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Mikhael Subotzky
Mr Roussouw (at desk), Beaufort West 2006
light jet print on Fuji Crystal Archive paper
126 x 147,6 cm
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Mikhael Subotzky at Goodman Gallery Cape
This is the first solo exhibition in Cape Town by Mikhael Subotzky since Die Vier Hoeke, a photo essay exploring the South African prison system, was shown in the Nelson Mandela Cell at Pollsmoor Prison in 2005. The forging of relationships as the primary drive of his photography and his sensitivity towards his subject have garnered Subotzky awards such as the 2007 City of Perpignan Young Photographer Award; the 2007 KLM Paul Huff Award; the 2006 F25 Award for Concerned Photography; a one-year residency at Fabrica in Treviso; and a Civitella Ranieri Fellowship. At 25 years of age, Subotzky is the youngest photographer ever to be accepted into Magnum Photos.
In describing this latest Beaufort West series, Subotzky says:
'Despite being originally established to bring law and order to the central Karoo, Beaufort West is now a transit town. Situated at the intersection of two of the busiest national roadways, it serves as a food and overnight stop for travellers of all kinds. Every day, the town's population doubles with those who pass through it. Beaufort West has recently been described by the South African Human Rights Commission as "an isolated town that has not broken away from the shackles of South Africa's apartheid past, [where] economic and social integration is severely limited".
'I was drawn to Beaufort West when I came across its prison. It is bizarrely situated in a traffic circle in the centre of the town in the middle of the N1 highway. Most South African prisons are hidden from view on the outskirts of our towns and cities. I was interested in this image of the prison at the centre of the town and the irony that it is still hidden as most of those who drive around the traffic circle don't realize that they are passing the prison. This image thus became a locus by which to explore the town and its margins.'
On Thursday August 30 at 11am Subotzky will conduct a walkabout for the Friends of the South African National Gallery.
Opens: August 25
Closes: September 17
Goodman Gallery Cape
3rd Floor Fairweather House, 176 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock
Tel: (021) 462 7573
Fax: (021) 462 7579
Email: info@goodmangallerycape.com
Hours: Tue - Fri 9.30am - 5.30pm, Sat 10am - 4pm
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Nandipha Mntambo
The Fighters 2006
cowhide, waxed chord, polyester resin and fibreglass
dimensions variable
Meshac Gaba
Disa Park (Vredehoek, Cape Town 2007)
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Nandipha Mntambo and Meshac Gaba at Michael Stevenson Gallery
Rising star Nandipha Mntambo exhibits concurrently with the first South African exhibition by internationally renowned artist Meschac Gaba (Benin/Netherlands). Mntambo graduated in June with Master's in Fine Art with distinction from the Michaelis School of Fine Art. She has already received critical notice as one of five young artists selected for the 2006 MTN New Contemporaries exhibition at Johannesburg Art Gallery, and has taken part in a number of local and international exhibitions.
Mntambo has developed a distinctive aesthetic through her use of cowhide, which she tans and moulds onto casts of the female body - usually her own. She purchases the hide as raw as possible in order to engage fully with the material - its smell and textures causing revulsion but also provoking a consciousness of the corporeal. The hairy skin, cast in female form, is used, Mntambo says, to 'challenge and subvert preconceptions regarding representation of the female body', and to 'disrupt perceptions of attraction and repulsion'.
Mntambo's Beginning of the Empire, a series of figures based on her mother's body, has been selected for the upcoming exhibition 'Local Racism, Global Apartheid. South Africa as a Paradigm', curated by Pep Subiros for the Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona (opening September 26) and travelling to the Foundation Bancaja in Valencia in 2008.
Meschac Gaba is best known for his 'Museum of Contemporary African Art', a project in which he installed 12 'rooms' of a nomadic museum in various institutions over a period of five years starting in 1997. This exhibition will comprise new works from Gaba's Tresses series in which he reinterprets iconic buildings in the form of braided artificial hair sculptures. On a research trip to South Africa in 2006, Gaba selected 10 buildings ranging from the Sentech Tower in Johannesburg to the Castle in Cape Town. He then produced architectural drawings in Rotterdam, which his studio in Cotonou, Benin, used to craft the objects. Gaba uses the French term métissage (literally 'mixed-race') as a metaphor for global culture, of which both hair-braiding and architecture are instances.
