Archive: Issue No. 109, September 2006

1.09.06 Cape Town Artists in Vienna
1.09.06 Mandy Lee Jandrell and Julia Rosa Clark in London

4.08.06 South African Photographers in London
4.08.06 Liz Crossley in Berlin

THE AMERICAS

1.09.06 Tracey Rose in Chicago
1.09.06 Sipho Hlati, Velile Soha and Ernestine White in Chicago
1.09.06 Khwezi Ghule gives a keynote speech in Santiago

4.08.06 William Kentridge in Texas

7.07.06 'Body of Evidence' at the National Museum of African Art in the USA
7.07.06 Jane Alexander in California
7.07.06 Four SA artists selected for Sao Paulo Bienal

FAR EAST

5.05.06 'Off the Record' in Tokyo

AUSTRALIA

4.08.06 Roger Ballen in Sydney
 

South African-born curator and newly appointed Director of Locust Projects Miami, Claire Breukel, joins Galerie Hilger to curate an exhibition for their Contemporary gallery in Vienna. The result is 'Tour', an exhibition that combines the works of three Miami artists with three from Cape Town and addresses issues pertaining to life in a transitory city

'This exhibition has stemmed from the opportunity of living in, and working with artists in both continents, and being able to identify common phenomena in both cities', says Breukel. 'Tour' focuses on the commonality of the two tourism-centered cities in flux and the participating artists address notions of alienation, integration, acceptance, dual identity and how to find a sense of 'home' and in their respective regions.

Cape Town artists participating are Cameron Platter, Bridget Baker and Pieter Hugo.

Opens: October 5
Closes: October 29

'New Utopia', a show conceived in part by South African Mandy Lee Jandrell, brings together a group of artists whose work reflects on the fairytale and self-fulfilling aspirations of utopian imagineers. This exhibition explores the follies of bootleggers and buccaneers, who subvert and celebrate the desire that gives rise to the vision of a purist society. Each artist separately draws on the tension between real and imaginary aspirations of those dissatisfied with their society, pinpointing the moment when vision for utopia becomes something else.

Included on the show are Mandy Lee Jandrell photographs from a series entitled Eidyllion which explores landscape idylls as found in the constructed leisure environments of theme parks and zoos in various countries. Julia Rosa Clark also exhibits pieces based in the visual coding of the classroom which compare the humorous and tragic incongruence of an idealised worldview with the failure and realities of our adult contemporary world.

Opens: September 1
Closes: September 30

Mikhael Subotzky, Lolo Veleko and Zwelethu Mthethwa are amongst those taking part in 'The Living is Easy', an exhibition of international contemporary photography at the Flowers East Gallery in London. The exhibition shows a bittersweet collection of imagery which seems to say that while it may be summertime in London, the living is not easy for all.

Opens: August 11
Closes: September 10

South African born and educated Liz Crossley is showing a selection of paintings done since the mid-90s, under the title 'Extremes & Elements' at the ARD Hauptstadtstudio in Berlin.
Crossley was born in South Africa, trained at the Michaelis School of Fine Art in Cape Town and has been living in Europe since 1974. The links with South Africa have however remained and been strengthened since the late 80s, while her interest in and fascination with Europe are being developed constantly.

Much of her work circles around the core themes of place or land and survival, particularly under extreme conditions. These themes are explored in works such as the San Ladder series which spring from the artist's interest in San engravings near her hometown in Kimberley and painting installations that explore her time in residence in the barren coldness of Iceland.

Opens: September 4
Closes: October 6

Tracey Rose holds her first solo exhibition in Chicago entitled, 'Le molesta que dé de pecho aqui?' at the POLVO Gallery this month. The 'broken' Spanish title comes from a recent piece she performed in the Canary Islands. Rose explains: 'I wrote and performed in Spanish where I demythologized Christopher Columbus, it was at opening of the exhibition 'Olvida quien soy' at Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno in Las Palmas, the audience grew irritated and participatory while I read and reread this text in broken Spanish.'

Opens: September 15
Closes: September 7

Sipho Hlati, Velile Soha and Ernestine White exhibit in the POLVO's small gallery alongside Tracey Rose's solo show in the main hall. These artists represent three generations of Cape Town-based printmakers with work that explores history, identity politics and artistic experimentation.

White will show her newest series of prints, Banal Illusions which the artist proclaims 'explore(s) the relationship between the camera, myself and my immediate environment in an effort to begin to understand the power one has in altering one's perceptions of reality.'

Opens: September 15
Closes: October 7

Khwezi Ghule will be delivering the keynote address in his capacity as Transcape curator on the first day of the South Project's 'gathering' in Santiago, Chile, entitled 'Crossing Horizons: Context and Community in the South'.

