The Art Times May 2021 Edition

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MAY 2021 ARTTIMES.CO.ZA




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Art Times May 2021 Edition

CONTENTS Cover: Caitlin Truman-Baker, Eden’s Garden, 2021, Manzart Gallery Franschhoek 12 M.O.L.19 - NELSON MAKAMO’S HUMAN GRACE Ashraf Jamal Column 20 PORTRAIT AWARD 2021 Meet the Judges 22 THE DINING ROOM OF IRMA STERN The setting for her vast collection 26 PIERRE LE RICHE’S URNS FOR THE ASHES OF MY LOST LOVERS By Sean O’Toole 30 THIS TIME TOMORROW Andrew Sutherland’s latest exhibition 36 SA’S FINE ART ENGINE ROOM CELEBRATES 30 FINE YEARS The many parts to Artist Proof Studio 44 LIFE IS A STAGE, AND WE ARE ALL MERELY PLAYERS Marié Stander Solo Exhibition 50 CELEBRATING AFRICA MONTH Sfiso Ka-Mkame’s ‘Homage to Africa’ and Hussein Salim’s ‘Garden of Carnal Delight’. 56 #5WOMENARTISTS An online campaign launched by the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NY) 58 LERATO LODI Morapedi, One Who Prays 60 ALCHEMY AND ART IN THE HEART OF THE KAROO Prince Albert Open Studios 2021 66 HERMANUS FYNARTS 2021 Engage with the arts and culture of Russia 70 Business Art Fine Art Auction highlights 82 ARTGO May Exhibition Highlights

Hussein Salim, Orack, 2020, Acrylic on canvas 136 x 106 cm, Melrosse Gallery


Editors Note

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ith April’s tragic fire that destroyed various UCT libraries and Cape Town heritage landmarks, one is tempted to contemplate many things about the reason why institutions and individuals collect, restore and why. On the morning after the fire I walked through a landscape of burning smoke and fire in order to inspect Mosterds Mill and Rhodes Memorial and if any destruction or vandalism had come to these beautiful Cape landmarks.

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CONTACT ART TIMES Tel: +27 21 300 5888 109 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock, Cape Town PUBLISHER Gabriel Clark-Brown editor@arttimes.co.za ADVERTISING & MARKETING Eugene Fisher sales@arttimes.co.za

Photos: Andrew Stegmann relocationafrica.com

Just before I came to the Rhodes Memorial I just missed stepping on a Boomslang which was the only thing alive in this smouldering apocalyptic landscape- which slithered into a hole at the base of the Memorial. This seemed to me that despite the dire current conditions the boomslang had a fighting chance of continuing its life one day. I guess the same analogy can be said of the state of art. Personally, I’ve lately enjoyed going back to the lonely chaotic studios of artists and spending time with them over a cup of moerkoffee. I guess when something is destroyed forever it’s good to work backward to appreciate the artwork’s pursuit of enlightenment-and about being human for its time. The current art world it seems is out of control with loudness, causes and flashing lights. But my thoughts are somewhere in a mountain where a Boomslang lies curled up waiting for the trees to grow back and the air to be clean and crisp again, and when one day it’ll slide out in all its beauty and wisdom to begin a new world. Perhaps to some, we need to be grateful that art can enlighten, record, and celebrate our time and fight on this beautiful earth, lets celebrate, respect, and enjoy it before it too, like us, becomes dust. Gabriel Clark-Brown

DIGITAL MEDIA & EXHIBITION LISTINGS Jan Croft subs@arttimes.co.za ON THE KEYS Brendan Body ARTGO CONTENT info@artgo.co.za Rights: the Art Times magazine reserves the right to reject any material that could be found offensive by its readers. Opinions and views expressed in the sa art times do not necessarily represent the official viewpoint of the editor, staff or publisher, while inclusion of advertising features does not imply the newspaper’s endorsement of any business, product or service. Copyright of the enclosed material in this publication is reserved. Errata: Hermanus FynArts - would like to apologise for omitting the name of Karin Lijnes from the list of artists who are exhibiting at Sculpture on the Cliffs - 2020. Her work, Freedom Tree comprises of a large steel mobile of five ceramic bird forms.

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IN CONVERSATION WITH COLOUR SYMPHONY

Group exhibition 5 March - 5 September 2021

Leoni Aucamp, Kathy Botha, Katherine Bull, Arabella Caccia, Fawa Conradie, Ronél de Jager, Eve de Jong, Klara-Marie den Heijer, Nontokozo Dladla, Johannes du Plessis, Evert Esterhuizen, Debra Field, Adela Friedmann, St. John Fuller, Michaella Janse van Vuuren, Beate Jordaan and Quinton Lehnert, Sandra Lemmer, Babette Ludick, Cecilia Maartens, Odette Marais, Sharle Matthews, Johann Moolman, Darshana Nagar, Tracy Payne, Nathan Petersen, Sonya Rademeyer, Mark Rautenbach, Hannalie Taute, Guy Thesen, Marinus Uys, Theodor van der Merwe, Ariana van Heerden, Marelise van Wyk, Sassa van Zyl, Elizabeth Vels, Rix Welmann, Caroline Wheeler

Jan Rupert Art Centre, 41 Middelstraat, Graaff-Reinet Mon – Fri: 9h00 – 12h30 | 14h00 - 17h00 Sat – Sun & Public Holidays: 09h00 – 12h00 Entrance fee: R10


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NELSON MAKAMO’S HUMAN GRACE Ashraf Jamal

But Isn’t it funny? That when they ask about black childhood, All they are interested in is our pain, As if the joy-parts were accidental. I write love poems, too. Koleka Putuma’s words, from her poem ‘Black Joy’, return to me. I am in Nelson Makamo’s studio at the Everard Read Residency in Franschhoek. If there is one artist who creates love poems too, its Makamo. For him the ‘joy-parts’ are never ‘accidental’, they are fundamental. ‘My work will always talk to the grace of humanity’, he says. That he has become the black poster-child for the black poster-child – Makamo is best known for his portraits of bespectacled children, an aspirational sign – is the inevitable by-product of hype. That this iconic image of the child with round glasses graced the cover of TIME in February 2019 for a special issue titled ‘Optimists’, edited by Ava Du Vernay, the director of ‘Selma’, consolidates the hype. The darling of collectors the world over, especially in the West in which black portraiture is the most avidly sought-after commodity in any progressive collection – it is unsurprising that Makamo’s value has stratospherically catapulted. This is not a good thing, type-casting is an affliction. If Putuma is correct to remind us that the black body is not a cipher for pain alone, it is because she seeks to dispel prejudicial projection. And yet, projection persists. The black body is rarely seen as other than the sum of inherited desecration – the condition plus ultra of oppression. While this historical fact is indisputable, Putuma

refuses its prejudicial simplification. That her poetry collection, Collective Amnesia, is justly feted and widely translated, signals a desire to reconfigure black life. As Lebogang Mashile notes in the foreword, ‘Collective Amnesia is a lesson in rewriting myths … Re-membering what has been broken … how to thrive’. This reconstruction is on-going. If black portraiture now defines Western taste – the West, problematically, remains the taste-maker – it is because of a thoroughly justifiable need to rethink the art canon and support greater inclusivity. The downside, however, is that the taste for black portraiture can be programmatic and tactical, thus a deflection from the a priori conditioning which for centuries has ensured its marginality. Its newly minted prominence must therefore be considered circumspectly. To what extent is the newfound celebration of black portraiture a variant of ‘blackface’ – a matrix and matter of white dealerships in South Africa and elsewhere commodifying black bodies? When a dealer asks a black artist to focus on painting black faces, because it’s the inthing, we know that we’ve entered a murky realm. This view is fact not conjecture. In Makamo’s Franschhoek studio I discover a counterweight to cynical pragmatism. His township portraits, which vary between medium-shots and close-ups, are not the product of cynical influence, they stem from an integral grasp of the health of the community in which he was raised. At any point in a day, he could encounter ‘theatre’, lives wholly engrossed in a daily wonder. Made with charcoal, acrylic, ink, and pastels – Makamo also works in oil – the works are taped to the walls. What immediately

Opposite Page: Human Grace 4, 2021, Mixed media on paper, 57 x 38 cm

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Human Grace 12, 2021, Mixed Media On Paper, 104.5 x 75.5 cm Opposite Page: Human Grace 21, 2021, Mixed media on paper, 100 x 70 cm

Human Grace 27, 2021, Mixed media on paper, 160 x 121 cm

strikes one is emotion – Makamo emotes, draws one into the theatre of the moment. But what is more striking is the quality of feeling. If the works possess a deep structure of feeling, it is because they are life-affirming. This is his hook, why his art has proved appealing. This affective joy, however, can be mistaken for a placebo, as real yet not – largely because of the way in which Makamo has been constructed as a sentimental artist, no different, say, to Norman Rockwell. I too have made this mistake. Psychically burdened by the impress of black portraiture – its insistence, persistence, definitional control of the art world – I have become wary. Makamo intuits this doubt. Seated beside the artist, pen and paper in hand, he tells me that ‘writers write what they understand’. True. But is writing solely projection? What of empathy? My initial presumption that Makamo’s power is generic – no different to a smiley face – I now realise to be an error, and recall a great insight in Njabulo Ndebele’s seminal work, The Rediscovery of the Ordinary:

The ordinary day-to-day lives of people should be the direct focus of political interest because they constitute the very content of the struggle, for the struggle involves people not abstractions. If it is a new society we seek to bring about in South Africa then that newness will be based on a direct concern with the way people actually live. That means a range of complex issues involving man-man, manwoman, woman-woman, man-nature, mansociety relationships. I am not here to disabuse the reader of this dream. That in South Africa in 2021 it has failed – Ndebele wrote these words in 1994 – in no way diminishes Makamo and Putuma’s desire to fulfil it. It is when one abstracts and subtracts human experience, when one fails to grasp a living being in its rich complexity, that art fails us. If Putuma’s insight is darker than Makamo’s, this is because she cannot let go of the obscenity and corruption built into the construction of black experience. In her closing poem, ‘Afterlife’, she notes,

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Above: (Detail) Human Grace 26, 2021, Mixed media on paperr, 160 x121 cm. Opposite: Human Grace 23, 2021, Mixed media on paper, 160 x 121 cm

This ‘sin’ is legion. It is the sin of continued oppression within a phantom democracy. The sin of the on-going commodification of the black body. The sin that stems from failing to grasp sublimity within the ordinariness of black life.

without embracing this spectrum. To reduce his work to one distinctive type – as I have done, and others persist in doing – is to fail to grasp the deft mix of surface and interiority, the relationship between mark-making and psychology, form and heart. While Makamo insists that he does not romanticise black life – that, in truth, he has experienced no psychically disfiguring pain – he nevertheless believes that his works contain ‘romance’. They are devotional acts of love, records of human grace.

