THE SOUTH AFRICAN

April 2009 • www.arttimes.co.za • Subscription 180 p.a • Print & Distribution. 9 000 copies. • Includes The Business Art Supplement

ART TIMES

Nandipha Mntambo, Praça de Touros I, 2008 (Detail, see overleaf for full image) Courtesy of Michael Stevenson

Johannesburg13 Biermann Avenue, corner Oxford Road, RosebankTelephone 011 880 3125 Facsimile 011 880 2656jhb@swelco.co.za www.swelco.co.za

AUCTION DATES: 20 & 21 APRIL 2009 VIEWING DATES: 17, 18 & 19 APRIL 2009

Announcing our Autumn Auction of

Fine & Decorative Arts,Furniture, Silver, Ceramics & Jewellery

Two days, five sessions, 900 lots

Lot 225 Irma Stern (South African 1894-1966)

PORTRAIT OF A GIRL IN A RED FROCK (recto); SAMUEL STERN (verso)56 by 47cm

Estimate: R800 000 - R1 200 000

Stephan Welz & Company, inassociation with Sotheby’s, hasannounced their autumn auction ofFine & Decorative Arts, Furniture,Silver, Ceramics, Books &Jewellery. This Johannesburgauction of 900 lots will be held inthe company’s Biermann Avenue,Rosebank sale rooms on 20 & 21April 2009. The sale is ofremarkably broad appeal, thoughthe spread of highly prizedpaintings by South African artists issure to dominate the sale.

One of the most unique offeringsfrom the company’s paintingsdepartment is the Irma Stern(Lot 225) which comprises thehauntingly beautiful ‘Portrait ofa girl in a Red Frock’ (recto) andthe sombre ‘Samuel Stern’ (verso).The latter is the only known portraitof Stern’s father and the paintingis illustrated on page 12 of MarionArnold’s work ‘Irma Stern; A Feastfor the Eye’. This work was

presented by the artist to her cousinand thence by descent. It is conser-vatively estimated at R800 000 –R1 200 000.

Of equal significance in a historicalsense is the sale’s ‘cover lot’, thedramatic pastel and charcoal workwhich draws on William JosephKentridge’s earlier bitingly satiricalwork of the mid-1980s featuring adancing couple under the oppres-

sive structures of industrialisationand apartheid. ‘The Highveld StyleMasked Ball’ (Lot 329) is signedand dated ’88, sized 95.5 x 70cmand estimated at R500 000 –R700 000.

From a remarkable array oftraditional South African artiststhere are significant works fromKrige, Sumner, Battiss, Boshoff,Koenakeefe-Mohl, Boonzaier,Bhengu and Pemba and others,like Pieter Wenning. The latter’s‘A Cape Homestead’ demonstratesthe vitality of Wenning’s brushworkwith which he imbued scenes ofthe Cape. This painting is Lot 224,estimated at R500 000 – R800 000.

Lot 218, ‘Landscape with DistantHouses’ by Jacob Hendrik Pierneef(R400 000 – R600 000) is notablefor Pierneef’s brave impressionismlending it almost infinite depth.

The furniture on offer brings to themarket extremely sought-afterexamples of Cape craftsmanship inyellowwood and stinkwood. Ofparticular note are Lots 580 and585, the former being a generously

proportioned gate-leg table datingfrom the 18th century andestimated at R40 000 – R60 000.Lot 585 is a beautiful cupboardfrom the 19th century at R30 000 –R50 000. Other furniture itemsof note include a late 19th/early20th century carved mahoganyserving table with six fluted legsand carved ramshead details(Lot 546, R60 000 – R80 000).

Mirroring the trend evidenced inprevious auctions by the companyin both Cape Town andJohannesburg, the selection ofquality silver is certain to attractenthusiastic bidding. Lot 612 is apair of 20th century French silvertureens (950 standard) from Henin& Cie, estimated at R8 000 –R12 000. Also vying for attentionare Lot 662, a George lll silvercoffee pot by William & JamesPriest, London 1766 (R14 000 –R18 000) and Lot 677, anEdwardian silver revolving topbreakfast dish from 1908 (R8 000 –R12 000).

The company’s jewellerydepartment has again turned in

a sparkling performance. Withover 200 lots, highlights abound,including Lot 709, a solitairediamond ring of 5,0330ctsestimated at R70 000 – R90 000,Lot 714, a magnificent lateVictorian hinged 15ct gold bangle(R7 000 – R9 000) and Lots 824and 825, respectively a Bulgaricased Cicladi diamond pendant ona chain (R10 000 – R15 000) and aBulgari cased Lucea diamond ring(R12 000 – R15 000).

