Archive: Issue No. 130, June 2008

8.06.08 'RE:Cascoland' at the KZNSA Gallery
8.06.08 'Wings, Legs & Videotapes' at the Durban Art Gallery
8.06.08 Videos from Rijksakademie at Bank Gallery
8.06.08 Wilma Cruise at Kizo Gallery
8.06.08 Terri Broll and Terence King at artSPACE durban
8.06.08 Lindiwe Xaba at the KZNSA Gallery
8.06.08 Ceramics Southern Africa KZN Regional Exhibition at artSPACE durban
8.06.08 'Photogarage' at artSPACE durban
8.06.08 Helena Hugo at the KZNSA Gallery
8.06.08 'Rani Pillay at Bean Bag Bohemia
8.06.08 Guy Longmore at Bean Bag Bohemia
8.06.08 Jabu Nala at the African Art Centre
8.06.08 Izingqwele at the Durban Art Gallery
8.06.08 Kieran Smith at artSPACE durban

13.05.08 'Ready Made' at Kizo Art Gallery
11.05.08 Leora Farber at the Durban Art Gallery

2.03.08 'Recent Acquisitions' at the Durban Art Gallery

In previous incarnations conducted in Cape Town and Johannesburg, the 2008 Cascoland project - a collaboration between Dutch and South African curators and artists - focused on linking three locations in Durban and, more importantly the spaces in-between. In keeping with its objective of generating art that interacts with people, and assisting people to interact with art, the projects developed include Bert Kramer and Doung Anwar Jahangeer's Inflatable Shack, the Refunc twins' Pimp my Bin and the gloriously fabulous musical turnstyles.

Central to Cascoland's approach is the notion of communicating with audiences at a far deeper level than just mere entertainment. Artists not only developed strategic creative interventions addressing specific socio-spatial needs, but were also challenged with activating their interventions through audience participation. Some interventions were focused on specific spaces, while others spanned several sites and were essentially mobile themselves, thus reinforcing the theme of mobility. Unlike other festivals or exhibitions, where an audience casually makes its way around a series of works, Cascoland requires its audience to be active and engaged at all times. This resulted in both an energised and reflective experience. Audiences were not only expected to play, but to think. Understanding and engaging tensions such as these is essential to inspiring people to take responsibility for nurturing more liveable cities.

The exhibition at the KZNSA presents a selection of the public and interactive sculpture work produced during Cascoland.

Opens: June 10
Closes: July 5

Creepy crawlies, bugs, nunus - call them what you will, they have been around longer than humankind and will probably be here long after we cease to exist.

'Wings, Legs & Videotapes' is an exhibition curated to investigate artists' preoccupation with these 6-legged creatures. Insects appear frequently in South African artistic expression both as symbolic motifs and as the central focus of the artwork.

Kathryn Smith's Memento Mori engages with imagery of death and the 'new' science of forensic entomology. Fans of CSI can really relate to this work depicting the decaying body of a Ripper victim showing the flies and maggots that swarm over a corpse and can be used to determine the time of death. Penny Siopis' Pinky Pinky (fly eyes) described by the artist as 'a hybrid creature, half-everything, half-nothing' also contains elements of instability and mortality.

The chrysalis form is a motif of creation, of emerging life and an implied parallel can be drawn between human and insect societies here. Moths and butterflies are in abundance on the exhibition through a wide range media including photography, painting, sculpture and video. Langa Magwa, Diane Victor, Rosemarie Marriott, Fiona Couldridge and Peter Rippon are a few of the artists using the more 'friendly' insects to explore contemporary culture and concerns.

Also on exhibition are more decorative pieces, like a Danish bakelite brooch in the form of a butterfly from the Gallery's collection and lace from the Local History Museum's collection.

The exhibition takes place at the same time as the International Congress of Entomology to be held at the ICC.

Opens: June 12
Closes: July 27

The exhibition 'Dis-Ease' is a video compilation screening from the Rijksakademie by 27 artists from 17 different countries. Greg Streak, representing the artist-run initiative PULSE, partnered with the Rijksakademie and Bank Gallery to produce the show which will travel to two other venues in South Africa during 2008 - 9, and then move on to Mali and Cameroon.

The works all have a sense of dis-ease about them and carry explicit cultural overtones and idiosyncratic nuances that suggest the artists' origins which range from Brazil to Taiwan.

Kuang-Yu Tsui from Taiwan is the featured artist on the show and a separate screening of seven of his video works takes us on a personal journey of the artist as he engages with his environment.

