Archive: Issue No. 129, May 2008

11.05.08 Pieter Hugo at Standard Bank Gallery
11.05.08 'Aftermath' at Art Extra
11.05.08 Peter Magubaneat the University of Johannesburg Art Gallery
11.05.08 Pieter Hugo at Warren Siebrits Modern and Contemporary
11.05.08 Alfred Thoba at Warren Siebrits Modern and Contemporary
11.05.08 'Cities in Crisis' at FADA Gallery, University of Johannesburg
11.05.08 Joël Mpah Dooh at Afronova
11.05.08 Colors magazine at the Market Photo Workshop
11.05.08 'Creative Spirit' at the Stewart Art Gallery
11.05.08 Martin Osner at Gordart Gallery
11.05.08 'Heptad' at Artspace
11.05.08 'DKW: New Editions 2008' at David Krut Projects
11.05.08 'Marvellous World' at Outlet

6.04.08 Santu Mofokeng at JAG
6.04.08 Youssef Nabil at Art Extra
6.04.08 David Goldblatt at Goodman Galllery
6.04.08 Cara van der Westhuisen at Bell-Roberts Gallery Johannesburg
6.04.08 'Skin-to-Skin' at the Standard Bank Gallery

4.03.08 'Spier Contemporary 2007' at the Johannesburg Art Gallery

2.03.08 'South African Abstract Art - Volume I' at Seippel Gallery

The Standard Bank Gallery is the final stop of 'Messina/Musina', the body of work Pieter Hugo created as Standard Bank Young Artists 2007, which has travelled the country since its debut in June last year at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.

Once Messina - a colonial misspelling corrected in 2002 - Musina is named after the Musina people who lived in the region. Musina is the last town en route to the Zimbabwean border and along with the proximity of diamond mines, farms and on the major trucking route, much of the disparate populous is migrant labour. The town is in constant flux and Hugo's work, through portraits, interiors and landscapes, examines the larger themes of transition and the indelible scars of race, class and nationality.

Opens: May 27
Closes: July 5

Curator and theorist Ralph Rugoff in his book, Scene of the Crime, examines artists from the west coast of the States, who, over a period of 35 years, produced a body of work that embraced the logic of forensics - evidentiary markers, traces, and residues that speak of an 'aftermath' of an event, action or happening.

For 'Aftermath', curator David Brodie looks at contemporary South African artists that similarly treat the art object as evidence and cast the viewer as investigator, piecing together a narrative from traces. The show also raises 'reasonable doubt' around the singular narrative truth.

'Aftermath' includes work by Bronwyn Lace, Sandile Zulu, Stephen Hobbs, Joni Brenner, Natasha Christopher, Churchill Madikida and Gutto Bussab.

Opens: May 7
Closes: June 7

Peter Magubane started his carreer at Drum magazine in 1955, where he documented anti-apartheid campaigns and treason trials. In 1969, he was detained for 586 days in solitary confinement, and after this, he was banned as a photographer for five years. He returned to his work in time to bear witness to the uprising of young school children that began on June 16, 1976. From the late 80s, Magubane worked for Time magazine.

For his contribution to the world of photography Magubane has received numerous accolades, among them the Order for Meritorious Service from former President Nelson Mandela in 1999, the Mother Jones-Leica Lifetime Achievement Award; Martin Luther King Luthuli Award; Fellowship by the Tom Hopkinson School of Journalism and Cultural Studies; Honorary Doctorates from Unisa, Tshwane University of Technology, Rhodes University and the University of Fort Hare.

With 'Rites of Passage', Magubane continues concerns with cultural practices documented in his books Vanishing Cultures of South Africa, African Renaissance, Bantwane - Africa's Undiscovered People and AmaNdebele. 'Rites of Passage' looks at initiation rituals in various cultures within South Africa.

Opens: May 7
Closes: May 28

In 'Nollywood', Pieter Hugo explores the multilayered reality of the Nigerian film industry, a rare instance of mass media self-representation in Africa.