If Ndebele pits the ‘ordinary’ against the ‘spectacular’, it is because he recognised that ‘the spectacular document … is demonstrative, preferring exteriority to interiority … it establishes a vast sense of presence without offering intimate knowledge’. It is for this reason – against the spectacularisation of the black body – that Makamo has chosen to create love poems instead. His is a vision of incidental interior worlds. While the work is two dimensional, and, on occasion, illustrative, their greater heft is three dimensional. As a child he was as entranced by working with clay as he was by comic books. One cannot grasp the whole

‘Art is a fair politics’, says Makamo. ‘It helps us to liberate, reflect, challenge’. Njabulo Ndebele would agree. If, as a child, Makamo saw the ‘doctor as hero’, it was because ‘they helped people get better’. Similarly, his admiration for the engineer stemmed from their ability to solve a community’s problems. His vision of the role of the artist is that of the gift of the giver. Through art one can heal division, connect surface with depth, grow human possibility. It is telling, despite his meteoric rise, that Makamo ‘chooses growth over fame’. He ‘feels strongly as a child, still learning to be an adult’. His confidence is sincerely and softly

Sin will not be the acts that will send black folk to hell sin will be the acts we will commit in the name of revolution

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Human Grace 14, 2021, Mixed media on paper, 107 x 78 cm

Human Grace 32, 2021, Mixed Media And Gold Leaf On Canvas, 200 x 200 cm

expressed. That he made a pilgrimage to see Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa, spent three years with Hugh Masekela before he passed away, is the votive and proof that for Makamo ‘experience is a great teacher’. In his world nothing is predetermined or ever finite. Which is why I have had to qualify all presumption and prior understanding in light of the two hours spent in the artist’s company. Echoing Putuma, Makamo notes that ‘We’ve had our struggle, but that does not mean we haven’t enjoyed our own life’. And if ‘growth’ is key, it is because it allows for change and human betterment. A predictive and appropriative culture – one that objectifies and abstracts black experience – is a threat which one must address at every point in an evolving vision.

others, to be challenged, it is because ‘If you challenge me, you challenge me to grow’. At the root of this wish is the artist’s unbending desire ‘to play a certain role … to enlighten, to liberate’. Given his massive following on social media, Makamo assumes an acute responsibility. ‘I do not want to mislead’, he says. The burden of this position cannot be underestimated, especially given that Makamo occupies the apex in an art world problematically fixated with black portraiture. If the two hours with the artist has taught me anything, it is that one needs to seek art within that ilk which is challenging, reflective, liberatory. No one can predict the outcome of this taste for black portraiture. Its true significance – irrespective of its urgencies, pleasures, calculations – remains unresolved. However, what one can and should do is understand the complexity of its enunciation, the pitfalls of its fetishization, and, always, the great human promise it affords. Africa will give the world a ‘human face’, Steve Bantu Biko predicted. Like Koleka Putuma, Njabulo Ndebele, and Nelson Makamo, he was right.

If Makamo is best known for his visions of children, one must recognise that he has in fact captured black life across the entire age spectrum. Whether young or old, what is always apparent is the artist’s ability to convey some sentient grace. If his figures are self-absorbed, they are also wholly in the world. The answer to this gift is simple and pure: ‘Raised in a community, you get to understand community’. This is why Makamo’s works contain no existential dread, no dissociative complex, no rage or reactive grief. And if he asks of himself, and of

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NELSON MAKAMO, ‘HUMAN GRACE’, 31 MARCH-30 APRIL 2021, EVERARD READ GALLERY, CAPE TOWN

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SAL O N N I N E T Y O NE P RE S E NT S PAUL SENYOL. DIVINE ARDOUR, 2021. MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS.

as far as forever will take us WWW.SALON91.CO.ZA

Paul senyol ‘ ellena lourens keya tama 09.06 - 03.07.2021


PORTRAIT AWARD 2021 – MEET THE JUDGES www.rust-en-vrede.com/portrait-award

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ith the online entry dates edging ever closer, the 2021 Portrait Award competition is just one month away. If you still want to stand a chance to win some amazing prizes, best to start cracking on the making! A new panel of adjudicators have accepted the challenge of selecting this year’s winning portrait. The winner will walk away with a monetary prize of R 150 000. The judging panel for 2021 consists of Robyn Cedras-Tobin, Lucia Burger and Stefan Hundt. Robyn Cedras-Tobin is a cultural worker – in research, the curatorial, and as a producer of figurative sculpture. Robyn achieved her BA (Hons) in Fine Art (University of Cape Town) as well as her Masters in Heritage and Public Culture with distinction from the Centre of African Studies (University of Cape Town). Her experience owing to her work with the Iziko Museums of South Africa’s social history and art collections as well as her work at the District Six Museum and Beneficiary Trust has been focused on the visual arts and heritage. As Director of the Rupert Museum in Stellenbosch, she manages the Rupert, Rembrandt van Rijn and Huberte Goote Foundations private art collections. Dedicating her time since 2018 to the Rupert Museum’s re-envisioning of the space as an art museum and cultural centre; placing accessibility, education and public programming at its heart, while broadening curatorial engagement with the collection it houses. Lucia Burger has been involved in various aspects relating to art over the past 40 years. The emphasis has been on art education and she has worked as an art teacher and lecturer, curator and writer of art reviews and articles on art and artists for various magazines and academic publications. She served on many Boards and Committees and was the art advisor for Sasol, Sandton City Council and the Department of National Education. She was also a Trustee for the Johannesburg Art Gallery for many years. Lucia initiated the Institute of Contemporary Art in Johannesburg that later became the Civic Gallery. She has been part of many adjudication panels for competitions around the country and has travelled extensively, visiting art galleries and

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art museums worldwide. She has attended many Biennales and Documenta in Kassel regularly over many years. She holds a B.A. Fine Arts Degree from the University of the Free State, as well as a three-year art diploma from the Pretoria Teachers Training College. Stefan Hundt has been curator of the Sanlam Art Collection since 1997. Since his appointment, the collection has expanded with additions of some 500 artworks dating from late 19th Century to the present. As curator, Hundt is also responsible for exhibitions. Over the past decade he has been responsible for the regular exhibition at the Sanlam Art Gallery, as well as regular national travelling exhibitions that have showcased the Sanlam Art Collection and first time solo exhibitions by underrecognised artists. Prior to his appointment at Sanlam, he served as curator for the Oliewenhuis Art Museum, a satellite of the National Museum in Bloemfontein. He continues to practice as an art historian publishing articles on corporate collecting and catalogues featuring the Sanlam Art Collection and selected artists. For the past 30 years he has played an active role in the South African art world, 23 of which have been dedicated to expanding Sanlam’s investment in its art collection. Hundt holds a BA in Fine Arts with honours from the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) and studied History of Art at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Planning to enter the Portrait Award competition this year? Online Entries open between 1 and 12 June 2021 (www.rust-en-vrede.com/portrait-award). Besides the enticing R 150 000 winning prize, a second prize of R 30 000 and third prize of R 20 000 are also up for grabs. As an added bonus, one lucky entrant could win a residency to Spain at the Blue Cactus Artist Residency, sponsored by The CoArt. The Italian Art Shop is sponsoring Sennelier Art Hamper prizes and a young artist between the age of 18 and 25 will be eligible for Portrait Zoom Sessions with Andrew James from the Royal Portrait Society in Britain.

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Robyn Cedras-Tobin

Lucia Burger

Stefan Hundt


THE DINING ROOM OF 23 March – 22 August 2021 www.rupertmuseum.org

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arious newspaper and magazine articles describe Irma Stern (1894– 1966), beloved South African artist, as an entertainer and as a collector. It is these aspects of the artist’s life that the Rupert Museum, in collaboration with the Irma Stern Museum and the Irma Stern Trust, takes honour in celebrating with the latest addition to the exhibition Nature Morte – A Still from Life. The installation recreates the dining room from the artist’s home, The Firs, with original furniture pieces, objects, artefacts and artworks sourced from the collections of the Irma Stern Museum, Irma Stern Trust and Rupert Art Foundation. As a collector, Stern was fascinated by artefacts, objects and icons with a religious theme, marking her interest in the aesthetics of these pieces. Her dining room over the years was the setting for her vast collection, which amongst other items included Spanish carvings, 17th and 18thcentury Russian icons, Pietà sculptures and a marble baptismal font. This fascination was also explored through a number of paintings in which Stern, a non-practicing Jew, drew on biblical themes. A selection of eight religious themed pieces both paintings and ceramics by Stern dated between 1938 – 1952 are featured. The works at first glance is not recognized as done by Stern, it depicts angels, saints, apostles, the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, all popular themes and scenes exploring spiritual symbolism but contrasting the most known Stern genres of still lifes, portraits and scenes. Her rich appetite for traveling, enabled her to collect vastly from the countries and places visited. Taking pieces home to adorn The Firs’ walls and personally framing her works with carved wood pieces, these works mostly form part of the artist’s Zanzibar-period (late 1930s to mid-1940s).

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Installation view. Objects, furniture and artworks courtesy of the collections of the Irma Stern Museum and Trust.


The Firs dining room with artist Irma Stern, 1965. Courtesy of the National Library South Africa


Close-up of installation. 17th and 18th century religious icons and sculptures adorns the space. Courtesy of the collections of the Irma Stern Museum and Trust.

Irma Stern, The eternal child, 1916. Oil on board. Rupert Art Foundation

A study of the few archival photographs available reveals that Stern’s decorative choices for her dining room were much simpler and plainer in comparison with the rest of The Firs’ living areas. In later years, from the 1980s, the Irma Stern Museum depicted various interpretations and incorporated concepts of both simplicity, more as a period room, and grandeur, very much inspired by its owner’s extravagant personality and presence. The recreated dining room takes the visitor back to the mid-1950s, to a setting from which the artist would have lived and entertained. It features white-painted walls, an abundance of dark wood, golden reflections from icons and carvings, ‘recently’ painted and sentimental paintings suspended from the picture rails and an 18th-century refectory table with a fresh bouquet of flowers ready to host a party of up to 21 people.

value. Seasonal flowers give a sense of time and are the perfect subject for Stern to apply her iconic, luscious, expressive brushstrokes to the array of colours true to her palette. A selection of still life paintings from the Rupert Art Foundation collection are featured with the actual vases depicted.