Opens: June 19
Closes: July 17

Wilma Cruise's exhibition 'Cocks and Asses' opens at the Kizo Art Gallery after a successful run at the Johannesburg Art Gallery in 2007.

Cruise is one of South Africa's most important artists and is also a curator, writer and teacher. Her work is represented in most of the country's major museum and corporate collections which include the Durban Art Gallery, the S.A. National Gallery, the Standard Bank Gallery, the Constitutional Court and BHP Billiton. She has completed many public commissions including the monument to celebrate the 1956 Women's March on the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

This provocatively titled exhibition actually refers to the designations of two kinds of animals and is intended to stimulate conversation in its allusion to the bawdy naming of sexual body parts. The exhibition is the most comprehensive body of this artist's work to be shown in Durban and includes sculptures over 3m in height.

Opens: June 19
Closes: July 28

Terri Broll and Terence King are artists with a commitment to the richness of abstraction in painting. King's work is rooted in observation, chiefly of the figure, whereas Broll draws on intuitive processes in the discovery of her subject matter. Both hold an interest in the interactive and interdependent process between artmaking and the objectivity of the painted surface. In this exhibition Broll and King present recent work reflecting their long-held interests in problems of figuration and abstraction.

Both artists come from academic backgrounds in the visual arts, have exhibited extensively and are represented in private and public collections here in South Africa and internationally.

Opens: June 23
Closes: July 12

Lindiwe Xaba was the winner of the 2007 Nivea Art Start Award, an award aimed at emerging artists in KwaZulu-Natal. Supported by Beiersdorf, the makers of Nivea skin-care products, the award has proved invaluable in encouraging professional development for artists through exhibitions at the KZNSA, scholarships, training and links with art training institutions and significant material prizes for the winners.

Xaba's winning work reflected her professional context - she works at the Ardmore Ceramic Studio - and also her personal context. Drawing strongly on Zulu culture, her home and natural environment, Xaba's work uses imagery and text to paint a multi-faceted environmental portrait of herself in her environment.

Opens: June 10
Closes: July 5

artSPACE durban hosts two simultaneous shows this month: the 2008 Regional Exhibition of Ceramic Art held by the Ceramics Southern Africa KZN members, and 'Photogarage 2008', a group of photo enthusiasts.

The Ceramic exhibition showcases works that relate to the theme of lights and electricity. On exhibition are candlesticks, candle holders and conceptual sculptures that comment on our present situation regarding electricity. This themed section will run alongside an exhibition of selected works.

Well-known artists such as Clive Sithole, Anthony Shapiro, Carla da Cruz, Juliette Armstrong and Martha Zettler exhibit alongside other Ceramics Southern Africa KZN members.

A walkabout takes place at 12pm on June 21.

Opens: June 2
Closes: June 21

'Photogarage' is a space and concept created by established local photographer Angela Buckland, in response to enthusiastic requests by adults from different walks of life, for her to conduct a photographic course. The workspace, a garage, housed the group of eight for the first module which ran for eight mornings over an eight week period.

'Photogarage' is not a camera club. The group are not hobbyists, nor is the course ruled or limited by the technical skills of the participants. Under the mentorship of Buckland, each member was tasked with familiarising themselves with their individual cameras. From the outset, the emphasis was wholly on visual literacy, on alternative ways of seeing the world, critiquing and understanding the spectrum of photography. The course consisted of a series of interactive lectures and probing assignments.

The same group approached Buckland again for a second module in 2008. This second phase concentrated on developing individual styles and working towards this exhibition. The photographic component is two-fold: personal work and a collaboration with the ceramicists under the theme 'Bright Lights'.

The personal work that emerged from the group is diverse and telling. Each body of work is closely aligned with issues close to each person's life and interests. From Kerry Duys' intimate yet fun imagery of her domestic life, to insightful, sensitive documentary work by Carey Farrell on severely disabled children, to moody seascapes by Lisa-Jane Hamlin. Curious abstract black and white photographic studies by Andre Fiore were taken in Durban's dry docks, territory seldom seen. Anne Schauffers' biographical portraits are carefully articulated and constructed. Schauffer also produced sublime black and white abstract moon drawings. Ian Todd presents personalised environmental portraits of his farm using an ornate gilt frame, while Barbara Hertzberger expands her interest from painting to photographing abandoned buildings.

A walkabout takes place at 12pm on June 21.

