Future Shock Lost

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Rowan Smith at Whatiftheworld 5th August, 6pm.
Comes recommended.

Labels: listings, rowan smith, What if the world

posted by Robert Sloon at 2:06 PM 3 comments links to this post

Experimental Frontiers

Curated by Okey Nwafor (co-curated with the Cape Africa Platform Young Curators)
This exhibition juxtaposes the production of young artists from Nigeria and South Africa in order to see how their different concerns and issues coincide and diverge. This is the first exhibition to specifically address this juxtaposition and to examine the commonalities that artists from two of Africa’s most important countries have in common.
In particular, works that address social concerns have been selected: how are these concerns articulated by artists from these two geographically and culturally separated countries? What meanings are embedded in their works? These are some of the curatorial issues that Nwafor addresses in this exhibition.
Participating artists: Bright Eke; Amarachi Okafor; Ozioma Onuzulike; Chike Obeagu; Ndide Dike (Nigeria); Stuart Bird; Dan Halter (South Africa).
Okey Nwafor has curated this exhibition as part of the African Program in Museum and Heritage Studies (APMHS) in Association with the Cape Africa Platform.
Opens: 17:00 7 August 2008
Closes: 17:00 12 August 2008
Cape Africa Platform
8 Spin Street
Cape Town
Enquiries: penncils@yahoo.com

Labels: listings, nigerian art, south african art, Vansa, Young Curators

posted by Robert Sloon at 12:32 PM 0 comments links to this post

Kathryn Smith at the Goodman Cape

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

In Camera Kathryn Smith
Opening Saturday 12 January at 18h00
Exhibition closes Saturday 2 February 2008
Artist, author, editor, curator, collaborator extraordinaire and currently senior lecturer in the Department of Art at Stellenbosch University, Kathryn Smith has established a reputation as an artist with a fascination for forensic investigation and an interest in crimes of passion and the rhetoric of evil.

In June 2007 Smith was amongst 6 international artists and a critic invited to participate in the residency program, exhibition and presentation at the iCommons Summit in Dubrovnik, Croatia, for which they produced and workshoped both physical and virtual work engaging with fair use, copyright, re-mixing, piracy and/or collaboration.

In camera (‘in private’ or ‘in secret’) refers to legal testimony heard in private chambers instead of in open court, usually when reliving the experience of a violent and traumatic event through verbal narration would be aggravated by having to do this in public.

For her first solo exhibition in Cape Town since ‘Euphemism’, the Standard Bank Young Artist Award exhibition at Iziko South African National Gallery in 2005, Smith sets up a controlled, immersive environment of light, sound, drawing and photography. Material for the drawings was sourced from a range of print and online media and processed so as to blur the distinction between the handmade and the mass-produced. The portrait subjects are the victims and perpetrators of violent acts, the circumstances of which remain almost incomprehensible in their extremity, even if the facts informing tabloid revelations of these cruel private desires are known. There is a particular focus on violence done to, and by, children.

Smith states: "I am particularly interested in how, through repetitive media circulation, certain photographic images get detached from their subjects and the representation of a person becomes emblematic of ‘victimhood’, ‘the missing’, ‘monstrosity’ or ‘evil’. This kind of rhetoric functions as a means to situate perpetrators of violence outside the realm of human behaviour and does not allow us to dwell on the particular human and social circumstances of each violent interaction."

The drawings are done with brush, paper, acrylic and ultraviolet-sensitive inks invisible to the naked eye. The lighting design, set to a computerized timing schedule creating apparently random intermittent phases of blacklight exposure, complete darkness and ambient light, inverts the camera’s function of an open shutter where a light-sensitive surface is exposed, and a dark state where nothing is captured nor visible.

In setting up a relationship between the spectrum and the spectral, disruption, revelation and obfuscation, In Camera is a project about ghosts and mental afterimages, an attempt to reclaim that which eludes cognitive and emotional capture and retention.

Labels: Goodman Gallery, Kathryn Smith, listings

posted by Robert Sloon at 12:18 PM 2 comments links to this post

Gugulective Shows This Week

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Labels: listings

posted by Robert Sloon at 10:58 AM 0 comments links to this post

14 September. 2nd Cape Town Biennale

Friday, September 14, 2007

The 2nd Cape Town Biennale will be officially opened by Native intellectual and writer Ronald Suresh-Roberts at 6 p.m. at blank projects tonight.

After the enormously successful 1st Cape Town Biennale in 2006, curated by Kathy Coates, Executive Director Andrew Lamprecht decided to make the biennale an annual event in recognition of Cape Town's reputation as a city that moves twice as fast as the rest of the world. This year's biennale will consist of three consecutive "one night" exhibitions, curated by Lamprecht and Coates.

