you turn them into “We’ve managed to slowly change
new modes of thinking: a process your tools, not someone else’s people’s perception of what African
of self-discovery in a globalised tools”. art should look like.” Nonethe-
world. less, the perception that identity
According to Stina Edblom, a is geographically centred persists,
member of the wider curatorial with the result that members of the
team whose portfolio involves global audience still struggle to
choosing artists whose work reconcile their concept of African
relates to Africa, nine artists have art with the works themselves.
been confirmed for this category At times, they are concerned that
from around the world, three of it “doesn’t look African enough….
By Anita Funke whom are South African. [and] some people don’t what to
She said Botes, Hlobo, and believe or accept [you’re African]”,
Conrad Botes, Nicholas Hlobo and Goniwe were artists whose work said Hlobo.
Thembinkosi Goniwe, three South stimulated enquiry into centred In the same vein as Hlobo and
African artists, have been chosen identity, and thus invited critical Botes, Goniwe resists national,
to participate in the Guangzhou dialogue about theories of differ- cultural, or racial definition: “I am
Triennial in China, which will take ence. an artist who happens to live in
place between 6 September and Botes, who is working on a new South Africa…[and] I don’t want
16 November this year. piece for the triennial, said popular my nationality to structure my
The main theme of the trien- concepts of Africanness, which thinking,” he said.
nial proposes to say ‘Farewell exist conceptually, are changing. Likewise, “I don’t want to make
to Post-Colonialism’, and draw By superimposing African stere- Hlobo likewise “inserts himself in a the South African experience
attention to identity politics and otypes onto European iconog- local and global community” in his something unique, or differenti-
(Far left) South African artist Thembinkosi Goniwe has been chosen to
restrictions which have been the raphy, he suggests that “Euro- work, with Edblom highlighting the ate between South Africa and the
participate in the Guangzhou Triennial in China later this year. Picture:
unwitting result of such discourse, pean perceptions of Africa and its way he speaks of “localised dif- rest of the world.” To this end, his
Anita Funke/West Cape News. (Middle) Devil’s dictionary by Conrad Botes,
says a statement from Gao Shim- people are something of the past,” ferences” and interrogates black, project for the triennial is partly dis-
2008, Acrylic on wall drawing, reverse glass painting and painted wooden
ing, Sarat Maharaj and Chang as “borders are disappearing, male, Xhosa sexuality and identity. cursive, and according to Edblom,
sculpture, courtesy of the artist. (Right) Nicholas Hlobo, Izinqanda mathe,
Tsong-zung, the central curatorial and so is race”. He added: “I am Although she said his work speaks will “contextualise the exhibition
2008, Saddle, ribbon, rubber, chains, 130 x 138 x 105cm, courtesy of
team-members. trying to suggest that the way that of South African experience, it also through dialogues”.
Michael Stevenson, Cape Town.
The theme of saying ‘Farewell to Africanism has been perceived points to a shared, “general” iden- The piece will be interactive, in
Post-Colonialism’ is not simply has changed – it has died.” tity struggle, which is not a national order to stretch the exhibition
“a departure, but a re-visit and a Edblom praises the way Botes (or even personal) phenomenon. space beyond the museum, and Goniwe. The Guangzhou Triennial “You have all these negative
re-start” - a space to re-think the uses irony and satire to change Hlobo said: “The issues I chal- allow people to respond. will be a space “really to tease out images of Africa,” she said, but
theoretical frameworks that help perceptions. “I really like his work lenge are not uniquely South “I just want to create a space for a number of different perspectives this opens up the possibility for in-
articulate an “ethics of difference” because it’s not politically correct; African…People from different interaction. If I can get that, that and even provocations, to encour- dependent creative spaces which
in cultural production, they say. he just does his own thing.” parts of the world deal with this in will be the achievement,” said age [discussion],” said Edblom. “speak against modularisation”.
South African Art Times
COMPETITION
OVER R 5 000 WORTH OF PREMIER SOUTH AFRICAN AND IMPORTED WINES TO BE WON
+ BUMPER GORGEOUS ASSORTED CHOCOLATE PRODUCTS HAMPER !!
1st PRIZE 6 cases assorted red and white wines + Chocolate products hamper
2nd PRIZE 4 cases assorted red and white wines
3rd PRIZE 2 cases assorted red and white wines
We care about your opinion and would like to know what you want to see in the pages. Warm yourself with some vinous inspiration and produce a hot masterpiece
for art lovers and collectors to gasp over All you have to do as one of our devoted readers and lovers of your favourite art newspaper is to complete our READER’S
SURVEY 2008 and fax or post (using the free reply envelope) the reply to us at 0880214247732.
