Archive: Issue No. 124, December 2007

02.12.07 'A Legacy of Men' at The Johannesburg Art Gallery
02.12.07 'Three Abreast: Side by Side and Facing the Same Way at Museum Africa
02.12.07 'Oppitafel' at Artspace Fine Art Gallery
02.12.07 'Isithunzi Project Exhibition' at The Thompson Gallery
02.12.07 '(Re)View' at Shop 8 in Blu Bird Mall

04.11.07 William Kentridge at the Goodman Gallery
04.11.07 'Impossible Monsters' at Art Extra
04.11.07 Gerhard Marx at Warren Siebrits Modern and Contemporary Art
04.11.07 Fiona Pole at Art on Paper Gallery
04.11.07 Peter Eastman at Obert Contemporary at Melrose Arch
04.11.07 Varenka Paschke at Worldart
04.11.07 Anglo American's Festive Season on Main
04.11.07 Theresa-Anne Mackintosh 'Menagerie' at Gallery Momo

PRETORIA

02.12.07 Jan Wilken and students Annual Exhibition at the Centurion Art Gallery

04.11.07 'Contemporary Visions of Southern Africa' at the Pretoria Art Museum

09.09.07 'A Story of African Art' at The Pretoria Art Museum

Artist and curator Jacki McInnes has curated a group show in support of the '16 Days of Activism' campaign. The show features the work of an all-male ensemble of artists. With this show McInnes intends to remedy the absence of male voices on the topic of women abuse in South Africa. The seven artists represented have been chosen because they deal in various ways with the social ills that contribute to this phenomenon.

McInnes' statements around this exhibition reveal a broad understanding of the issue. She states, 'South Africa may be a culturally diverse country, but its various groups nevertheless demonstrate a remarkably cross-cultural agreement on the subordinate status of women, leaving many women subject to their male partners' authority and control. Couple this with a South African environment in which poor standards of education, unemployment, fierce competition for scarce resources and high levels of alcohol abuse cause men to feel frustrated, emasculated and inadequate, and one is left with a highly volatile situation.'

The show was opened by guest speaker Ferial Haffajee, the Editor-in-chief of the Mail & Guardian. An artists' walkabout will be held on December 8, and Bearnárd O'Riain, activist and author of the book Running to Stand Still, will deliver a talk on the same date.

Opens: November 25
Closes: January 18 2008

Wits university students Candice Hirson, Anthea Pokroy and Louise Ross present a show at Museum Africa, in fulfillment of their Fine Art degrees. The show demonstrates a broad exploration of media including painting, installation, photography and video.

Opens: November 18
Closes: January 13

Artspace presents this year's installment of its regular 'Oppitafel' exhibition. The show title refers to a table, or something on a table, conceptual or figurative. This year the brief for the show was for artists to produce something exciting for the Christmas table. This is billed as an opportunity for viewers to purchase creative gifts.

Artists included on the show are Amali von Maltitz, Andre Naude, Angus Taylor, Annelise Bowker-Marais, Anthea Delmotte, Beverley Price, David Ceruti, Di Miller, Dylan Graham, Ellen Papciak-Rose, Elna Venter, Flip Hattingh, Gina Kraft, Hannah Paton, Jacki McInnes, Johan du Plessis, Johan Botha, Karin Preller, Landi Raubenheimer, Lee-At Meyerov, Liz Loubser, Lynette ten Krooden, Natasja de Wet, Querendien van Vliet, Retha Buitendach, Sue Pam-Grant, Susan Woolf, Tebogo George Mahashe, Varenka Paschke and many more.

Opens: December 2
Closes: December 16

The Thompson Gallery presents a show that is result of a collaboration between the Artist Proof Studio and the Wits Writing Centre, entitled 'Isithunzi'. The show stems from the Isithunzi Writing Workshop held earlier this year and the show features drawings, prints, collage, writing and video work. Each participant wrote an artist's statement based on aspects of their work, and these are shown alongside the works in the show, expanding on the personal narratives of these.

Opens: November 17
Closes: December 16

Artist and curator Stephan Erasmus presents a show of work by various artists at Shop 8 in Blu Bird Mall in Melrose. Artists included are Willem Boshoff, Suzanne du Preez, Stephan Erasmus, Guy du Toit, Bronwen Findlay, Gordon Froud, Sandra Hannekom, Phillemon Hlungwani, Pat Mautloa, Paul Moleti, John Moore, Ilse Pahl, Ellen Papciack-Rose, Ann-Marie Tully, Diane Victor and Berco Wilsenach.

Opens: November 22
Closes: December 16

An exhibition of recent work by SA's own art mega-star William Kentridge opens on November 10 at the Goodman Gallery. 'What Will Come' takes its title from the Ghanaian proverb 'What will come has already come'.

This body of drawings, prints and stereoscopic images continues an interest in the 'medium of sight', furthering Kentridge's exploration of the construction of seeing. The show centres around an 'anamorphic' film, an eight-minute work entitled What will come. The images in this work only take on their proper proportions when reflected in a cylinder placed at the centre of the projection. This work references concepts of the picture puzzle that originated in the 16th century.

A body of anamorphic drawings from the film will also be shown, mirrored in cylinders. Other work concerned with optics and the construction of seeing, includes a series of stereoscopic photogravures that take on three dimensions as one looks through large stereoscopic viewers. Outsized stereoscopic drawings likewise gain unexpected depth when viewed stereoscopically. In addition to this work which deconstructs the mechanics of seeing, 40 to 50 graphics from the past year will be shown. These relate to the opera The Magic Flute, the mini-theatre installation Black Box, the film What Will Come, and to Shostakovich's opera The Nose. Finally, a series of table-top equestrian sculptures muse on 'the Nose on horseback', as Kentridge begins work towards a production of the opera to open in New York in 2010.

