Anna Awards portfolio

Bev Butkow

Anna Awards - Portfolio June 2022

embodied-entanglements/entangled-embodiments Site-specific installation, iteration 1 2020 Bag Factory Artist Studios, Newtown, Johannesburg All images © Bev Butkow. Photo: Anthea Pokroy, Thekiso Mokhele

Installation view, site-specific installation, Bag Factory Artist Studios, Johannesburg,

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Motivation In a culture obsessed with the ‘shiny young thing’ and the latest fad, I am the opposite – a ‘mature’ emergent artist. Convention teaches us to discount the value of women after a certain age, rendering us ‘invisible’. But I think mature women have a huge and meaningful contribution to make: the world needs our particular wisdom and life experience, which are rooted in resilience, empathy and a long-term vision.

My non-traditional route to becoming a maker navigated rich and diverse life experiences. These include artistic and corporate careers, community engagement, academia and role as a mother and wife. I have been forged through intense challenges (some imposed and others out of choice), as well as personal and family sacrifices I’ve made. These challenges include returning to Wits University in my mid-forties. In the process, I have become fiercely brave and courageous. I wear my scars with pride: my multitude life experiences have forced me to gain maturity and wisdom. To have an unshakable fighting spirit and resilience. I challenge myself constantly – digging deep to find my authentic and unique voice; to make better art; to better understand my higher purpose as an artist.

Far beyond being self-referential, these learnings have greater value beyond my individual self. Because I have learnt to navigate different worlds, I act as a bridge between different generations of artists and women, functioning as both teacher and student, mentor, connector, compassionate ear and inspiration. I role-model a strong, powerful and courageous woman prepared to take vulnerable risks. My multi-layered experiences as a mother of my four children, in particular my two incredibly powerful daughters, plus the others that I assume “motherhood” to, have honed my intuitive receptivity to the people around me. I have a unique ability to lead, guide and grow others, hyper-aware of how showing empathy and kindness changes people’s lives.

We need to abandon what has been socialised into us. Women can only take our rightful place when we learn to love our imperfections as much as our perfections.

There are no barriers to what women can achieve when we work together, applying grit, determination – and chutzpah – to our biggest dreams.

The same sensibilities fuel my making processes, which work through iterative experimental processes of make-unmake-weave-unravel-learn-unlearn-disruptarrange-rearrange. My hybrid artforms challenge and disrupt expectations – as a woman, an artist-woman, while also challenging expectations as a weaver, painter and sculptor. Similar to how I approach my life, my making retains a unique sense of independence – offbeat and unconventional, process-driven and not instantly decipherable. Yet within its radical individuality, it retains a deliberate connectedness that is rooted in how humans engage in our social structures. I mobilise childlike playfulness and joy to immerse the viewer and activate their senses. Interactivity and immersion go way beyond a mere physical experience; it is rather an activated encounter that has a profound phenomenological impact on the viewer, leaving them changed. Through immersion, I search to understand the world and our place in it, considering different possibilities for the way we humans inhabit our social, material and natural worlds.

Having just submitted my MFA thesis, I have emerged from an intense process of introspection and re-education/upskilling/re-framing of my worldviews in light of creative processes. These new learnings are now unfurling and taking root in my artworks.

embodied-entanglements/entangled-embodiments Site-specific immersive installation, iteration 2 2021 Origins Centre Museum, Wits University, Johannesburg

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Technical specifications The installation comprises approximately 40 artworks, including: • • • • • • • • • • •

1 ‘explosion’, comprising weaves, wooden frames, wooden bars, string, ribbon, air-conditioning duct 6 unstretched paintings, ranging in size, with the biggest 2 x 3.2 m 10-12 free-form suspended woven forms 10 framed weaves 1 metal/woven sculpture with a plaster plinth a multitude of wooden bars from broken painting frames 3 expanding foam ‘rocks’ 1 film piece accompanied by a sonic piece a screen of woven textiles a vinyl window covering, measuring 5.4 x 2.14 m 3 screen prints

Material list includes: Wood/plastic/glass beads, imitation pearls, string, dishcloths, scrap dressmaking fabric, wool, baking twine, glitter, hangers, plastic mesh, copper wire, repurposed painting stretchers, wooden frames, repurposed oil paintings, fabric, ribbon, fabric cord, fishing gut, rope, feather duster, lawnmower cord, air-conditioning duct, plastic sheeting, metal stoppers, plaster of Paris, exPAnding foam, galvanised wire, aluminium bars, resin, hessian, acrylic, silver/copper/gold/bronze leaf, insulation tape, cable ties, metal washers, plastic cord, oil paint, ink, encaustic wax, graphite, embodied traces of time/labour/exertion/conversation/instruction The installation embodies approximately 6 years of combined work: • Bev Butkow - 3 years • Heidi Stroh – 1.5 years • Sharon Maxinyane – 1.5 year