The opening exhibition, on Friday 14 September, will consist of a tribute to Suresh-Roberts's groundbreaking study of Thabo Mbeki, Fit to Govern: The Native Intelligence of Thabo Mbeki, published earlier this year. This will be followed by an exhibition of invited international artists on Wednesday , 19 September, curated by Kathy Coates. On 26 September Andrew Lamprecht will curate an exhibition of local artists. All these events will open at 6 p.m.

In response to queries about the choice of the opening speaker and event, Lamprecht commented, "Thabo Mbeki embodies an ideal of intellectual leadership that should stand as a model for the world. Suresh Roberts has highlighted his unique approach to the problems of our times which as a Native curator I find attractive and thought-provoking. I have no interest in 'illiberal' approaches to art-making and the control of the South African art market. This biennale highlights a truly locally-grounded approach to art within an international context."

The biennale runs until 28 September.

Labels: andrew lamprecht, Cape Town Biennale, listings, Ronald Suresh-Roberts

posted by Tim Leibbrandt at 11:27 AM 11 comments links to this post

8 August. Carpentry 101 at Blank

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Douglas Gimberg and Christian Nerf present CARPENTRY 101. The artists will be attempting to dismantle traditional wooden sculptures, you are welcome to join them.

"We are not perfect." Gimberg
"Sometimes bad people do good things." Nerf

A book will accompany the show with contributions from Ronald Suresh Roberts, Bettina Malcomess, Nuno Sacramento, Robert Sloon, Ed Young, Andrew Lamprecht, Bianca Baldi, Johan Kritzinger, Dan Halter, Lizza Littlewort, Gimberg and Nerf.

Opens: August 8
Closes: August 31

blank projects
198 Buitengracht Street, Cape Town

Labels: carpentry 101, Christian Nerf, douglas gimberg, listings

posted by Robert Sloon at 4:40 PM 11 comments links to this post

Europe Lectures at Michaelis

TUESDAY LECTURE SERIES: CONTEMPORARY ART EXHIBITIONS IN EUROPE 2007

Michaelis Lecture Theatre

31-37 Orange Street

Gardens, Cape Town,

8001

13:00 - 14:00 (see dates and program below)

In addition to our regular lunchtime lecture series, members of our staff will be presenting a series of 4 lectures on recent major art events in Europe including the Venice Biennale and Documenta.

The series will include a panel discussion on the inclusion of Africa in the Venice Biennale on 28 August. The panel will be composed of Gavin Younge, Virginia MacKenny, Svea Josephy and Bettina Malcolmess from the staff, and 4th year student Bianca Baldi, all of whom attended the exhibition. The discussion will be chaired by theory lecturer Andrew Lamprecht.

Programme:

Tuesday 7 August: The French Connection - Gavin Younge

Tuesday 21 August: The 52nd Venice Biennale – Virginia MacKenny, Svea Josephy

Tuesday 28 August: Africa and Venice - presentation with panel discussion.

Tuesday 4 September: Documenta 12 and Sculpture Projects Muenster 07 - Virginia MacKenny

Labels: documenta, listings, Venice

posted by Robert Sloon at 4:34 PM 2 comments links to this post

3 August. Andrew Lamprecht at Blank

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Labels: andrew lamprecht, Blank, listings

posted by Robert Sloon at 4:16 PM 4 comments links to this post

Easy Access

(Click for larger version)

Labels: Graca Machel, listings, S/M

posted by Tim Leibbrandt at 10:34 AM 3 comments links to this post

30 July. 3C at AVA

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Image Dan Halter
3C
Committee and Critics Choice at the AVA
30 July- 17 August 2007

As of the above mentioned dates the AVA will hold a Committee & Critics Choice (3C) exhibition, which will employ all four gallery spaces.
27 participating local art critics and committee members will individually nominate an artist that they feel is deserving of representation on this exhibition. The artists nominated have the opportunity to create new works or exhibit existing pieces. The exhibition will engage art critics, AVA committee members and artists to construct a window for the public to view contemporary art making trends and notions of quality.

Participating artists are:
Avant Car Guard, Milijana Babic, Chad Barber, Rachelle Bomberg, Daniel Boshoff, Jean Brundrit, Julia Rosa Clark, Jessie Colman, Corlie de Kock Wiesener, Jacques Dhont, Doing it For Daddy, Justin Fiske, Dan Halter, Theo Kleynhans, Churchill Madikida, George Tebogo Mahashe, Thando Mama, Jean Meeran, MTAA, Mambakwedza Mutasa, Ndikhumbu Ngqinambi, Lindi Sales, David Scadden, Rowan Smith, James Webb, Barbara Wildenboer, Manfred Zylla.