This is the South Project's third annual event of this kind (it will be travelling to Johannesburg next year) and for the first time the gathering will also feature a significant artistic programme with artists from Australia, New Zealand and Latin America. The Symposia programme will be updated regularly online and registrations to attend to gathering are now being accepted. Go to www.southproject.org/Santiago/Santiago_programme1.htm for more information and to register online.

Opens: October 3
Closes: October 7

William Kentridge's well known 1997 piece, Weighing and Wanting is showing at the Austin Museum of Art in Texas. The film, and the drawings which accompany it on this exhibition, centre around Soho Eckstein, a broad-shouldered, white South African industrialist whose self-assured place in the world has been dismantled by the ascendancy of the African National Congress and the condemnation of apartheid. Eckstein's story is related through his personal meditations on a failed love affair, the Johannesburg landscape which stands as silent witness to the atrocities of the apartheid era, and his own internal psychic landscape, represented by images of MRI brain scans. The title of the exhibition refers to a biblical episode in which a disembodied hand appears before King Belshazzar of Babylon and writes a message on the wall, reading, 'You have been weighed in the balance and found wanting, for you have not humbled your heart before God, so your kingdom has come to an end.'

Opens: August 19
Closes: November 5

'Body of Evidence' is a new show at the Smithsonian Institute's Museum of African Art. The long running show is an exhibition of works by contemporary African artists from the museum's collection who deal with ideas of 'The Body' with varying levels of explicitness.

The artists use the human body, and its absence, as a site for issues of race, identity, gender and geography - all issues that are often integral to artists from this continent. South African artists Kay Hassan, Gavin Jantjes, Rudzani Nemasetoni, Georgie Papageorge, Johannes Phokela, Berni Searle, Sue Williamson and Jeremy Wafer are included.

Opens: June 14
Closes: April 6, 2007

Jane Alexander is one of the 88 contemporary artists from 25 countries to have contributed artworks for an exhibition inspired by the messages, vision and values of Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. 'The Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama' at the UCLA Fowler Museum explores themes of peace, compassion, patience and tolerance. Participating artists have considered the Dalai Lama in a broad array of new and existing works made in a variety of media expressing their personal interpretations of and reflections on his philosophies and ideals.

Many artists, including Bill Viola, Mike and Doug Starn, Sylvie Fleury, El Anatsui, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Michal Rovner and Chuck Close, have created new works for the exhibition which also includes art superstars like Marina Abramovic and Laurie Anderson. Jane Alexander is the only South African taking part.

Opens: June 11
Closes: September 10

Following a visit to South Africa some months ago, Lisette Lagnado, chief curator of the 27th Sao Paulo Bienal, has selected Jane Alexander, Guy Tillim, Mustafa Maluka and Pieter Hugo to participate. For the first time, national representation has been discarded, and the 119 chosen artists have been selected purely on the merits of their work. Well known artists from other countries include Cildo Mereiles, Tacita Dean, Loulou Cherinet and Thomas Hirschhorn.

This year's theme is 'How to Live Together' and the Bienal will run from October 7 to December 17, 2006.

Timed to coincide with the opening of 'Africa Remix' at the Mori, is a project much lighter in weight and more ephemeral in concept: 'Off the Record', devised by Belgian artist Eric van Hove, now based in Tokyo, will hi-jack X-Cube storage lockers found in subway stations in the city.

These lockers are opened not by a key but by utilising a cell phone number designated by the storer. Invited artists will make an artwork to fit into one of these lockers, which measures 30 x 30 x 60 cm. An SMS to a friend inviting him/her to come and view the artwork will set the process in motion. The invitee will then invite someone else in turn, setting the new cell phone number as the new code. 'Think of Chinese whispers', says Van Hove.

Participating artists include Lara Baladi (Egypt), Federico Herrero (Costa Rica), John di Stefano (New Zealand) and Sue Williamson (South Africa).

Will the artwork be stolen by a viewer? Will the next invited viewer take the trouble to pay a visit? Will an earthquake destroy Tokyo and all the artworks? The agenda is open.

More information? http://www.transcri.be/projects/offtherecord/downloads.html

May 2006 - until such time as the project ends itself.

Roger Ballen will be exhibiting images from his recent show 'Shadow Chamber' and the book Outland at the Stills Gallery in Australia.

Ballen's photographs for 'Shadow Chamber' are striking, ambiguous images of people, animals and objects posed in mysterious, cell-like rooms. The pictures occupy the grey area between fact and fiction, blurring the boundaries between documentary photography and constructed images. Ballen focuses on the interactions between the people, animals and objects that inhabit mysterious rooms - the shadow chamber. The resulting images are surreal and intriguing, and powerful disturbing psychological studies.

Opens: August 16
Closes: September 16