EXHIBITIONS @ blank projects: July 2008
Next time you’re wondering through the quaint sunny streets of the BoKaap in CT, make sure to pop into blank projects and check out the constant flow of art that passes through the gallery. Details below:
Opening 2 July 2008
1) Norman O’Flynn
The Butterfly Project
“When will I be a butterfly?” the caterpillar asked.
“When you have finished being a caterpillar,” the butterfly laughed.
(ends: 18 July 2008)
2) Gabrielle Alberts
FINE ART
Local artist Gabrielle Alberts is to launch her debut solo exhibition on 2 July 2008.
The show, entitled Fine Art, is an exhibition of found objects that deals with notions of the artist as collector and selector, along with the concepts of elitism and definition. It features a series of purchased amateur artworks to be displayed and sold together as one installation.
Alberts, 24, explains the rationale of the show, as well as how she brought the works together. “It’s a solo show where I act more as curator than artist,” she says. “These works would, according to art critics, connoisseurs and aficionados, be considered useless in terms of traditional definition. In collecting the pieces I ask why they fail (and here qualify) conceptually, stylistically and/or technically.”
Rather than defining her selection by quality control, Alberts treats artists as a self-publisher, so that the argument of whether or not their creations – in concept
or technique – are ‘bad’ becomes moot. The result is thus highly subjective but
not necessarily discerning, because the show must comment on taste and exclusivity (even snobbery) within the art world, and as such explore the consensus on what is considered art.
Formally the show will be presented in a way similar to permanent collections found in galleries, and each work will be credited to its (known or unknown) amateur originator. The outcome is that, by curating these works, Alberts, a professional artist, effectively takes ownership of them. This gives them a level of legitimacy that highlights the idea underpinning the show itself: the fine line between artistic ambition and acceptance.
Gabrielle Alberts, a graduate of the Michealis School of Fine Art, produces sculpture, video and assemblage works that currently deal with the notion of the artist as an individual in society. She considers her mode of production to be fundamentally conceptual, as opposed to formal or procedural.
(ends 30 July 2008)
Opening 23 July 2008
3) Barend de Wet | Douglas Gimberg | Christian Nerf
Mental Pictures
“I’m not sure what the occasion was but Christian, Barend and I were braaing wors at the studio. It’s the woolies lamb sausage we were owed by Renee Holleman from Carpentry 101. it seems fine despite having sat in the fridge at the AVA for a couple of weeks. Christian decides we should get a picture while the three of us are together, we try to set up the shot to look like the one taken by the suicidal guy on Blouberg beach before our escape. The order is wrong though, Barend is on the right, then me and finally Christian, who has to rush into shot before the timer goes off. I gaze “out to sea” while Barend watches the camera. Christian doesn’t quite make it, he’s still getting into character when the flash goes off. It’s still better than the previous attempt though: the camera (resting on the top of the wall between our building and the next) had fallen over in the breeze.” Gimberg
(ends 30 July 2008)
– Blank Projects is located at 198 Buitengracht Street, Bo-Kaap, Cape Town.
– For more information on the artist or the exhibition, Liza Grobler (083 2561170), or visit http://blankprojects.blogspot.com/.