Two lots from two differentdepartments give further weight tothis sale’s unusually broad appeal.There are two cannons on offer, oneof them, Lot 447, being an early18th century Finbanker 4-pounderon a twin-tailed carriage, estimatedat R80 000 – R100 000.

As a final example of this sale’sappeal, Lot 507 is a gentleman’sfine 18ct white gold automaticwristwatch by Patek Philippe.It is certificated (ref 5036),

comes with a bound pouch, and isfrom the short production run ofannual calendar wristwatches madewith moon phases. Its estimate isR160 000 – R180 000. A similarmodel recently realised almostdouble that in New York!

Enquiries:jhb@swelco.co.za+ 27 11 880 3125

Auction:Monday 20 April 14h00 and 19h00Tuesday 21 April 10h00, 14h00and 18h30

Venue:13 Biermann Avenue, Rosebank,Johannesburg

Viewing:Friday 17 April 10h00 – 17h00Saturday 18 April 10h00 – 13h00Sunday 19 April 10h00 – 13h00

& 14h00 to 17h00

Traditional South African art set to dominateJohannesburg April Auction

Lot 84, 6 volumes of ‘Voyagienna Oost en West-Indien’R200 000 – R210 000

TLI YAU PRQ O

N DE ULL CTEZ

BLUE FLASH OF LOGO CYAN 100

FOR INFOMATION ON OUR OTHER PRODUCTSPHONE +27 28 271 3122.

WILL VARY SLIGHTLY DUE TO TRANSPORT COSTS

Student Acrylic Paint

Non Toxic

PRELUDE

75ml

THE SOUTH AFRICAN

ART TIMES

Alex Dodd

The summer is nearly over, but temperatures are close to sizzling on the Joburg art scene in the run up to the second FNB Joburg Art Fair, three solid days and nights of visually driven mingling, oogling, assessment and acquisition, that kicks off on Friday (3 April) at the Sandton Convention Centre.

Despite reports of a faltering international art market, FNB has renewed its commitment to the contemporary art scene in Africa, and 26 galleries have signed up to be part of what promises to be a blockbuster showcase of contemporary visual culture. FNB’s backing makes a sweet kind of sense when you figure that the bank’s head of sponsorship is none other than Francois Pienaar. Yes, the very same Francois Pienaar that captained the Springboks in their moment of transcendent World Cup glory back in 1995, and who is now being played by Matt Damon starring opposite Morgan Freeman (as Nelson Mandela) in the Warner Brothers film based on the John Carlin book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation. I take succour in the idea that it’s the same dude that helped to bring this nation together through the universal language of sport in ’95 that is now, at an equally tumultu-ous time in this country’s history, helping to keep us together through the medium of art. Art doesn’t yet have the pulling power of rugby, but

I bet that most of those involved in the arts in this country will testify to the bolstering power of creativity in the face of the political cynicism and mean-spiritedness that seems to be engulfing South Africa right now. Personally, I might already have chosen to live elsewhere if it weren’t for the wild inventiveness of this country’s artists and writers. It might be some time (think Salvador Dali’s dripping clocks) before we see an art event receive the same tumultuous support as a game at Loftus Versfeld, but I know that I am not alone in believing that the creative force of this country is even more powerful than a Spring-bok scrum in lockdown against the All Blacks. Yet, earlier this year, one or two gallerists did express some anxi-ety at the Fair’s capacity to pull a significant audience of international buyers and art industry players.

Luckily, those concerns were recently allayed with the advent of a watershed collaboration between the Joburg Art Fair and Puma. Creative, a platform that connects the creative world globally. The partnership with the ultra-hip global streetwear brand was forged by none other than Mark Coetzee. Yes, the very same Mark Coetzee who used to run the Mark Coetzee Fine Art Cabinet in Cape Town in the late Nineties. After eight years directing the ultra-prestigious Rubell Family Collection in Miami, Coetzee is now chief curator of Puma. (Continued on page 4)

SA Art braces itself for Joburg Art Fair April 2009 • 9 000 copies printed and distributed. Full version also available at www.arttimes.co.za • RSA value R 40.00

After eight years of directing the ultra-prestigious Rubell Family Collection in Miami, Mark Coetzee is now chief curator of Puma.Creative

Photo: www.wetheatproject.com

Angels or devils - or both , either way Beezy Bailey warms things up for the unveiling of this recently completed a 4m high bronze called Fallen Angel. The angel is now on its way to the Joburg Art Fair 09 that opens on Friday 03 to Sunday 05 April 2009 Photo: Jacques de Villiers

