You might have noticed the posts being a bit thin this last week, been kinda fluey and stuff, but Ralph's show at blank had me cheery for a few hours. Then some more winter depression hit, Cape was cancelled (postponed, whatever), haven't gotten round to writing about it till today. I thought it a pretty interesting show, but in the words of Andrew Lamprecht blank is a one-liner space, and Ralph told seven jokes. The theme was strong, but the show lacked an overall coherency. Nevertheless, the individual works were good. I've always liked the vuvuzela piece, Jubilee, since it was shown at the Kebbles. It was, however, the reason I left the gallery after a short while when the gimmick of the electronics wore thin and I was about to beat the next person who set it off. Still, its a beautiful work, loaded with symbolism and stuff. Another good work was Prize, a simple news placard which offered the promise of winning a year's worth of food. I'll admit at first I didn't quite get it, till later when I realized it was not the bizarreness of winning food, but it's pure normality in this country. This is a desirable prize. I swear though I've seen some other artist using placards...
There were some other great works, but I'm kinda hazy on them now, sorry. I guess that what happens when you leave it too long. I do remember though feeling like I'd seen my first show in a long time where a contemporary art sensibility was apparent, where the work was both interesting and meaningful, and a little bit engaged. The promised land is a huge theme though, and I guess it could have delved a bit deeper. It'll be interesting to compare it to Marieke Kruger's To a Promised Land, opening at Bell-Roberts on Wednesday.