Simply fill in the enclosed Readers survey questionnaire, use the back or additional pages if need be
Return the questionnaire inside the provided free Business Reply Envelope or easier – fax it back to us at 088 021 424 7732.
The prizes would be awarded on the basis of quality input and suggestions – in improving, or upgrading the SA Art Times.
Please return replies by 31st July. Winners to be announced in the August edition. Terms and conditions : All SA Art Times readers may apply.
The editor or Art Times staff or member of their families – or friends are not allowed to enter. The judges’ decision is final; no amount of
correspondence would count to change their decision. Allow 30 days after the publication of the August Art Times to receive your prizes.
For any queries please call 021 424 7733 or email art@arttimes.co.za
art specialist Melissa Mboweni, the bags, half a pumpkin balanced on and accessible in London, New York, all the art at the Venice Biennale in
curator appointed to select the four his head. Every day he presents a Bloemfontein and KwaMashu. the mid-1990s, you had to book into
nominees for the 2008 MTN New new installation constructed of found Perhaps Durban will one day get its an hotel for extra days and suffer leg
Contemporaries Award. Mboweni, a objects from the immediate vicinity, Guggenheim – or something similar cramps.)
former curator at the Goodman Gal- addended with Zulu text scrawled in scope and weight – in recognition Ninety percent of these videos is
lery, started the process with a national on the pavement. It seems that he of the fact that it is both physically and dreary, boring and simply bad.
research project two months ago, makes these things because he has metaphorically one of the cultural cen- South African artists jumped into the
involving tours to studios and galleries, to, because he is driven to. The fact tres of the South. It would be grand, pond with glee. What most of them
and in-depth discussions with artists. that an audience is so incidental to the and sceptics should consider the fact didn’t realise is that masterpieces in
And after weeks of deliberation came work is beside the point. that two decades ago – before the video art are far more difficult to churn
up with a nominees list to do us proud. Fifteen years ago, these observations glory of the Guggenheim in Bilbao and out than a steadicam and editing
In addition to Halter and Shibase, might have been taken as conde- the ascension of Barcelona – Spain apparatus suggest. After all, there is a
she has selected multi-media and scending or over-extending notions was widely considered a peripheral long, long history of, yes, cinema and,
performance artist Dineo Bopape, who of the contemporary. Today, they are third world country, little more than come to think of it, television.
explores issues around urban black
ART PIG female identity, and Michael MacGarry, THE ART virtual currency in the art world, but
still, for many, such work only acquires
a place where the English went to
behave badly. But regardless, what I’d
Which bring me back to the time
factor. And an artist imposition on the
whose work investigates the infiltration
of Western imperialism and colonial- COWBOY the lustre of real art when it is taken
into the gallery, given the formalism
really like to do if I possessed vast (or
indeed any) tracts of wealth, is start a
viewer’s physical presence in time.
The great American art philosopher,
Alex Dodd ism through current experience on the of the catalogue, the recognition of museum of outsider art. Although, in Arthur Danto, once talked about video
African continent. Peter Machen critical discourse. These were some a way it would be unnecessary since ‘requiring an investment of real time
No matter what niceties and noble of the considerations that took place if you look carefully enough the entire on the viewer’s part with no guarantee
expressions of consolation get uttered Take a look outside. at a seminar on public art at the city functions as such. that there will be an artistic pay-off’.
by the dignitaries on the big night, KZNSA Gallery and which included Hollywood bosses have known for
when it comes to art prizes, Swedish Some years ago, there were whispers a series of experienced voices from yonks that bioscope audiences are
pop/dance quartet Abba knew best of Durban getting its own Guggenhe- around the country including Stephen finely tuned to how movies play out
when they belted out the cruel, cold im, an idea whose sheer outlandish- Hobbs, Doung Jahangeer, Dorothee in the time and how long they are
truth of it: ‘The winner takes it all, the ness made it enormously appealing. Kreutzveld, Roger van Wyk and An- prepared to sit in the dark before losing
loser has his fall…’ Or in the case of Outlandish, not because Durban is dries Botha, national voices having a interest.
last year’s Spier Contemporary, the a bastion of philistinism (although national conversation in an apparently Why would it be different in contempo-
winners took it all – all R700 000 of it that suggestion has been made by marginalised fishing village. rary video art?
