Archive: Issue No. 134, October 2008

2.10.08 'Egg: A Retrospective' at Bank Gallery
14.10.08 Cameron Platter at KZNSA
6.10.08 Tracy Payne at Kizo Art Gallery
6.10.08 Lambert Moraloki and Brigitte Hertell at Kizo Art Gallery
6.10.08 Hussein Salim at artSPACE durban
6.10.08 Elizabeth Sparg at artSPACE durban
17.10.08 Lallitha Jawahirilal at the African Art Centre
27.10.08 Jane du Rand at artSPACE durban
27.10.08 'Diminutive': a group exhibition of miniatures at artSPACE durban
14.10.08 'Sakhisizwe' at KZNSA Gallery
29.10.08 'Photographic Expressions' at Artisan Contemporary Gallery
29.10.08 'Indian Ink: Indian South Africans in the media - a history of propaganda and resistance' at the Durban Art Gallery

7.09.08 'Construct: Beyond the Documentary Photograph' at the Durban Art Gallery
7.09.08 Ultra-red at the KZNSA Gallery
7.09.08 Themba Shibase at the KZNSA Gallery
7.09.08 'Co-temporary Existence' at DUT Art Gallery

9.08.08 ''Pic(k) of the Dag ' at the Durban Art Gallery (formerly called 'Schools Curriculum')

2.03.08 'Recent Acquisitions' at the Durban Art Gallery

This month Bank Gallery shows internationally renowned Durban-based design studio Egg. 'Egg: A Retrospective' showcases furniture works from their studio, which will be exhibited as an entire collection for the first time. The show includes work from the last six years as well as works from 2008, most of which have never been seen in Durban before.

Egg does not adhere to any set formula of design but approaches every project with a common contemporary design solution. Their influences come from constant travel and visits to international design fairs. The works on show incorporate natural and indigenous environmental influences and the inspiration that these offer. It is the interpretation of this that gives the various collections their common thread, which only becomes evident seeing the entire collection together in a retrospective.

'We have a desire to create sustainable pieces, perhaps not in a strictly ecological sense, but in the sense that they are not emotionally disposable, and therefore have longevity', say company owners Greg and Roche Dry.

In 2001 the British Rail Interiors rated Egg as one of the ten hottest emerging design companies. They have exhibited their innovative and eclectic designs both internationally and locally, as well as winning Designers of the Year awards at the Elle Decoration International Design Awards in both 2003 and 2004. In 2003 and 2004 they were also invited to participate at '100% Design' in London. In 2006 they exhibited at the Amaridian Gallery in New York and were part of 'Design Meets Art' at Gallery Momo in Johannesburg in 2007.

Opens: October 2
Closes: October 30

The KZNSA gallery hosts 'Studio', a solo exhibition by Cameron Platter in the Main, Mezzanine and Electric Galleries.

The main gallery will recreate a working sculpture studio, in which the public is invited and encouraged to participate. In this space, Platter and a team of sculptors will work on, assemble, chop up and customize a large sculptural installation of carved wooden objets, collectively entitled Sculptures for New Living. Ranging from a car (a mélange of a Ferrari, 4 x 4, and cash-in-transit van) to a jetski/coffin/cooler box, and a minibar/ATM/soundsystem, as well as other post-apocalyptic madmaxian objets de survival , the sculptures are works-in-progress of a work-in-progress. The installation will be supplemented, pared and retooled to suit its next venue.

In the Mezzanine and Electric Galleries, Platter will show new experimental drawing, video, ceramic and print works.

Over the last few years, Platter has focused on the basics, concentrating on handcrafting drawing, video, and sculptural works with meticulous attention, and above all, humour, balancing artistic rigour with a return to childlike simplicity. In this body of work Platter decodes stranger-than-fiction realities drawn from contemporary living. His off-the-wall, delinquent take on the world is the departure lounge for his fantastical works. Sex, politics, irony, satire, mortality, adulthood, economics and Champagne are noted in his new investigations.

Interaction between artists and viewers will be a core element of this show. Instead of the usual opening night, the real action will take place at a finissage celebration on Friday November 7, where some of the sculptural pieces will be put to work.