Detail. embodied-entanglements/entangledembodiments. 2020. Site-specific installation. © Bev Butkow. Photo: Anthea Pokroy

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It’s My Superpower and My Curse, in front of vinyl window Made with Cynthia Maxinyane, Thandiswa Maxinyane and Menard Hunga 2021 Galvanised wire, beads, string, dishcloths, scrap dressmaking fabric, wool, baking twine, repurposed canvas, fabric, ribbon, feather duster, fabric cord, fishing gut, lawnmower cord, expanding foam, insulation tape, cable ties, plastic cord, embodied traces of time/labour/exertion/conversation/instruction 200 x 270cm

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detail - untitled 2021 oil paint on linen 140 x 100 cm © Bev Butkow. Photos: Bev Butkow, Anthea Pokroy

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detail - untitled oil paint on Belgian linen 2021 140 x 100 cm Unframed

Detail - constrained-unconstrained Oil paint, encaustic wax, ink, silver leaf, bronze leaf, glitter on Belgian linen 2021 220 x 300 cm Unframed

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and in the dying moments of her academic constraint Oil paint, encaustic wax, glitter on Belgium linen 2021 Unframed 200 x 300cm

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Durational performance by Oupa Sibeko at Origins Centre Museum, 2021

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Multiple perspectives Made with Heidi Stroh, Sharon Maxinyane, Cynthia Maxinyane.

2022 Glass, plastic, wood and metal beads, artificial pearls, fabric offcuts, galvanised roofing wire, ribbon, plastic shopping bags, dishcloth, wool, fishing gut, string, wood, faux fur, canvas, hangers, embodied traces of time/labour/exertion/conversation/ instruction 200 x 390 cm (height variable)

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In relation to its space Made with Thandiswa Maxinyane 2021 Weave, made of oil painting shreds, dressmaking scraps, wool, ribbon, glass and plastic beads, fishing gut, embodied traces of time/labour/exertion/conversation/ instruction, clothes hanger approx. 139 x 64 x 10 cm

Challenge the bounds of acceptability Made with Marguerite Visser Sanders 2020 Plastic mesh, string, wool, plastic and wooden beads, plastic pearls, repurposed canvas, cable ties, fabric, ribbon, metal washers, insulation tape approx. 140 x 92 x 20 cm

Emerging, disappearing, refusing the Invisibility Cloak I Made with Marguerite Sanders 2019 Beads, pearls, string, cord, dishcloths, metal stoppers, plastic mesh Size variable – approx 106 x 92 x 20 cm

An Embodied Labour Made with Marguerite Visser Sanders 2019 String, repurposed painting stretcher frame, embodied traces of time/ labour/exertion/creative process 120 x 120 cm

Shadow series

A process of mapping tension 2020 Acrylic, graphite, ink, fine-liner, gouache, encaustic wax on Fabriano 100 x 140cm

Traces of Labour series Silkscreen Monotype 2019 Series printed with master printer Cloudia Hartwig at Chocolate Ink Studios 100 x 70 cm

Artist statement My deeply material process entangles layered moments of interconnection between the material, personal, and social. I immerse in material intensities and vibrational aliveness through physical and bodily materials that never settle into solid form. Heavily-laden-laboured surfaces grow into multilayered sculptural masses from the time and energy invested in them. These are liberated into the world flows.

Through the small habitual gestures of my body, I weave together thousands of tiny beads and mundane everyday materials, often textile or domestic related. Traces of rhythm, enforced constraint and the intensity of gendered work are imprinted in these woven constellations. My process involves making-unmaking-learning-unlearning-arranging-rearranging.

I weave in an ever-expanding and fluid interpretation of what it means to ‘paint’, de-disciplining my paintings. Processes of unravelling order are followed by attempts to make sense of disorder. Through this tension between organisation and chaos, I attempt to pin down something mercurial, making space for the fragile and ephemeral. My porous unresolved forms dissolve into the background and then reassert themselves. Space is unsettled.

Biography Bev Butkow (b. Johannesburg 1967) started making art in her mid-40s and is now a full-time artist grounded in the seriousness of her responsibility as a maker, communicator and social actor.

Passionate about life-long learning, she is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts at Wits University, Johannesburg on a scholarship from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. To this challenge she brings a diversity of perspectives from her varied life experiences, like corporate and artistic careers, community involvement, academia and role as a mother and wife. Deeply committed to social engagement and education, she co-founded a library in rural Limpopo and works actively on the board and management committee of 11 schools.

Butkow has exhibited at the 2022 Dakar Biennale, 1-54 London, Cape Town & Joburg Art Fairs and Wits Art Museum. Curated exhibitions include Tactile Visions-Woven at Turbine Art Fair, and The Art of Lithography: a collaborative expression of LL Editions at Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg. She is represented by Guns & Rain and her work is housed in local and international collections.