– and the losers drowned their sorrows those who only look in the direction of Meanwhile, at Gallery 415 in Umgeni Before gallery-goers were forced
in a flagon of Spier Merlot. Yet even the city’s lukewarm mainstream) but Road, a place that is surrounded by to put on earphones or go behind
though there were six awards and an because it is a place that is perceived street-level creativity, the feeling of curtains into darkened rooms, you had
Alex Emsley
additional ‘people’s choice award’, I as being very far from the centre of outsiderness continued in an exhibition control of you own time to walk around
couldn’t help exiting those bright or- things – and correspondingly, very entitled Love And Monsters by three and check out the pictures on the gal-
ange containers installed on the idyllic close to the edge. But while physical young artists Liezel Prinz, Anet Norval lery wall. Video imposes a demand on
green fields of the wine estate feeling centrality has lost its importance in the and Caryn Tilbury. Although all three your time - and hence your tolerance.
slightly sodden and grim. digital age, it is that edge that really artists have studied fine art and regu- THE ARTFUL This is where many video art bites the
larly show their work in local galleries, dust. Or, more sympathetically put,
The judges’ choices were perfectly fair
makes the city. Not only in the art that
emerges from the Durban/eThekwini they remain peripheral, on the faltering VIEWER lose the viewer. If it ain’t interesting
and explicable – although admittedly (and which substantially informs the borders of recognition. Anet Norval’s enough, why stay and watch? (At
the strong emphasis on performance creative scenes in Cape Town and work literally looks like outsider art, her home, the fast-forward facility is a
art was a teensy-weensy bit puzzling Johannesburg) but on the streets and moving meditations on love, family, Melvyn Minaar great help.)
– but the show itself was such an the pavements and all the spaces gender and sexuality, deftly conveyed At the moment in Cape Town, most of
extraordinary showcase for genuinely outside and in between. through painting, text and the embed- Timeous Challenges of Video Art the big art operators (a number now
fresh and inventive new voices that I Liminal and interstitial have become ding of found objects in to her work, all cosy together in Woodstock) have
couldn’t help feeling a bit morbid Muriel contemporary holy grails which 21st studded with a moving naivety. Even at As one of those who take my video art in some form or another on
on behalf of the truly excellent submis- century artists like to attach to their her most sophisticated, Norval’s work Hollywood movie fix in the form of display in their galleries. And there are
sions that didn’t even get a mention. conceptual charm bracelets, but these carries the essence of heart-rendered a rental from the corner store video more to come.
notions are particularly relevant where doodling, providing a palpable sense of shop - not only to avoid the depressing The opening exhibition of Michael
More recently though, on the occasion the South East coast of Africa meets someone’s else’s sense of emotional experience of going to the bioscope Stevenson’s new venue had a few
of a recent lunch at the University of (Above) : image from www.uj.ac.za the Indian Ocean. In Durban, it’s reality. It is this depth of intimacy that in de-humanised environment of a which demonstrated different ways the
Johannesburg Art Centre for the short- (Below) Dineo Bopape. image from: possible to never enter a gallery (and carries her work into the mental life of shopping mall, but to take advantage medium works to greater and lesser
list announcement of the MTN New www.radiopapesse.org let’s face it, most people don’t) and still the viewer. of that glorious personalised system success: Steven Cohen’s Golgotha,
Contemporaries, I was reminded of the experience a rich cultural life in the city. that allows you to skip and fast-for- not much more than a documentary;
insightful words of my bold and buxom Her selection gives one a charged Visual art is everywhere, from the ward - video art presents a particular Yinka Shonibare’s 14 minutes of Odile
Argentinian friend, Marcela, who once sense of this being a serious competi- sometimes technically astounding and challenge. and Odette, a mini kind of movie;
declared: ‘Life’s a bitch, but sometimes tion, where each of the finalists is an always surreal adornment of the city’s And I guess, I’m probably not the Dineo Bopape’s wacko Dreamweaver,
she makes love to you.’ I couldn’t have equal heavyweight contender for the buses to the hand-painted signage only art observer out there with such a kind of free-floating atmospheric
been more delightfully vindicated with title. of plumbers and electricians to the an affliction. With so-called ‘new piece; while the imported Sweetberry
the selection of finalists for the award And Mboweni has done another clever individually styled mblaselo pants worn media’ an entrenched presence at Sonnet by Kalup Linsky was only for
and not too small a fraction of my joy thing. In addition to selecting four art- by Zulu men festooned with colour and all contemporary art exhibitions, and the hard-wired fans who could stand
came from the knowledge that some- ists who have already come some way nguni designs. In Durban, adornment the (fast-aging) category of video de around for half an hour.