Gaba is included on 'Africa Remix' which ends its international tour at the Johannesburg Art Gallery September 30.
Opens: August 16
Closes: September 15
Michael Stevenson Gallery
Hill House, De Smidt Street, Green Point
Tel: (021) 421 2575
Fax: (021) 421 2578
www.michaelstevenson.com
Hours: Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm, Sat 10am - 1pm
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Act 2
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'Carpentry 101' at blank projects
Conceptual artists Doug Gimberg and Christian Nerf present 'Carpentry 101'. Disrupting the normal conceptions of 'fine art', the artists will be attempting to dismantle traditional wooden sculptures, and invite visitors to join them.
In their quintessentially provocative style the two provide thought-provoking artist's statements:
'We are not perfect.' - Gimberg
'Sometimes bad people do good things.' - Nerf
A book will accompany the show with contributions from Ronald Suresh-Roberts, Bettina Malcomess, Nuno Sacramento, Robert Sloon, Ed Young, Andrew Lamprecht, Bianca Baldi, Johan Kritzinger, Dan Halter and Lizza Littlewort as well as Gimberg and Nerf themselves. The book is published in association with the recently re-launched Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA).
Opens: August 8
Closes: August 31
blank projects
198 Buitengracht Street, Cape Town
Tel: 072 198 9221
Email: blankprojects@gmail.com
Hours: Wed 4pm - 7pm, or by appointment
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The Three Musicians 2007
c-type print
940 x 640mm
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Avant-Car Guard at what if the world/Project Room
'Naked Frontier Ambition vibes' is a solo exhibition of recent work by Avant Car Guard's provocative trio: Zander Blom, Jan-Henri Booyens and Michael MacGarry. Their approach to art production, the art world and their own collective role as a singular artist is characterised by a foregrounded sense of humour and a punk sensibility. Their production focuses predominantly on conceptual art manifest through photography and performance. 'A sincere act to invent something insincere', is probably the most succinct definition of their method.
Avant Car Guard is a three member visual art collective from Johannesburg which has been exhibiting nationally over the past 18 months. They have recently published a book on their production entitled Volume I.
Opens: August 17
Closes: September 29
what if the world/Project Room
11 Hope Street, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 461 2573
Email: info@whatiftheworld.com
www.whatiftheworld.com
By appointment only
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Carine Zaayman
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Carine Zaayman at Irma Stern
'The secret adventures of Lady Ann Barnard and Other Diversions' features two series of works. The first is an excerpt from an ongoing project, namely a novel entitled The Plague of Fantasies. This comprises a number of found and original texts, presented in print and video format. The second part deals with Lady Anne Barnard's stay at the Cape of Good Hope as the wife of the first British colonial secretary, entitled The Secret Adventures of Lady Anne Barnard. It focuses on the journey she together with her husband, Anne Barnard the younger, Captain Johnny Dalrympie, and a number of assistants, undertook to the interior of the Cape colony. This will consist of a series of digital prints composited from photographs, drawings and texts from Lady Anne's journal and the newly discovered letters. Excerpts from these were chosen for their particularly intelligent and insightful observations of life at the Cape in the late 18th century. A video installation dealing with Lady Anne's ascension of Table Mountain will also be shown.
The exhibition seeks to illuminate a part of the history of Cape Town and its environment by tracing the ways in which history has shaped contemporary life, and to bring about an awareness of the long trajectory of contemporary culture and society in Cape Town.
Carine Zaayman, ArtThrob's former New Media Editor, is a lecturer in New Media at the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town.
Opens: August 7
Closes: September 1
Irma Stern Museum
Cecil Road, Rondebosch, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 685 5686
www.irmastern.co.za
Hours: Tue - Sat 10 am - 5pm
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Jane Alexander
part of 'Working proof' portfolio
lithograph
Stephen Inggs
part of 'Working proof' portfolio
lithograph
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'PRINT 07' at Bell-Roberts Lourensford
South Africa has a rich history of printmaking which dates back to the first settlers in the Cape and which was primarily aimed at disseminating information from the mother continent to the new settlers. The 60s saw an explosion of the print form as many young printmakers were trained at the Evangelical Lutheran Church Art and Craft Centre in Rorke's Drift, leading to the development of what is uniquely South African printmaking, merging social commentary and a truly localised aesthetic with broad appeal. Despite the closure of the Art and Craft Centre, its legacy has continued with many of South Africa's most prominent artists employing the medium as part of their repertoire.
