I took an afternoon nap last night, snapping out of it at 6:50pm, having to make a choice... do I rush to blank or Irma Stern first. I chose Irma Stern, believing that The 2nd Cape Town Biennale would be open later. I was wrong. Luckily, Lizza was on the scene and you can read about the biennale below. To the Irma Stern, then, where a trio of artists put on Contusions.

Owing to above-mentioned oversleeping I missed the opening speech by the Rev. B. Malcomess, and I regret that, as I imagined a bit of text not by the artists would be helpful. This show was full of artist's statements, which I always think are a bad idea. They prescribe a meaning to the art which doesn't necessarily exist, or reiterate a point that is already obvious. In the end, I started reading all three artists' statements but gave up after a sentence or two, and decided to look at the work instead. The entrance to the gallery was dominated by a work by Natasha Norman, consisting of a bunch of toy guns, recast in clear resin filled with children's toys, and mounted onto a tower of lightboxes. The effect was quite striking and vivid, marred slightly by bad finish on the resin, casting effects and reworking marks were all clearly visible. For this work to be effective I felt that the transparency of the recast guns was vital, I wanted them to be like crystal. Still, I found it a beautiful and interesting piece, visually appealing and conceptually interesting. The rest of the work on her show lost some of the subtlety and labored the point, pushing the connection between media, violence and children unnecessarily.

Following on in the next room was the work of Suzanne Duncan. With a mastery that was engrossing she wove her own hair into gauze, a handkerchief and some stockings. I normally find this 'body' work to be very South African academic, a surefire way of adding meaning to normal objects by using your own blood, underwear, hair, etc. This was done with a delicacy and attention to detail that kept me fascinated beyond my normal skepticism. Though without this materiality I'm afraid the work might have collapsed under it's own vacancy.

In the last room, populated by work by Dale Washkansky, there were two works that struck my fancy. The first was a beautifully printed triptych of a seascape, with Robben Island in the background. The emotive history of the island contrasted nicely with the harmless landscape. The second was another triptych of nude self-portraits. The photoshop work in these prints was opulent, the colors rich and the textures luscious in the best tradition of gay art. My only concern was the sandblasted circles on the glass covering his willy. Although this may have been an intentional comment on apartheid censorship (especially as he was posing with a protea), it seemed to me to come across as coy.

Reading back over this review, I worry that I have been overly negative, especially for a first show by young artists. Indeed, I would like to congratulate them for putting on a good, independent show, curating it well, and putting together a high-quality catalogue.

Labels: contusions, dale washkansky, natasha norman, suzanne duncan