one else had their eyes wide open at through the thickets of the art circuit is never pure adornment. It is always rigueur in any self-respecting group As part of Power Play, the Goodman
the Spier Contemporary and that there independently, she has also subtly layered, ironic, spiritual, historical, show, I sometimes just sigh, take a Cape had videos which tested visitors’
is a kind of justice in these awards, curated a thematic show by grouping encapsulating the vague but insistent deep breath, and try my best to sit it endurance levels with the potential
which do create meaningful platforms four contemporary thinkers whose ar- sense of anarchy that defines the out. (Well, more than likely, not ‘sit’ to frighten them off forever. The new
for exposure beyond the allure of the tistic concerns bounce off one another city. Dehal’s Bus Liner captures these - because few galleries offer such a Bell-Roberts shows work by Jacques
prize loot. in interesting conceptual ways. contradictions best, handing out pro- luxury - but loll about in the gloomy Coetzer as part of the Matter & Mean-
foundly resonant spiritual advice from The work of Caryn Tilbury fits directly darkness or terrifying glare, as ing group show, and an elegant, if
Somebody else noticed the irresistible, So this won’t be a ragtag show of Sai Baba and Jesus Christ on the back into the absurdo-pop canon of Jeff comfortably as possible while some taxing, three-channel projection called
glaring talents of Daniel Halter and diverse artists brought together by of buses, while flaunting sexy phrases Koons and Takashi Murakami but artistic indulge passes by on the small The Theory of Displacement by Johan
Themba Shibase, whose Spier works the imperative of the prize money. on the side, beautifully rendered in despite these heavyweight references, or large screen, or whatever serves Thom.
were just too power-packed to be over- Mboweni’s selection of artists means anachronistic typography. she sits outside of the fine art scene as such.) Whatiftheworld has, as part of the
looked. Although I’m not of the school that the show itself will have a thematic The ongoing performances by many more than the other two artists, spend- Here’s the thing: video art take up rather nice Prints & Edition show, two
that buys into contemporary social cohesion, exploring issues of power of those who spend their days at ing most of her time not making art but one’s time. And we all subscribe to the shorter pieces by Charles Maggs
clout as the central criteria for notable and governance in contemporary post- Durban’s traffic lights and intersections working in a bookstore. Her medium cliché that time is of the essence. In - quite a video wiz normally - which
art, the weird thing is that both of their colonial Africa. also add much to the experience of continually changes but its essence the mad-mad modern world of every- don’t quite match some of his brighter
work hinges on the madness that Durban as an endless cornucopia of remains consistent – soft, fluffy and thing-goes and free-for-all art-making, stuff. Offering videos as part of an
currently has Zimbabwe in its vampire Need I say that I’m looking forward to surreality. Moses Nxumalo, the city’s absurd, and just ever so slightly sin- considering a viewer/observer’s time is exhibition that set out to feature ‘a se-
grip. Halter is the brains behind a opening night? Nothing Man, whose begging boards ister. For Love and Monsters, Tilbury an issue, surely. lection of works that are contextualised
work called All of a Sardine, which The prize-giving event is set to take have made their way into the city’s produced a series of knitted and sewn Ten years or so ago, when the mini- through the medium of prints and the
features an etiolated little kapenta place on 10 July at the University of galleries, is one of Durban’s most monkeys, each elongated creature videocam did not yet have all those concept of editions’, makes a rather
fish (Lake Tanganyika Sardine) on a Johannesburg Art Gallery and the celebrated examples but there are somehow imbued with it’s own no-brainer gadgets of today, artists important point about video art and its
Rhodesian Teak plaque in an ironic exhibition will be open to the public many others, quietly adding to the seductive soul. Liezel Prinz produces worldwide took to video like ducks to a ‘preciousness’ or not.
