Jeremy Wafer wins Sasol Wax Art Award
Jeremy Wafer, artist and head of the Fine Art Department at Wits University, was on August 30 declared the winner of the Sasol Wax Art Award for his mixed media installation
Geography. He was one of five candidates shortlisted for the R130 000 award. The others were Kim Berman, Andrew Tshabangu, Diane Victor and Kagiso Pat Mautloa.
Wafer's work deals with location and memory and how these two concepts are interwoven. Geography is described as an exploration of his childhood memories of KwaZulu-Natal and aspects of his current Mellville home environment. He wrote in a media statement: 'I am interested both in the dualistic nature of experience, how memory is both presence and absence - expressing the view that the meaning or significance attached to the works lies between rather than in them.'
The winning work comprises two main elements: a drawing using wax polish of the shape and surface of Wafer's childhood home's veranda floor, and a continuous looped screening of a close-up video called HIVE depicting the entrance of a beehive in a tree-trunk in his home suburb. Competition rules stipulated that wax must form part of the process, concept or medium.
Clive Kellner, director of the Johannesburg Art Gallery and one of the adjudicators, said in a statement that Wafer's poetic orchestration of memory and place made him a clear winner: 'Although the work is typical of his minimalist approach, Wafer actively extends his own practice into a whole new field with regard to using space and time as tools in the construction of artwork. He goes beyond the visual aesthetics and appeals to other senses such as smell, hearing, touch and association. He confronts viewers and demands use of their personal history in understanding the work, thereby engaging his audience in decoding the installation.'
An exhibition of the shortlisted works in the competition runs until September 9 in the Sasol Basement Gallery in Rosebank. It then moves to the Aardklop National Arts Festival in Potchefstroom from September 26 - 30.
In other competition news, Brent Meistre was declared the winner of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum's Biennial exhibition and award. The Rhodes University photography lecturer was singled out for his focused and passionate approach. 'Metaphor is the key to his work and nothing is as simple as it first appears, which gives the work density and meaning', said the gallery in a statement.
Fifteen artists from 102 entries were selected to showcase their work at the museum's biennial exhibition from June 22 until July 17. The other finalists selected to stand in line for the prize of a solo exhibition at the Art Museum were Amanda de Wet, Dina Belluigi, Lynnley Watson and Jennifer Ord.
