STOP PRESS
Friday, August 11
TRANS CAPE IS OFF - FOR NOW.
Shock waves are going through the South African art world with the news that TRANS CAPE, the mega art event scheduled to open in 24 venues in and around Cape Town on September 23 has been postponed for six months.
The postponement comes barely two weeks after CAPE finally released the list of participating artists. Citing business partners who had failed to fulfil promises of funding, the artistic director of TRANS CAPE, Gavin Jantjes, said that with the funding on hand, TRANS CAPE would have run out of money in the opening weeks. Shades of the 2nd Johannesburg Biennale, which did not run full term for similar reasons. The new opening date has been set for March 24, 2007. More details: see NEWS
Oops! On the August edition of ArtThrob which went online Friday August 4, I was celebrating the tenth birthday of the website. In fact, since the first edition went out in 1997, we are only nine, as past editor Sophie Perryer has pointed out.
Kim Gurney is welcomed back as Cape Town editor this month. Linda Stupart will continue to cover international listings.
Sue Williamson
Founding Editor
Next update: Friday, September 1
CAPE
Two artists named as TRANS CAPE selections - Peter Clarke and Nicholas Hlobo - have exhibitions in town this month: Clarke at Kalk Bay Modern and Hlobo at Michael Stevenson Contemporary. Prior to his departure to study in Ireland, Ralph Borland shows at Blank Projects and João Ferreira hosts a show by several painters along with some new acquisitions.
GAUTENG
An extremely busy month in Gauteng sees the opening of numerous important shows. The JAG particularly boasts an impressive array of exhibitions, yet, the commercial galleries maintain their importance - great shows by Diane Victor,Wilma Cruise and Siobahn McCusker run this month. Numerous group and survey shows open too, the most important being 'Photography - Manuel Alvarez Bravo to Pieter Hugo' at Warren Siebrits Modern and Contemporary Art in Johannesburg.
KWAZULU-NATAL
This month the African Art Centre hosts 'Threading Together', an exhibition of embroidered textiles; the KZNSA Gallery hosts Luan Nel and Ilana Erasmus, and 'Still', at artSPACE durban, features the work of Jeannie Kinsler and Louise Jennings.
INTERNATIONAL
While there is a slight dearth of International Listings this month, there is still substantial interest in photographers Roger Ballen, Mikhael Subotzky, Lolo Veleko and Zwelethu Mthethwa. William Kentridge shows Weighing and Wanting in Australia and Liza Crossley holds a solo show in Berlin. James Webb travels to Brazil for a field-recording expedition as well as a series of broadcasts.
CAPE
Anita van Tonder's exhibition at Bell-Roberts successfully navigates the dark streets of the alienation, corruption and false ideals of capitalist society, says Linda Stupart. Prophetic artist Ernest Mancoba, claims Ruben Mowszowski in his review of a retrospective exhibition at the Gold of Africa Museum, has left us a vital legacy.
GAUTENG
Diane Victor's current show finds a mid-career artist enthusiastically expanding her own repertoire and remaining relevant as a result. Victor, Michael Smith argues, has frequently served to image this nation's corruption, and her recent work demonstrates a more nuanced engagement with the concept of the grotesque.
KWAZULU NATAL
'Studio 8' finds three Capetonian studiomates showing in Durban. Francesca Verga is impressed by Leanne Boulter's paintings, to which Francois van Reenen's sculptures provided welcome relief.
LOCAL
CAPE Africa Platform finally announces artists chosen for next month's 'TRANS CAPE' - and two weeks later, postpones the event by six months. Capetonian Ruth Sacks wins the 2006 Absa L'Atelier Award and young photographer Mikhael Subotzky wins a one year scholarship to Fabrica Forma Fotografia. A new William Kentridge book, Thinking Aloud: Conversations with Angela Breidbach, is launched at the Göethe Institute. Also in Johannesburg, the Art Bank Jo'burg announces artist Antoinette Murdoch as their CEO and Stephen Hobbs and Marcus Neustetter present their 'URBANET Hillbrow-Dakar-Hillbrow' project. In Durban winners of the 'FNB Craft Now' 2006 awards are announced.
INTERNATIONAL
Liste 06, the Swiss art fair, is keenly centred on sales and networking rather than curatorial finesse. But the annual event, now in its 11th year, gives younger artists an important international gateway. Douglas Gimberg reports back.
The editor is hustled off the wrong plane, attends the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta, and whirls around New York.
Michael Smith profiles Frances Goodman.
Carine Zaayman spends time on Aryan Kaganhof's Kagablog http://kaganof.com/kagablog
We feature www.area3.net and http://r-s-g.org/, a 2002 project by Area3 and RSG (Radical Software Group). This is based on devices employed by the FBI to intercept electronic communications, ostensibly to protect the citizens of the world against terrorism, but here used to provide a visual reflection of material being circulated on the web.
The Digital Art Festival Rosario/Argentina calls for entries and the Trinity Session invites submissions from artists, architects and interior designers.
After a flurry of communication over the last two months, July's mailbag was pretty much empty.
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ArtThrob congratulates David Goldblatt on winning the Hasselblad Foundation International Award, and is proud to offer two of his exceptional photographs as part of the Editions series.
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