take on hunting trophies that archly until the 13 August. visual texture of the city. On the corner wall-mounted installations that echo newly discovered-pond of productive
comments on the crass squandering of Berea and Hunt Road, a beggar’s the traditional frame of fine art but pleasure. All arrived artists had to If you’ve paid the R26 400 asked for
of that country’s rich natural resources. Mboweni will be also doing five sign is lovingly made out of coloured extends it into three dimensions. Her boast a video. (Of course, it is so much the Thom video at the Bell-Roberts,
And once you’ve seen Shibase’s sickly public walkabouts – so here’s your glitter. In the right gallery, given the cor- work is darkly humourous and lightly easier to fiddle with images on screen and have a nice bright broad white
green portrait entitled Wena wendlovu opportunity to get to grips with the rect context, it could sell for thousands. alienating, - chicken bones, Astroturf, than to actually use a screen to print wall to project it on in your suburban
(His Excellency) it’s hard to get that thinking behind what is bound to go On the corner of Churchill and Umgeni physical and metaphysical trophies them!) house, do you wonder about who
image of Robert Mugabe out of the down in local art history as a decidedly Road, sits a genuine outsider artist. blended into works that capture both At biennales and big-deal art events all owns the other two of the three in the
backrooms of your mind. trend-setting show. The first time, I saw him he was sitting the tropes of South African life and her over the world, viewers were lured into edition? And do you sometimes feel,
cross-legged on an electrical box, own deeply personal narratives. And I boxes or confronted in alleys with the if no-one is looking, whether you may
So that somebody with her eyes wide dressed only in transparent plastic was struck by the fact that this modest new-fangled medium. (To sit through fast-forward any of its 6 minutes and
open is Soweto-born contemporary little exhibition would feel comfortable 58 seconds?
THE SOUTH AFRICAN ART TIMES
Bheki Khambule’s work: Beautiful like me won the Start Nivea Art Awards ‘09 hosted at The KZNSA Gallery in Durban. Emerging, self-taught local artist, Bheki won the R20 000 cash award
earlier this month. As the winner, Khambule automatically qualifies for a solo exhibition at KZNSA’s NIVEA Gallery next year. For more information see www.kznsagallery.co.za
Page 8 South African Art Times. July 2008
iziko south african national gallery exhibition entitled ‘Pancho Guedes Dutch works in the Iziko South
– An Alternative Modernist’ was African National Gallery collections
commissioned and produced by
Pancho Guedes: An the Swiss Architecture Museum
provide a setting and a context for
Andrew Putter’s installation piece
Alternative Modernist in Basel in 2007. Curated by entitled Secretly I will love you more
Pedro Gadanho, this exhibition (2007), which was recently ac-
Iziko South African National Gal- focused on the nearly twenty-five quired for the Iziko Art Collections.
lery hosts ‘Pancho Guedes: An Al- year period that he was active in The example of a contemporary
ternative Modernist’, an exhibition Mozambique, and his extraordi- South African artist using the Iziko
of the iconic architect’s work nary achievements involving over iziko michaelis collection
Michaelis Collection as a base for
from 22 May to 31 August 2008. 500 projects. a work of art that has cutting-edge
Dutch Treat: Dutch works relevance for the present indicates
In addition to being described as Pancho’s capacity to seamlessly from the 17th–20th centuries the valuable role our Dutch Old Gerard Sekoto (South African 1913-1993)
‘alternative modernism’ with inter- bring together Europe and Africa, Master collections can play in the
in Iziko collections TERUM GO ITSHEBA
national links, Pancho Guedes’ art and architecture, dream and building of a new heritage.
signed, canvas laid down on board 43,5 by 38,5cm
work draws on traditional African executed 1946
reality are revealed and further In this exhibition, highlights of (left) Andrew Putter, Secretly I will Estimate: R2 000 000 – R3 000 000
skills and motifs. Now eighty-three explored in the newly-curated love you more (2007). Video and
Dutch art from the Iziko Michaelis
years old, he has been prolific in component that introduces work sound installation. Presale Viewings
Collection and many seldom-seen
terms of output and diversity, in created mostly in South Af- Friday 1 August 2008 12noon to 5pm
Africa and internationally. Born rica, after April 1974, and which Saturday 2 August 2008 10am to 12.30pm
in Portugal, Pancho moved to celebratory exhibition of works of Sunday 3 August 2008 10am to 1pm & 2pm to 5pm
remains largely unpublished and
Mozambique as a child and Monday 4 August 2008 10am to 1pm
little known. Curated by architects art that they have presented to the
studied in Johannesburg, obtaining Henning Rasmuss and Dagmar Gallery’s collections over the past Auction
his architectural degree from the Hoetzel, in consultation with the four decades. While the exhibition Tuesday 5 August 2008 2pm & 7pm
University of the Witwatersrand architect, it is separate yet concep- emphasises exciting, newly-ac- Wednesday 6 August 2008 10am & 3pm
(Wits). He returned to Wits in 1975 tually linked to the SAM show. quired works of contemporary Stephan Welz & Co. (Pty) Limited
and was Head of the Department South African art that are being 13 Biermann Avenue
of Architecture until 1990. At a time when little attention was shown for the very first time, it also corner Oxford Road, Rosebank
paid to the aesthetic production reveals the quietly supportive role Telephone 011 880 3125
Despite working in the peripheral of Africa, Pancho was a pro- played by the FONG in building jhb@swelco.co. za
contexts of southern Africa, Pan- moter and supporter of vernacular a very broad and representative Catalogue can be viewed on our website
iziko south african national gallery www.swelco.co.za
cho’s work captured the attention architecture and African artists, collection for the nation over an
of the European avant-garde and notably Malangatana Valente and extensive period. Without this
he became an active member of Forty Years of Friendship: loyal and proactive support, our
Tito Zungu, yet his work has never
the dissident modernist Team 10. been shown in either Mozambique The Friends of the SA collecting activities would have
He represented Portugal at the or South Africa, the two countries National Gallery: 1968–2008 been greatly impoverished.