The still lifes painted by Stern give both insight and greater perspective into the artist, as the inanimate objects – vases, textiles, carved sculptures ‒ form part of a collection documenting her travels, interests and habits as an artist and collector. While compositions with such a variety of objects all from different geographical and historical provenance create a complex narrative, they can also be enjoyed purely for their aesthetic

It is known that the Rupert Museum’s founder Mrs Huberte Rupert would frequently visit Stern at The Firs during the 1960s to view firsthand the latest and in progress work by the artist. Visits like these resulted in purchases, probably the most important personal sale of all – The Eternal child (1916) acquired in 1965. It forms part of the 57 items, inclusive of paintings, drawings, ceramics, bronzes and rare books in the Rupert Art Foundation collection. For upcoming events in celebration of the artist, keep an eye on the WHATS ON section on www.rupertmuseum.org as more details will be announced soon. Upcoming event

Friday, 11 June - Stern inspired dinner (more details on www.rupertmuseum.org)

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PIERRE LE RICHE: URNS FOR THE ASHES OF MY LOST LOVERS THK Gallery 6 May - 26 June Words by Sean O’Toole www.thkgallery.com

glazed ceramics and various textile pieces demonstrating his love for vivid colour and geometric pattern. In a cosy lounge adjacent the studio hang two embroidered portraits.

Still life with Disas and the Urn for the Frolicking Hunters, Acrylic yarn on polyester, 1870 x 1670, 2021

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ierre le Riche lives and works in a splitlevel studio apartment on Hout Street located three blocks from where his debut solo, Urns for the Ashes of my Lost Lovers, is on view at THK Gallery. The light-filled space with creaky wooden floors that Le Riche recently moved into was formally a pied-à-terre for a weaving business that still operates a micro mill and retail store on the ground floor. When he moved into the apartment, Le Riche split its functions between the two floors he occupies. He lives upstairs with his partner Hannes Mouton, and keeps the tools and implements of his practice in the studio below. Le Riche has diverse interests and capabilities as a maker. In his studio, surrounding a central worktable heaped with wool and other threads, there is a pottery wheel, kiln, woodwork bench and band saw. The walls throughout the apartment are decorated with examples of Le Riche’s work, including

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One depicts Mouton and the other is a self-portrait of Le Riche, who the son of Cape farming stock and Namibian traders. For those who have tracked his ambitious sculptural and textile practice since he graduated with an MFA from the Michaelis School of Fine Art in 2017, Le Riche’s figurative embroideries might come as a surprise. While the tapestries are a continuation of his fibre-based work, the human subject was, until recently, implied rather than stated in Le Riche’s work. His 2017 MFA exhibition, for instance, included wooden chairs that he based on designs by Boer pioneers and slaves. He was drawn to these modest objects because of their oblique yet embedded material links to his Afrikaner heritage. Given their specific function of accommodating the body, Le Riche has written, a chair can suggest absence, presence and solitude. Le Riche’s new tapestries and embroideries at THK Gallery unambiguously place the figure front and centre of his practice. “It is the first time that I am exhibiting anything like this,” the artist says. “My work over the last two years has been very restrained.” He credits the shift to downtime following minor surgery in early 2021. While recovering Le Riche began sketching bold masculine forms with a sharpie in a sketchbook. The volumes of his zestful and frolicking nude figures recall Matisse’s Blue Nudes (1952), Rodin’s erotic watercolours and the midcentury forms of Walter Battiss and Ezrom Legae. The energetic colour palette he uses for his larger tapestries also brings to mind the Cape colourist Barend de Wet. Opposite Page: The Triad Panel 1: The Mirror, Acrylic yarn on polyester, 1820 x 2670, 2021

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The Embrace, Acrylic yarn on polyester, 2021

“I rarely reference art history in a direct way,” says Le Riche, whose figures in his tapestries at THK are extrapolations of those appearing in his sketchbook. “My studio is a solitary space. I work alone. I don’t read the news. I have removed myself from social media.” Le Riche’s current splendid isolation was prefaced by a period of close looking at the work of other makers. An encounter with Louise Bourgeois’s installation Articulated Lair (1986) at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao a few years ago was formative. For his MFA he spent time at the Ditsong Cultural History Museum in Pretoria documenting its extensive collection of over 1200 chairs. He previously shared a studio with the acclaimed textile artist and lace maker Pierre Fouché, whom he describes as a mentor. The solitude of the new studio environment suits Le Riche’s shy yet strong personality. “I’m happy being in the studio alone,” he says – it allows him to focus on a demanding labour. The process of completing a large tapestry – from transcribing a rudimentary cartoon of cascading figures to applying colour thread with a mechanical tool – takes about two weeks. “The work is physically demanding and requires complete immersion in the process.

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The problem solving and composition issues get resolved on the canvas.” Le Riche’s output of tapestries includes smaller monochromatic figure compositions and large pieces that showcase his predisposition to colour. The three embroideries on show were started in 2020 and speak to his patient investment in artisanal work. “It is everything a Bellville upbringing is not,” says Le Riche of the flagrant materiality and iconography of the works in his debut solo. “It is unabashedly queer and in your face.” The work is also deeply autobiographical, registering personal disappointments and regrets. The titular urn in his only still life registers a note of mourning. Ultimately, however, Le Riche has chosen to signal a new phase in his practice, one marked by a celebratory embrace of fertility and life. ‘Urns for the Ashes of My Lost Lovers; will be on exhibition at THK Gallery from 6 May to 26 June, with a simultaneous presentation of Pierre Le Riche’s trophies at Proto/A4. Keep an eye on THK Gallery and Proto/A4 social media for programming updates.

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THIS TIME TOMORROW Andrew Sutherland Solo Exhibition - Salon91 www.salon91.co.za

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ndrew Sutherland’s latest exhibition, This Time Tomorrow, takes its title and inspiration from the song of the same name which was written and performed by the Kinks. The track, which was released in 1970, is considered to be one of this highly influential band’s best three socalled “melancholy ballads” and explores the nature of transience and the bittersweet nature of sometimes not knowing what the near future may hold. As the singer ponders, “This time tomorrow, where will we be?” the listener is invited to consider the seemingly conflicting emotions that being on the road can bring. In this body of work, Andrew Sutherland imagines possible answers to this question posed by the Kinks, expressed through oil and mixed media on paper and canvas. The artist imagines fantastical landscapes that transport the viewer into an escape that occupies both the past and future; these landscapes feel both unknown and familiar, as though we are discovering their wonders for the very first time and yet revisiting them with a firm knowledge of their paths, fishing spots, and hiking trails. These utopian scenes, often inspired by vintage books and magazines, capture the sense of an exploration that treasures unfathomable natural beauty, the joy of unknown territories, and respect for the pristine and untouched. The nostalgia of Sutherland’s work is delicately counterbalanced by the almost futuristic quality of the subject matter; giant cacti dwarf explorers who move through the landscape, soaring mountains which give a sense of being somewhere in Asia without the viewer being able to pinpoint the exact place, and caves on a magnificent scale which seem to have been carved by waves larger than any that could be found on earth. Imaginary Place (ii), 2021, Mixed media on canvas, 1325 x 1320 mm

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Coastal Air, 2021 Mixed media on canvas, 1225 x 1025 mm

Mountainside Pool, 2021, Mixed media on canvas, 725 x 625 mm

Above: (Detail) The Cruise, 2021, Oil on canvas, 525 x 525 mm Opposite Page: Imaginary Place (i), 2021, Mixed media, on canvas, 1220 x 1025 mm

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Above: Bay Walk, 2020, Oil on canvas, 525 x 525 mm Opposite Page: Below Mount Burgess, 2020, Oil on paper, 500 x 380 mm

Indeed, it is in this careful blurring between past and future, that the artist cleverly suggests that this time tomorrow, we may find a way to recover earthly landscapes that have been lost, or that our extraterrestrial exploration will finally lead us to new worlds yet to be discovered.

shaped rather by our environment than our personal desires. With the current and ongoing global pandemic, Sutherland’s works provide us with the welcomed opportunity to be transported elsewhere; to forget where we are and wonder where we may find ourselves tomorrow.

These dual concepts of future exploration and nostalgic musings create the framework through which Sutherland reimagines a more hopeful future that is very different from the future we are currently faced with, in which natural splendour is second to profit; where adventurous spirits can still interact with a natural world unspoiled by progress and our eagerness to learn is

This Time Tomorrow is Andrew Sutherland’s seventh solo with Salon Ninety One. The exhibition will open on the 5th of May 2021 and will conclude on the 5th of June 2021. Kindly contact the gallery on enquiries@ salon91.co.za for further information.

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ARTIST PROOF STUDIO

SA’s Fine Art Engine Room Celebrates 30 Fine Years www.artistproofstudio.co.za

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rtist Proof Studio has produced many of South Africa’s leading fine artists, and this year it celebrates a 30th birthday and a sharpened vision for the future… There are so many parts to Artist Proof Studio (APS) that it’s difficult to tell the organisation’s full story from start to finish. It’s tempting to begin with the litany of prominent names to have emerged or engaged with the studio, but perhaps more important to start in the here and now, at its new Houghton home, currently taking shape within the harsh realities of a pandemic stricken world. In 2021 APS does a lot more than simply teaching talented youngsters how to make art. The organisation has embraced a new digital paradigm in terms of how it engages and develops students, and how it interacts with the broad arts community. It has also played a central role in helping South African artists survive the hardships of lockdown, and continues to bring arts patrons, artists and young creative South Africans together to grow their mutual passion for art.

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Top Left: Old Studio Jeppe Str 94. Above: New APS Gallery, Heritage House


New Professional Print Studio, 2021

“We’re very focused on empowering young artists with a specialised creative education while also strengthening and developing the generational depth of our community,” says Nathi Simelane, APS Project & Marketing Manager. Fifteen years ago the generational depth Simelane refers to was of the traditional old / young variety, but at the APS of 2021 it’s a more nuanced force – and one that plays an increasingly important role in the studio’s evolution. “One of the amazing things about APS is that on any day you’re likely to find Phillemon Hlungwani, a first year student and a recently graduated professional all sharing the same space, at the same time,” explains Simelane. “It’s a uniquely rich environment, and one where all the participants have a lot to share, and gain.” Autumn is an especially resonant time for the studio, which was founded in March 1991. The same season marks the anniversary

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of the fire that burnt down of the original APS building in 2003, and fittingly, March 2021 is when APS celebrates its move from Newtown to a new home in Houghton. Little could its founders, Kim Berman and Nhlanhla Xaba (who died tragically in the 2003 fire) have known when they created APS as a small knowledge and skills sharing space that three decades later it would be one of the most important engine rooms of South African fine art. When APS was founded the Jozi arts world featured only a small handful of stalwart black artists: figures such as Dr David Koloane, Patrick Kagiso Mautloa and Sam Nhlengethwa. Today, the same scene is spearheaded by a new generation who have collectively developed a unique, and globally compelling, aesthetic and culture. And many of them began their journey at APS. “Alumni stories play a huge role in inspiring and motivating our new generations,” says Simelane. “When students arrive here they want to follow the journey already

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travelled by people like Nelson Makamo and Phillemon Hlungwani, and in many ways just by making it to the studio they’ve already gone far along the path. The studio has become it’s own self reinforcing creative ecosystem, and we try and nurture and cultivate that as much as possible.” The likes of Nelson Makamo, Phillemon Hlungwani, Nicholas Hlobo, Bambo Sibiya, Blessing Ngobeni, Mongezi Ngapayi and many others already represent South Africa powerfully on international stages, and following behind them is a new set of rising stars, including Themba Khumalo, Sizwe Khoza, Lebohang Motaung, Jan Tshikhuthula, Zwelethu Machepha and Lindo Zwane, to name just few.

