david goldblatt at the goodman gallery, johannesburg
There’s so much on David Goldblatt right now. His retrospective at the Johannesburg Art Gallery, his new work at the Goodman Gallery, three articles in Art South Africa, and heaps of other reviews for the two shows – one of which has travelled worldwide and has a companion book. Hell, just below this post, Franci Cronje wrote a short review on my own blog (thanks, lady!).
An extremely skilled photographer, with ripe – but not overtly politicized – images, this man is unquestionably the most influential person in his medium, in all of South African history; and he will likely remain so for a very, very long time. His “compassionate eye” has documented the likes of many of SA’s varying peoples, over a span of 50+ years, and his work becomes more refined – into a non-intrusive subjective space – with each image he creates.
A master at creating photo publications, essays and serial works, as much as he is a genius with each individual frame, his JAG show is utterly overwhelming. I have been back and forth a few times now, and I barely manage to make it through each turn. The Goodman show is less of a struggle, but no less beautiful. Landscapes of the urban, the suburban, the rural, people landscapes, and combinations thereof – I recommend you spend time with him. Not only will you be moved by his images, but you’ll come to like what you garner about him, personally. His gentle evocations are an amazingly powerful juxtaposition to some of the more sensationalist SA photographers. No wonder he and Jo Ractliffe are such good friends….