The inaugural 'PRINT 07' is organised in association with UCT's Michaelis School of Fine Art, Stellenbosch University Visual Arts Department and Rhodes University Fine Art Department. It takes the form of an extensive educational print exhibition, consisting of three print portfolios: Working Proof, Spit II and Egazini Outreach Project, which showcase the output of some of the leading printmaking studios in the country as well as some of the less known printmakers. Bell-Roberts is planning to continue this focus on prints with an annual conference and exhibition at Lourensford.
Working Proof is a portfolio of lithographs, co-ordinated by Stephen Inggs, exploring how artists use and adapt commercial print technology. The portfolio, consisting of 10 contributions by staff of the Michaelis School of Fine Arts and other prominent artists, has a broad scope and aims to provide new ideas and approaches to contemporary printmaking. The Spit II print portfolio consists of 28 contributions by the staff of the Visual Arts Department, University of Stellenbosch. And the Egazini Outreach Project deals with the Battle of Grahamstown and has been produced by Fineline Press at Rhodes University.
Participating artists include Jane Alexander, Fritha Langerman, Stephen Inggs, Deborah Bell, Kevin Brand, Jane Eppel, Katherine Bull, Robert Hodgins, William Kentridge, Colbert Mashile, Sam Nhlengethwa and Lyndi Sales.
Opens: August 4
Closes: October 4
Bell-Roberts Gallery @ Lourensford
Lourensford Wine Estate, Lourensford Road, Somerset West
Tel: (021) 847 0449
Email: suzette@bell-roberts.com
www.bell-roberts.co.za
Hours: Mon - Fri 9am - 4pm, Sat, Sun 10am - 4pm
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Esther Mahlangu
Abstract 2007
mixed media on canvas
122cm x 170cm
Speelman Mahlangu
Twins
bronze
37cm
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Esther Mahlangu and Speelman Mahlangu at 34Long
34 Long shows an exhibition of recent work by Esther Mahlangu and a selection of early limited edition bronzes by Speelman Mahlangu, Esther's late nephew. Esther Mahlangu is best known for abstract works in her signature Ndebele idiom, and this exhibition will feature several new examples. In some works, she employs the vivid acrylic colours typical of Ndebele house decoration, and in others the more muted, earthy colour of natural pigments. She also uses cow dung which, like acrylic paint, is employed extensively in her home environment both as a decorative and functional surface. Its unadulterated presence enhances the symbolic content of her paintings.
Esther Mahlangu will also be showing figurative works. In these, she employs a colourful visual language to tell stories of village life. These works often combine abstract and finely detailed figurative elements. In addition to paintings, some painted pots by Esther Mahlangu will be included on the exhibition and a limited edition of silkscreen prints will be introduced. Esther Mahlangu has successfully expanded the traditional Ndebele craft of house decoration taught to her by her mother and grandmother into the world of fine art, achieving a special place in the South African art world.
A rare selection of early limited edition bronzes by Speelman Mahlangu, Esther's nephew who died in 2004, will also be on display. At the time of his death, Speelman was a leading sculptor. He had studied and taught at the Kathlehong Art Centre between 1977 and 1980.
Opens: August 7
Closes: September 1
34Long
34 Long Street, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 426 4594
Email: fineart@34long.com
www.34long.com
Hours: Tue - Fri 9am - 5pm, Sat 10am - 2pm
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Medina Morphet at Frewin
Michaelis graduate Medina Morphet presents a show of new paintings at Frewin. Morphet has not held a solo show for some years since her successful outing at the AVA. Her largely abstract works are enlivened by brushmarks, incisions and laminated layers of canvas, all shot through with an acute colour sense and an almost modernist vocabulary of shape. She showed some new paintings at a group show at this venue a few months back.
Frewin
75 Loop Street, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 422 0366 or 072 041 9526
Email: katy_bauer@hotmail.com
Hours: Mon - Fri 11am - 3.30pm, Sat 10am - 1pm
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Kate Tarrat Cross, Timothy Zantsi and Joe Dolby at AVA
Kate Tarratt Cross will be exhibiting 'Shadows from Haiti' in the Main Gallery. Tarratt Cross' work revolves around her autobiographical journey through space and time, whilst acquainting herself with her shadow. Her journey is recorded by capturing her shadow in contrived situations. Although born in South Africa, Tarratt Cross is presently living in Haiti where she has been running an Art Foundation set up by herself and her partner Patrick Boucard. She has exhibited in Haiti, USA, England and South Africa.