Biennale di Venezia in 1976 and where his architecture exerted
2006. Twenty-five years after enormous influence. The exhibi- The Friends of the South African (left) Brendhan Dickerson, Cannon
the Architectural Association of tions in Cape Town and Johannes- National Gallery (FONG) mark Fodder (2006). Welded steel and
London show of his work, an burg are made possible through their 40th anniversary with this carved jacaranda wood.
By Melvyn Minnaar
Local art luvvies - well, let’s say, (The Michael Stevenson’s opening
those early birds who had their party next door a few weeks earlier
eyes on the Jameson, never mind had already featured in Noseweek,
the very large, very new Kevin so the scene was set for more
Brand - were not too thrilled at arty ‘bites & pieces’, second time
having to share the Woodstock around.)
pavement with other hangers-
around while the glass door to the With the expression ‘the bride
spanking new gallery remained is ever elegantly late’ quietly
firmly closed. It was well after 40 whispered to Mrs Bell Roberts, Maybe the best think about the was a jeweller), his mini sculptures (Left) Spacious new Bell-Roberts Gallery, (Middle) Norman O’Flynn:
minutes beyond the official kick-off resplendent as usual, and framed group show, which features new are, well, so French, so Jacques Border Ramblers - soap stone (Top) Brendan Bell- Roberts and Melvyn
on the invitation. by two very stiff flower arrange- work by a number of established Tati. Minnaar, Top Middle and bottem: views of the new gallery.
ments (which may or may not have Bell-Roberts artists, as well as new And they complement Norman
But then Suzi - as she is lovingly found a place under the evening’s names, is the title. It is so cleverly O’Flynn’s little mystery men, as if arguing questions around the title imagination of the show’s title. It’s
known among the over-familiar show title), the crowd got over the enigmatic, without the pretence inviting them for a dance. To which more soundly. great. Like the now-neighbouring
and those with racy thoughts locked-out-on-the-pavement awk- so prevalent in current curatorial the music could well have been Talk of ‘meaning’. Anthony Strack’s galleries of the big art shots in
- threw back the latch of the new wardness, and cruised the gleam- babble which sometimes sacrifice Room to Roam, Jacques Coetzer’s images are wonderful, and one Cape Town, the new Bell-Roberts
establishment, and the party could ing grey floor in search of what’s grammar for posture. The phrase odd video of a Scottish sing-song, would except nothing less than space is grand, elegant, light - and
proceed with all due diligence that Between Meaning and Matter, the Between Meaning and Matter actu- except that the refrain was only style from Svea Josephy. ready to be invaded by talent.
beholds the opening of an impor- official opening group show. ally seems get one to think about audible through the earphones: Amelia Smith’s Kimberley mine The opening collection is cool
tant new commercial art space. Gerald Phillips, who owns Fair- it - and whether there is something always a bother. print may be the most gritty enough, but hardly adventurous.
EVERARD READ
JOHANNESBURG
FRANCKI BURGER
‘ B EL O N G I N G ’
17 July - 3 August 2008
6 Jellicoe Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg, 2196, Private Bag 5, Parklands, 2121, South Africa
Tel: +27 11 788-4805 Fax: +27 11 788-5914 Email: gallery@everard.co.za
To arrange a preview, kindly contact the gallery or visit our website www.everard–read.co.za Gallery Hours: Monday to Friday 9am – 6pm Saturdays 9am –1pm
Illustration: Francki Burger, Magersfontein II, hand-printed fibre based silver gelatin prints, 188 x 226cm
Page 12 South African Art Times. July 2008
Titia Ballot:
finance. And this in turn depends give funders credit on their own
on persuading business that it will scorecards.