Participating Critics and Committee members are:
Suzy Bell, Lynette Bester, Paul Birchall, Joost Bosland, Jonathan Bruce, Kirsty Cockerill, Kadiatou Diallo, Paul Edmunds, Eunice Geustyn, Liza Grobler, Storm Janse van Rensburg, Andrew Lamprecht, Christopher Less, Marilyn Martin, Virginia Mackenny, Melvyn Minnaar, Gabi Ngcobo, Sean O'Toole, Lloyd Pollock, Robert Sloon, Linda Stupart, Kathryn Smith, Jill Trappler, Adrienne van Eeden, Veronica Wilkinson, Wonder, Reggi Xaba.

If you ask me, personally, this is going to be a cracking show, with some of the weirdest combinations of artists. Ever. Avant Car Guard vs Theo Kleynhans!

Labels: ava, listings

posted by Robert Sloon at 5:56 PM 1 comments links to this post

28 July. Andrzej Nowicki at What if the World...

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

THE GLOAMING
ANDRZEJ NOWICKI

OPENING: SAT 28 JULY 11h00 - 16h00
CLOSES 26 AUGUST

The much anticipated debut solo exhibition by talented young painter Andrzej Nowicki, featuring a selection of large oil paintings and assorted watercolours. Nowicki makes paintings and drawings that create parallel universes where people and objects multiply and metamorphose into ever more strange visions.

WHATIFTHEWORLD / GALLERY
208 ALBERT ROAD. WOODSTOCK

Labels: Andrzej Nowicki, listings, What if the world

posted by Robert Sloon at 12:51 PM 2 comments links to this post

25 July. Gabi Ngcobo at Blank

Unwel'olude is artist and curator Gabi Ngcobo's second solo exhibition.

Unwelo'olude is a Zulu saying which translates literally as "may your hair grow longer".
The hair in the saying makes reference to life. The saying is articulated as a well-wisher to someone, usually on their birthday or when they have performed an outstanding deed. It means "long live" or "viva".

The exhibition features works made of Ngcobo's own hair as well as hair sourced from her friends and family. With this exhibition past, present and future become intertwined. The work is riddled by contradictions that reveal a sense of hope and confusion.

Opens: Wednesday 25 July 6PM
Closes: 3 August
blank projects
198 Buitengraght Street
Cape Town

Labels: Blank, Gabi Ngcobo, listings

posted by Robert Sloon at 9:36 AM 3 comments links to this post

18 July. Shane Marks.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Labels: listings

posted by Robert Sloon at 1:46 PM 3 comments links to this post

23 June. What If We Got Bigger

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

What if the world has a new space. Check it out on their launch:
Please join us for the opening of our new gallery premises at the first floor Albert Hall, 208 Albert Road, Woodstock

LAUNCH EXHIBITION

Grafik Magazine (London) in association with Letraset presents Felt-Tip

OPEN DAY SATURDAY 23 JUNE 11HOO - 16H00

CLOSES 22 JULY 2007

Featuring specially commissioned A1 posters by 30 of the most talented international designers and illustrators practicing today. Recently shown at the SEA Gallery in London and Colette in Paris. Limited number of A5 postcard catalogues designed by Value and Service available for purchase.

Labels: listings

posted by Robert Sloon at 4:19 PM 0 comments links to this post

If You Happen to Know Where Basel Is

Thursday, June 14, 2007

The Art of Failure
A project by Sabine Schaschl and Claudia Spinelli

States of emotional overdrive are a fertile breeding ground for art. Whether it is unrequited love, despair over one’s own shortcomings, an ideology in disarray, political standstill, or the inability to comprehend what is going on, culminating in an existential crisis—ever since Samuel Beckett, failure has been a facet inextricably linked with artistic production. Certainty has been supplanted by ambivalence, finality has given way to experimentation and transitoriness, and answers recede as questions wash ashore. Thus, the works created by many artists having this mindset are imbued with a sense of permanent search. The latter will never be over; on the contrary: in these artworks emphasis is placed on one’s own failure and that of others.

Failure is a trivial everyday phenomenon but has also gained political currency. With the demise of socialist utopias and the upheavals in the former Eastern Bloc, failure was invested with an additional dimension almost 20 years ago that has left an indelible imprint on the artistic production of an entire generation. What is the best way to handle the dismantling of societies and the erosion of values upheld by them? How can new ideals and objectives be formulated and further developed? There is no evidence at all suggesting the existence of an emerging and universally valid world order.