Platter lives in Shaka's Rock, KwaZulu-Natal and works from a studio in a sub-tropical forest. He has recently presented work at Art 39 Basel, and two solo shows in Vienna and Milan.

Opens: October 14
Finissage party: 6pm, November 7
Closes: November 9

Kizo Gallery, in partnership with the Michael Stevenson Contemporary Gallery, host a solo exhibition by Cape Town-based artist Tracy Payne entitled 'Awaken'.

The exhibition is curated by a former Durbanite Yvette Dunn. Dunn, who left Durban two years ago, currently works at the Michael Stevenson, here bringing together a selection of works that Payne has produced over the last three years.

Of her process, Payne says: 'Painting transcends words; it is my tool of investigation, my mode of expression and my vehicle for spiritual growth and development. It is through this chosen medium that I hope to find a language that expresses the divinity that lies within us all and discover alternative utopian pathways to a more harmonious life. I am not alone in recognising that our world is out of balance - we have been living in a left-brain, male dominant society for centuries. I seek to heal the split between the two hemispheres of our brain, merging left and right, yin and yang, black and white, east and west, ultimately leading to oneness.'

Payne's beautifully crafted paintings, in thin washes of colourful oils, are to be found in many private and public collections.

Opens: October 6
Closes: October 28

Lambert Moraloki and Brigitte Hertell are exhibiting for the first time KwaZulu Natal at Kizo Art Gallery.

Moraloki and Hertell have participated in exhibitions in Japan, Germany, Norway, The Netherlands, London, Italy, Scotland, India, China, Korea, France, Poland, USA and throughout South Africa. In 2004/2005 they were awarded with the Grand Prize at The Hyogo International Painting Competition in Japan and in 2001 they won the Grand Prize at The Osaka International Triennial.

Hertell was born in South Africa. She studied at the University of Pretoria and received additional tuition at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Grenoble, France. Moraloki is also South African-born and studied at SDASA College in the Transkei. He trained as a teacher at the MEDU Art Organisation and at the Art and Music Association in Pretoria .

Opens: October 6
Closes: October 28

Hussein Salim's richly textured canvases employ an extravagant layering technique to create a dense impasto feel. He uses personal symbolism that is at once ancient as it is contemporary.

Salim's paintings are a dialogue between different cultures and represent his strong feelings that art must be used as a tool to help initiate this dialogue. Salim's Sudanese background, and the fact that Sudan is a melting pot of diverse African cultures, further strengthens his paintings. Through these works Salim awakens in us an appreciation of our differences and diverse reactions, and then brings us back to the shared foundation of humankind.

Hussein's paintings, founded and steeped in a fondness for diversity, thus sympathise with any fight that challenges predominance, may it be economical, religious or cultural.

Salim recently held a solo exhibition at artSPACE berlin in Germany entitled 'African Mood'. He is represented in major collections in Africa, Europe and the USA.

Opens: October 6
Closes: October 25

Elizabeth Sparg's 'Nice to meet you' serves as an introduction to her work, and at the same time portrays scenes from her recent acquaintance with Durban. Having moved from Johannesburg last year, the images are expressions and impressions of the pleasure she has found living in this new environment.

Opens: October 6
Closes: October 25

The African Art Centre hosts an exhibition of mixed media paintings by Lallitha Jawahirilal.

Jawahirilal was born in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, and has a Master's in Painting from the Royal College of Art in London. She has participated in residencies in Johannesburg, Cape Town, London, Berlin, Spain and the Himalayas. She draws inspiration for her mixed media and conceptual work from the 'spiritual activity and energy of different cultural landscapes'.

The exhibition will be opened by Sharlene Khan.

Opens: October 17
Closes: November 8

In 'Loathing and Loving and Giving' Jane Du Rand uses ceramics and mosaics made from numerous bits and pieces to explore the daily emotions that she experiences as a working mother. It is an attempt at balance: how to be completely selfish and yet selfless at the same time.

Tiny ceramic pieces are put together using shape and texture to express opposing emotions. The colours she employs are expressive of the divergent feelings that come with being a mother, and numerous circular forms suggest encircling, cupping and protecting that which is valuable and precious.

