SOUTH AFRICAN
BUSINESS ART
SA Visual arts sector shies away from World Summit
The recent World Summit on Arts and Culture dealt with the arts in general. Did this isolate specialists in the field of art, asks Mary Corrigall
Mary Corrigall
The 4th World Summit of Arts
and Culture was held in Johan-
nesburg last week and with 250
of the 450 delegates hailing
from the African continent the
affair had a decidedly African
flavour. The themes that Mike
Van Graan, the programme
director, had set for the discus-
sions also reflected the sum-
mit’s destination. Reflecting a
predominant concern in South
African cultural and politi-
cal realms the central theme
seemed to probe the dynamics
and the best conditions for in-
tercultural dialogue. It was also
relevant to a gathering of arts
organisations and practition-
ers from around the globe who
were keen to exchange ideas.
Issues facing all the various
creative disciplines were ad-
umbrated in favour of engaging
with ‘the arts’ in general and
the commonalities that might
face all who toil in creative
industries.
Consequently none of the talks
were tailored for the visual arts
sector albeit that some of the
speakers made oblique refer-
ences to this arena. In her ad-
dress on intercultural dialogue
through the arts, Yvette Vaughn
Jones, a British-based policy-
maker and policy analyst, who
now runs Visiting Arts, referred
to the 1 mile squared project,
an online arts initiative which
is currently running with the
Johannesburg Art Gallery. She
presented it as an example of
ways in which technology is fa-
cilitating intercultural creative
projects. Representing South
Africa was Steven Sack, direc-
tor of arts and culture for the
City of Joburg. Nevertheless
there was a paucity of delegates
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hailing from the visual arts
sector.
Sack suggested that many
were put off by the cost – fees
for locals could cost up to
almost R5000. “The money
just doesn’t seem to be there,”
commented Sack. He tried to
drum up interest in the visual
arts community, especially
academia but without funding
to attend Sack said his efforts
were met with little interest.
In the run-up to the summit
some arts practitioners and or-
ganisations were unaware that
the summit was taking place.
“One can never have enough
publicity,” observed Sack,
whose organisation is one of
the sponsors of the event.
Sack also implied that the
visual art fraternity in South
Africa tends to isolate itself
from the arts community at
large. He also suggested that
the visual arts community were
less “interested in policy” than
the rest of the arts fraternity in
the country whose livelihood is
more dependent on the govern-
ment’s funding policies.
Certainly artists hailing from
other disciplines expressed
disdain for the National Arts
Council (NAC), the main
government funding body for
the arts, in the run-up to the
summit. In talks held at the
African Museum preceding the
summit artists bemoaned the
paucity of government funding
for the arts.
Annabel Lebethe, the new chief
executive officer for the NAC,
implied that the summit,
which was predominantly
Brett Bailey piece opened the 4th World Summit on Arts and Culture
sponsored by the NAC, would
help identify the issues facing
the arts fraternity and set future
funding policies.
At the closing press confer-
ence, however, she was unable
to outline the specific insights
the NAC had acquired during
the summit.
However, in its programming
the summit seemed more
geared to probe more philo
sophical quandaries such as the
arts role in society. In other
words it operated as a platform
to reassert arts value. Madeeha
Gauhar, a theatre practitioner
from Pakistan who has used
her art to challenge the draco-
nian laws set by the Taliban in
her country, and Stojan Pelko,
the state secretary for the
Slovenian Ministry of Culture,
attempted to discover what
role the arts play in advancing
peace or propagating conflict.
Pelko observed that no cultural
product is neutral and can be
appropriated to further any
kind of political end – “there
are no innocent songs.”
It was perhaps thought that
www.arttimes.co.za
these kinds of topics would
highlight the importance of the
arts and their political value
thus drawing governments’
attention to the role they could
play in furthering democratic
ideals – hence justifying the
need for more generous fund-
ing. In the concluding session
Sanjoy Roy, head of Teamwork
Films, a production house with
interests in the performing and
visual arts, also placed empha
sis on the social value of art.
The implication was that art
had to be seen to add value to
society to prove its worth.
ticked over....
Think again !
Joy Mboya, the executive
director of The Performing and
Visual Arts Centre in Kenya,
suggested that in her country
creativity in the arts had been
stifled by this supposed need to
create work that was designed
to address a particular social
ill. Surprisingly delegates from
western countries or repre-
sentatives of western-based
cultural institutions - the
primary funders to non-western
countries - seemed to be in
agreement.