“These artists share an APS education, but they also share a deep South African story of leaving home for the city, often arriving in Jozi for the first time armed with little more than a creative vision,” says Simelane. “While the style and personalities of those who have risen to prominence through the studio differ, most APS alumni share the experience of living at the forefront of South Africa’s transformation since democracy.” But the ultimate measure of success for an organisation like APS isn’t the fame achieved by its shining lights – it’s the impact the studio has had on every young South African to pass through its doors, whether they end up pursuing a fine art career or not. For APS, art is very much the medium, rather than the message.

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“South Africa is still a troubled, divided society where our youth face enormous life challenges. Meeting those challenges requires creativity and the ability to express yourself well,” says Simelane. “This is true for everyone, whether you pursue a creative career or not. Our goal at the studio is to give everyone at the facility foundational skills which they will use for the rest of their lives, no matter what they end up doing for a living.” Conveniently situated near Jozi’s major transport routes, the new APS studio space in Houghton will allow the studio and its supporters and partners to keep delivering on this core ambition.

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“The new space is an exciting new beginning,” concludes Simelane. “It’s in the perfect location to service our community effectively, and to accelerate the moves we’ve already made to operate successfully in the post Covid context. It’s also a fantastic space to accommodate our broad community. We’re hoping that all our patrons, artists and partners will join us to celebrate everything we’ve achieved, and to add their own contribution to an even better future.”

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MANZART FRANSCHHOEK Life is a stage, and we are all merely players Marié Stander Solo Exhibition www.manzart.com

Romeo and Juliet

Lady Macbeth

Hamlet. Opposite. Feste from Macbeth

he ManZArt Gallery presents Marié Stander’s seventh solo show, opening the 18h of April 2021 – a celebration of pure African artistic talent in the heart of Franschhoek.

Unsurprisingly, Marié Stander has a large and an ever growing following throughout South Africa’s collector community and throughout the world. Her works can be found in most of the main African corporate and private collections and many international contemporary art collections. The prestigious Sanlam private collection acquired several of her works. Marié’s work was previously submitted for the UK National Portrait Award.

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Marié joined the ManZArt stable of artists with her first solo show well over a decade ago and has been an important part of the life and success of the gallery – her works finding homes in many prestigious collections around the country and abroad. Best known for her figurative charcoal drawings, Marié’s new show will take over the main exhibition space in the gallery on the main street in Franschhoek with an impressive eight large scale near life size drawings of her new body of work entitled, ‘life is a stage, and we are all merely players’ – most in pastel, some in charcoal.

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Marie opened the Aardklop National Arts Festival in Potchefstroom as one of the four festival artists as well as being selected as one of the festival artists for the Oudshoorn KKNK and the Stellenbosch Wordfees in recent years. She was invited to exhibit at the Stellenbosch Wordfees for several years running, showcasing a large selection of her work.

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Backstage with Shakespeare 1 & 2, charcoal, 2021, 1080 x 1650


Fairies from a Midsummer Night’s Dream

Marié stander has been a three times finalist in the top 40 of the National Sanlam Portrait SPI competition and has had the great opportunity to produce a portrait commission for Archbishop Emeritus, Desmond Tutu. Artist statement All the world is a stage and all the men and women merely players. They have their entrances and exits. We all have many stages and parts to play… it is said, our acts being seven stages through life. Starting from birth, through adulthood and into old age, where we return to being depended as at birth. Every stage having its own challenges and characteristics. My solo is inspired by the beautiful theatrical plays written by Shakespeare. I use modern day actors to portray Shakespearean characters like hamlet, Ophelia, lady Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, the harlequin, Feste and the fairies from A Midsummers Night’s Dream.

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All these characters appropriately portraying typical characteristics and issues that we still experience in current times… so portraying the dualism not only between the past and the present, but also between reality and play. Juxtaposing the typical Shakespearean characters in a contemporary African context. In a certain sense, it is also an existential portrayal of individual people who are free and responsible beings, determining their own development through “acts” of will. To heighten the drama of theatre, I portrayed the Shakespearean characters in dramatic fashion in full colour and dark background. Using soft pastel as a drawing medium while backstage, the actors show their true identity as they are portrayed in black and white with charcoal as medium.

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CELEBRATING AFRICA MONTH The Melrose Gallery www.themelrosegallery.com

Sfiso Ka-Mkame, Dear people just what is it that we know of Love, 2020 Oil pastel on paper 100 x 70 cm

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e are pleased to announce two exciting exhibitions in celebration of Africa month. Sfiso Ka-Mkame’s ‘Homage to Africa’ and Hussein Salim’s ‘Garden of Carnal Delight’. SFISO KA-MKAME’S - Homage to Africa Sfiso Ka-Mkame’s solo ‘Homage to Africa’ will go live on a viewing room on our website on Freedom Day on 27 April and will run until 30 May 2021. This exhibition recognises some of the many challenges facing the Continent of Africa but above all celebrates the many beautiful things about our Continent and her people. It expresses a desire for peace for the Continent so that we can focus our energy on the joy of life.

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Sfiso’s passion for African jazz, dance, his heritage, African spirituality, African textile design, family, the community, African royalty, the Dahomey Amazon Women who fought to protect their communities in several countries in Africa and the power of resistance against injustice are all explored in terms of the presented works. The exhibition also explores the darker side of Africa such as Xenophobia, HIV and the struggle for social, political and economic freedom for South Africa and the Continent at large.

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Sfiso was born in Durban in 1963. He studied art in the 80’s and gained recognition in 1988 when his series of artworks titled ‘’Letters to God’’ was acquired by the South African National Gallery in Cape Town.

to Xenophobia, the act of ‘necklacing’ or burning of people, and the poverty and injustices that the majority of our population experience in their daily lives whilst living in informal settlements and urban townships.

He was active in the United Democratic Front and his early work reflected the political conflict, daily struggles, and hardships that he witnessed during the height of Apartheid. The artwork titled ‘’Letters from Home’’ that forms part of this exhibition is reminiscent of his hard hitting works from this period and speaks

His work has a decorative, stylized feel, which he creates by applying dense layers of colour with oil pastels and then scratching into the pastel to reveal images, symbols and designs which are reminiscent of African textile. Above: Sfiso Ka-Mkame, Ode to Dr Philip Tabane and his Malombe, 2020 Oil pastel on paper 364 x 151cm


Hussein Salim, Garden of Carnal Delights, 2020, Acrylic on canvas 136 x 106 cm

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Hussein Salim, Holi, 2020, Acrylic on canvas, 136 x 106 cm

HUSSEIN SALIM’S – Garden of Carnal Delights “My past and present are marred with memories of loss, isolation, migration, exile and forgotten heritage”. Hussein was born in the Sudan in 1966 and personally experienced the conflict of the 1970’s and 1980’s. Following his artistic training at the Khartoum University, he settled in South Africa and attained his Master’s degree in art at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. His rich, impasto paintings are a product of a rich Sudanese heritage, formal art education, exile and diasporic experience that encourages dialogue around issues of pertinence to Mankind and our daily existence whilst mindful of his dual African and Islamic identity. For Hussein, art not only evokes memories and contemplation of the loss of home, but it also encounters the present and shapes the future and he regularly returns to themes of time, birth, love, and death. His artworks are often described as landscapes, but not realistic in nature, layered with figures and symbols both

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ancient and yet contemporary that invite the viewer to engage with their hidden meaning. A feeling of nostalgia permeates his works, brought about by a sense of displacement and longing to return to his country of birth. The works have a sense of tranquillity about them that is transferred to the viewer. ‘The Garden of Carnal Delights’, the title of the exhibition, represents the marriage of the world, and the manifestation of thought all bound to the circle of life. His painting by the same name depicts the love child of the world and thought, the twins named consciousness and existence representing the void which is the absence of idea, its birth, and its death. “The journey that I took (and I still am on) has shown me what I truly want. Not more of life, but more from life.” The exhibition runs from 6 May to 6 June at The Melrose Gallery (JHB) and on a viewing room on www.themelrosegallery.com

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#5WOMENARTISTS NWU Botanical Gardens Gallery The Art of Clay Curated by Amohelang Mohajane 10 April online exhibition opening

Above: Boitumelo Machaba. Opposite Page top right: Lerato Moleko. Centre left: Ivy Rihlampfu. Centre right: Prudence Magagula. Bottom right: Pholile Hlongwane

#5WOMENARTISTS is an online campaign launched by the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NY) in 2016. The campaign calls attention to the fact that women have not been treated equally in the art world, and remain unrepresented and undervalued in museums, galleries, and auction houses. The NWU Gallery has been promoting this campaign over the past few years and 2021 is no different. We are proud to be hosting a group show for the selected #5WOMENARTISTS titled, ‘#5WOMENARTISTS | The Art of Clay’. These artists include; Ivy Rihlampfu, Pholile

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Hlongwane, Boitumelo Machaba, Lerato Moleko and Prudence Magagula. Their works strongly feature aspects of being a woman, be it strength, resilience, or courage. They use inspiration from daily live, their surroundings and community, the women around them and those who have shaped them to be who they are today. The works feature a range of themes focusing on gender stereotyping in a male-dominated working space, aspects of faith and spiritual teachings and environmental awareness.