Aktivis vir
benefit from this spend. The annu- Empowerdex’s data bank will also
By Michael Coulson al Business Day-Basa sponsorship give access to a pool of potential
versoening
awards are a key way to recognise black candidates for the boards of
When I went to see Nicola Danby successful sponsorships. arts organisations, not just to give
at Business & Arts SA – gener-
ally known as Basa – I reminded
Fortunately, over the years she’s
been at Basa business attitudes
BEE credibility but also provide
legal, financial, marketing and In n onderhoud me the Burger Broken glass becomes a
magnificent work of Ark
her that the last time I was there, towards sponsoring the arts have other skills. koerant is aangekondig dat Titia
we’d had to evacuate the building changed significantly for the better. If Danby has one regret, it’s that Ballot pas met n erepenning deur
prematurely, because of a fire in a In 1997, Basa had 49 corporate Basa has been unable to negotiate die SA Akademie vir Wetenskap
neighbouring office. She laughed members; today, 135. with government tax conces- en Kuns vereer. Dit het nog “...and if one green bottle would ture, entitled The story-teller’s
and said the staff had been remi- But, she argues, it’s not only the sions to arts donors, which have net twee ander grafiese kun- accidentally fall, you would have, chair- Noah’s Ark. As perplexed as
niscing about that only recently. attitudes of the business sector have had a very positive impact stenaars te beurt geval: Katrine no green bottles hanging on the Noah with his Ark, after creating
Now Danby is about to evacuate that have to change. Arts organi- elsewhere. Harries in 1973 en Diane Victor wall.” the chair Mary-Ann wondered,
the office permanently, not out sations and creators like to pose What drew her to Basa in the first in 2004. “what do I do with this work of
of compulsion but because she’s as helpless, subservient creatures, place? After graduating from UCT, Artist Mary-Ann Orr has redefined ARK?” Having successfully exhib-
resigned as Basa CEO with effect divorced from the harsh disciplines she lived abroad for 13 years. Re- Die kunstenaar se: “Ek het dit nie this old nursery rhyme through ited the work within her gallery in
from the end of July. of business. This too must change: turning to SA and Durban in 1984, verwag nie, want dis hoe ek uit a year long collaboration, with a Stellenbosch,
Having run Basa for 11 years, the arts must be run in accordance she joined the municipally-funded my belewenis my werk aanpak. group of underprivileged children
virtually since its inception, Danby with good corporate governance Durban Arts Association as editor Ek staan self krities teenoor my creating livelihoods through mu- Mary-Ann finally found the Mount
feels she’s achieved as much for and sound business principles of d’Arts magazine and organiser werk, en wat ek oordra, beleef ek nicipal dumps within the Eastern Sinai to rest the chair. The chair
it as she can, and that it needs if they are to attract business of various arts projects. intens”. Cape. has been donated to Biblioneef an
a fresh approach to advance to support. In 1987, she moved to Johan- Mary-Ann sources much of her NGO which sources African chil-
the next stage. She could also be If business doesn’t see that it will nesburg as manager of the Vita Sy vertel hoe sy geworstel het own materials from found objects, dren stories and translates them
forgiven if she’s had enough of derive benefit from sponsoring the arts awards, which covered the met begrippe op soek na hierdie spending her time sifting through into 12 South African languages.
the struggle of wheedling money arts, it will go elsewhere. visual arts as well as craft, poetry, bevryde identiteit om Mrikaan of local municipal rubbish dumps.
out of big business, who prefer to In 2001 Basa launched its first theatre, music, dance and other Afrikaner te wees. “My werk is While there she met children Large editions of top quality books
sponsor such intellectually unchal- part-time interdisciplinary courses, genres. No doubt 10 years of that my enigste kommunikasiemiddel. who’s livelihoods were dependant are printed and then distributed for
lenging but higher profile sports, in association with the Institute of demanding task was also exhaust- Ons moet werk met ons stories on these locations. She began col- free to schools, libraries and
like rugby. Marketing Management, the De- ing, so when the Basa opportunity hier in Afrika.” Ballot is nou met laborating with these children, and organizations operational in under-
A study commissioned by Basa partment of Arts & Culture, and the came up she applied, and got the proteskuns besig. Sy protesteer noticed their delicate eye for privileged communities.