Her creative home is the Bag Factory Artist Studios. Inspired by the only city in which she’s lived, Butkow lives with her husband and four children in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Curriculum Vitae Select Biennials/Triennals 2022 14th Dak’Art Biennial, titled 'Ndaffa / Forging / Out of the Fire, Dakar, Senegal 2021 Every Woman Biennial, London 2021 Interwoven Worlds, ACASA Triennial, Online 2020 IX Bienal World Textile Art- Chile, Online Solo exhibition 2021 embodied-entanglements/entangled-embodiments, MFA show, Origins Centre Museum, Wits University 2015 m/other, Lizamore & Associates, Johannesburg Select group exhibitions and art fairs 2022 Rich in Fibre, curated by Dineke van der Walt, KKNK, National Arts Festival, Oudtshoorn 2022 Tomorrows/Today, curated by Nkule Mabaso and Luigi Fassi, Investec Cape Town Art Fair 2021 Bag Factory 30 Years: So Far, The Future, FADA Gallery, University of Johannesburg 2020 Darkest Before Dawn: Art in a Time of Uncertainty, Ethan Cohen KuBe, New York 2020 Tactile Visions–Woven, Curater Prof Sharlene Kahn, Turbine Art Fair, Johannesburg 2018 The Art of Lithography: a collaborative expression of LL Editions, Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg 2018 Sister Sister, National Arts Festival, Makhanda 2016 Thami Mnyele Fine Arts Awards Top 100 exhibition, Kempton Park 2016 District Six Museum50th Commemorative Print Exchange Portfolio Project, Cape Town

Awards, grants & selections 2021 BodyIQ2021 Symposium, Berlin 2021 Finalist, Nature/Nurture Competition, Brooklyn, USA 2021 Wits School of Art RINC recipient 2020 Grant Recipient, Art: An Essential Need, artandaboutafrica 2019 Scholarship Andrew W Mellon: Governing Intimacies (GI) Project 2019 African Studies Journal writing retreat 2018 Africa’s top 20 new and exciting talent, Joburg Art Fair 2016 Johannesburg Council Chamber Totem Public Art Competition 2016 Post-Its, Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, Supported by Sokol Foundation, Hayman Foundation, University of California at San Diego, Los Angeles and Davis 2015 Merit Award, SA Taxi Foundation Art Award 2015 Fresh Produce, Turbine Art Fair, Johannesburg 2015 Winner, Assemblage Postcard Project competition Residencies 2020 Nirox Sculpture Park, Cradle of Mankind, South Africa 2019 L’Air Paris Publications 2020 [...] Ellipses Journal for Creative Research. 2020 Special edition Methodologies, Creative Research in the Global South”

“Embodied

Gallery representation Guns & Rain

Art Fairs include 1-54 London, Investec Cape Town, Latitudes, Joburg, AKAA Paris. Group exhibitions at a variety of project spaces, including Point of Order, Nirox Project Space, P72 Project Space, Bag Factory, National Arts Festival, District Six Museum.

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Curriculum Vitae - cont Formal education 2018–2022 Candidate Master of Fine Arts, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, under supervisor Dr Jessica Webster 2016–2017 Honours cum laude in Art History, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 1985–1991 B.Com, B.Acc, CA(SA), H.Dip.Tax, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

Informal education 2020 Drawing meditation with Katherine Bull 2019 Narrative Writing under Dr Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon 2019 Research trip, TextileLab, Tillburg, Netherlands Ongoing Mentorships with: Nina Barnett, MAFA, University of Illinois, Chicago Usha Seejarim, MAFA, Wits University, Johannesburg Kim Lieberman, MAFA, Wits University, Johannesburg 2018 Paper making at Phumani Paper Archive Mill, University of Johannesburg

Contact details bevbutkow@gmail.com +27-83-378-1981 Bag Factory Artist Studios 10 Mahlatini Street Fordsburg Johannesburg, 2092 Instragram bevbutkow

Conference presentations 2021 Organising committee – Virtual Hugs 2021: Creating from precarious edges, Wits University 2019 Material Narratives: Representations of public and private histories in cloth conference, University of Johannesburg 2019 Wits School of Arts Postgraduate Research Showcase, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2018 Tobetsa: a huddling, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2016 South African Research Chair in Southern African Art and Visual Culture conference 2016 WiCDS Decolonising Feminism 2016 UNISA School of Arts conference

Selected community involvement Ongoing Established and ongoing support for a children’s library in Ponelopele in Botlokwa, Limpopo 2015–2021 Board, Management Committee member for 11 schools in Johannesburg 2015–2021 Chair, IT Steering Committee for 11 schools in Johannesburg 2020 Artmask for Kindness project 2018–2019 Bag Factory Project Selection Committee 2018 Mentor - David Koloane Painting Award winners 2018 Collaboration - Save the Children South Africa

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