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LERATO LODI MORAPEDI, ONE WHO PRAYS

NWU Main Gallery Curated by Amohelang Mohajane Online exhibition opening 10 April

Above: Lerato Lodi by Taola ya Badimo I & II. Opposite page Top left: Lerato Lodi, The Gathering II, 2021. Top Right: Lesela La Badimo, 2021. Opposite page bottom right: Lerato Lodi by A conversation between Thalita and Wihlemina (church service notes). Photos Zoë Rose Exposure

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orth-West University Gallery and Studio Nxumalo Contemporary are proud to present “Morapedi, One Who Prays”, a solo exhibition by Lerato Lodi, curated by Amohelang Mohajane. In her first solo exhibition, Lodi takes us along the start of a journey that investigates her curiosity of the intricacies of dual spiritual practices prevalent in “Sebaka sa Badimo” (a shrine or a sacred ritual site that is fundamental in traditional African spiritual practice), and the church as a space of worship an important setting for Christianity. A spiritual companion to Lodi, Morapedi shows up and communicates in various forms but most notably as a memory of her late grandmother who was a community leader, an entrepreneur and a committed Methodist church member who embraced badimo le ho pahla. Morapedi converses with Lodi through song and the use of

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“Sesebediswa sa Badimo” (diphita, lesela, snuff / sacred materials) and other things that function as guides in the personal and spiritual journey that brings together this exhibition. Lodi’s body of work functions as a quest of coming to terms with her own spiritual journey, one that is complicated by her generation’s criticism of the political history of Christianity in black people’s lives and the stigma that remains attached to African spiritual practices. Lodi witnessed her grandmother’s unshaken acceptance and the embodiment of both these spiritual formations, and through this body of work, she seeks to strengthen her connection and elevate the voice of One Who Prays, embodying Morapedi’s ways of praying and her ways of being.

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PRINCE ALBERT OPEN STUDIOS Alchemy and Art in the Heart of the Karoo By Samantha Reinders www.princealbertopenstudios.co.za

Above: Music and Painting by Heleen de Haas (Photo, Samantha Reinders). Opposite page, top right: Erika van Zyl, plein air painting. Centre left: Artist Sue Hoppe in her studio. Centre right: Artist Deidre Maree (Photo, Samantha Reinders). Bottom left: Artist John O’Sullivan in his studio. Bottom right: By photographer Selwyn Maans

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n the small Karoo town of Prince Albert the water snakes its way down the Swartberg Mountains and into the village’s ‘leiwater’ system, twisting and turning into an artery of spidery furrows through town, providing water and life. It’s as though someone or something has sprinkled some magic dust into that trickling water though… because it seems to produce an overflowing of creativity and ingenuity in the teeny little town. More than 30 artists ply their trades in Prince Albert and the mix of mediums they work in is astonishing. Think ancient crafts like blacksmithing, knife making, woodcutting and calligraphy all the way to steam-punk lamps made from old Land Rover parts and funky kaleidoscopes that will most definitely put a different spin on the Karoo desert. There’s everything in-between of course too: paintings in oils, watercolours and 60

acrylics, both traditional and contemporary, to sculpture and jewellery made from found objects (bones, bullets and bits and bobs), land art, ceramics, collage and photography. Art can, at times, be a bit of an exclusive sport. That’s not the case in Prince Albert though. The town’s gallery has an immense collection of work from almost all of the artists in town and its doors are always open. Owner Brent Phillips-White is there to talk you through who’s who. Most importantly, during Prince Albert Open Studios, the entire art community opens their studio doors to the public to showcase not only their work, but their process behind it. Prince Albert Open Studios is a four-day experience (the word “event” just doesn’t cut it…) that makes for a wonderful long weekend in the Karoo. Grab a map at the gallery and follow the blue boards and bunting fluttering in the breeze to studios big and small.

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At Home, (soft pastel on Canson paper) by Anna Stone

Work Space, by Mary Anne Botha

Searching for Prince Charming, (Collage) by Rebecca Haysom

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Nasede by photographer Samantha Reinders


Artist-Blacksmith, Kashief Booley of Striking Metal

The next Open Studios takes place from 1720 June 2021 and promises more alchemy and art in the foothills of the Swartberg. Studios are open daily from 10am to 5pm. Stroll, cruise or bike though town and get your creative fix at 29 stops. You can try your hand too! Several of the artists have workshops in the two days (15 and 16 June) leading up to the Open Studio’s experience. Come early to learn from the pro’s and in June this year you can do courses on portrait photography (with Samantha Reinders), pottery (with ceramicist Sue Savage), etching (with Diane Johnson-Ackerman) and a workshop on mixed media, highlighting the encaustic technique (with Sue Hoppe). Also definitely don’t miss Heleen de Haas’s “The Dancing Brush”: Painting and Writing to Music on her farm, Aswater, just outside of town. She’ll change the way you think about the art of text.

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The artists and galleries that are opening their doors in June are Anna Marie Stone, Cobus van Bosch, Collette Hurt, Deidre Maree, Diane Johnson-Ackerman, Di Smith, Di van der Riet Steyn, Erika van Zyl, Heleen de Haas, John O’Sullivan, Karoo Looms Weavery, Kashief Booley/Striking Metal, Kevin de Klerk, Louis Botha, Mariana Botha, Mary Anne Botha, Pat Hyland, Prince Albert Community Trust (exhibiting: Elcado Blom, Selwyn Maans, Nathan Maans, and Jeffrey Armoed), Prince Albert Gallery, Rebecca Haysom, Renée Calitz, Samantha Reinders, Sonja Fourie, Sue Hoppe, Sue Savage, The Barn Artist Residency, Turid Bergstedt, and Watershed Gallery. The next Prince Albert Open Studios: 17–20 June 2021, 10am-5pm daily Website: princealbertopenstudios.co.za Email: info@princealbertopenstudios.co.za

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HERMANUS FYNARTS 2021 hermanusfynarts.co.za

Talks and presentations in the Strauss&Co Series include presentations on the art and culture of Russian, Japan, India – and South Africa. Topics will be as varied as the art in the undergrounds of Moscow and Faberge, to Japanese gardens and Indian temples. This year, for the first time, FynArts will cross ‘live’ from the relevant venue to another country. Such a crossing will be to the UK. Niki Daly, prominent South African artist and author of children’s book, will chair two sessions and interview two well-known expat artists. In the first Niki will be in conversation with Paul Emsley, known for his portraits of the famous, including Nelson Mandela and the controversial painting of the Duchess of Cambridge. In the second Niki will talk with Theatre Designer, Norman Coates, about a unique collection of paintings and how he ‘parachuted into the thick of it.’ Alyson Guy, Street in Paris, oil on tracing paper. Opposite Page: Alyson Guy, City Street

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uring this extended period of limited travel, FynArts brings the arts of the world home to you from 10 20 June 2021. Engage with the arts and culture of Russia (10/11), Japan (12/13), India (14/15) and, of course, South Africa (16 - 20) through a full programme that includes, apart from the two FynArts stalwarts, the Strauss&Co Series of talks and presentations and Bouchard Finlayson art award and exhibition, performances, workshops, demonstrations, book readings, films, food and drink and armchair travel. Once again, the popular large, group ceramic exhibition will take place at the Windsor Hotel. This year the title is A Touch of Gold. Most art galleries in the town will present a special exhibition. A further announcement will be made about the exhibition to be held in the FynArts Gallery.

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Arts-related workshops include sketching as well as painting with both oils and watercolour. Eco-printing workshops and the process of printing and dyeing fabrics and paper with the natural dye pigment found in leaves and flowers, will be offered as two full day events. On the one day participants will have the opportunity of printing a unique scarf of imported silk. On the second day, participants of all ages will create a magical forest-floor prints on watercolour paper using fresh leaves and flowers. A number of ceramic workshops for adults are on the programme including two half-day workshops for children who will explore the versatility of clay in expressing textures and movement. This will be achieved through carving, stamps and texture moulds. The clay will be air-dried allowing the children to take home their creations and paint with acrylics once dry. In the first workshop will build a Fairy Wonderland by hand – leaf benches, tables, toadstools and fairy houses

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Gerda Mohr, Plant printing and Dyeing on Imported Silk

that capture the wonder of their imagination. In the second workshop, children will make three pinch bowls with the character of animals such as rabbits, foxes and cats. Art for the Soul, is a workshop with a difference - a sensory experience to inspire the art process. Creative Guiding centres on the creative process of making art rather than the finished product. The workshop will be presented by a Creative Guide and Well-Being Coach who will gently guide artmaking in a supportive environment. The full programme of events will be regularly updated at hermanusfynarts. co.za. At the same time that events are uploaded, these tickets will be available

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on Webtickets and the FynArts website, as well as at Hermanus Tourism, at the FynArts Gallery, on admin@hermanusfynarts co.za or telephonically on 060 957 5371. To keep updated about the 2021 multidisciplinary multi-national FynArts festival, sign up for the newsletter on www. hermanusfynarts.co.za. All venues will adhere strictly to all Covid19 protocols therefore tickets will be very limited for all events. Waiting lists will be kept for all events that are fully booked, in case larger gatherings will be allowed.

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Art, antiques, objets d’art, furniture and jewellery wanted for forthcoming auctions

Penny Siopis, acrylic, dye-based ink, glass paint and enamel with collaged hair extensions SOLD R220,000 View previous auction results at www.rkauctioneers.co.za

011 789 7422 • 011 326 3515 • rka@global.co.za • www.rkauctioneers.co.za Bram Fischer Centre, Lower Ground, 95 Bram Fischer Driver Cnr George Street, Ferndale, 2194


Auction News

STEPHAN WELZ & CO. www.swelco.co.za

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t is safe to say that since the start of Covid19 and the social changes that followed, the auction world has been turned on its head. While initially hesitant, Stephan Welz & Co. adapted to the changes in recent months and have seen some surprisingly positive outcomes. The art market seems to be even more fast-paced and fast-changing than usual, which has been an exciting challenge for our specialists in terms of predicting market interests and sales. Stephan Welz & Co. have been particularly pleased to see a significant increase in international interest on our auctions, with buyers from across the world finding pieces of interest. The move towards a more digitally focused auction approach has made it easier for us to connect to an international clientele, allowing us to widen buying pools and offer a variety of continental and oriental works to collectors who may not be in South Africa. This represents a successful shift towards providing an increase in online bidding solutions from Stephan Welz & Co., with platforms covering markets in the United Kingdom, Asia and the United States. This also indicates a willingness from our collectors who may have previously been hesitant to make investment purchases via online platforms, to participate in the online buying process. The sharp increase in international buyers is an encouraging indication that South African art and that of the larger African diaspora is starting to feature more prominently in international collector portfolios, and in turn we are seeing a more enthusiastic participation from international buyers on our auctions. While international buyers are increasingly exposed to art of African origin, we are seeing an equal increased interest in continental pieces within the South African market. The continental works featured on 70


A.R Penck (German 1939 – 2017), Eis In Der Hölle, Oil on canvas, Est: R200 000 – R300 000, Sold: R406 350