Joe Dolby presents a recent body of work which includes pastels, charcoals and watercolours. His work ranges from landscapes and botanical studies to depictions of people. The latter are not completed portraits in the conventional sense, but are used as vehicles to convey different moods and emotions.
Timothy Zantsi has participated in numerous group exhibitions nationally, and returns to the AVA for his third exhibition there, this time in the long gallery.
Opens: August 28
Closes: September 7
AVA
35 Church Street, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 424 7436
Fax: (021) 423 2637
Email: avaart@iafrica.com
www.ava.co.za
Hours: Mon - Fri 10am - 5pm, Sat 10am - 1pm
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Clare Menck, Annelie Venter and Nicolaas Maritz at Chelsea on 34
Chelsea on 34 presents an exhibition of paintings on canvas, board and ceramic surfaces by Patsy Groll, Clare Menck and Annelie Venter to be opened by Nicolaas Maritz. This will be gallerist Lieschen Heinze's final exhibition after 35 years of art-dealing.
Menck explains her work:
'Much of what I paint invariably has autobiographic content as I use myself and those close to me as my most familiar subjects. I explore the dynamics between figure and surrounding spaces in the characteristic landscape environments of the Karoo, the West Coast, the Sandveld and the Cedarberg. I try to do unconventional nudes that emphasize the isolated existential experience of being alone in nature. The viewer is allowed a voyeurist peek into a private world of self-contemplation and interaction with natural elements such as the water of a rock pool.
Opens: August 25
Closes: September 15
Chelsea on 34 Gallery
34 Mount Pleasant St, Darling
Tel: (022) 4923745
Email: chelsea-gallery@telkomsa.net
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Lara Feldman
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Lara Feldman at Gerald Cloete Gallery
Lara Feldman will be exhibiting 'glimpses' of life in Cape Town, figurative paintings verging on abstract, with bold use of colour and broad brushstrokes, which capture both the frenetic energy of the city and the laid-back vibe. Seascapes, portraits and various 'slices of life' merge to create an exhibition which is vibrant, evoking the uniqueness of the city.
Opens: August 17
Closes: August 30
Gerald Cloete Gallery
90 Loop Street, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 422 5474
E-mail: gerard@gerardcloetegallery.co.za
Hours: Mon - Fri 9am - 6pm, Sat 10am - 2pm
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'Group exhibition' at VEO
VEO Gallery hosts a group exhibition showcasing the recent artwork of five of contemporary painters, with work in collections locally and abroad. Jenny Merritt, Bastiaan van Stenis, Kerry Murray, Jennifer Gray and Anthony Wakaba Mutheki bring colour, texture and balance to their canvases, although they all use different techniques.
Opens: August 7
Closes: August 13
VEO Gallery
28 Jarvis Street, De Waterkant, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 421 3278
Email: info@veo.co.za
www.veo.co.za
Hours: Mon - Thu 10am - 5pm, Fri 10am - 4pm, Sat 10am - 2pm
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David Burrows
King becomes cook 2004
film detail
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'The Sneeze 80 x 80' at Iziko SANG
'The Sneeze 80 x 80' was conceived and produced by the artists Peter Lloyd Lewis (UK) and Natasha Makowski (USA). The film pays homage to Thomas Edison's kinograph film of a sneeze, a random and connective act. It includes footage by 80 video artists from 29 countries and 5 continents and is presented as a single work, in which new narratives are constructed through the introduction of a continually changing sequence structure. The artists were invited to submit 80 seconds of footage for the film, meaning that accumulatively the pieces acquire the length of a feature film.
South Africa is represented by the artists Sue Williamson and Thando Mama.
Opens: June 26
Closes: October 28
Iziko South African National Gallery
Government Avenue, Company Gardens, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 467 4660
Email: cquerido@iziko.org.za
www.museums.org.za/iziko
Hours: Tue - Sun 10am - 5pm
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Johannes Segogela
At Prayers 2004
oil on carved wood
dimensions variable
Eliza Kentridge
Pasop vir die hond 2007
coloured felt and stitching
96 x 98.5 cm
Billie Zangewa
Working nights (detail) 2007
silk tapestry
80 x 80 cm
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'Social Fabric' at Goodman Gallery Cape
The latest offering from the Goodman Gallery Cape, 'Social Fabric', features Johannes Segogela, Billie Zangewa and Eliza Kentridge. The exhibition is a carefully composed collection of biting commentary that is often tempered by the personal engagement of the artists with their subjects.