The exhibition will be opened by Janina Masojada.

Opens: October 27
Closes: November 15

The unobtrusive miniature is often overlooked, one's attention drawn to much larger scale works. This exhibition venerates the voice of the small, its ability to express the modest as well as the grand. Included in the show are works in all visual media no larger than 15 x 15cm.

Selected artists from all over South Africa have been invited to exhibit their work, amongst them: Pascale Chandler, Jeremy Wafer, Nina Saunders, Anet Norval, Kristin Hua Yang, Jenny Parsons, Mary Visser, Grace Kotze, Sharon Burger, Liezel Prins, Verna Jooste, Janet Solomon, Jeanine Dekker, Karen Bradtke, Dee Donaldson, Immie Mostert, Peter Rippon, Marlene de Beer and Marlene Wasserman.

Opens: October 27
Closes: November 15

The Sakhisizwe ('We are building a nation') Mental Health Project was the brainchild of an inmate who has subsequently been released. While in prison he observed the depression and poor mental health suffered by fellow inmates and felt that, in order for effective rehabilitation, help was needed for these troubled men. So, they began meeting regularly to share their stories, challenges, hopes and dreams. This resulted in the formation of the Project in the Medium C Section in Durban which houses approximately 800 offenders serving sentences up to 15 years.

The Lifeline Durban Prison Programme works with this group, equipping inmates with life skills, enhancing their self-awareness and personal growth, helping them cope with incarceration and preparing them for release. The art component of this course is part of a national initiative in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Lifeline. Exhibited at Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, earlier this year, the exhibitionl now moves to the KZNSA.

Teacher Paulette Barker and Prison Project Manager Barbara McLean demonstrate their group's restorative process by using artists Paul Klee and Vincent van Gogh as inspiration and case studies. The outcome is a series of portraits and self-portraits that burst with the freedom of expression through colour - themes extended into the incredibly vibrant and rich works on 'life in prison' and 'memories and dreams'.

Opens: October 14

Closes: November 9

'Photographic Expressions' is an apt title for this exhibition of digital images which opens at Artisan Contemporary Gallery on October 29.

According to Artisan curator Sue Greenberg, the images seen through the lenses of Dr Willem Oets, Jon Ivans, Jane Bedford, Bernine du Toit and several other photographers have been selected from more than 100 submissions for this exhibition. On display, in black and white and in full colour, are landscapes, portraits and abstracts illustrating how far still photography has progressed from the once fondly held belief that photography never lies.

Exponents of this art form today rely as much on computer literacy as on composition, lighting and subject matter, all of which makes for a fascinating exhibition.

Opens: October 29
Closes: November 19

For the average person who grew up in apartheid South Africa, the bizarre reality of being confined almost exclusively to living and interacting with people classified as the same racial group was made to feel almost natural by the routine activities of daily life. The enforcement of division among apartheid subjects created fertile grounds for racialised notions of 'us' and 'them'. Under these conditions racial stereotypes were deeply internalised, resulting often in oversimplified and exaggerated negative archetypes allowing the forcibly estranged racial groups 'to display their likes or dislikes of the other'.

Photography has been used by colonial regimes since the mid-19th century to construct and perpetuate racial stereotypes. For example, author of the accompanying book and curator of 'Indian Ink: Indian South Africans in the media - a history of propaganda and resistance' Riason Naidoo, argues how the photos in Meet the Indian in South Africa (1950) and The Indian South African (1975) produced by the State Information Office reveal how the state exploited notions such as the rich 'Indian' to create the perception abroad that 'black' people (i.e. 'Africans', 'Indians' and 'Coloureds') were benefiting under the apartheid state.

Images of 'Indian' affluence are contrasted with portraits of indentured labourers from the 19th century that are intended to emphasise the notion of the wealthy Indian under apartheid. Other photos in the publication play on other 'Indian' stereotypes such as caste, religion and the exotic through vivid photographic examples.