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Andy Warhol (American 1928 – 1987), Vesuvius screenprint on Arches; signed and numbered 126/250, Est: R400 000 – R600 000, Sold: R754 650

our recent sales have fared exceptionally well, with Horse and Groom selling for R139 300 on the Cape Town October 2020 auction and Portrait of a Man selling for R762 125 on the most recent Johannesburg sale. Our art specialists have also been fortunate enough to handle works by art world heavyweights such as A.R. Penck, Andy Warhol, Banksy and David Hockney. This has given our collector base the convenient and easy opportunity to invest in pieces on an international scale. Our Johannesburg and Cape Town specialists are looking forward to handling more international and local investment pieces and look forward to presenting them to our loyal collectors and clients. If you would like an auction valuation on your pieces, advice on the art of collecting, or would simply like some more information about your works, our specialists are happy to share their expertise and assist. You can email our specialists at info@swelco.co.za, submit a consignment request through www.swelco.co.za or visit us at one of our upcoming valuation days. For up-to-date information regarding our upcoming sale dates and valuation days, follow our social media pages. In the Style of Benjamin Marschall, Horse And Groom, Oil on canvas, Est: R6 000 – R9 000 Sold: R139 320


Auction News

STRAUSS & CO: MATRIARCHS OF POWER Strauss & Co’s May sale features outstanding portrayals of women www.straussart.co.za

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he autumn sale commences on Sunday 16 May with a session devoted to a single-owner collection of fine wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Alsace and Champagne. A dedicated contemporary art session on Monday 17 May features impressive lots by acclaimed living artists such as Deborah Bell, Helen Sebidi, Michael MacGarry, Athi-Patra Ruga and Penny Siopis. The sale concludes on Tuesday 18 May with a session containing works by leading South African and international artists, among them Bernard Buffet, Peter Clarke, Adolph Jentsch, Sydney Kumalo, Dylan Lewis and Anton van Wouw. Strauss & Co executive director Susie Goodman says: “We have put together a solid catalogue of terrific works by important modern, post-war and contemporary artists. The sale includes outstanding oils by J.H. Pierneef, Alexis Preller and Penny Siopis, as well as significant bronzes by Lynn Chadwick, Sydney Kumalo and Edoardo Villa. During this period of restricted travel, especially across international borders, we have given careful attention to the format and presentation of this sale in order to best serve our global client base. The sale will feature an enhanced digital capacity that will enable remote buyers to dynamically engage with our superb offering.” Alexis Preller’s two oils depicting traditional Mapogga (Ndebele) women both date from 1951. Starting in 1950 Preller fixated on depicting Mapogga women in a stylized manner. Grand Mapogga II (estimate R4.8 – 5 million) is typical of his symbolic and poetic transformations of Mapogga matriarchs into totemic presences. Mapogga Terrace (estimate R3.8 – 5 million) forms part of a small group of Ndebele village scenes executed in the early 1950s and presents

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its three subjects, all women, as scribes and custodians of traditional knowledge and values. The catalogue for this sale includes fives pictures by Irma Sterm. Three African Women (estimate R4 – 5 million) is a tightly framed study of a trio of amaMfengu (or Fingo) women that the artist likely encountered during her little documented 1941 trip to the Eastern Cape, then known as Pondoland. Still Life with Lilies (estimate R6 – 8 million) dates from 1948, the golden age for works in this genre, and features a favourite flower displayed in a late-19th century Chinese storage jar thought to have been acquired in Zanzibar. The Yellow Hat (estimate R5 – 6 million) is a colour-drenched portrayal of a young man wearing a sou’wester rain hat. Stern frequently shuttled between South Africa and Europe by boat and developed a lifelong interest in depicting the traditions and labours of seafaring cultures. The human figure is also a key subject of the sculpture lots. Sydney Kumalo’s magnificent bronze sculpture Saint Francis (estimate R1.2 – 1.8 million) is one of the artist’s most prized works. The sculpture portrays the Christian saint who renounced a life of wealth and privilege to devote himself to serving the poor and vulnerable. The brilliance of Kumalo’s bronze rendering is the outcome of his conflation of Christian and African symbolism. Other notable figurative bronzes in the sale include Dumile Feni’s Anguished Woman (estimate R200 000 – 300 000), four castings of which were produced late in 1967 or early 1968. Two examples of this work are in the collections of the University of Fort Hare and Norval Foundation. Nandipha Mntambo’s maquette for her well-known

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Alexis Preller, Mapogga Terrace, oil on wood panel 51 by 60,5cm, R 3 800 000 - 5 000 000

William Kentridge, Untitled, Drawing from Il Ritorno d’Ulisse, charcoal and white pastel on paper sheet size: 120 by 260cm, R 5 000 000 - 6 000 000


bronze Minotaurus (estimate R160 000 – 180 000) is one of two such preliminary studies, the other being English sculptor Lynn Chadwick’s Walking Couple (estimate R650 000 – 800 000). William Kentridge, a son of Johannesburg, has a large collector base in his hometown. This sale includes 14 lots by this celebrated resident of Houghton. Depicting the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Untitled Drawing for Il Ritorno d’Ulisse (estimate R5 – 6 million) was one of roughly 40 drawings that Kentridge made for the very first opera he directed, Il Ritorno d’Ulisse, commissioned by the organisers of the Kunsten Festival des Arts in Brussels in 1998. Refugees (You Will Find No Other Seas) (estimate R600 000 – 800 000) is an aquatint etching depicting a rowing boat overloaded with figures. Made from 36 brass plates, this ambitious Kentridge print is a translation of an earlier ink wash drawing. Untitled Drawing for Mango Groove Music Video (Crowd and Megaphone) (estimate R800 000 – 1.2 million) depicts a key scene in the Kentridge-directed music video for Mango Groove’s 1993 song Another Country, with a banner-carrying crowd assembled around a tower topped with a megaphone. Strauss & Co has a distinguished reputation for handling important single-owner collections. The 17 lots from the Late Toy Mostert Collection reflect this popular sports journalist and empowerment entrepreneur’s avid and eclectic taste for works by twentieth-century South African artists. Key artists in the Mostert Collection include Adriaan Boshoff, Robert Gwelo Goodman, Maggie Laubser, John Koenakeefe Mohl, JH Pierneef and Pieter Wenning. Mostert’s Pierneef is a striking dusk scene titled Kimberley Sunset (estimate R800 000 – 1.2 million). In 1975, Mostert, together with footballer Jomo Sono and another partner, opened the first KFC outlet in Soweto; they built the business up and six years later they had 46 branches. The highlight of the six Pierneef lots is undoubtedly his Study for Klipriviersberg, Alberton (estimate R1.8 – 2.4 million), an oil on board linked to the artist’s landmark

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commission to paint 28 decorative and grand landscape panels for the newly-built Johannesburg Railway Station. The present lot, which shows an old, stone and redroofed Transvaal house, is a very rare oil study related to this commission. “Painted quickly, with confidence and swagger, the surface has a gorgeous and swirling arrangement of olive and lime green, across which cut streaks of pink, brown and terracotta,” says Dr. Alastair Meredith, a senior art specialist at Strauss & Co and head of the art department. “The painting is the precursor of the famous Klipriviersberg, Alberton panel shown in Johannesburg Station after 1932. This is a rare opportunity for collectors to acquire a marvellous picture directly related to Pierneef’s best-known work.” The majesty and complexity of the South African landscape continues to occupy contemporary artists. The final session of the sale spotlights two preeminent landscape painters: John Meyer and Keith Alexander. John Meyer’s impressive body of work, built up over half a century and on-going, has made him the doyen of the realist movement in southern Africa. Strauss & Co is pleased to offer four lots by this artist, including The Golden Gate from 1988 (estimate R700 000 – 900 000). Over a relatively short career of 25 years, Keith Alexander created an equally impressive oeuvre of immediately recognisable and psychologically powerful photorealist paintings. Produced over seven years, Epitaph from 1996 (estimate R800 000 – 900 000) depicts a gemsbok astride an empty plinth in a ruined classical landscape. Strauss & Co’s second marquee virtual live sale of 2021 will commence on Sunday 16 May and conclude on Tuesday 18 May. The sale will be livestreamed from Johannesburg to bidders across the world, with the option of in-person bidding at Strauss & Co’s offices in Houghton. Covid-19 safety protocols apply throughout.

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(Detail) Irma Stern, Three African Women, oil on canvas 58 by 58cm, R 4 000 000 - 5 000 000

Jacob Hendrik Pierneef, Study for Klipriviersberg, Alberton, oil on board 52 by 64cm, R 1 800 000 - 2 400 000

Penny Siopis, Birthday Cake, oil on canvas, 121 by 152,5cm, R 550 000 - 650 000


THE MUNDANE AND THE MAGICAL

New Johannesburg Public Sculpture By Artist Usha Seejarim Metal ironing bases, steel square tubing, semi-transparent paint.

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hree scholars affiliated with Brandeis University (Waltham, Massachusetts, USA) reflect on the significance of this striking work. Review Commentaries by Pam Allara, Ellen Schattschneider, and Mark Auslander A newly installed sculptural work by Usha Seejarim, “The Mundane the Magical” (2021) stands at the southern entrance of the brand new Radisson RED Hotel in Rosebank, Johannesburg, opening out into the Oxford Banks neighborhood. Two large angelic wings are composed of hundreds of flat iron bases, painted in various shades of semi-transparent red paint, preserving the markings on each individual iron. An open space between the wings allows visitors to pose on the base block for photographs. Pam Allara: Contextualizing the Work Usha Seejarim was born in 1974 in Bethal, South Africa. Seejarim received a B-Tech Degree in Fine Art from the University of Johannesburg in 1999 and a Master’s Degree in Fine Art at the University of The Witwatersrand (WITS) in 2008, She lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has exhibited widely, and has completed numerous public commissions including a light installation for the Embassy of Switzerland in Pretoria in 2015, the public portrait for Nelson Mandela’s funeral in Qunu, South Africa in 2013; Figures Representing Articles From The Freedom Charter in 2008 in, Soweto, South Africa; and artwork for the facade of the South African Chancery in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2008) amongst others. In her art, Seejarim employs mundane objects that are commonly used in domestic labor: including brooms, irons, hand soap, and wooden clothes pegs. The strong tactility of her sculptures subtly underscores the fact that the objects are primarily used by women in the course of physical labor. The repetitive actions involved in creating the works also allude to women’s endless battles in ‘keeping the dirt of life at a distance.’

