Catch Nikki Swanepoel @ UJ
Nov13

Catch Nikki Swanepoel @ UJ

Summer’s here so get out of the house and get some quality art appreciation into the mix!  We’re giving you a bumper edition of arty exhibits to catch – so go on and support our artists!  And if you can afford it, invest in some!  Catch Nikki Swanepoel’s installation titled “Cattle as Cultural Markers in South Africa” at UJ’s art faculty as part of her M-Tech Fine Art degree fulfillment.  Some of you may have caught her “Nguni Vessels” exhibit in 06, she carries on the cattle theme in fine style. An installation of sixty ceramic cattle heads by Nikki Swanepoel Opening at 11h00 on 17 November, and exhibited until 22 November 2007 (10.00 –16.00 daily) at the University of Johannesburg’s Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture campus, Bunting Road, Cottesloe/Auckland Park. The work is a partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree,  Magister Technologiae: Fine Art at the University of...

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Let’s Get Interrupted at Intermission
Nov08

Let’s Get Interrupted at Intermission

If you still haven’t ventured up Bree st to absorb the mind-blowing 360′ jozi views from the “Intermission” venue on the 18th floor of the Lister building – here is your chance – celebrate one of our budding artists Anthea Moys as she completes her Masters in Fine Arts and exhibits her work… this Saturday! Anthea Moys – ‘Interruption’ – to be opened by Prof. Penny Siopis… and other surprises.  In fulfillment of Master’s in Fine Arts – Saturday 10 November 2007, for one night only! 6:30 for 7pm Intermission: 195 Jeppe Street, Lister Medical Building, 18th Floor Safe parking via entrance Bree Street (turn right at big blue parking sign after crossing Kruis Street) Map: http://www.intermission.co.za/ Cash bar Info:...

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Art & Beer with Gugulective @ Blank
Nov05

Art & Beer with Gugulective @ Blank

On Wednesday 7 November at 18h00, an exciting show by a group of young artists from Guguletu opens at blank in Cape Town.  Join us for art and beer!  Gugulective include: Unathi Sigenu, Khanyisile Minto Mbongwa, Ziphozenkosi Dayile, Themba Tsotsi, Lonwabo Kilani, Datini Mzayiya, Kemang Wa Lehulere. blank projects 198 Buitengracht Street, Cape Town Tel: 072 198 9221 Email: blankprojects@gmail.com by appointment   blank is also expanding:  in the adjacent space, we will host a retrospective of the blank projects. The show is simply titled: ‘blank projects: selected work 2005 – 2007’. This exhibition will run concurrently with the Gugulective show .   Work by the following artists will be showcased: Nomthunzi Mashalaba, Pierre Fouche, Kerim Seiler, Abrie Fourie/Ella Ziegler, Christian Nerf/Douglas Gimberg, Gabi Ngcobo, Jackson Hlungwani and Barend de Wet. What is Gugulective? Gugulective is an artist collective made up of eight members at present. The name Gugulective derives from the Xhosa word for pride (gugu). Although founded and developed in Gugulethu in 2006, artists from Langa and Khayelitsha have joined the group in the meantime. Due to a number of organisational and financial obstacles, the collective could only take up its practical work in the form of creative projects this year. Two exhibitions were put together in Gugulethu as well as a painting workshop with the local youth.   Gugulective is clearly not aiming at reactionary intervention, but is born out of the need for creative projects in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Art is seen as a means to promote development and create social cohesion within communities. Unfortunately, it is often neglected when crime and economic troubles are prevalent in everyday life. Many township schools for instance do not teach art any longer, and extracurricular activities in this field are largely lacking, too.       To date, their work have been realised in Gugulethu. Untitled is a group exhibition working in and with the blank projects space to create work which will create a conversation between two locations (blank projects in Cape Town and Kwa Mlamli in Gugulethu). The installation piece will consist of tables and chairs taken from Mlami’s shebeen and installed at blank projects. Along with the chairs and tables, items of clothing will be installed. “We aim to challenge the pre-conceived visual representation of shebeens in institutional and gallery spaces. In recent years, the shebeen has been portrayed as a negative and loud space, covered with wall paper, filled with people sitting on beer crates and lacking aesthetics and recreational values. This piece is symbolic of absence in many ways: the absence of black artists and audience in gallery spaces, and also the fact that mobility structures hinder accessibility...