“There is this perception that
organisations in the North
aren’t willing to fund projects
that deal with soft issues. This
is a real problem for organisa-
tions in the South. The artistic
value of projects is just as
important, we are failing artists
if we do not address this,” ob-
served Laurent Clavel, director
of the French Institute in South
Africa. Peter Anders, Clavel’s
counterpart at the Goethe Insi-
tute, concurred.
“We are not development
agencies, we are here to listen
to what artists want and need,”
Anders observed.
Many of the commercial gal-
leries in South Africa oper-
ate without aid from foreign
agencies but our museums and
artists remain highly dependent
on foreign funding, conse-
quently the summit might have
proved the ideal platform to
come to grips with the dynam-
ics of the relationships between
the “north and the south” and
to simply network with the host
of foreign organisations which
were present at the summit.
Kate Tarratt Cross, director
of the Greatmore Studios in
Cape Town found the summit
to be highly stimulating and
worthwhile.
“Just in my own work I have
been trying to get cross cultural
projects off the ground so the
summit has affirmed that what I
am doing is on the right track,”
she said.
in monthly cycles.....
PAGE | 02 ART AUCTION SA BUSINESS ART | OCTOBER 2009

Sotheby’s (London) Art for Africa auction fetches

pleasing results for local and international artists
Monday 21 September in London at Sotheby’s, a selec-
tion of donated works by top South African and British
artists went under the hammer to raise over R5 million
for two charities, the Africa Foundation and Ikamva
Labantu.
The auction was the brainchild estimated prices.
of South African artist Beezy Marlene Dumas’ Would Jesus
Bailey in collaboration with have done the same? in pen,
philanthropists Tara and Jes- brush and ink on paper, sold for
sica Getty, with Bailey rarking £32,000, well over its estimat-
on the results by saying that ed £15,000-20,000 range.
he was thrilled that the funds
raised would benefit children Beezy Baily set a new personal
in need. record his A Farm in Zimba-
bwe, which almost doubled
Bailey also commented on the its low estimate of £6,000,
power of art o bring people fetching
together saying that almost £11, 000.
never before had the British
press seen so many noteworthy Other South African highlights
contemporary artists in one included William Kentridge’s
room. World on Its Hind Legs selling
above estimate at £21,000 and
The two pieces fetching the Jane Alexander’s Transmitter
highest prices where sculptural fetching £2,800.
works by Antony Gormley for
his Standing Matter XX which Commenting on the success
sold for £130, 000 and Marc of the auction Oliver Barker,
Quinn’s Microcosmo (Fortuna), Sotheby’s contemporary art
which fetched £85, 000. specialist stated that ‘tonight’s
exceptional results are true
Yet, what is notable about testament to the quality and
the figures is not only the appeal of the great works of art
highs reached by the British which were generously donated
contingent of artists but that to this historic event by some
the many of the South African of the world’s leading contem-
artists’ works sold above their porary artists’.

Images: Zulu dancers get the bidding crowds warmed up, at £500 per encore
x 6 they raised £3 000, Bidding starts, (below) (L-R back) Gavin Turk, Silvia
Ziranek, Alison Jackson, Beezy Bailey, Stuart Semple, (L-R front) Terry
O’Neil, Jessica Getty, Marc Quin and Yinka Shonibare pose for a photograph
at Sothebys on September 16, 2009 in London, England. The group are artists
(plus organiser Getty) work will feature in the Art for Africa Charity auction
which will be held at Sotheby’s London on Monday September 21, 2009.
(September 15, 2009 - Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images Europe) Antony
Gormley for his Standing Matter XX which sold for £130, 000 and Marc
Quinn’s Microcosmo (Fortuna), which fetched £85, 000, (right) Yinka Shoni-
bare: The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (Africa) See www.artforafrica.
org.uk for more details

BE SEEN HERE, THERE

....
SA BUSINESS ART | OCTOBER 2009 SPRING ART TOUR PAGE | 03
Ross ushers in a new art economy
Staff writer
‘I’m a pragmatist’ Ross Doug-
lass explains as he sips his
coffee in the newly opened Su-
perette beneath Whatiftheworld
on Albert Road in Woodstock.