Because her art is not overtly polemical or political, it might be called ‘post-feminist,’ but nonetheless it makes explicit that feminism has not achieved its goal of releasing women from the sole responsibility for the drudgery of housework. The recently-opened Radisson RED Hotel in the Rosebank section of Johannesburg, home to high-end boutiques and the corporate offices of Oxford Parks, is in the familiar International Style of architecture adopted by corporations globally in the twentieth century. Seejarim has stated that Radisson was exceptionally supportive and cooperative in her plans for executing this commission. However, the hotel itself is impersonal and unwelcoming, and as such can be considered ‘mascullinist’ in design, one that emphasizes power and control. Certainly nothing in its design indicates that the hotel may wish to suggest potential visitors that it is a ‘home away from home.’ Seejarim’s ‘The Mundane and the Magical’ counters this masculinist rigidity with a pair of soaring red wings that invite the visitor to mount the staircase and to stand in front or between them, imagining being able to take flight. Like Seejarim’s previous work, it is constructed from domestic objects, in this instance, the bases of steam irons, a frequent motif in her art. If the motif is familiar, the use of color is not, as most often she retains the colors of the mundane objects she transforms: for example, broom handles and brushes. In this instance, she has acknowledged her patron with the brilliant red she has applied to the bases. At the same time, she is insisting that women and women’s labor be foregrounded. The domestic labor of ironing has often been depicted in modernist painting, from Degas to Picasso, and in every case the person executing this chore is a woman. (I know of no paintings of men ironing in the western art historical canon). The Mundane and the Magical’s irons are a reminder that hotel’s sheets were probably made clean and smooth by numerous, anonymous women. It is these women she honors by signaling the importance of the collective to

Newly installed sculptural work by Usha Seejarim, The Mundane the Magical, (2021) 6.3 meters. Commissioned for the Raddison RED Hotel, Rosebank, Johannesburg, South Africa. Photo. Clare Appleyard

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transgress oppression and servitude and take wing. Seejarim has always insisted that the mundane can contain the magical through the power of imagination, especially the collective imagination. Ellen Schattschneider: The Spirit of Sacrifice and the “Angel of the House” Seejarim writes that she is in particular inspired by Virginia Woolf’s famous 1931 speech to The Women’s Service League, often known as “Professions for Women,” which contemplates the internalized impediments faced by women in their struggle to write with integrity, honesty, and rigor. Growing up in a late Victorian household, Woolf notes, she was always accompanied by the invisible “Angel of the House,” the subordinated feminine essence immortalized in the poem “The Angel in the House,” (1854) by Coventry Patmore. The ideal woman demonstrates infinite forbearance even when her husband unfairly attacks her: “And if he once, by shame oppress’d/A comfortable word confers/ She leans and weeps against his breast/and seems to think the sin was hers.” Woolf recalls that the Angel of the House counseled her, as she started to write reviews of books written by men, to praise and flatter the male authors, paralyzing her ability to wrote in a critical voice. “The shadow of her wings fell on my page…she slipped behind me and whispered…’Never let anybody guess that you have a mind of your own.’” Woolf’s only liberation, she recalls, lay in murdering this passive and pure Angel: “Had I not killed her she would have killed me. She would have plucked the heart out of my writing.” The passage calls to mind Rene Girard’s argument in Violence and the Sacred, an analysis of blood sacrifice in diverse human societies. Classically, Girard proposes, the sacrificial offering was a ritual double of the sacrificer, containing feared aspects of the person and their community which were consecrated to the Divine and then expelled from the self, so that the sacrificing person and polity could be reborn anew. Similarly, Woolf’s Angel is her “sacrificial double,” who has to be ceremonially killed and cast out in the interest of creative rebirth. Seejarim dispatches the old, oppressive Angel of the House, the confining spirit of domestic space, only to allow her to live again in a breathtaking apotheosis. The hot irons, over which innumerable women have bent in drudgery, become light as feathers. Rather than casting shadows upon the page of the female artist,

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these new Angel wings are proudly situated outdoors, towering at least twice the height of those who stand before them. The angel’s body may be invisible, but she does not “whisper”: her enormous wings are poised to beat in full splendor, as she prepares to mount heavenwards. As Pam notes, the intense redness of Seejarim’s two enormous wings honors the Radisson RED hotel chain, but these red painted structures also, to my mind, recall pillars of flame, billowing upwards. In this respect I am reminded of Hestia, the ancient Greek goddess of the hearth fire, to whom the first sacrifice was always directed in ancient Greek religious ceremonies. In these towering metal wings, the heated irons and domestic fires tended by women since time immemorial are transformed into sacrificial pyres dedicated to the ancient goddess, a reborn Angel of the House through whom the mundane, once more, becomes magical. Mark Auslander: Goddesses, Superheroes, and Commodity Fetishism As she joins with Virginia Woolf in subverting Coventry Patmore’s “Angel in the House,” and as she honors the spirit of classical divinities, Seejarim’s sculpture is resonant with diverse avian-human hybrid figures in global mythology, often female-coded. The ancient Egyptian sister goddesses Isis and Nephthys, who oversaw funeral rites and helped move once-living souls into the Afterlife, were depicted with the outstretched wings of falcons or keening kites. (Isis, significantly, restores the dead Osiris to life by fanning him with her open wings.) In a comparable vein, the ancient Greek winged goddess Nike, daughter of Pallas and Styx, was often depicted in vase paintings, at times as a charioteer for Zeus. Inspired by Nike, many classical Roman works of art were dedicated to the winged goddess Victoria. These winged “victories,” often represented in coins, relief, and statuary form, evoked the upward triumph of the spirit of victory. The most famous of these is the Winged Victory of Samothrace, on display in the Louvre since 1883 on the landing of the grand staircase, L’Escalier Daru, also known as ‘L’Escalier de la Victoire de Samothrace’ The classical motif of the winged victory was adapted in the Early Church, and by the 4th or 5th century Christian angels were depicted with feathered wings sprouting from their shoulders or backs, a device further echoed in classical Muslim iconography. By the early Renaissance, Jan van Eyck and Fra Angelico’s angels were depicted with wings of multiple colors. Angels

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continue to be depicted with large wings, folded or unfolded, to the present day. Wings are thus intimately associated with themes of renewed life and hope, consistent with John Milton’s couplet in Paradise Lost, “O welcome pure-eyed Faith, white handed Hope/Thou hovering angel girt with golden wings.” The artist may equally have been inspired by the sacred figure of Garuda in Hindu mythology, honored in innumerable works of South Asian art and literature. This winged divinity, Lord of the Birds, serves as the vehicle mount (vahana) of Vishnu, transporting the god through the heavens, and is a powerful symbol of the regeneration of life. The Mundane and the Magical may also evoke the great artificial wings described in Ovid’s Metamorphosis. These were created out of feathers and wax by the inventor Daedalus to escape, with his son Icarus, from their earthly prison on Crete. Forgetting his father’s instructions, Icarus flew on his artificial wings so close to the sun that the wax melted, and he plunged into the sea. This act has ever since represented the essence of hubris, the human longing to rise above destiny and earthly bonds. A more proximate inspiration might be the mechanical red wings of the superhero “The Falcon,” the first African American superhero in the Marvel Comics pantheon, introduced in a comic book in September 1969. These retractable wings, created with Afro-futurist technology from Wakanda, allow the hero to perform complex aerial maneuvers in combat. As signaled at the conclusion of the global megahit Avengers: Endgame (2019) the Falcon will assume the mantle of the leader of the Avengers, the global force of superheroes. Whatever the wings’ precise referents, the empty space between them, in front of the hotel’s south entrance, invites passersby to pose for selfies, casting themselves as a Winged Victory or a superhero in an unfolding global drama. Like visitors to the Samothrace sculpture in the Louvre, they too can stand at the top of stairs and instagram their images around the world. (In this respect, the Seejarim installation parallels a series of paired wing sculptures, known as the “Wings of the City,” created by the Mexican artist Jorge Marin, installed in multiple cities around the world, including Mexico City, Tel Aviv, Berlin, and Dallas, which also invite self-photography.) For all its playful aspects, Seejarim’s work could be read through a Marxist lens, as embodying Marx’s labor theory of value. Capitalism depends

on the extraction of the labor of the worker, for which the laborer historically has been undercompensated. Thus, transformed labor power drives capitalist accumulation. In Marx’s model, this extracted labor power is congealed, rather mysteriously, in the figure of what Marx terms the “commodity fetish”— a “social hieroglyph” which seems to operate autonomously in the marketplace as if it had intrinsic value, but which actually is energized and given underlying value by the concealed labor of those workers who have created it in the shadows. As Marx famously observes in his masterwork Capital: “A commodity appears at first sight an extremely obvious, trivial thing. But its analysis brings out that it is a very strange thing, abounding in metaphysical subtleties and theological niceties” At the base of the new Radisson RED Hotel, Usha Seejarim’s paired wings, composed of hundreds of handheld commodities and objects of labor used every day by female staff, similarly manifests the transformed labor of working class women, reborn in a contemporary act of metamorphosis as the unfurled wings of a new divinity. It is well known that the city of Johannesburg is built upon the extracted labor power of hundreds of thousands of male miners, who themselves extracted precious metal from deep underground. Yet the metropolis is equally built upon the labor of women of color, who labored above ground in domestic and industrial work, in shebeens, markets, and the hospitality. industry to make a life for themselves and their loved ones in the city of gold. In Seejarim’s metal wings of composite irons, we might argue, the hidden histories of female and male labor on the Rand are brilliantly combined, as if the workers and their labor power are poised to continue their upward journeys, liberated “Angels of the House” ascending to yet higher planes. Pam Allara is Associate Professor Emerita of Contemporary Art, Brandeis University Ellen Schattschneider is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Brandeis University Mark Auslander is Research Scholar in Anthropology, Brandeis University, and Visiting Associate Professor of Anthropology, Mount Holyoke College



ARTGO

MAY 2021 NEW GALLERIES, ONGOING SHOWS AND OPENING EXHIBITIONS

(DETAIL) Andrew Sutherland. Seaside Grotto, 2021, Mixed media on canvas. 730 x 625mm, This Time Tomorrow, Solo Exhibition, Salon91, 5 May - 5 June 2021


ARTGO: NEW GALLERIES

PALETTE FINE ART GALLERY OPENS IN FRANSCHHOEK www.palettesculpturegallery.co.za

Opposite Page (Works by Lydia Da Silva) top left: Lotus. Top Right: Reflection. Centre Left: Nostalgia. Centre Right: Meandering Antonio Da Silva Bottom Left: Lydia Da Silva, Swan Divers. Bottom Right: Antonio Da Silva, Honey Badger

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alette Fine Art Gallery has opened in Franschhoek. Situated on the historic Huguenot Road at number 40, the range of art reflects both the roots of the French farming area and the modern cultural town that Franschhoek has become. With a range spanning the landscapes of the local farms and their Cape Dutch architecture, to the stunning mountains and lavender fields, Palette showcases modern abstracts, varying from iconic local fauna and flora to eclectic art that provide a window into the lives of South Africa’s unique people.

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The Palette Fine Art Gallery began nestled among the grand old oak trees in Church Street, Stellenbosch. The gallery was started by filling a niche in the tourist market and has evolved over 8 years. It has since expanded to open in the Cape Quarter and boasts many beautiful bronze sculptures varying from the human form to many species of animals and birds. The gallery also stocks a variety of consignment work created by local artists from the Western Cape.