from BMI-Sport Info (Pty) last year National Arts Council. Danby says job. teen vooroordele oor ons objects of beauty amongst the
suggested that direct sponsorship the toughest task was to persuade And what’s next for Danby? She gesamentlike verlede wat verde- waste that inspired joy. The story ‘within’ the storyteller’s
expenditure by business on sport not-for-profit bodies that they are may feel she needs to be ref- lend is. chair will be presented as an
sponsorship rose from R207m to still businesses; when achieved, ereshed, and says she views the Gradually a small menagerie of opening feature and live installa-
R2bn-plus in 2006, while in 2007 the mere change in mindset was future with some trepidation. She Sy pleit In haar werk vir bevry- paired ceramic creatures were tion at the 2008 Cultavaria FNB
arts and culture sponsorship drew extraordinarily positive. doesn’t want to be a full-time em- ding. Die seggingskrag van haar discovered, as if Mary-Ann’s team Private Clients and De Kat exhibi-
R304m, of which R148m went into Aspects like marketing and brand- ployee again, but at the same time werk is versoenend, met die were excavating an archaeologi- tion at the KWV Cathedral Cellar
music. Danby reckons that sports ing came to be appreciated as it’s difficult to leave a space you’ve potensiaal om helend in te werk. cal midden from Noah’s Ark. Thus in Paarl on the morning of the 27
sponsorship rose to R2.8bn last important. been immersed in for so long. was born the breathtaking sculp- September 2008 at 11:00
year. Building on this, three years Danby says she’s already had a
Apart from the direct spend, she ago Basa launched a mentoring couple of attractive approaches,
puts additional, or leveraged, project, in association with Barlow- but she doesn’t want to jump in.
spending at R1.6bn on sport and orld. Executives agree to devote Still, don’t be surprised if, pretty
R60m on arts and culture. a few hours a week to consulting soon after she leaves Basa on
Back in 2000, she estimates arts on projects, looking not just at the July 31, she re-emerges in another
and culture sponsorship totalled product but at areas like pricing dynamic arts initiative.
R30m, with another R15m in and marketing. Danby says a
leveraged spending. So business spin-off is that the business people STOP PRESS
sponsorship of the arts has beaten have not only been impressed by Nicola Danby has joined
inflation, but has barely grown as the energy, commitment and hard Artinsure’s board with effect from
a percentage of the sponsorship work put in by the arts practition- 14 July, as reported from Gordon
We represent these artists:
cake. ers, but have often come up with Massie. Ben Coutouvidis
Alice Goldin
ist, Ms. Constant has extensive that she does, and the Board has Wendy Rosselli
BASA appoints new CEO Lyn Smuts
experience in radio and television no doubt she will continue to grow Phillipa Allen
both as producer and presenter. our activities around the country, Hardy Botha
The Board of Directors of Business
She brings her knowledge of both for the benefit of business and the Theo P. Vorster
& Arts South Africa is pleased to
the arts and cultural sector and arts.” Ms Constant replaces Nicola
Original Art, Etchings, Sculpture, Ceramics. Judy Woodbourne
announce that Michelle Constant David Riding
corporate South Africa to the posi- Danby, who has successfully led
has been appointed as Chief Ex- Cecil Skotnes
tion. BASA Chairman, Sikkie Kajee BASA for the past 11 years and and others.
ecutive Officer of BASA, effective
of KPMG, welcomes the appoint- who will be pursuing personal
1st August, 2008 Well known as a
ment, saying: “Ms. Constant is a interests in the sector.
media personality and arts journal-
consummate professional in all
South African Art Times. July 2008 Page 13
afrique
fine collectable african art
The Old Tram Shed,
Cnr Roberts & Kitchener Ave, Kensington
PO Box 28267, Kensington, 2101
Tel: +27 11 622 6666 Cell: +27 79 213 3711
e-mail: art@artafrique.co.za
Exclusive
Norman O’Flynn: The Butterfly Project - until 18 July at Blank Projects. “When will I be a butterfly?” Kali A solo exhibition by Reshma Chhiba until Until 12 July 2008 at The Art Extra Gallery
the caterpillar asked. “When you have finished being a caterpillar,” the butterfly laughed.
Richard Hamilton A mirrorical return – part of the Masterworks Exhibition Goodman Gallery Jhb. Until 12 July Sibusiso Duma’s first solo show is at the AVA Gallery, Cape Town 14 July- 01 August. Image: Messenger
When enough people start saying the same thing.A solo exhibition by Michael MacGarry
16 July - 16 August 2008 Art Extra
Julia Clark -
The Jellyfish Explosion.
From Whatiftheworld Gallery:
Prints and Editions Show
Until 26 July
David and Gail Zetler. 270 Main Street, Paarl, 7646. Phone + 27 (0) 21 872 5030 Fax + 27 (0) 21 872 7133
E-mail: zetler@icon.co.za www.houtstreetgallery.co.za Artwork: Peter Fincham, Afternoon Shadows
Joe Maseko (1940-) Three Washerwomen (detail) Acrylic on Board 445 x 595