Page 4 South African Art Times. April 2009

Art Pig Column continued from Page 3

Creative and is based in Nairobi, because of his will to expand the Puma.Creative projects planned in Africa, and focused on the 2010 World Cup. So what does that mean for the Art Fair? And what does it mean for participating artists? To start with, Puma.Creative will be flying about 60 leading art world operators to Johannesburg to soak up the Art Fair action. On Thursday night, it will be hosting an invitation-only dinner at the plushly revamped Rosebank Hotel to celebrate the launch of the Creative Africa Net-work and the opening of the Fair. Basically, by my gleaning, this means is that, amid the usual

suspects and the freshly curious general public circulating around the stalls of the Fair, there will also be a crew of highly sussed and connected international art world figures, who’ll be checking what they dig and who they might be interested in making big. Hey, best case scenario, this year’s Fair might just offer the same kind of global boost to selected careers as the first and second Johannesburg Biennales.

It’s a pity that all those VIPs missed out on the event I was lucky enough to attend in Soweto last night. Artist/director Sue Pam Grant and composer Xoli Norman’s Guard on Shift, presented by jozi art: lab, was initially presented to great ac-claim at the Dance Factory late last year. But this open-air rendition was one of those rare, tingly happenings that confirm my belief in the quirky imaginative genius of this country’s artists. After watching the sun set like a blazing orange ball of fire over the mine dumps and ghettoes of southern Joburg, we arrived at the empty monolithic Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication at nightfall. The event didn’t take place in this grand state-sanctioned monument, but in an unassuming graffiti-sp

ritzed lot around the corner. We arrived on the scene just as the trumpeter blasted his first plaintive notes across the square, infusing a tone of pained jazz into the night. And then the songstresses opened up their chests and sang…

They were dressed as washerwom-en and stood on wooden boxes in a maze of security fencing, but they could also have been angels, loosening and cleansing our history of its dark stains. It was a surreal and magical event in which people wandered amidst the ‘high-se-curity’ maze entering the solitary consciousnesses of the security guards who protect our suburbs day in and day out… I would have mourned the fact that something so poignant was experienced by so few, but luckily the event was recorded as part of a documen-tary film project spearheaded by jozi art: lab’s Indra Wussow and Wonderboy Peters. And there is a possibility of a reprise for the World Cup in 2010. Like the performance of William Kentridge’s 9 Films at the Old Fort on Constitution Hill, these are the moments of tender sublimity that more South Africans deserve to experience.

The South African

Art Times April 2009 www.arttimes.co.za

Published monthly by Global Art Information

PO Box 15881 Vlaeberg, 8018 Tel. 021 424 7733 Fax. 021 424 7732

Editor: Gabriel Clark-Brown editor@arttimes.co.za

Advertising: Eugene Fisher sales@arttimes.co.za

Subscriptions: Bastienne Klein subs@arttimes.co.za

News: press@arttimes.co.za Shows: show@arttimes.co.zaArtwork: art@arttimes.co.za

Layout: Atlantic Blue Deadline for news, articles and advertising is the 20th of each month. The Art Times is published in the last week of each month. Newspaper rights: The newspaper reserves the right to reject any ma-terial that could be found offensive by its readers. Opinions and views expressed in the SA Art Times do not necessarily represent the of-ficial viewpoint of the editor, staff or publisher, while inclusion of ad-vertising features does not imply the newspaper’s endorsement of any business, product or service. Copyright of the enclosed material in this publication is reserved.

Front Cover: Nandipha Mntambo, Praça de Touros I, 2008, Courtesy of Michael Stevenson

King DiniZulu surveys the land. As does Louis Botha. Like figures from a novel – either science fiction or post-modern – they look lost in their urban landscape. Once enormously powerful, they are both now reduced to the role of ghosts, who although visible to the naked eyes are largely unseen by all those who pass by; they cannot move. And what would they think of the histories they helped to make, as they look out onto the gentle delapidation of the bottom of Berea Road – or King DiniZulu North as it is now known? And why are they wearing red bandanas?The bandana’d statues are the work of Durban Art Gallery educa-tion officer Bongani Mkonzsa who staged the intervention, together with a walk through town to Fare-well Square outside the gallery, where a bunch of mostly male former colonialists have also had a red bandana added to their already elaborate dress in an attempt to raise awareness around the HIV virus. The march was led by perfomer and activist Musa Njoka and staged, along with the interven-tions, as part of the major exhibition Not Alone: Make Art Stop Aids, still on show at the DAG.Bongani’s intervention – together with the walk through town where the friendly, smiling faces of this year’s political nominees lurched out insistently – gave me an idea for another intervention, one in which you, me and everyone we know can participate. While there are only a small number of statues to subvert, there are a relatively

