Archive: Issue No. 102, February 2006

3.02.06 Art Night
3.02.06 Bridget Baker at João Ferreira
3.02.06 Pieter Hugo at Michael Stevenson
3.02.06 Indigo at the Irma Stern Museum
3.02.06 Roelof Louw at Bell-Roberts
3.02.06 Kevin Mackintosh at 34Long
3.02.06 Wall to Wall Walls at the Castle of Good Hope
3.02.06 Lauren Palte at Rust en Vrede Gallery
3.02.06 The Kirov Concept at the Rossouw Gallery
3.02.06 I Love Wood at what if the world...
3.02.06 Sharon Peers at 3RD I Gallery
3.02.06 Jill Trappler at the AVA
3.02.06 Out of Context at Erdmann Contemporary

13.01.06 20<artists>06 at the Bell Roberts
13.01.06 Deborah Poynton at Michael Stevenson
13.01.06 Woven into Life: Basketry in South Africa at the Castle of Good Hope
13.01.06 Hylton Nel at Michael Stevenson
13.01.06 Strip Art Project at 34Long
13.01.06 Umzi and Amos Letsoalo at the AVA
13.01.06 Elsbeth Woody Exhibition at Art.b Gallery

9.12.05 Gerard Sekoto at SANG
9.12.05 Contemporary beadwork at the Old Town House

2.09.05 'ReVisions: A Private Narrative of SA Art' at SANG

FRANSCHOEK

9.12.05 The Summer Show at Grande Provence

STELLENBOSCH

3.1.06 Crosstalk at US Gallery
 

Art Night takes place once again in Cape Town, with participation by a number of city galleries who open their doors to patrons for an evening. The event has been organised by the Visual Arts Network of SA (VANSA) and the Association for Visual Arts with the support of the Cape Town Partnership and runs alongside VANSA's first conference. Participating are:

Association for the Visual Arts (AVA), João Ferreira Gallery, 34Long, Bell-Roberts, The Erdmann Contemporary and the Cape Gallery.

The evening includes performances by Mac McKenzie (ex Genuines and Goema Captains), Boeta Kaatjie Davids (banjo) with the Continentals Male Choir of Bridgetown. Jo'burg-based artist Nicholas Hlobo will be performing in selected public spaces, and the afterparty is to be held at Long Street's Zula Sound Bar.

5.30pm - 9pm, February 10
Opening speech by Cape Town Partnership's Andrew Boraine at 6pm at the AVA.

Bridget Baker's exhibition entitled 'But being a sensible woman, she subdued her terrors and turned over and went to sleep again', opens at João Ferreira this month.

Baker remains concerned with iconic characters and their public and private methods of surviving the banality of adult responsibility, with the 'sensible woman' as her current subject. The artist's conceptual artmaking practice spans participatory performance, crafting intricate objects, through to producing extensive photographic stills and installation projects. The exhibition presents photographic stills projects developed in Cape Town, Ghent and Maputo between 2003 ando 2005.

Opens: February 8
Closes: February 25

In his second solo show at Michael Stevenson, photographer Pieter Hugo explores machismo, presenting three new series of often theatrical images in which the pageantry of masculinity comes to the fore. These include his startling photographs of men posing with captive hyenas and baboons in Nigeria as well as portraits of taxi washers in Durban and (male and female) judges in Botswana.

Hugo will conduct a walkabout of his show at 11am, Thursday February 23. Cost is R30, proceeds to Friends of the South African National Gallery.

Opens: February 22
Closes: March 25

The UCT Irma Stern Museum hosts 'Indigo', an exhibition of Yoruba textiles from Nigeria, which focuses on indigo-dyed and handwoven cloth. These West African textiles form part of a private collection assembled by Nigerian designer Judith Appio and demonstrate the range of pattern and design used by weavers in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Workshops will be conducted at the museum by teachers from the Frank Joubert Art Centre who have established 'Ibhabhathane', a unique outreach programme designed to encourage art appreciation and creation by learners from four local high schools where there are no art facilities. Learners from Zolo High School, Oaklands High School, Sinethemba High School and the Best Centre will have the opportunity to visit the textile exhibition, participate in workshops and work on their own projects.

Walkabouts will be conducted by Judith Appio. In addition, Emeritus Professor John Picton will give a lecture on What to wear in West Africa: technology, tradition and lurex at the South African Museum at 6pm, Monday February 6.

Opens: February 8
Closes: February 25

In 'Demon's Party', his 3rd solo exhibition at the Bell-Roberts Contemporary Art Gallery, Louw exhibits limited edition mixed media prints. These burlesque iconic images were inspired by his body of flourescent light works Who the Villian, which can be seen at the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees in Oudtshoorn in early April.