Both Kentridge and Zangewa use fabric in their work. Malawian Zangewa presents her distinctive silk tapestries that continue to narrate personal experiences and histories. Zangewa's idiosyncratic manipulation of her chosen medium is consummate - never twee the work is nonetheless distinctively feminine and personal. The less recognizable work of Kentridge is made up of colourful fabric collages that engage social realities.
The self-taught Segogela presents his characteristically naive sculptures which combine acute social commentary with a sensitive awareness of form and characterisation. Assessing Segogelaís role in contemporary South African art, Linda Givon says, 'Segogela has made an important contribution to crossover culture in the new South Africa.' Segogela is represented in several major collections, including that of the National Gallery.
Opens: July 28
Closes: August 18
Goodman Gallery Cape
3rd Floor Fairweather House, 176 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock
Tel: (021) 462 7573
Fax: (021) 462 7579
Email: info@goodmangallerycape.com
Hours: Tue - Fri 9.30am - 5.30pm, Sat 10am - 4pm
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Nick Miller
Masonite on Shannon 2006
oil on linen
168 x 214 cm
John Gerrard
Smoke Tree III 2006
real-time 3D
117 x 68 x 53 cm /variable
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'Singing the Real' at Iziko SANG
'Singing the Real' is the first exhibition of contemporary Irish art organised by the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA), Dublin to be seen in South Africa. Patrick T. Murphy, RHA Director explains: '"Singing the Real" is a multi-media, cross generational and gender diverse exhibition that explores the combination of scientific method and art practice that is an evident and strong strain in Irish art today. Observing, recording, describing, hypothesizing and analyzing are the empirical dynamics that underscore the artwork in this exhibition. As if by the co-option of empirical that the artist can directly engage the material, and indirectly the new materialism in Ireland, to establish new relationships with traditional values of the land and the community.'
The artists include Barrie Cooke, Dorothy Cross, Grace Weir, Susan Tiger, Cecily Brennan, Nick Miller, Neva Elliott, John Gerrard, Gary Phelan and Martin Healy.
Opens: July 19
Closes: September 30
Iziko South African National Gallery
Government Avenue, Company Gardens, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 467 4660
Email: cquerido@iziko.org.za
www.museums.org.za/iziko
Hours: Tue - Sun 10am - 5pm
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Tracy Payne
Awakening II 2006
oil, glitter and gold shimmer on combed acrylic on canvas
128 x 180cm
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Tracy Payne at Michael Stevenson Gallery
In Tracy Payne's early work she expressed the domain of abuse, the domination of yang over yin and subsequent bodies of work have been concerned with bringing these energies into balance. Following on from her previous exhibition, 'Sacred Yin' (2005), Payne's mind turned to the notion of sacred yang after encountering the actions of China's Shaolin monks.
As she recalls, 'I was transfixed. These are spiritual men, Zen Buddhists, and at the same time masters in the martial art of kung fu - a seeming paradox. They are so strong yet their bodies looked soft and their faces serene. They seem to embody the masculine principle, sacred yang, a perfect marriage of spiritual and physical. They set out not to conquer others but rather to use their physical strength in self-defense to protect that which is sacred. It was as if I'd found through these monks a new beginning with "man", a place of forgiveness and sacred appreciation.' The exhibition is a series of portrait paintings that explores a range of emotions from inward serenity through to an outward expression of power.
Payne was born in Cape Town in 1965 and graduated from the Michaelis School of Fine Art in 1987. In 2006 her work was included on the traveling exhibition 'New Painting' and on 'Second to None' at the Iziko South African National Gallery.
Opens: July 12
Closes: August 11
Michael Stevenson Gallery
Hill House, De Smidt Street, Green Point
Tel: (021) 421 2575
Fax: (021) 421 2578
www.michaelstevenson.com
Hours: Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm, Sat 10am - 1p
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Nicholas Hales
Looking in No. 5 2006
oil, wax, glass, metal and wood
136 x 168.5 cm
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Nicholas Hales at João Ferreira
With Nicholas Hales' second show at João Ferreira, he draws on contemporary South African urban imagery in order to examine the meditative and contemplative modalities of subjectivity. The exhibition is entitled 'Adytum', which means the innermost sanctuary or shrine, and the work looks at the difficult process of trying to still the mind and create an inner space free of distraction, noise and confusion. It investigates an alternative paradigm for meaning than one fixated with acquisition and consumption.
