Happy Day of Reconciliation everyone!
Had a very nice dinner with Colleen Alborough, Matthew Townshend, Richard Kilpert and his sister (whose name I forget), and The Best Person Ever (Nicole Ridgway) last night. I passed out at around 9 on Coll’s couch (can you believe I’m still jet-lagged, plus slightly ill?), but not after her delici (pronounced “delish,” as in delicious) dessert…
Anyhow, she and I also hit a few art spots the other day, and I thought I’d mention.
At the fore of this image is one of Abrie’s unmarked light-boxes that I will, for now, call untitled (crushed chairs), and the back displays 2/3rds of a triptych entitled yellow
First, we swung by the Johannesburg Art Gallery, specifically, to see Abrie Fourie’s end of the world. Actually, I helped Abrie set up an incarnation of this exhibition at The Museum for African Art in New York in July 2004, and it was nice to see what had changed. Both of the works pictured above are new: at the fore is one of Abrie’s unmarked light-boxes that I will, for now, call untitled (crushed chairs), and the back displays 2/3rds of a triptych entitled yellow. He had also turned several of his framed broken chair snaps into floor-placed light boxes, making pristine plastic and lights a big feature of the show. The king of making onlookers stare at banal images in wonder, Abrie carries on in his tradition of broken beauties and light emptiness. Also different from the NYC show, he removed his videos and net.art piece, to be replaced with small, framed prints from the two. This was probably because of the JAG’s space downtown being renowned for losing, or not taking care of, equipment; in fact, only 6 of the 20 or so light-boxes in his floor installation were still functional….
Also at the JAG was a show of black and white photographs from the permanent collection (we didn’t spend much time here; the newly painted walls were giving me a headache and the rigid structure of the way the exhibition was hung made me slightly claustrophobic), and Pitso Chinzima’s 32 dimensions. I had heard nothing about the latter show until my arrival, but it was a very nice demonstration of some interesting, sculptural-like wall-hangings that the JAG has purchased in recent years. Hat tip to Pitso for his selection of works.
Next up, we hit The Premises, for Disposables – a book by Brett Morris with an exhibition of limited edition prints. Here, the artist gave out disposable cameras to various people who “live on the fringe of privileged society,” and paid them for using up, then returning, the roll of film inside. Some very moving work, and Morris continues to give back to the contributors whenever books or images are sold.
Finally, we hit the David Krut exhibition – not at his space, but of prints made in his workshop – a final bow from Lara Rivera before franchise dies. But don’t worry, it will be reborn as the new art on paper (it looks like they are also about to make a web site at the linked address…), moving from their Melville spot, with, ostensibly, some changes to their schedule. “Included [in this final show] are: Colbert Mashile, Deborah Bell, Claudette Schreuders, Bonita Alice, Jeremy Wafer, Sandile Zulu, William Kentridge, Wim Botha and more….” – with special mention from me of rising star Trasi Henen. Mostly, a showing of important SA artists in the vein of “who’s who,” but with a few works that do indeed catch the eye. Still, you’ll have to take my word for it, cuz the show is down and franchise/art on paper is closed for the upcoming renovation.