Opens: June 2
Closes: June 21

Helena Hugo is a draughtsperson and painter who works in a naturalistic manner with the human figure. The paintings on 'KZN @ Work' are portraits of men and woman in their occupational environments. Hugo breaks with the traditional idea of portrait painting as the exclusive reserve of the aristocracy and the wealthy. In painting and drawing ordinary workers, who play a vital role in society and the economy and yet are often overlooked and taken for granted, and exhibiting them in a gallery, the artist presents them to the viewer as individuals with reconsidered significance and status. The artist notes that 'the work dignifies and ennobles the worker, elevating even the simplest of jobs to a status worthy of admiration.'

Several major industries in KZN will be represented by portraits of their employees in their places of work, including Duys Engineering, Corobrik, SA Breweries, Hulett Sugar, Enviroserve, Non-Ferrous Metals, Natal Wholesale Jewellers, Sprigs Food Store and Frame Fibres.

The exhibition is presented in association with the Art Room, Umhlanga Rocks.

Opens: June 10
Closes: July 5

In the Reception Gallery at Bean Bag Bohemia, 'Break', an exhibition of paintings by Rani Pillay will be on view. Pillay is well known for her expressive figure studies in lush impasto oil paint. Her recent work sees her breaking with traditional representations of the human form, in the stillness of the studio, preferring to explore the body in extreme motion.

She finds her muses harnessing the powerful forces of the ocean, cushioned in the thick impasto foam of breaking waves.

For more information contact gallery curator Tamlyn Martin on (031) 201 1743 or on 074 4075413.

Opens: June 11
Closes: July 20

Drawings and paintings after Henri de Toulouse Lautrec by artist Guy. S. Longmore will be on view in the Café gallery in an exhibition entitled 'After Lautrec - Inspirations, Indulgences and the like'.

Says the artist, 'For me Lautrec is an inspiration of colour and movement created by spontaneous brushstrokes. I think what really appeals to me is his subject matter - predominantly women in different stages of attire - some dancing, dressing and bathing, while others are socialising in brothels, night clubs and cafés. Lautrec had the ability to grasp the essence of his subject matter, often depicting a character sketch with a certain amount of ugliness.'

For more information contact gallery curator Tamlyn Martin on (031) 201 1743 or on 074 4075413. Opens: June 11
Closes: July 20

With a strong mastery of the Uphiso form and an eye for a subtly flattened slope towards the mouth of izinkamba, Jabu Nala has built a reputation for herself in the South African ceramic art world. Her creation of larger vessels, banded design work and improvisations using the inkanyezi or star design have been a solid basis for her creativity.

Nala has been creating clay beer pots in the traditional Zulu way a craft she was taught by her mother Nesta who developed a world-wide reputation for her classical forms and finely finished beer pots.

The clay is hand-dug in two places near to her home. One is red and other grey. The clay is then ground using a traditional Zulu grinding-stone, and then forced through a sieve or a piece of net curtain. It is then dried and put into a ten gallon iron drum half filled with water. The clay is then left to mature and then wedged and rolled into balls.

The pots are hand-coiled and then smoothed with a piece of calabash or old spoon. When leather-hard they are burnished with river pebbles and then decorated with incised patterns or added 'warts' of clay using an ancient design called Amasumpa. Soft 'warts' are placed on the surface with a clay slip and smoothed into the surface with a river pebble. The pots are then left to dry naturally. Before firing, pieces of coal are put into the pots and warmed up to make sure that they are completely dry. They are then placed on their sides in a special pattern and covered over with dried grass, aloe leaves and stalks. The grass is then lit and then the aloe leaves catch fire - the firing lasts approximately 3 hours depending on weather conditions. A second firing takes place to smoke the pots black. The pots are placed on a steel tripod and turned with a stick over the flames to ensure an even smoking. When thoroughly blackened, the pots are then cooled and then rubbed with animal fat or oil and burnished to a shine.

Opens: June 18
Closes: June 30

The Durban Art Gallery is showcasing a contemporary art performance piece by uMqondo Project called Izingqwele, which translates as 'heroes'. This is a fresh, exciting and dynamic performance which successfully fuses different art forms like music, visual art, performance and poetry.

Its main objective is to introduce art to a new audience, and in doing so, to merge various art forms, including contemporary dance, poetry, live-action painting and music staged in the amazing circular Gallery space.

For further details please contact Liana Turner on (031) 311 2268 or Bongani Mkhonza on (031) 311 2274.