infinite number of election posters, most of them just begging for a bit of decoration. And of course, a few of them have already have that desire satisfied; you may have seen pictures of the ANC poster on whom someone has drawn a red mask over Jabob Zuma’s face in the style of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and dubbed him Zum-atello. But I thought that, if - all over South Africa - we stuck red aids ribbons on the lapels of those who appear in the election posters, we could very simply and subliminally, put one the country’s real burning issues onto the political agenda. This would add a degree of mean-ing to the whole thing, something you’d be hard pressed to find in any of the empty words that accompany the campaign portraits. I know it’s illegal to mess with election posters so I’m not actually advising you to do any of this. But if you did, it would be great, and if you’re caught I have nothing to do with it. One of the wonderful things about art is the way that it fiddles with notions of legality, acceptability and structure. In fact, it’s a key part of the job. Without the possibility of subversion, art history would be bland and blank, a canvas of little more than ever-increasing virtuos-ity. And only the hardest of hearts would call this particular aid ribbon intervention vandalism, vaguely subversive as it might be. I just had another look at my own virtual intervention - the photoshopped ANC poster that accompanies this column – and I was struck by the fact that if it had been a real campaign poster, it would mean that we were living in a far more compassionate society.

ART PIG

Alex Dodd

THE ART COWBOY

Peter MachenSue Pam Grant and composer Xoli Norman’s Guard on Shift, presented by jozi art: lab, was initially presented to great acclaim at the Dance Factory late last year.

South African Art Times. April 2009 Page 5

KUNSGALERY

CAPE TOWN

JOHANS BORMANFINE ART GALLERY

Telephone: 021 423 6075

www.johansborman.co.za

Mon-Fri: 09h30 - 17h30 Sat: 10h00 - 13h00 or by appointment

In Fin Art Building Upper Buitengracht Street, Cape Town 8001 Cell: 082 566 4631

E-mail: art@johansborman.co.za

Dumile Feni - ‘Figure running’ (1968)

Dumile Feni 1968 Drawings

April 2009

When this is all over and we are all gone, and the things we make are thrown away or packed into boxes or archives or adorn walls or hearts or even occupy public squares or are collapsed into virtual space, these giant concrete structures designed so exclusively - so exquisitely – for function, will still reach into the sky, will still hug the earth they span, caring not for meaning or love or suffering, dimly unaware of their own material fatigue which will someday take them too. That’s what Jeremy Wafer has to compete with.Finally, if you’re in Durban over the next few weeks, check out the exhibition Harbour at the KZNSA Gallery. Full of super-saturated South African talent, it promises to be one of the most exciting groups show to take place this year.

Once more: a memorial muddle

Monuments. Memorial sculptures. It sounds so old-fashioned, it’s really off the art history pages, isn’t it? Something that doesn’t belong in a post-postmodern, not to mention post-colonial, era. One would have thought so, but, strangely, the concept keeps flying.

And goings-on in the chambers and outside of the Cape Town city council are showing up exactly how

uncomfortable the entire idea sits in our time and place.

It seems citizens - make that politi-cians - have not outgrown the belief that their dead (and some not quite so) heroes and anti-heroes (real or invented) should be ‘honoured’ in outrageous fashion and be propped up in public spaces. No, the lust for monuments/memorial sculptures in bronze, marble and whatever glit-tering medium, is still churning out there. They want them statues.

One of the follies of this thinking is the conviction that an artist can fashion (or get someone to sculpt) an upbeat, ‘heroic’, if not dramati-cally eye-catching image of a living person (or one who had lived, at some stage). As any real artist - even great photographers - will tell you capturing a decent likeness, making an acceptable portrait, is one of the most difficult things in the manner of art- and model-mak-ing. Add ulterior motives to such endeavours and you land up with kitsch or silliness.

Unfortunately, since democracy, instead of dumping the old colonial construct of statue production, the new powers have joyfully been commissioning more of the nonsense. (Poor Madiba has been on the receiving end of this sad, misdirected enthusiasms - check the bronze near the prison entrance in Drakenstein, for example.)

Of course, public art of highest order is a different matter. But that too, is a tricky business.

The city of Cape Town authori-ties have waded into this area tentatively over the past year or so. But, like the silliness around the recently proposed ‘graffiti control unit’, the thinking, not to mention the enthusiasm, has not been very adventurous neither clear. And often run into trouble.

At this stage three ‘memorial’ projects are kind of lingering on the council’s agenda.

The restoration of the vandalised Waterwich/Williams memorial in Athlone by Guy du Toit and Egon Tania is obvious, but heaven knowns how they are going to keep the thieves from walking off with the metal again. (According

to council minutes, maintenance - and, for that matter, the issue of commissioning it as well - will, for the time being, be the responsibility of the oddly-named Environmental Resource Management department of the city.)