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Catch Meshac Gaba at the JAG
Nov05

Catch Meshac Gaba at the JAG

 Wonderful Benin artist Meshac Gaba will be exhibiting at the Johannesburg Art Gallery (aka JAG) from the 7th November 2007 through to the 31st January 2008.  The public are invited to join Meshac for a walkabout of the exhibition on Wednesday at 2pm – Go go go! Date: Wednesday 7 November 2007 Venue: Johannesburg Art Gallery Time: 14:00 m e s c h a c g a b a Born in Cotonou, Benin, 1961 Lives and works in the Netherlands and Benin EDUCATION 1996-7 Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, Netherlands SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2007 Tresses, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa 2006 Tresses, inIVA, London, UK Défilé de perruques, Paris, France Glue Me Peace, Nobel Peace Center, Oslo, Norway 2005 Museum of Contemporary African Art: Library of the Museum, BiblioNova, Geleen, Netherlands Glue Me Peace, Tate Modern, London, UK Le Pain Migrateur, Artra Gallery, Milan, Italy Meschac Gaba: Tresses, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, USA Peace Maker, Lumen Travo Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands 2004 Peace Maker, Ernest G Welch School of Art & Design, Gallery of the Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA 2003 Atlantique, Lumen Travo Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands 2002 Museum of Contemporary African Art: Library of the Museum, Falaki Gallery, American University of Cairo, Egypt Museum of Contemporary African Art: Museum Shop for Sale and Museum Living Room for Sale, Artra Gallery, Milan and Genoa, Italy Museum of Contemporary African Art: Music Room, SBK (Stichting Beeldende Kunst) Tramremise, Amsterdam, Netherlands Museum of Contemporary African Art: Living Room of the Museum, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France 2001 Museum of Contemporary African Art: Marriage Room, Inova, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA Museum of Contemporary African Art: Library of the Museum, Witte de With, Rotterdam, Netherlands Der Inforaum/The Info-room, Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland 2000 Museum of Contemporary African Art: Game Room, SMAK, Ghent, Belgium Museum of Contemporary African Art: Game Room, Crown Gallery, Brussels, Belgium Spielregeln/Rules of the Game, Galerie Gebauer, Berlin, Germany 1999 Vente en gros et detaille, Lumen Travo Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands Museum of Contemporary African Art: Summer Collection, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands Museum of Contemporary African Art: Game Room, Le Pavé Dans La Mare, Besançon, France Museum of Contemporary African Art: Museum Restaurant, W139, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1998 Missing Links/Museum of Contemporary African Art: Draft Room, Praterinsel, Munich, Germany Museum of Contemporary African Art, De Nederlandsche Bank, Amsterdam, Netherlands Museum of Contemporary African Art: Architecture of the Museum, Gate Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands Meschac Gaba, SBK knsm-eiland, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1997 Moneta Exotica. Oorspronkelijk geld uit de hele wereld/Museum of Contemporary African Art: Draft Room, Rijksmuseum Het Koninklijk Penningkabinet, Leiden, Netherlands Bazar Bizar, Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1995 Palace of the President of Benin, Pour la...

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Do not miss Kudzanai at the Obert!
Sep18

Do not miss Kudzanai at the Obert!

You can count on the Obert gallery in Melrose Arch to give you cutting edge, visionary African artists.  DO NOT MISS the expo of one of the artworlds rising golden boys, exiled Zimbabwean Kudzanai Chiurai.  He’s in his mid twenties with a brilliant future ahead, get to the Obert before the 30 September. “graceland” is chiurai’s highly anticipated third solo exhibition and follows his acclaimed sell-out exhibitions “the revolution will be televised (2004)” and “y propaganda (2005)” and his participation in the dakar  biennale in 2006.  chiurai is an innovative and controversial young artist who has been banned from his home country of zimbabwe for his politically inspired caricatures of president robert mugabe. reminiscent of basquiat, chiurai’s mixed media works are intricately layered with stenciled characters, poetry and graffiti. his works have recently been procured by top private and public collectors including bhp billiton in london. this exhibition will consist of nine new, variously scaled mixed media works that explore pertinent issues related to mass media, inner city rejuvenation and xenophobia. More on Kudzanai: born in 1981 in zimbabwe, kudzanai chiurai is an internationally acclaimed young artist now living and working in south africa. he was the first black student to graduate with a BA (fine art) from the university of pretoria. regarded as part of the “born free” generation in zimbabwe because he was born one year after the country’s independence from rhodesia, chiurai’s early work focused on the political, economic and social strife in his homeland. seminal works like “presidential wallpaper” depicted zimbabwean president robert mugabe as a sell-out and led to chiurai’s exile from zimbabwe. chiurai’s large mixed media works now tackle some of the most pertinent issues facing southern africa such as xenophobia, displacement and black empowerment. his paintings confront viewers with the psychological and physical experience of inner-city johannesburg, the continent’s most cosmopolitan melting pot where thousands of exiles, refugees and asylum-seekers battle for survival alongside the never-ending swell of newly urbanized south africans. the actuality of these environs is reinforced by chiurai’s use of photographic transfer. boldly stenciled figures and anonymous text provide running commentary, leading viewers on a journey through his intricately painted turn-of-the century buildings, bustling streets and congested transit...

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