Opens: February 15
Closes: March 18

'Dancers on Glass Horses', is a flamboyant, theatrical photographic exhibition by one-time South African Kevin MacKintosh. Commissioned to compile a series of images of the Bolshoi ballet theatre in Moscow just before its recent closure for renovation, MacKintosh, set designer Daryl Mcgregor and a group of stylists, lighting technicians and assistants spent two frantic months in a studio in a disused section of the crumbling building. The photographs aim to capture the grandeur, fantasy and romantic decay of the dancers and the buildings of the Bolshoi.

Opens: February 14
Closes: March 4

Marion Bartko-McCabe holds her first solo show entitled 'Wall to Wall Walls' at the Castle of Good Hope this month. The exhibition shows new works by the artist in a variety of media, including, drawing, painting, installation and performance, all dealing with the human pre-occupation with surrounding ourselves with walls.

Opens: February 12
Closes: February 26

Lauren Palte's 'When I Grow Up' is an exhibition of wry oil paintings that expose the fractures and inconsistencies of power, pose and identity embodied in even the most sacred and saccharine of family photographs.

Opens: February 21
Closes: March 16

'Blurring the line' is the first exhibition in South Africa to showcase the stainless steel sculptures of Bulgarian brothers Vasco and Rado Kirov. These two proficient metalsmiths came to South Africa in 1991 to focus on working with precious metals. They have since been awarded prestigious commissions such as state presents for the Pope and the Prince of Japan and the goldsmith work on the sceptre used in parliament. In this show the brothers, under their company name, 'The Kirov Concept' hope to 'blur dividing lines: between frame and picture and between picture and sculpture.'

Opens: February 10
Closes: February 16

In an exhibition titled 'I Love Wood', what if the world... will be showing a collection of photographic works by Sarah Nankin, David West, Stan Engelbrecht, Henrik Purienne and Xandre Kriel. The exhibition is the first installment in the gallery's annual photographic series, 'soft box'.

Opens: February 3
Closes: February 25

'Tao Africa: Seeing Beyond Seeing' is an exhibition of photographs by gallery co-owner Sharon Peers in which the artist can apparently be seen to be 'playing with the ancients of Egypt and the San' and 'celebrating Nature's present spiraling plan...'.

Opens: February 4
Closes: March 11

Jill Trappler exhibits new non-figurative work in all three gallery spaces at the AVA. The work includes both her familiar acrylic on canvas and more innovative multimedia configurations. This is her first solo show here since 2003.

Opens: February 14
Closes: March 4

'Out of Context' comprises photography, painting, sculpture, works on paper and installation from artists including Conrad Botes, Nicola Grobler, Manfred Zylla, Sean Wilson, Johann Louw, Jennifer Lovemore-Reed, Anton Kannemeyer, Lien Botha, Jo O'Connor, Jacques Dhont, Bruce Arnott, Dario Matter, Pieter Badenhorst and Marike Herselman. All the work on the show has been taken from existing bodies of work and placed in a context where it can establish dialogue with other work to which the same thing has been done. The opening features a once-off performance by Jennifer Lovemore-Reed.

Opens: 6pm, February 7
Closes: March 4

'2006' launches a book portfolio of 20 original prints by contemporary South African artists. The collection includes work by Svea Josephy, Cameron Platter, Conrad Botes, Sipho Hlati, Matthew Hindley and Julia Clark.

Opens: January 11
Closes: February 11

Painter Deborah Poynton holds her third solo exhibition at this venue, this one entitled 'Safety and Security'. In recent years Poynton has worked on an increasingly large scale, and this show will comprise four canvases each measuring 2m x 6m.

Throughout Poynton's work, the vulnerability and loneliness of everyday life and the isolation of the individual in contemporary society are immediately apparent. The titles of her four new works for the show illustrate these concerns: Safety and Security, For Ever and Ever, Betrayal and Surrender.

Poynton will conduct a walkabout of her exhibition at 11am, Thursday January 19. It costs R30 and proceeds go to the Friends of the South African National Gallery.

Opens: January 18
Closes: February 18

This exhibition in the Grain Cellar at the Castle of Good Hope intends to reveal the artistry of southern African baskets, paying tribute to the deep environmental knowledge and ways of life of South African basket-makers, past and present. The baskets on display cover a wide range of techniques, uses and regions of origin, collectively reflecting the knowledge and skill of their creators, as well as the beauty to be found in these practical constructions.

Opens: December 20
Closes: July 1

Well known 'artist-potter' Hylton Nel, will show a body of recent ceramic works in his third show at Michael Stevenson this month.

Over the past four decades Nel has developed a style of work that is rich in references to the decorative arts and literary and art historical sources. His ceramics are decorated with witty and sometimes poignant line drawings and script. On his functional ware, Nel's imagery ranges from penises to Madonnas, and from cats to angels, embellished by quotations drawn from poetry and the daily press as well as his observations of the world around him.

Opens: January 18
Closes: February 18

'Strip Art Project' is a collection of comics by Daniël du Plessis, Leonora van Staden and Nicolene Louw.

The Strip Art Project was founded in 2003 by Anton Kannemeyer, senior lecturer in the Department of Visual Arts, University of Stellenbosch and from 2003 to 2005, du Plessis, van Staden and Louw were closely involved with the project. All three artists are presenting this work as their final submission for their Master's degrees in Illustration.

