Investec Cape Town Art Fair
17.09 - 19.09.2021
Investec Cape Town Art Fair is going online for a special digital event this year, with a full-blown hybrid fair on the horizon in 2022. All that is required is an online sign-up with Artshell via web or app to access, and a plethora of great art awaits.
Here are some of the things ArtThrob is looking forward to seeing.
Amanda Mushate (First Floor)
With her solo presentation as part of the ‘Tomorrows/Today’ section at last year’s ICTAF still fresh in our minds (yes, there actually was a physical fair in 2020!), it will be great to see more of multidisciplinary Zimbabwean artist Amanda Mushate’s work this year. Mushate is known for her paintings that skirt the line between figuration and abstraction, depicting interlocked meshes of looping linework and energetic colour that reflect on the complexities of human relationships.
Amanda Mushate, Kushava nepanguva yekuva nemchehcewako, 2021. Oil on canvas, 175 x 250cm
Daniel Malan (The Plot)
Curiously, with the proliferation of online art fairs and shows that have emerged as a necessary result of the pandemic, pieces that seek to actively engage with the properties of virtual space are less common than you’d think. Online art gallery The Plot specialises in working with artists to explore new formats of cultural production in the online era, and they will be presenting new work from Daniel Malan. Malan’s presentation encompasses six drawings that form an interactive 360° image when viewed on a phone, accompanied by an immersive soundtrack.
Daniel Malan, Sea Point Pavilion, 2021. Hexaptych & 360 underwater scene
‘Between Us’ Zoom Video Talks
The walkabouts and talks programmes are always a highlight of any fair. For this digital event, Investec Cape Town Art Fair, in collaboration with The Art Momentum, have lined up three Zoom video talks from the inimitable academic, writer and cultural theorist Ashraf Jamal; art collector and businesswoman Pulane Tshabalala Kingston; and long-time ICTAF curator Tumelo Mosaka. Not to be missed.
Kamyar Bineshtarigh (Suburbia Contemporary)
From his incisive AVA mural that presented passages from Edward Said’s Orientalism using Arabic/Farsi letters (but retaining the English language), to his repurposing of an abandoned factory warehouse in Salt River as an exhibition space, Kamyar Bineshtarigh’s work is exciting, smart, and vital. Suburbia Contemporary will be showing selections from his recent fabric works which continue Bineshtarigh’s fascination with the relationship between language and visual mark making, this time through randomly selected ghazals (sonnet-like verses) from the beloved 14th century Persian poet Hafez.
Kamyar Bineshtarigh, Untitled (Ghazal No. 422), 2020. Printing ink on canvas, 53×47 cm
Ghizlane Sahli (Sakhile&Me)
As a rule, sculpture doesn’t necessarily translate as effectively into online images as flatter mediums, but Moroccan artist Ghizlane Sahli’s vibrant three-dimensional embroidered sculptures certainly command attention. Sahli bases her work around the motif of ‘alveoles,’ plastic bottle halves covered in silk yarns. These elements fuse the artist’s background in architecture with an enduring fascination with embroidery, and her overarching concerns for environmental sustainability into singular, unforgettable assemblages.
Wim Botha (Stevenson)
Fundamentally centred on contemplation, Stevenson’s presentation of scenes from Wim Botha’s multifaceted installation The River arguably benefits from being seen apart from the hustle and bustle of a physical art fair. While there is obviously no substitute for witnessing the interplay of light with Botha’s glass and dichroic film elements ‘in the flesh,’ the extensive photo and video documentation helps to really give a sense of these intimate but complex sculptural works.
Wim Botha, SCENES FROM THE RIVER 2, 2021. Walnut, marble and brass, 35 x 53 x 35cm
Mmabatho Grace Mokalapa (South Atlantic Press)
At least one of ArtThrob’s staffers has a penchant for works about subliminality, and works with shades of blue, so Mmabatho Grace Mokalapa’s art absolutely hits the sweet spot. Mokalapa’s adept use of tonality and geometry entices the viewer to project themselves into the otherworldly spaces that she conjures, prompting introspective reflection. Don’t miss the artist’s stellar monotype prints at South Atlantic Press.
Mmabatho Grace Mokalapa, Through the Depths II, 2020. Monotype print, 49 × 60 cm
Sabelo Mlangeni (blank projects)
It’s always a pleasure to spend time with Sabelo Mlangeni’s intimate photographs of communities, and the artist’s perceptive underscoring of human experience. blank projects will be presenting works from Mlanegi’s Isivumelwano series, a body of work centred on the idiosyncrasies, formalities, and traditions of various wedding ceremonies among Black communities in Southern African. Mlangeni’s gift for visual story telling shines through these intimate portraits of newly weds, gathered loved ones, and veils, cakes and chairs.
Sabelo Mlangeni, Beautiful Love, 2003. Hand-printed silver gelatin, 30 × 40 cm
miart
Twice the art! ICTAF’s twin fair miart will be taking place concurrently this weekend and will also be accessible through Artshell, marking a pronounced intention to nurture connections between the two fairs. The Milan-based fair is presenting its 25th edition with a hybrid physical and virtual approach that ICTAF is set to adopt for its next fair in February 2022. Look out for SMAC Gallery’s presentation of Kate Gottgens’ work in the Contemporary section. Read ArtThrob’s interview with the twin fairs here.
Zander Blom x ArtThrob
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention our collaboration with Zander Blom, Monochrome Series: Studies for Larger Works, a collection of oil paintings that experiment with form, gesture, depth and tone as Blom works towards a larger body of work in black and white. We will also be exhibiting artists who have participated in our Editions programme, including William Kentridge, Lisa Brice, Penny Siopis, Dineo Seshee Bopape, Kemang Wa Lehulere and Siemon Allen.
Zander Blom, Monochrome Series: Studies for Larger Works, 2021. Oil on linen, 25 × 34 cm
The Investec Cape Town Art Fair digital event runs from 17 – 19 September and can be accessed here. There is a VIP Preview from 15 – 16 September.
Download the Artshell app for Apple or Android.