Hales is based in Cape Town. Since his first show at João Ferreira he has participated in a number of group shows including a show at the Alphan Gallery, Huntington, New York and 'Flesh' at this year's Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees in Oudtshoorn where he was nominated for a Kanna award for best work at the festival. His work has been shown at the Detroit Museum of New Art, USA and is held in private collections in America, Europe and Asia.
Opens: August 1
Closes: September 1
João Ferreira Gallery
70 Loop Street, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 423 5403
Fax: (021) 423 2136
Email: info@joaoferreiragallery.com
www.joaoferreiragallery.com
Hours: Tue - Fri 11am - 6pm, Sat 11am - 3pm
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Fabian Saptouw
Unravelled and Rewoven Canvas (detail) 2006
installation
Fabian Saptouw
Unravelled and Rewoven Canvas (detail) 2006
installation
Fabian Saptouw
Unravelled and Rewoven Canvas (detail) 2006
installation
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Fabian Saptouw at Michael Stevenson Side Gallery
Currently a Master's student at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, Fabian Saptouw spent much of last year conceiving and executing a single project: unravelling and reweaving a section of blank canvas. The result encompasses the reconstructed canvas itself, as well as elements that were discarded, the equipment used and documentation of the process.
With the prevalence of automated processes, manual weaving has become all but extinct, as Saptouw explains in the text accompanying his work: 'Textiles are hand-woven primarily in three areas: where this technology is not available, as a craft/art, or when imbued with some religious significance.' With this in mind, he chose not only to restrict himself to manual labour, but also to manufacture all the required hardware himself. In a gesture marked by subtle irony, he relied largely on online tutorials to teach himself the old-fashioned craft of hand-weaving. Saptouw also set out to methodologically document the process. First, he installed a CCTV camera in his studio, which recorded the project on VHS cassettes. Second, he used a stopwatch to time the different elements of the unravelling and reweaving at set intervals. The results of these qualitative and quantitative observations became integral parts of the installation, and will be exhibited in the form of the full collection of tapes, selected video footage and accompanying graphs.
Opens: July 12
Closes: August 11
Michael Stevenson Gallery
Hill House, De Smidt Street, Green Point
Tel: (021) 421 2575
Fax: (021) 421 2578
www.michaelstevenson.com
Hours: Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm, Sat 10am - 1pm
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Andrej Nowicki
Hunters in the Snow 2006 - 7
oil on canvas
220 x 140cm
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Andrej Nowicki at What if the world/Albert Hall
Andrzej Nowicki makes paintings and drawings that create parallel universes where people and objects multiply and metamorphose into ever more strange visions. His disquieting dreamlike tableaux combine the seductive allure of fairy tales with the perverse playfulness of Surrealism and the insight of speculative fiction to create disordered narratives that hold several tensions in balance: between old and new, centre and periphery, East and West, sense and non-sense, logic and absurdity, beauty and grotesquery.
Born in Kielce Poland, before moving to South Africa in 1989, his work frequently deals with transit and transience, often containing undercurrents that highlight the double side of globalisation - the glamour, speed and consumption of travel and technology but also the detritus and architectural scarring that it leaves behind. While he frequently depicts scenes from his hometown of Kielce, the spaces he creates have a generic quality, and yet they look strangely familiar: non-places where one gets the eerie feeling that not only has a crime been committed, but also that its secrets are so deeply buried they can only be imagined.
Opens: July 28
Closes: August 26
what if the world/Albert Hall
1st Floor Albert Hall, 208 Albert Road, Woodstock
Tel: (021) 448 1438
Email: info@whatiftheworld.com
www.whatiftheworld.com
Hours: Tue - Fri 10am - 4pm, Sat 10am - 3pm
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Nicola Vinci
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Nicola Vinci at the Photographers Gallery za
This is Italian photographer Nicola Vinci's first exhibition in Cape Town. In 'Moonlight' he presents 15 new diptych portraits of young children. Vinci's photographs are simultaneously complex and simplistic, familiar and foreign. Vinci, who completed his studies at the Fine Art Academy in Bari, lives and works in Verona.
