implicit art

And not too far into the shadow of the deserving winners @ the Brett Kebble Art Awards, but indeed after the some of the heartwarming stories, there is a fantastic exhibition of contemporary South African art. Honestly, the BK exhibition has to be the most comprehensive, well curated, and interesting show of work I’ve ever seen in this country.

Above is one of said provocative pieces from the exhibition, which just might get lost - or misunderstood as a simple photograph - in the huge show, which requires a full day of time and energy to truly appreciate. More of a performance piece then anything else, Bridget Baker’s tryptich The Blue Collar Girl documents her “chroma-key character” series, which displaces the blue collar workers of Cape Town into a “cinematic narrative of a fantastical environment of ’Äòno constraints’Äô”. Her visual/textual pun of replacement is clever, and a bit eerie, on the imagination. More here.

Very well known for his performances (some of which are still going on in Cape Town, so I recommend checking them out if you can!), Johan Thom’s piece also consists of a beautiful double projection on dirty, butter-filled glass (complete with a sonorous envelope for a soundtrack), which stands on its own as a provocative image of entrapment - even without his physical performative presence. More here.

I could easily go on. Go to this show if you can….