Opens: November 10
Closes: December 14

Like other major centres in South Africa, Johannesburg seems to be getting its fair share of new galleries. The last few months have seen the appearance of a number of new venues, including Worldart in Jozi's Commissioner Street and Rooke Gallery in Newtown. November will see the opening of yet another space devoted to contemporary art, Art Extra, curated and managed by David Brodie, previously of the Johannesburg Art Gallery and more recently the Goodman Gallery.

The venue's inaugural exhibition is a group show entitled 'Impossible Monsters', and features work by artists such as Penny Siopis, Wim Botha, Reshma Cchiba and Lester Adams.

The show runs till next year, but the gallery is closed between December 15 and January 8.

Opens: November 7
Closes: January 19 2008

Warren Siebrits presents the follow-up to Gerhard Marx's sell-out show there in 2005. This exhibition, entitled 'photo-' seems to continue Marx's interest in working with map fragments. No other details were available at time of publication.

Opens: November 15
Closes: December 12

'The long goodbye' is the title of the exhibition as well as the featured new portfolio of etchings by Fiona Pole, consisting of 20 prints housed in a red handmade cloth-covered box. The images from the portfolio are also presented in sequences, printed in groups of four on the same sheet of paper to create five larger works. Pole favours the format and creative possibilities offered by the print portfolio, and two earlier portfolios, '1994 - new memories - 2004' (2004) and 'In memory of Anna 1936 - 2000' (2006) will form part of the exhibition.

In her new work, Pole continues her visual exploration relating to her interest in childhood memories and other aspects of social interaction. An ominous sense of the tenuous relationship between adult and child surfaces in subtle as well as startling ways.

Pole studied in South Africa and Paris, France, specializing in printmaking. For the last six years she has worked as studio assistant in various artists' printmaking studios in Paris, facilitating her own art as well. She has taken part in numerous exhibitions in France and the UK. She lives in Paris with her partner and her son, making regular trips to South Africa.

Opens: November 3
Closes: November 22

Obert Contemporary at Melrose Arch presents a show of paintings by Cape Town-based artist Peter Eastman. According to Eastman, 'These enamel shadow paintings reflect on our position as a viewer. The make us aware of ourselves in relation to a painting and, more broadly, of our persona and position in the world at large. They mirror our projections onto paintings, and blur the boundaries between the intentions of the artist and our preconceptions. The viewer is integral to these paintings, and in reality the viewer's shadow and reflection is a fundamental part of the transient image.'

Opens: November 19
Closes: January 31

For her upcoming exhibition Varenka Paschke has covered squares with a variety of materials, which she has then assembled as units to serve as canvases for oil paintings. The end products vary considerably in many respects, but could be summed up as mainly figurative works in a contemporary idiom, sometimes entering into a dialogue with illustration work, and even taking on a partly digital character. In some cases mosaic designs and floral patterns are integrated with figurative elements. The presentation remains stimulating and fresh, and social commentary is often embedded in an array of decorative forms and shapes. The subtle application of colour, line and light is highly favoured, which may well contribute to Paschke's works often finding their way to private and corporate collections.

Opens: November 29

Johannesburg residents and visitors can look forward to a creative and colourful festive season yet again. For the past three years, Anglo American has undertaken a successful arts initiative, whereby local artists were commissioned to create their version of a Christmas tree, celebrating the renaissance of downtown Johannesburg. A variety of South African artists will be invited to submit a proposal of what the Festive Season means to them.

Artists will create a large-scale sculpture using weather resistant materials. Artists that participated in last year's project include Dave Rossouw, Gina Waldman, Johan Thom, Wilma Cruise and Gavin Younge, John Molteno, and, Thomas Kubai and KEAG, a Cape Town-based organisation. Artists for this year are still in the process of being selected.

The sculptures this year will once again frame 44 Main Street, Anglo American's Johannesburg corporate office since the 1930s. Greater Main Street has been transformed into a pedestrian promenade where tarred roads have been replaced with trees, leafy ground covers and decorative paving as part of the inner city rejuvenation partnership programme.

The event is open to the public and the switch on of the glittering lights with festive Carols will take place at 6.30pm on Wednesday November 21. This 'exhibition' will be on display and lit in the evenings from November 21 to January 5.

Gallery Momo presents an exhibition of recent work by Cape Town-based artist Theresa-Anne Mackintosh, called 'Menagerie'.

Opens: November 8
Closes: November 26

The annual exhibition by artist Jan Wilken and his students is on show at the Centurion Art Gallery. Works in a variety of media, such as oil, watercolour and acrylics will be on exhibition.

Wilken studied art at the Johannesburg School of Art. He worked as a teacher and lecturer for 31 years in subjects like biology and physics, later returning to the art field when he launched a full-time painting career eight years ago. In 2001 he opened his art school, and currently has 24 adult students.

Opens: November 19
Closes: December 18

The City of Tshwane Pretoria Art Museum, in collaboration with the Development Bank of Southern Africa presents an exhibition entitled 'Contemporary Visions of Southern Africa' during November and December. The show features work by visual artists from southern Africa and the Indian Ocean islands, hosted under the patronage of the South African National Association of Visual Arts (SANAVA).

Opens: November 2
Closes: December 22

Until December this year is an exhibition of works from the museum's permanent collection under the title 'A Story of African Art'. The show tells 'a brief story of South African art from the time of the first San artists', including images from early 20th century painters, works from the period of Resistance art and 21st century contemporary works. This takes place in the museum's South Gallery.

Closes: December