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ARTGO: MAY 2021

OPENING EXHIBITIONS

CAPE PALETTE GROUP EXHIBITION OF GALLERY ARTISTS 01/05/2021 UNTIL 30/05/2021 WWW.CAPEPALETTE.CO.ZA

ECLECTICA CONTEMPORARY SUE GREEFF SOLO - STICK IT ONLINE EXHIBITION OPENS 01 MAY 2021

WWW.ECLECTICACONTEMPORARY.CO.ZA

RK CONTEMPORARY LOOK ME IN THE EYE - A POST PROHIBITION GROUP SHOW TOASTING YOUR GOOD HEALTH. 02/05/2021 UNTIL 30/05/2021 WWW.RKCONTEMPORARY.COM

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EBONY/CURATED CAPE TOWN MAKWANDE 05/05/2021 - 25/06/2021 WWW.EBONYCURATED.COM

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25 5 0 NASIONALE MUSEUM • MUSIAMO WA SETJHABA

Department of Sport, Arts and Culture

Adelheid_Art Times 2_set up for print with bleed 15 April 2021 09:26:33 AM


ARTGO: MAY 2021

OPENING EXHIBITIONS

EVERARD READ CPT FAITH XLVII SOLO EXHIBITION 05/05/2021 UNTIL 28/05/2021

SALON91 THIS TIME TOMORROW ANDREW SUTHERLAND SOLO EXHIBITION 05/05/2021 UNTIL 05/06/2021 WWW.SALON91.CO.ZA

THE CAPE GALLERY RE-COGNITON GROUP EXHIBITION 06/05/2021 UNTIL 28/05/2021 WWW.CAPEGALLERY.CO.ZA

EDG2020 ABANDONED BODIES MARLISE KEITH 06/05/2021 UNTIL 27/05/2021 WWW.EDG2020.COM

WWW.EVERARD-READ-CAPETOWN.CO.ZA

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ARTGO: MAY-JUNE 2021

OPENING EXHIBITIONS

EVERARD READ CPT APEX DYLAN LEWIS SOLO EXHIBITION 06/05/2021 UNTIL 26/05/2021

OLIEWENHUIS ART MUSEUM

THK GALLERY PIERRE LE RICHE URNS FOR THE ASHES OF MY LOST LOVERS - SOLO EXHIBITION 06/05/2021 UNTIL 26/06/2021 WWW.THKGALLERY.COM

THE VIEWING ROOM ART GALLERY AM I AFRICAN NOW? 08/05/2021 UNTIL 19/06/2021 WWW.STLORIENT.CO.ZA/THE-VIEWINGROOM/CURRENT-EXHIBITIONS

WWW.EVERARD-READ-CAPETOWN.CO.ZA

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ART, PLACE, DEATH: THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF DYNAMIC THRESHOLDS A SOLO-EXHIBITION BY ADELHEID VON MALTITZ 06/05/2021 UNTIL 20/06/2021 WWW.NASMUS.CO.ZA/VISITOR-INFORMATION/

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GALLERY 2 KAROO A SOLO EXHIBITION BY BRUCE BACKHOUSE 15/05/2021 UNTIL 12/06/2021 WWW.GALLERY2.CO.ZA


ARTGO: MAY-DEC 2021

OPENING EXHIBITIONS

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SMAC GALLERY STELLENBOSCH BLACK LUMINOSITY GROUP EXHIBITION 20/03/2021 UNTIL 20/05/2021 WWW.SMACGALLERY.COM

RUST-EN-VREDE GALLERY GIVE ME SPACE 25/05/2021 UNTIL 25/06/2021 WWW.RUST-EN-VREDE.COM

RUST-EN-VREDE GALLERY DISCARDED 25/05/2021 UNTIL 25/06/2021 WWW.RUST-EN-VREDE.COM

RUST-EN-VREDE GALLERY NOT A PORTRAIT 25/05/2021 UNTIL 25/06/2021 WWW.RUST-EN-VREDE.COM

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ART@AFRICA HERMANUS BLUE DOT 10/06/2021 UNTIL 10/08/2021 WWW.ARTATAFRICA.ART

ART@AFRICA FRANSCHHOEK OFFICIAL OPENING SCULPTURE GARDEN OPENS 12/06/2021 WWW.ARTATAFRICA.ART

PRINCE ALBERT GALLERY ALCHEMY AND ART IN THE HEART OF THE KAROO OPEN STUDIOS 17TH UNTIL 20TH JUNE 2021 PRINCEALBERTOPENSTUDIOS.CO.ZA

THE ENDANGERED WILDLIFE TRUST CONTEMPORARY 21 GORDON INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS SCIENCE (GIBS) 04/09/2021 UNTIL 12/09/2021 WWW.EWT.ORG.ZA


ARTGO: MAY 2021

ONGOING SHOWS

THE ASSOCIATION OF ARTS BELLVILLE JULIA VAN SCHALKWYK BROKEN NATURE SOLO EXHIBITION UNTIL 08/05/2021 WWW.ARTB.CO.ZA/JULIA-VAN-SCHALKWYK

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EVERARD READ FRANSCHHOEK EL ANATSUI THE ANCESTORS ARE CONVERGING AGAIN 15/04/2021 UNTIL 09/05/2021

RUST-EN-VREDE GALLERY SAILORS AND SIRENS GROUP EXHIBITION CURATED BY DONAVAN MYNHARDT 20/04/2021 – 19/05/2021 WWW.RUST-EN-VREDE.COM

RUST-EN-VREDE GALLERY TRIFECTA ANTOINETTE DU PLESSIS, SAREL PRETORIUS, SHENAZ MAHOMED 20/04/2021 – 19/05/2021 WWW.RUST-EN-VREDE.COM

RUST-EN-VREDE GALLERY URBAN ART GROUP EXHIBITION CURATED BY HAMLIN JANSEN VAN VUUREN 20/04/2021 – 19/05/2021 WWW.RUST-EN-VREDE.COM

SMAC STELLENBOSCH BLACK LUMINOSITY UNTIL 20/05/2021 GROUP EXHIBITION WWW.SMACGALLERY.COM

BERMAN CONTEMPORARY PAPER ADVENTURES GROUP EXHIBITION 24/04/2021 UNTIL 23/05/2021 WWW.BERMANCONTEMPORARY.COM

GOODMAN GALLERY JHB PAUL MAHEKE VANILLE BLEUE SOLO EXHIBITION 08/04/2021 UNTIL 26/05/2021 WWW.GOODMAN-GALLERY.COM

GALLERY GLEN CARLOU DOUBLE VISION A COLLABORATION OF LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS, PAINTED IN OPEN AIR BY BEEZY BAILEY AND STUART DODS 25/05/2021 UNTIL 30/05/2021 WWW.GLENCARLOU.COM/ART-GALLERY

WWW.EVERARD-READ-FRANSCHHOEK.CO.ZA

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ARTGO: MAY 2021

ONGOING SHOWS

GOODMAN GALLERY CPT FATHOM | RHE WATER SHOW GROUP EXHIBITION 25/03/2021 UNTIL 30/05/2021 WWW.GOODMAN-GALLERY.COM

THE MELROSE GALLERY CELEBRATING AFRICA MONTH SFISO KA MKAME’S ‘HOMAGE TO AFRICA’ AND HUSSEIN SALIM’S ‘GARDEN OF CARNAL DELIGHT’. 27/04/2021 UNTIL 30/05/2021 WWW.THEMELROSEGALLERY.COM

MANZART MARIE STANDER LIFE IS A STAGE AND WE ARE ALL MERELY PLAYERS SOLO EXHIBITION MAY 2021 WWW.MANZART.COM

AITY GALLERY, GROUP SHOW UNTIL 31/05/2021 WWW.ARTINTHEYARD.CO.ZA

NORVAL ART FOUNDATION THE REUNION GEORGINA GRATRIX UNTIL 31/05/2021 WWW.NORVALFOUNDATION.ORG

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131 // A // GALLERY CAPE TOWN CHRISTIAAN CONRADIE AGAINST A NARROW HEART SOLO EXHIBITION 29/04/2021 UNTIL 31/05/2021 WWW.131AGALLERY.COM

NWU BOTANICAL GARDENS GALLERY #5WOMENARTISTS THE ART OF CLAY ONLINE EXHIBITION OPENED 11/04/2021

WWW://SERVICES.NWU.AC.ZA/NWU-GALLERY

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NWU MAIN GALLERY LERATO LODI MORAPEDI, ONE WHO PRAYS CURATED BY AMOHELANG MOHAJANE ONLINE EXHIBITION OPENED 11/04/2021

WWW://SERVICES.NWU.AC.ZA/NWU-GALLERY


Christiaan Conradie, Vincent Abrigo, 131A Gallery


ARTGO: MAY-DEC 2021

ONGOING SHOWS

PALETTE FINE ART GALLERY OPENS IN FRANSCHHOEK ONGOING EXHIBITION OF SCULPTURE WWW.PALETTESCULPTUREGALLERY.COM

DEEPEST DARKEST HANNALIE TAUTE EUCATASTROPHE SOLO EXHIBITION 17/04/2021 UNTIL 20/05/2021 WWW.DEEPESTDARKESTART.COM

LA MOTTE MUSEUM CELEBRATING THE LOVE OF ART A PERSONAL SELECTION BY HANNELI RUPERT-KOEGELENBERG UNTIL 25/07/2021 WWW.LA-MOTTE.COM/PAGES/MUSEUM

ART@AFRICA CAPE TOWN WATERWARS UNTIL 31/12/2021 WWW.ARTATAFRICA.ART

DYLAN LEWIS SCULPTURE GARDEN GROTTO - A NEW INSTALLATION ONGOING WWW.DYLANLEWIS.CO.ZA

NORVAL ART FOUNDATION IINYANGA ZONYAKA ATHI-PATRA RUGA UNTIL 26/07/2021 WWW.NORVALFOUNDATION.ORG

ANTON SMIT OPEN AIR EXHIBITION AT CENTURY CITY ARTS TRAIL ONGOING WWW.ANTONSMIT.CO.ZA

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Dear Art Investor/ Collector We welcome the latest South African Print that has passed R 1 000 000 mark

Sold Strauss & Co LOT 501 Head. R 1 251 800 William Kentridge. Drypoint, from 1 copper plate and 2 hand-painted templates on Arches paper

If you are looking for more investment or simply great prints start by visiting our website at printallery.co.za The SA Print Gallery is now reopened Tuesday- Saturday 109 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock, Cape Town Tel 0721820234 We take work on consignment


VIRTUAL LIVE AUCTION Johannesburg | 17 & 18 May 2021 011 728 8246 | jhb@straussart.co.za | www.straussart.co.za

Alexis Preller, Grand Mapogga II R 4 800 000 - 5 800 000

Modern, Post-War and Contemporary Art


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