The exhibition includes previously unseen photos taken by well known names such as Bob Gosani, Alf Kumalo, Jurgen Schadeberg, Peter Magubane and Barney Desai, although the major body of work comes from Ranjith Kally and G R Naidoo who were based at the Drum office in Durban. The images on the exhibition (and in the book) argue that this form of self representation, of 'black' writers and photographers having access to and recording this history, has been hidden in the general portrayal of the 'Indian' in the country.

Opens: October 29
Closes: February 15, 2009

South Africa has a long and rich history of documentary photography and many of its practitioners are internationally known. 'Construct', curated by Heidi Erdmann with Jacob Lebeko, features Roger Ballen, Zander Blom, Lien Botha, Jacques Coetzer, Abrie Fourie, Nomusa Makhubu, Zwelethu Mthethwa, Barbra Wildenboer, Dale Yudelman and Berni Searle.

Historically the medium of photography provided a representational document with the fixed referent of reality. For this exhibition the curators wanted to uncover photographers working in and through the medium in an innovative way. Each artist here contributes a unique visual vocabulary, challenging the traditional stereotype of photography by pushing the shifting boundaries of the medium. Works selected for this exhibition needed to enquire into notions of construction, deconstruction and/or reconstruction.

The way in which the photographers use the medium was the primary curatorial focus and an installation that unlocked the potential dialogues between the different works was also imperative.

Opens: September 19
Closes: January 31, 2009

The art collective Ultra-red utilizes sound-based research to directly engage political struggle. Ultra-red members in North America and Europe pursue a dynamic exchange between art and political organising in radio broadcasts, performances, recordings and installations. Founded in 1994 by two Aids activists in Los Angeles, the collective has performed internationally as well as exhibited with such institutions as the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), Schirn Kunsthalle (Frankfurt), and, most recently, Tate Britain. Ultra-red has released recordings on labels such as Mille Plateaux (Frankfurt) and Soundslike (London) as well as their own fair-use online record label, Public Record (www.publicrec.org). Ultra-red features on the cover of the September 2008 issue of Wire, a publication devoted to experimental music and sound art.

Here Ultra-red, will exhibit three installation works, part of the group's Silent: Listen project, a public record of today's Aids epidemic in North America and globally. The record is composed of statements by Aids activists, organisers, researchers, artists and people living with HIV/Aids.

For information about Ultra-red contact: info@ultrared or visit www.ultrared.org www.publicrec.org

Opens: September 16
Closes: October 12

Themba Shibase is one of four finalists selected for the prestigious 2008 MTN New Contemporaries Award. For this exhibition Shibase will show work produced for the award, and first shown at the UJ Art Gallery, Johannesburg.

Three bodies of work make up the show. In the first, Shibase juxtaposes large-scale oil on canvas portraits of extremist former Afrikaner nationalist leaders with Africa's renowned advocates of Afrocentrism. The posing of these figures in a singular piece is intended to illustrate the obvious. The personal inflection of these seemingly political paintings reflects the artist's attitude of ambivalence and skepticism of divergent and disparate notions of purist identity.

The second body of work, comprising four smaller canvases, takes an anecdotal view of the question of cultural identity, and the artist highlights the often-overlooked importance of an individual experience within grander, collective experiences. In this way, he questions concepts such as whiteness, blackness, Zuluness and masculinity.

The final component is a video piece where Shibase makes his private and intimate environment the subject of scrutiny.

Opens: September 16
Closes: October 12

Thsi exhibition showcases the work of Sabelo Khumalo, Nothando Mkhize and Nozipho Zulu. The artists use different media, but find commonality in the exploration of geographic location and urban influences.

Concerned with popular culture, Khumalo derives inspiration from a prominent use of media/product advertising. He explores how media unifies the culture of global identity. Mkhize, on the other hand, attempts to find traces of city occupiers by using found objects. Zulu draws us to view the way that she has personally experienced living in the city, exploring how she has found herself torn between this environment and rural Zululand, to where she often travels.

Opens: September 5
Closes: October 8

The Durban Art Gallery has collaborated on a project with the Department of Education in making works on the curriculum available for learners to view. The Gallery's collection is seldom seen in its diversity due to space constraints, so this exhibition will not only enhance the learners' appreciation of the works they are studying but also provide a view into the collection's scope for the general public. It will be on semi-permanent display.

Opens: August 16

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