The exhibition will be opened with an address by Anton Kannemeyer

Opens: January 17
Closes: February 11

In the Main and upstairs galleries, the AVA presents 'Umzi', a group exhibition by six local artists curated by Vuyile Voyiya. This exhibition is funded by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund. In the Long gallery are new non-figurative works by Johannesburg-based artist, Amos Letsoalo.

Opens: January 23
Closes: February 11

Elsbeth Woody was Professor of Art at City University of New York for 25 years where she specialised in producing large-scale ceramic sculptures. She has held numerous exhibitions and workshops in the US and her two books on ceramic techniques have been published in several languages.

This exhibition of 30 large-scale paintings concentrates on her work since the death of her husband in 2001 and apparently represents a diary of her inner journey alone in the Riviersonderend mountains.

Opens: January 18
Closes: February 15

'Gerard Sekoto - From the Paris Studio' opens at Iziko South African National Gallery this month. In 2000, the Gallery received a donation of over 2000 items from Sekoto's Paris studio, including paintings, drawings and prints as well as memorabilia and photographs of an artist considered by many to be the pioneer of urban black art and social realism.
Also included in the exhibition are works by artists who knew Sekoto such as Gregoire Boonzaier, Peter Clarke, Solly Disner, Lippy Lipshitz, Ernest Mancoba and Louis Maurice.
At 10:30 on Sunday December 11, Friends of SANG host a walkabout of the exhibition which will cover different periods in the artist's life - from his early teaching years, his life in apartheid South Africa, his visit to Senegal to the time spent in Paris where he lived in voluntary exile from 1947.

Opens: December 6
Closes: February 25

'Synergy', featuring contemporary bead art, opens at Iziko Michaelis Collection (The Old Town House) from December to March next year.
The brainchild of Dr. Elbé Coetsee of Mogalakwena Craft Art Development Foundation and Jeanetta Blignaut of Cape Town-based Qalo, the exhibition celebrates the work of 11 renowned South African artists, who have created designs that have been interpreted and realised by bead workers. The participating artists who have been commissioned include Willem Boshoff, Mbongeni Buthelezi, Paul Edmunds, Faiza Galdhari, Rookeya Gardee, Claire Gavronsky, Liza Grobler, Nicholas Hlobo, Karel Nel, Lindelani Ngwenya, Rose Shakinovsky and Doreen Southwood.

Opens: December 1
Closes: March 31

This exhibition at the South African National Gallery claims to be drawn from one of the most impressive private collections of South African art assembled by an individual. Bruce Campbell-Smith started collecting in the mid-1980s and the result is a collection of work by almost 90 artists, mostly black South Africans, working from the 1920s until 1994.

Hayden Proud, curator at Iziko, says the collection is impressive because of its scope, its items of rarity and the fact that the collector has had a fine arts training himself, which has informed many choices. He says the collection contains works by well-known and now historical figures the public have never seen before. It is focused on artists working in the figurative traditions of painting, printmaking, drawing and sculpture, with a strong Natal bias.

Artists represented include Gerard Bhengu, Trevor Makhoba, Sthembiso Sibisi, Maggie Laubscher, Amos Langdown, Arthur Butelezi, Mizream Maseko, George Pemba, Gerard Sekoto, Dumile Feni, Billy Mandindi, Peter Clarke, Neville Lewis, Gregoire Boonzaier, Marianne Podlashuc, Selby Mvusi, Irma Stern, Gladys Mgudlandlu, Sydney Khumalo, Louis Maqhubela, Tommy Motswai, Alfred Thoba, Noria Mabasa and Johannes Segogela.

Opens: September 24
Closes: March 19, 2006

The Gallery at Grande Provence in the Franschhoek winelands presents its '2006 Summer Show'. Curated by Cape Town art consultant Rose Korber, the 'Summer Show' features an extensive selection of paintings, mixed media works, original prints, sculpture, ceramics, photography and contemporary beadwork by both leading and emerging South African artists.

Artists featured include Sam Nhlengethwa, John Kramer, David Koloane, Wayne Barker, Karl Gietl, Diana Hyslop, Stephen Inggs, Nina Romm, Kevin Collins and Shany van den Berg, Sannell Aggenbach and Peter Eastman. Alongside these are ceramics by Barbara Jackson, Louise Gelderblom, Hennie Meyer, Heather Mills and Helen Vaughan. A wide range of exciting new beadwork pieces by Martine Jackson, Carol Nathan Levin and Tamlin Blake will also be featured.

Opens: December 18
Closes: February 28

The US Gallery in Stellenbosch will be holding an exhibition of contemporary glassworks by Lisa Gherardi, Helena Kagebrand, Katrin Maurer, Ryoko Sato, Elizabeth Swinburne, Ellen Urselmann and Elmarie Costandius.

Opens: February 16
Closes: March 11