The other memorials officially on the book, are ones to com-memorate the founding of the UDF at the Rocklands civic centre 25 years ago last August, and the so-called Langa memorial to be erected on Washington circle in Langa to remember the PAC’s big march in 1960 after the Sharpeville shootings.

The latter memorial, to which the present PAC’s input had been rightly invited, has reached another halt in its slow, very slow, stop-start trajectory. The UDF project is not even out of the blocks. Both had been budgeted for in the last financial year.

In a repeat of the process for the Slave memorial on Church square - when invitations for public sug-gestions and designs, resulted in a pile of nonsense (oh dear, don’t we need to invest urgently in aesthetic literacy?) - what came from outside, after advertising, was useless. So, like for the Church square project, council officials asked specific art-ists to come up with idees.

While it is all very much under wraps, two well-known artists, each polished in public art and memori-als, were asked for Langa sugges-tions. Our own Kevin Brand and Durban’s Andries Botha were called in. But, so rumours go, their ideas didn’t find favour with a gathering of decision-makers (the actual names of the judges have not been made known) a few weeks ago. So it’s back to square one.

The only positive, at this stage, is that the city - not traditionally sup-portive of the arts - has committed money (some R1,25 million for the three projects). But the dead-end where the Langa memorial scheme finds itself is clear indication that the bureaucrats simply don’t known how to handle such undertakings.

On the other hand, it might just prove that the concept of monu-ments is as dead as a dodo.

And I was struck also by the idea that probably the single most important issue for many, many South Africans is that current health minister Barbara Hogan be allowed to keep her post. But that’s not even an element of the conversation; it’s just incidental.The urban monuments reminded me of a conversation that I was having with former Durbanite Siemon Allen who now lives in the United States but who was in town to install his remarkable triad of installations, Newspapers, Stamps and Records (collectively titled Im-aging South Africa) at the Durban Art Gallery and Bank Gallery.

Siemon, whose own work verges on the monumental despite the fact that you could pack it all into a few cardboard boxes, was talking about how much he loved bridges and freeway infrastructure – a fondness I share with him. And like Siemon, I’ve always felt a bit sorry for sculptors who live in the same world as these giant structures.

THE ARTFUL VIEWER

Melvyn Minnaar

Alex

Ems

ley

Page 6 South African Art Times. April 2009

Standard Bank has been a long term committed supporter of the visual arts and has, through its collections, publications, pro-grammes and gallery, brought the work of a range of artists – both local and international – to the at-tention of the South African public.

Exhibitions at the Standard Bank Gallery have always been com-plemented by public programmes such as lectures, walkabouts and workshops. Visiting school groups – for whom the gallery is a popular destination – are offered guided tours and workshops and given activity sheets so that learning can continue in their own classrooms. Recognising the dearth of appropriate material for young learners and noting that the distribution of learning materials adds value to exhibitions and extends their longevity, Standard Bank has increased its investment in the development and produc-tion of educational supplements to accompany its exhibitions. As Barbara Freemantle, the gallery curator says, “It’s an investment in the future that allows the gallery to meet a number of strategic objectives: adding value to young learners’ experience; building in-formed gallery-goers for the future; and promoting South African arts”. Nhlanhla Ngwenya, education officer, adds an important element, remarking that the educational supplements, “bridge the gap between the scholarly catalogues and learner needs, enhance the curriculum and provide materials that addresses gaps in existing resources”.

The educational supplements have proved so popular that schools in far-flung areas of the country have requested copies.

Recognising this, Standard Bank has extended the reach of the supplements, firstly through enter-ing into a partnership with the SA Art Times to include one in every copy distributed (with additional copies being sent to schools on the mailing list), and secondly, by making them available in electronic format on the Standard Bank Gallery website, where they complement the virtual tour of the current exhibition.

The educational supplements, comprising six A4 pages printed in full colour, provide information about the artist and the current exhibition, and include fact files focusing on related topics, a glossary of relevant words and activities: things to think about as well as practical projects. These are presented in a fold out pamphlet that is easy to file, but also laid out so that they can be displayed in poster format on the classroom wall.

As a grateful teacher said, “Your resources are incredibly valuable. It is good to see that there are still galleries who produce such awesome educational stuff for our kids – and the virtual tour is unbelievable! I will be putting it up on screen in class!”

Visit the Standard Bank Gallery website, www.standardbankgal-lery.co.za, to see the current exhibition’seducational supple-ment, and look under the archives section for copies of previous edi-tions on artists including Marlene Dumas, Willem Boshoff, Pieter Hugo, Cecil Skotnes, Churchill Madikida, Christine Dixie, Karel Nel, Judith Mason and Johannes Phokela. These are resources that no teacher can afford to miss.