Performance: 12.30pm, June 20

'Us' explores familiar people and places in Kieran Smith's life. Here he takes a step away from the iconic subject matter of his prior projects to the intimate and personal world immediately around him. The works explore the relationship between familiar people and proverbial places in and around Durban, particularly buildings and urban environments, ascribing a personal slant to this collection of works. Smith is interested in the dramatic, expressive quality of materials used and eschews all delicacy in favour of harsh, brash marks made in pencil or in smears of sand, glue and paint: grit in favour of gloss.

Opens: June 23
Closes: July 12

In line with Kizo Gallery's strategy of hosting socially and educationally inclined exhibitions, Kizo Curator Nathi Gumede has invited Cape Town writer and curator Bettina Malcomess to curate a show. She has responded with 'Ready Made' which includes some works and artists from her recent show 'Upstairs/Downstairs' at the AVA in Cape Town.

The show uses the idea of the art object itself as 'readymade' and explores how the art work's de-contextualisation and dis-placement in the gallery shifts its meaning, in much the same way that Duchamp's found objects change meaning when taken out of 'the everyday' and placed in the gallery. The show takes work already made out of the context of the artist's production, ouevre and style so that it cannot be interpreted in relationship to identity, cultural or social context and precedent. Much of the work has been chosen for the way that identity politics over-determines its interpretation, and the curation intends to question this fetishisation of 'identity' in contemporary South African art, whether it refers to sexuality, race and class, or the idea of the artist. The show sets itself the challenge of creating its own identity while playing with identity itself as a 'ready made'.

Exhibiting artists include Ed Young, Andrew Lamprecht, Nontobeko Ntombela, Bianca Baldi, Unathi Sigenu, Lizza Littlewort, Peter Jenks, Niklas Wittenburg, Dale Washkansky, Christian Nerf and Douglas Gimberg, Stuart Bird, Justin Brett, Margaret Stone, Linda Stupart, Lonwabo Kilani, and Charles Maggs. As Duchamp famously said, 'The artist of the future will merely have to point his finger and say this is art.'

Opens: May 29
Closes: June 15

Produced by Leora Farber, in collaboration with the South African design team Strangelove, Carlo Gibson and Ziemek Pater, 'Dis-Location / Re-Location', is a travelling exhibition touring seven South African Museums from June 2007 to May 2008.

The premise of this multi-media, multi-disciplinary exhibition is how cultural identities are formed, re-defined and become 'hybridised', according to Farber. The body of artwork challenges common assumptions that exist regarding cultural purity - one such assumption being that identity is static. Debate around identity construction, an issue particularly relevant in contemporary South Africa - at a time when this society finds itself in a process of redefining and building a new integrated South Africa from the diverse amalgam of cultures that coexist here. 'This exploration extends into the questioning of what constitutes South African identity, in relation to South Africa's place within the post-colonial African continent,' says Farber.

These conceptual underpinnings are explored through Farber's interrogation of her Jewish immigrant cultural background, in relation to Bertha Guttman, the colonial English wife of immigrant entrepreneur and maverick personality Sammy Marks. The link between Farber's post-colonial experiences of living in South Africa with that of Guttman's colonial one provides a rich source for the exploration of her own identity. Farber says, 'Marks' immigrant status draws parallels with postcolonial concerns of diasporic, immigrant and migrant communities that form part of the broader Pan African, Polyglot South African society'.

Opens: May 15
Closes: July 27

The Durban Art Gallery will be opening an exhibition of 'Recent Acquisitions' on March 20 in the circular gallery. As acquiring new artworks is one of the core functions of any art museum, this installation will feature all donations and acquisitions made over the last three years.

The DAG has an acquisitions committee made up of visual artists, educators and key representatives from the Durban art world who select according to a laid down DAG policy which considers conceptual, aesthetic, social, historical issues among others and how the particular work will fit into the existing collection. The DAG accepts donations and these are also vetted by the same committee with the same criteria.

The installation will show a variety of media, which include works by Langa Magwa, Johannes Phokela, Duke Ketye to name a few. Within the holdings is a growing collection of works around HIV/AIDS and included on the exhibition is a recent donation by Bernice Stott titled Femidoms and Traditional Herbs, which centres around women's choices through developments such as the femidom and the juxtaposition thereof against traditional medicine in women's health.

For more information contact gallery curator Jenny Stretton on (031) 3112262.

Opens: March 20
Closes: April 20