Since the end of modernity and the loss of absolute ideals, artists have been increasingly called upon to respond to ongoing social changes and the concomitant sense of insecurity. As an artist, how can you hold your own in a context of incessant questioning and criticizing? The artistic contributions on display in “The Art of Failure” are statements brimming with ambivalence and irony. Creating something provisional, non-finite, ambiguous, but at the same time profoundly serious is a good method to turn failure into a compelling act, and perplexity into art.

The exhibition “The Art of Failure” explores a vast field, encompassing the banality of everyday life, politics, and existential ideologies. To put it differently, it is intriguingly positioned at the interface between art and life.

Labels: Ed Young, listings

posted by Robert Sloon at 8:43 AM 0 comments links to this post

If you happen to be in Basel...

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Labels: listings

posted by Robert Sloon at 6:20 PM 1 comments links to this post

20 June. The Inchoate

Monday, June 04, 2007

Labels: listings

posted by Robert Sloon at 10:37 AM 9 comments links to this post

2 June. Ijusi at CUBE

Thursday, May 31, 2007

When I was an undergrad, I found Ijusi one of the most inspiring things in the library, this will definitely be worth checking out.

Opens Saturday 02 June 2007 at 10h30.
Closes end June 2007
12 Years and 22 issues after the first issue, Ijusi, a publication produced by Orange Juice Design has become a legendary record of South African graphics design as well as an agitator for afro-centric design. It's influence in the South African design community is unparalleled.
This exhibition tracks the highlights from the last 12 years the magazine has been in circulation. The exhibition looks at the influences on the visual language of the magazine, as well as it's impact on the graphics design industry in South Africa.
Previous issues have ranged from focusing on Death, Pornography, Religion, Race to Typography. Collected and viewed together, the last 23 issues of Ijusi Magazine become a visual record of South African society's transformation - it's a look at ourselves and reminds us that design can have a conscience too.

ps. CUBE is the new little space at Bell-Roberts

Labels: listings

posted by Robert Sloon at 4:40 PM 1 comments links to this post

Avant Car Guard Go Large

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

International Art Stars. Fame. Glamour. New York. Does it get better? Well done Avant Car Guard. Now make sure you show here still too.
Sites: Pure Projects NY
Avant Car Guard

Labels: avant car guard, listings

posted by Robert Sloon at 5:56 PM 1 comments links to this post

23 May. Hinges

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Labels: centre for african studies, listings, photography

posted by Robert Sloon at 11:53 AM 0 comments links to this post

Don't Forget

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Bruce Nauman and Charles Atlas tonight at the Michaelis Gallery

Labels: listings

posted by Robert Sloon at 1:50 PM 1 comments links to this post

Saturday May 12: Young Curator's Workshop

The Young Curators Workshops at the UCT Centre for African Studies enjoyed a fantastic launch on Saturday, with Andrew Lamprecht providing an inspiring talk and enjoyable and productive workshop – the products of which are as diverse and interesting as the participants who arrived.

Thank you to everyone who attended, and I hope to see you for the duration of the workshops. This Saturday, May 12th, Myer Taub will be facilitating the curators workshop, which focuses particularly on notions of curating and performance.

Taub is a curator, performer, writer and cultural theorist who has been involved in a number of hugely innovative projects, including the ‘inHeritage’ event around UCT and ‘Injunction,’ which sent visitors on an heritage treasure hunt throughout the city.

Please note that the workshops are free and open to all.

Labels: listings

posted by Robert Sloon at 1:34 PM 0 comments links to this post

Off The Radar

posted by Robert Sloon at 1:31 PM 0 comments links to this post

Blank 9 May

Friday, May 04, 2007

Labels: listings

posted by Robert Sloon at 2:23 PM 0 comments links to this post

Early Friday Presents

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Labels: listings

posted by Robert Sloon at 7:10 PM 0 comments links to this post

Charles Atlas and Bruce Nauman at Michaelis Gallery

Monday, April 30, 2007

Wow, a real international exhibition, here on our very own shores. Wander who got that together.
Click on image for high res version...

Labels: listings

posted by Robert Sloon at 2:04 PM 10 comments links to this post

Invitation To Join Momentary Political Movement

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Please click on the image for a high-res version...

Labels: listings

posted by Robert Sloon at 5:54 PM 3 comments links to this post

Labels: listings

posted by Robert Sloon at 1:13 PM 1 comments links to this post