Standard Bank’s ongoing commitment to SA Art

Eduardo Villa (Photo: Standard Bank Gallery), Johannes Phokela (Photo Courtesy of the artist), Andrew Verster (Photo Courtesy of the artist) Lolo Veleko (Photo from the artist), Nicholas Hlobo (Photo: Suzy Bernstein)

South African Art Times. April 2009 Page 7

Written by Franci Cronje, 2009

In this must-see show, Reasons for breaking out in a cold sweat is metaphorically not connected either to pleasure or contentment. (Dis)content and (dis)topia there-fore, can arguably be described as appropriate bedmates. This abject component draws the viewer to Diedericks’ drawings initially. What makes one stay is the deftness in medium, accomplished markmak-ing, and ease of expression. But such a claim also poses a contradiction in itself. What is moral, and what not? Good or evil, self or Other, desir-able or despicable? Diedericks exposes these issues, inviting speculation. His symbolically dense imagery simultaneously soothes and disturbs the viewer. In Bloodline one is drawn to the

flowery script of ‘Brave’, the full disturbance of the combined im-agery only hits home when read-ing the fine print: ‘I am not..’. The body of an anonymous laughing pre-adolescent boy contrasts with a morose portrait of the old man, vector leading us into a secret world of desire and repulsion. The boy seems to be precariously bal-anced between childhood freedom and prohibitive act. As the artist tries to ‘reconcile two seemingly irreconcilable driving forces of postmodern conscious-ness – the desire for Otherness and the fear of losing autonomy’, the resultant imagery portrays Die-dericks’ dystopic space. Borrowed popular cultural iconography spins the work as universal, relatable in our hybrid culture of globalization.

Lloyd Pollock

Every work at Mark Midgley’s fourth solo exhibition at the Atlantic gallery was sold before the exhibition even opened. Riva Cohen, the gallery’s director maintains the artist’s scrupulously detailed still-lives are so labour-intensive and time-consuming that Mark cannot possibly meet the demand, and she has a long list of collectors who are patiently wait-ing for the opportunity to purchase his future output. “That precious red sticker is on the canvas before Mark even touches it with his brush”, Riva stated proudly.

The artist’s dazzling trompe-l’oeil virtuosity explains this connois-seurial enthusiasm. His fruit and vegetables look so convincing, one confuses illusion with reality, and does a double take when it becomes apparent that the strawberries that have you licking your lips, are nought but paint on canvas.

However Midgley is far more than a master-magician wowing us with illusionist abracadabra. The paint-er’s themes are dictated by Pop art’s obsession with consumer society and saleable merchandise, but his style inclines toward the fanatical precision of Photoreal-ism, and he presents his fruit as if seen under a microscope with even the most minute details meticulously reproduced. In his tightly-cropped, big close-up formats, scale is hugely magnified: the fruits become 25 times larger

than life-size, and the frontal, centralised and symmetric com-positions give them a sharpness and definition so absolute as to be tantamount to revelation.

These still-lives are modern vari-ations on the traditional vanitas of 17th century Holland. The vanitas addresses the brevity of life and the transience of earthly pleasure: it whispers Memento Mori and Tempus Fugit. Over-ripe fruit was a popular motif as it provided a metaphor for the inevitability of death and dissolu-tion, and although Mark’s fruit is wholesome and fresh, blight in the form of scratches, spots and areas of bruising, intimates future decay. Tissue paper envelops the fruit like a shroud or winding sheet, and the black box frames and broad black borders insinuate funereal overtones.

A dense symbolical underpin-ning and subtle allusion to sacred geometric and numerical archetypes project the fruit onto a metaphysical plane. Although the paintings baldly acknowledge the brevity of our mortal span, they also urge us to enjoy it. Their burthen becomes Carpe Diem, and they form rousing celebrations of plenty, abundance and the glory of creation. Vibrant colour and scintillating light transform each still-life into an act of thanksgiving, a visual lekhayim. This is indeed a feast for the eyes!