He is here to examine the lie of
the land ahead of the upcom-
ing Spring Art Tour set to hit
Cape Town at the beginning of
October.
Following on the previous suc-
cess of ArtLogics Jo’burg Art
Fair, the Spring Art Tour aims
to access the audiences identi-
fied by that event by providing
a week of talks, events and ex-
hibitions intended to get people
into the galleries represented
previously at the Art Fair.
For Douglas, one of the big
challenges for South Africa,
posed by organising such an
event is the question of what
‘art can do for a brand?’ Brand-
ing. This is what the Spring
Art Tour is about. And its aim
is to get the brand recognised.
Not just ArtLogic, but so too
all the participating galleries,
restaurants and venues associ-
ated with the tour.
‘Art generates instant content’
exclaims Douglass in a very
Tollman Award 09 awarded photographer Sabelo Mlangeni
The winner of the Tollman
Award for the Visual Arts 2009
has been awarded to the young
photographer Sabelo Mlangeni.
Mlangeni was born in 1980
at Driefontein, near Wakker-
stroom in Mpumalanga. He
moved to Johannesburg in
2001. He studied at the Market
Photo Workshop, and graduat-
& EVERYWERE
IN THE SA ART WORLD
Ross Douglass of ArtLogic
practical, matter of fact way.
‘South Africa is full of poten-
tial that is never quite realised’.
Instead of merely aiming at
corporate social investment
that Douglass sees as typify-
ing much of the funding being
poured into the arts sector by
government and its associated
institutions, he wants to see a
sustainable payback instead
of ‘cultural rhetoric that is not
income generating’.
So in step Grolsch, FNB and
BMW. Realising the need for
developing a creative industry
Douglass has identified the
potential of branding as being
an intricate part of how to get
people actively involved in
what previously has been a
largely inaccessible market.
According to Douglass, South
Africa is largely without the
sussed ‘sophisticated audience’
that is active in the global art
world. And this is what he
aims to change with events like
the Spring Art Tour. Far from
merely raising awareness to
art and its associated institu-
tions, ArtLogic presents a way
to network cultural and capital
economy in order to activate
the arts sector.
ed in 2004. His work attracted
critical notice on the occasion
of his first solo show at Warren
Siebrits in Johannesburg in
2007. He exhibited a series of
scenes of women cleaning the
inner city entitled Invisible
Women which he photographed
over an eight-month period
at night between 11pm and
3.30am. In these haunting im-
Donald Hess at The Glen Carlou Estate, Stellenbosch
Spring Art Tour Fever
grips Cape Town & Joburg
ArtLogic’s Spring Art Tour is set to
hit Cape Town on Thursday this
week with a series of openings in
galleries around the city. Arttimes
spoke to the participating galleries
to take the tone of the upcoming
event.
David Tripp of the Everard-Read,
which will be showing a selection
of work by Beezy Bailey as well as
a group show of recent acquisi-
tions by the gallery, said that whilst
many galleries are just trying to
stay afloat, the attention generated
by the Spring Art Tour is a positive
sign.
Tripp further added that the event
coming to Cape Town would
help build relationships between
dealers and gallerists that saw
their germination with the Jo’burg
Art Fair.
Ashleigh Mclean of Whatiftheworld
extended this idea by saying that
the commercial nature of the tour
would help stimulate the market
and further develop communica-
tion between the two art centres.
Whatiftheworld will be presenting
the highly anticipated solo show
by New York based painter, Andrz
Nowicki.
At the Goodman, a snapshot of
Kathryn Smiths collaboration with
crime writer Margie Orford will be
ages he offers us some insight
into the reality of the lives
of these seemingly invisible
women in a format that richly
recalls the long tradition of city
nightscape photography.
The annual Tollman Award
for the Visual began in 2003.
A grant in the amount of R100
000 is given directly to a young
South Africa’s dedicated
art & antique
insurance specialist
Did you know?
Theft is not the main risk to art value
on display in the galleries store
room, together with Bili Bidjocka’s
show in the main exhibition space.