Opens: July 25
Closes: September 1
The Photographers Gallery
63 Shortmarket Street, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 422 2762
Email: photogallery@mweb.co.za
www.erdmanncontemporary.co.za
Hours: Tue - Fri 10am - 5pm, Sat 10am - 1pm
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'Committee and Critics' Choice' at the AVA
The AVA will hold a 'Committee and Critics' Choice' exhibition, which will employ all four gallery spaces. Twenty six participating local art critics and committee members will individually nominate an artist that they feel is deserving of representation on this exhibition. The artists nominated have the opportunity to create new works or exhibit existing pieces. The exhibition will engage art critics, AVA committee members and artists to construct a forum for the public to view contemporary trends and notions of quality.
Opens: July 30
Closes: August 17
AVA
35 Church Street, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 424 7436
Fax: (021) 423 2637
Email: avaart@iafrica.com
www.ava.co.za
Hours: Mon - Fri 10am - 5pm, Sat 10am - 1pm
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Mxolisi Dolla Sapeta
Untitled
acrylic on canvas
Mxolisi Dolla Sapeta
Untitled
acrylic on canvas
1.2 x 1m
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Mxolisi Dolla Sapeta at Bell-Roberts
Bell-Roberts plays host to Mxolisi Dolla Sapeta's debut. His exhibition, 'Detached', explores South African socio-political issues. Sapeta explains, 'I find it difficult to ignore these issues; every time I turn on the TV, open my front door or walk in the streets.' The subject matter is dominated by human and urban images.
Sapeta was born in the township of New Brighton, Port Elizabeth.
Opens: July 25
Closes: August 18
Bell-Roberts Contemporary
89 Bree Street, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 422 1100
Fax: (021) 423 3135
Email: suzette@bell-roberts.com
www.bell-roberts.com
Hours: Mon - Fri 8.30am - 5.30pm, Sat 10am - 2pm
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Lisa Strachen
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Lisa Strachen at Everard Read
Lisa Strachen illustrates botanical flora, concentrating on the more rare indigenous plants. All illustrations are portrayed life-size where possible, and the artist's strength lies in her attention to detail. Her artworks have been published in a hardcover book entitled Cotyledon and Tylecodon by Ernst van Jaarsveld, as well as numerous Aloe, Veldt Flora and Bothalia publications. Some of her work has been printed by Churchill China (UK) on three Fine Bone China mugs in a collection entitled 'Kirsten Florals'.
Opens: July 26
Closes: August 8
Everard Read Gallery
3 Portswood Road, V&A Waterfront
Tel: (021) 418 4527
www.everard-read-capetown.co.za
Hours: Mon - Fri 9am - 6pm, Sat 9am - 1pm
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John Muafangejo
The Pregnant Maria
linocut
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Art from Rorke's Drift at Iziko SANG
Curator Joe Dolby presents an important collection of art from Rorke's Drift. A seminal fine arts training centre for black artists during the apartheid era, Rorke's Drift in KwaZulu Natal afforded oppportunities for those denied art training in South Africa. Established in 1968, the school was initially managed by two Swedish art teachers, Peder and Ulla Gowenius.
The show also demonstrates the collecting policy of the National Gallery. The first prints and tapestries from Rorke's Drift in the collection of the Iziko South African National Gallery were acquired in the mid-1960s. Most of the artists represented were confined to well-known names such as Azaria Mbatha and John Muafangejo. In 2006, funding provided by the National Lottery Board enabled the gallery to significantly augment their holdings and to assemble a more representative selection detailing the diverse range of artistic production of the school.
Opens: May 16
Closes: June 24
Iziko South African National Gallery
Government Avenue, Company Gardens
Tel: (021) 467 4660
Email: cquerido@iziko.org.za
www.museums.org.za/iziko
Hours: Tue - Sun 10am - 5pm
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Ulrich Apt the Elder
The Crucifixion 16th century
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'Fabrications' at Iziko SANG
'Fabrications', an ongoing exhibition drawing on the gallery's permanent collection, examines the ways in which artists have creatively used, painted or sculpted approximations of fabric and costume in their work, revealing surprising insights into social history as well as the artistic process.
Iziko South African National Gallery
Government Avenue, Company Gardens
Tel: (021) 467 4660
Email: cquerido@iziko.org.za
www.museums.org.za/iziko
Hours: Tue - Sun 10am - 5pm
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