Carl Büchner (1921-2003)Portrait of a Young Man, 90x90cm, Signed

Oil on Canvas

11 Huguenot Street

Franschhoek

021 876 4477

www.ebonydesign.co.za

Open Monday – Sunday 10am – 5pm

Mark midgley’s tutti-frutti sell-out

The slippery slope of consciousness Cold sweat Chris Diedericks - Focus Gallery

Page 8 South African Art Times. April 2009 South African Art Times. April 2009

THETROPICS

KULTURSTIFTUNGDES

BUNDES

advert tropics-260x80.indd 1 2/23/09 4:22:23 PM

The international acclaimed artist DANIEL NOVELA ART STUDIO

DANIEL NOVELA ART STUDIOOnline Gallery: www.danielnovela.co.zaEmail Address: info@danielnovela.co.za

TEL. + 27 18 489 1780 Fax. + 27 18 489 1777 CELL + 27 82 262 3600

OPEN FROM: MONDAY TO FRIDAY: 9H00 – 17H00

82 Church Street (Corner Church & Loop St)Cape Town 8001

Tel: +27 21 439 3517, Fax: 086 611 3871Email: info@christophermollerart.co.zaWebsite: www.christophermollerart.co.za

26 March – 8th of April

“Three Perspectives” exhibition featuring: Alan Mckerron, Geoff Burr

Christopher Møller Art

12 Wellington Road, DurbanvilleTel. +27 (0)21 9764691www.rust-en-vrede.comMon – Fri 9am –5pm. Sat 9am – 1 pm

Just a Moment: 1 - 28 April 2009Brahm van Zyl portrays typical South African landscapes. The absence of human drama adds to the almost melancholy mood in the works, as if a fleeting moment of enlightenment can be felt in the presence of nature. These oils coax one to stop for “Just a Moment” to engage in quiet contemplation.

Rust-en-Vrede Gallery

Brahm van Zyl portrays typical South African landscapes.

This well established art company assists private & corporate buyers wanting to purchase South African Art.

We represent a wide spectrum of artists.

We promote art locally & internationally.

Our Gallery Team, known & respected for its work in the secondary art market

• Provides full consultation services• Organises custom art events• Works with corporate collectors, architects, & interior designers.

Lipschitz Gallery CC, Hill House, Number One Main Street, Plettenberg Bay 6600

GPS S34° 03.405’ E023° 22.330’

Tel/Fax +27 (0) 44 5334581Mobile: +27 (0) 82 900 6631Email: info@southafricanart.co.zaWebsite: http.www.southafricanart.co.zaOpening Times: Monday-Friday 9-5pm, Saturdays 9-1pm. Or by Appointment.

South African Art Information Directory ‘09

South African Art Times. April 2009 South African Art Times. April 2009 Page 9

South African Art Information Directory ‘09 Promotional special R 169,- includes postage and packaging

Now available

Now in its 6th edition The SAAID 09 provides the user with a wealth of art information - both in terms of size and access into the South African arts community- and is South Africa’s white and yellow pages of the South African art world.

Contents include 152 pages of:

SA Art Infrastructure : Corporate Collections, Art Museums, Art Galleries, Art agents, Art Auctioneers, Media, Schools etc. Art Opportunities : South African Art Competitions, Events, Grants, Funders

For more details see www.saaid.co.za

or call us at 021 424 7733 for more details

n•fin•ari TCustom Picture Framers & Art Gallery

Wolfe Street • Chelsea • Wynberg • Tel: 021 761 2816 + Buitengracht Street • Cape Town • Tel: 021 423 2090 E-mail: gallery@infinart.co.za • web www.infinart.co.za

www. s can s hop . c o . za

d e s i g n � b o o k s a n d c a t a l o g u e s � l a r g e f o r m a tg r a p h i c s � a r c h i v i n g � i n s t a l l a t i o n s � s p e c i a l i s e dr e t o u c h i n g � e x h i b i t i o n d i s p l a y s � d i g i t a l s c a n n i n g

a n g e l a @ s c a n s h o p . c o . z a

ART FOR THOSE WHO SEEK UNIQUENESSFusing colour and texture !

JJA de bruyn’s art draws inspiration from the rich African milieu that spawned him. It encourages a paradigm shift that is both startling and revolutionary, redefining not only art, but how we relate to it.

Blurring the borders of neo-contemporary and post-modern artistic expression into one coherent whole, his work often results in pieces that encourage the viewer to employ multiple senses, thereby creating artistic statements that strive to overcome the disjointed-ness inherent in modern art. It translates into art that is less of an abstraction viewed from afar and more of an intimate encounter of ideas and expression. For more info visit www.jjadebruyn.com or email: acton_d@yahoo.com

n•fin•ari TCustom Picture Framers & Art Gallery

Wolfe Street • Chelsea • Wynberg • Tel: 021 761 2816 + Buitengracht Street • Cape Town • Tel: 021 423 2090 E-mail: gallery@infinart.co.za • web www.infinart.co.za

sasol new signaturesart competition 09Entries close 15 July 09For details contact association of arts pretoria012 346 3100 or visit www.sasolsignatures.co.za

controversialcontemporarycuttingedge

aspire to be

9474 - ENTER AD 260 X 395 ARTTIMES:Layout 1 3/27/09 10:38 AM Page 1

ART FOR THOSE WHO SEEK UNIQUENESSFusing colour and texture !