The third largest of its kind in the world, the Nigerian film industry tells stories of romance, comedy, witchcraft, bribery and prostitution. The narrative is overdramatic and largely tragic and violent. While Hugo was intrigued by the brash aesthetic, his first attempts at taking photos on actual film sets proved unsatisfactory. Hiring a cast of 40 actors and assistants and asking them to recreate stereotypical scenes and traditional myths, Hugo feels he was able to better mirror the intensity of these dynamic environments.

Opens: May 6
Closes: June 6

Alfred Thoba's paintings are strident reactions to the social and political dilemmas facing him. Themes in 'Making War to the World about Images of God' are inspired by newspaper articles which Thoba reads and then meticulously files to be used at a later stage as reference material for painting and for the handwritten letters that accompany each work. The recent spate of muti murders, the ongoing crisis in Zimbabwe (particularly with reference to the illegal immigrant situation), child rape and prostitution, as well as sexual misconduct by senior clergy of the ZCC church, are the subjects for this body of work.

A catalogue documenting his paintings and letters, as well as a video interview with the reclusive Thoba, forms part of the exhibition.

Opens: May 6
Closes: June 6

Curated by David Southwood and Michael Godby, the 'Cities in Crisis' exhibition coincides with the Colloquium 'Johannesburg and MegaCity Phenomena' at the University of Johannesburg and presents the South African Urban Landscape as seen by a range of South African photographers.

The photographers themselves range from internationally acclaimed practitioners such as David Goldblatt, Guy Tillim and Andrew Tshabangu, to emerging photographers with little or no formal training. 'Cities in Crisis' features distinct parts of the urban environment, from the inner city, through the suburbs, to the informal settlements on the periphery. And, acknowledging that photography can never be fully objective, different uses of the medium, such as collages by Jane Alexander and Sam Nhlengethwa, suggest different ways of engaging with the experience of urban space.

Opens: April 10
Closes: May 9

Cameroonian Joël Mpah Dooh first exhibited in South Africa in 2006, with a solo at Afronova entitled 'Just to say hello' This year he was featured in 'As you like it', Simon Njami's curated show at the Joburg Art Fair, and has just completed a three month residency programme at the Bag Factory.

'After Taste' explores the fragility life in metal, perspex and light, and is inspired by the edgy and saturated energy of Johannesburg.

Opens: May 9
Closes: May 31

Colors is an international magazine celebrated for its inventive approach to photography, design and creative writing. For this exhibition, the Market Photo Workshop and Italian design school home to the magazine Fabrica explore the magazine form, concept and design through the latest issue of Colors magazine, '#73 Money'. The editorial team - including Benjamin Joffe-Walt (Editor) and Mauro Bedoni (Photo Editor) - will open an exhibition highlighting the magazine's latest issue and deliver a lecture on the diverse approaches to the magazine. A workshop for the students of the Market Photo Workshop will also be conducted.

Opens: April 24
Closes: May 30

The Stewart Gallery in association with Nitanjali Art Gallery, New Delhi, and supported by HSBC and the Indian Consulate Johannesburg, have put together an exhibition of contemporary fine art from India.

'Creative Spirit' includes work by Amiya Bhattacharya, Chhotulal, Dibendu Ukil, Gurjeet Singh, Nilanjan Das, Pratul Das, Puja Bhari, Seema Kohli, Samit Das, Satish Gupta, Sachindra Nath Jha, Samit Dey, Sourav Bhattacharya, Tania Ukil and Yugal Sharma.

Opens: May 7
Closes: May 17

Martin Osner specialises in Gicleé and traditional black and white vintage prints. His body of work consists of ghostly abstract renditions, moody landscapes and social documentary.

Osner's work is available through selected galleries in South Africa, Europe and Canada. A catalogue accompanies this exhibition.

Opens: May 10
Closes: May 31

Artists were asked engage with the number seven for 'Heptad' - an exhibition celebrating Artspace's seventh anniversary. 'Heptad' includes new works by Regi Bardavid, Wayne Barker, Bongi Bengu, Mbongeni Buthelezi, Marco Cianfanelli, Dylan Graham, Sandra Hanekom, Colbert Mashile, Antoinette Murdoch, Luan Nel, Jaco Sieberhagen, Alex Trapani, Gina Waldman and Berco Wilsenach.