JJA de bruyn’s art draws inspiration from the rich African milieu that spawned him. It encourages a paradigm shift that is both startling and revolutionary, redefining not only art, but how we relate to it.

Blurring the borders of neo-contemporary and post-modern artistic expression into one coherent whole, his work often results in pieces that encourage the viewer to employ multiple senses, thereby creating artistic statements that strive to overcome the disjointed-ness inherent in modern art. It translates into art that is less of an abstraction viewed from afar and more of an intimate encounter of ideas and expression. For more info visit www.jjadebruyn.com or email: acton_d@yahoo.com

Get The South African Art Times delivered to your door R 180 for 11 issues Call Bastienne on 021 424 7733 - or - email: subs@arttimes.co.za

AROUND THE GALERIES

Angus Taylor (1970 - ), Homage to Hermes, ed 1/3, 2008, 10 tons + of stacked marico slate stone, 120 x 500 x 850cm. See www.everard-read.co.za

(left) Johan Myburg is this years visual art curator for the KKNK Art and Culture fesitival, (middle) a sound installation by James Webb, (right) Hylton Nel is this years KKNK’s Fesitival Artist. The KKNK runs from 4-11 April 2009. See www.kknk.co.za for more details

Neil Rodger, (1941 - ), KAROO NUDE III, oil on canvas, 100 x 100cm see www.everard-read.co.za

Beezy Bailey, (1962 - ), SUNSET FLIGHT, mixed media on canvas, 170 x 250cm. See www.everard-read.co.za

Drawing from the exhibition “Stillewe, a portrait of the Paschke and Stef Bos, see: www.dorpstraatgalery.co.za

Redblackandwhite ad Art Times Mar 09.indd 1 3/24/09 3:09:56 PM

HIGHLIGHTSfrom 10 Years of Collecting for the Sanlam Art Collection

22 April – 24 May 2009Monday – Friday 08:00 – 17:00Saturday 10:00 – 17:00Sunday/Public holidays 13:00 – 17:00

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

DECAD

EOliewenhuisArt Museum

Harry Smith StreetBloemfontein

Tel: 051 447 9609

For more information call the Sanlam Art Collection

Tel: 021 947 3359 / 083 457 2699www.sanlam.co.za

SA Art Time Ad-Oliewenhuis 3/18/09 10:06 AM Page 1

Invitation to participate in our auctions

JohannesburgImportant South African Paintings, Watercolours and Sculpture14 September 2009, entries close 30 JuneStephan Welz 082 330 0798 Mary-Jane Darroll 082 567 1925

Cape TownInaugural Auction of Important Paintings, Furniture, Silver and Ceramics8 October 2009, entries close 31 JulyVanessa Phillips 072 445 4717 Ann Palmer 082 468 1098

Irma SternMAGNOLIAS IN AN EARTHENWARE POTsigned and dated 1949, oil on canvas, 68 by 94cmEstimate R2 800 000 - 3 400 000

SOLD IN MARCH 2009 FOR R7 100 000A WORLD AUCTION RECORD FOR A STILL LIFE BY THE ARTIST

If you have paintings, furniture, silver or ceramics, please contact us timeously for an obligation-free appraisal.

Our aim is to focus on the highest quality that the South African art market can offer, to provide greaterexpertise and service and to make Strauss & Co the first choice from any perspective – making selling andacquiring art and antiques at auction challenging, interesting and a pleasure.

Tel: + 27 11 728 8246 Fax: + 27 11 728 8247 jhb@straussart.co.za www.straussart.co.za89 Central Street, Houghton, Johannesburg, 2198 P O Box 851, Houghton, Johannesburg, 2041

Postnet Suite 200, Private Bag X26, Tokai, Cape Town, 7966 Tel: + 27 78 044 8185 ct@straussart.co.za

Frans David OerderMAGNOLIASsigned, oil on canvas, 69 by 89cmEstimate R600 000 - 900 000

SOLD IN MARCH 2009 FOR R1 760 000A WORLD AUCTION RECORD FOR THE ARTIST

The Philip Harper GalleriesHermanus, Western Cape

www.thephilipharpergalleries.co.za

We specialise in South African Art, both Old Masters and select Contemporary Artists, catering for both corporate and private clients

Oudehof Mall, 167 Main Road, Hermanus, Tel: 028 3124836

Sydney Carter (1874-1945) Mine Shaft on a Windy Day, Gouache 530 x 710 mm

info@thephilipharpergalleries.co.za