Opens: May 10
Closes: May 31

This exhibition showcases new editions from the David Krut Print Workshop by Diane Victor, David Koloane, Deborah Bell and Colbert Mashile.

Opens: April 12
Closes: May 17

'Marvellous World' is the current exhibition at the small project space Outlet at Tshwane University of Technology. The exhibition features works by Guy du Toit, Sarel Petrus, Richard John Forbes and Paul Cooper.

Opens: April 19
Closes: May 17

Acclaimed photographer Santu Mofokeng produced this new body of work, entitled 'Homeland Security', during his Ruth First Fellowship and it concerns the effects of climate change and child-headed households. The works speak about absence and loss through empty landscapes and images of things left behind - of human interest gone awry. Silence is a strong element that stands for untold stories and ignored realities.

Opens: April 20
Closes: May 31

In Youssef Nabil's hand-coloured photographs, time is no longer a certainty. Images in is latest show 'Sleep in my arms' embrace an aesthetic of a bygone era and visualise the inherent paradox of the photographic image - a forever current record of an already-past event.

There is also a sense of nostalgia about the work. Not sentimental and uncritical feeling for the past, referring instead particularly to the Greek root of the word which translates as both a 'return home' and 'pain'. Nostalgia's 'pain' is the fact that, try as we might, we cannot return to a specific time, or a specific feeling.

As Michael Stevenson notes in his essay Not as they seem, 'Nabil's imagery shifts the way we see our world, the facets we tend to set aside in the open light of day... The realms of sleep and of intimacy, particularly between men, are rarely acknowledged in Western art practice' and nor is the male nude 'portrayed quietly on its own terms...Nabil's nudes are considered and conscious, even though they appear passive. In his studies he alters our perception of a space and a realm where we spend the greater part of our lives, yet generally ignore once we wake'.

Opens: April 9
Closes: May 3

David Goldblatt shows a collection of work entitled 'Joburg' at the Goodman Gallery, and it includes work from the 1960s to the present day, including early works never before seen in public.

About the show, Goldblatt says, 'Over the years I have become interested in different aspects of the city. Some of these photographs I have not printed before, some I have not exhibited before, some I showed at the Market Theatre Photography Gallery in the 70s and 80s, others I have shown more recently. Together they come from attempts to get to grips with something of the life and places of this city.'

Opens: April 26
Closes: May 24

In 'Venus Revisited', Cara van der Westhuizen toys with female stereotypes and iconography.

Van der Westhuizen creates lithographs from images of idealised beauty from the Middle Ages and Renaissance, anatomical and botanical drawings, and other found images, printing these onto glass, layering them to create composite images. These delicate works are mounted onto painted wooden cabinets that reference the female boudoir. This body of work looks at the gender, sex and sexuality through a myriad of images and ideas that make up an image of the female body.

Van der Westhuizen specialised in printing on unconventional surfaces for her recently completed MA at the University of Cape Town.

Opens: March 15
Closes: April 30

'Skin-to-Skin' is a showcase of contemporary developments in the field of textile art. Curated by Fiona Kirkwood, the exhibition reflects the multi-cultural identity and unique history of South Africa through the diverse work by artists using textile-related concepts, techniques and materials. Participating artists include Tamlin Blake, Leora Farber, Fiona Kirkwood, Walter Oltmann, Jane Makhubele and Yda Walt.

'Skin-to-Skin' was recently shown at the 'Kaunas Art Biennial - Textile 07' in Kaunas, Lithuania.

Opens: April 15
Closes: May 10

This exhibition of selected artwork for the Spier Contemporary competition opened in Cape Town on 12 December and can now be seen in Gauteng. 'Spier Contemporary 2007' is curated by Clive van den Berg.

Opens: March 15

Closes: 31 May

Opens: March 6