Curator Storm Janse Van Rens-
burg said that the Spring Art Tour
is a good way to start the season
and comes at a good time for
Standard insurance policies aren’t
galleries, further saying that ‘things
are continuing’. enough protection
for owners of high value art,
Jonathan Garnham of Blank,
who will be opening his new 150 antiques & memorabilia
square meter project space across
the road from the old Bell-Roberts
said that he feels the Spring Art
Owners of high value assets need
Tour ‘brings hope to new audi-
ences of contemporary art’ saying genuine expertise to be safe
that the tour promises to provide
invaluable exposure.
Artinsure is that dedicated expert
The behemoth Michael Stevenson
is also not short of offerings for
who really understands the ways
your asset can depreciate
the night, with Meschac Gaba and
Paul Edmunds showing as well as
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye in the Fo-
rex and Musa Nxumalo in the side
gallery. Gallery director Sophie Call 0861 111 096 or visit
Perryer said that the Spring Art
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that ‘fostered a sense of com-
munity’ amongst the participating
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To see what’s on when go to
Underwritten by Hollard Insurance
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artist who has received critical
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PAGE | 04
Gauteng
Johannesburg
Afronova
18 Sep-17 Oct, The Olympians
and muses, a solo painting
exhibition by Ghanaian-British
artist Godfried Donkor.
Safe Parking- corner of Miriam
Makeba and Gwigwi Mrwebi
St, Newton C. 083 726 5906
www.afronova.com
Alliance Francaise of
Johannesburg
Gallery Gerard Sekoto
3-15 Oct, The colours of a na-
tion, paintings by
Masako Osada.
17 Lower Park Drive corner
Kerry Road, Parkview- opp.
Zoo Lake T.011 646 1169
culture.jhb@alliance.org.za
Artist’s Proof Studio
6-23 Oct, prints by Shime
Senetla. 27 Oct-20 Nov, prints
by Toni-Ann Ballenden.
Bus Factory (c/o Henry Nxu-
malo, 3 President Street, P.O.
BOX 664, Newton)
T. 011 492 1278 Email:
aspgallery@mweb.co.za
www.artistproofstudio.org.za
Arts on Main
20 Sep-6 Oct, ‘Us’, curated by
Simon Njami and Bettina Mal-
comess, examines notions of
nation, culture, class, gender,
sexuality and race.
Fox St, Johannesburg
artsonmain@gmail.com
www.artsonmain.co.za
Art on Paper
From 8 Oct, Parrot, works by
Colin Richards.
44 Stanley Ave, Braamfontein
Werf (Milpark),
T. 011 726 2234
www.artonpaper.co.za
Artspace-JHB
Until 3 Oct, Pale Male: sitting
standing walking, an exhibition
of sculpture and drawing by
Louis Oliver. 7-21 Oct, Jowzi,
a series of photographs and
paintings by Senzo Nhlapo. 24
Oct-7 Nov, Nomadixx, by Sinta
Spector, works created out of
recycled, reinvented textiles,
feathers, buttons, and found
objects.
Chester Court, 142 Jan Smuts
Avenue, Parkwood, Johannes-
burg T. 011 880 8802
www.artspace-jhb.co.za
The Bag Factory Artists’
Studio
25 Sep-9 Oct, Fietas: festival,
fiesta or fiasco? An exhibition
that includes the prose and
photography of Yusuf Chubb
Garda, audio accounts of Ntate
Modimokoane and Junior
Jacobs. As well as all that went
into and came out of creating
the artwork commissioned
by The Trinity Session, 26’10
South Architects and Feizel
Mamdoo.
10 Mahlatini St, Fordsburg,
Johannesburg T. 011 834 9181
info@bagfactoryart.co.za
www.bagfactoryart.org.za
Brodie/Stevenson
10 Sep-10 Oct, sculpture by
Nandipha Mntambo. 15 Oct-7
Nov, works by Simon Gush.
373 Jan Smuts Avenue,
ART GALLERY LISTINGS: GAUTENG, FREE STATE AND MPUMALANGA
Johannesburg T. 011 326 0034,
www.artextra.co.za
www.brodiestevenson.com
David Brown Fine Art
29 Sep-29 Oct, The White,
works in acrylic on canvas and
gouache on fine paper by Jona-
thon Kassel and ‘Look at Me’,
paintings by Conor Mccreedy.
39 Keyes Ave, off Jellicoe,
Rosebank, Johannesburg
T. 011 788 4435
www.davidbrownfineart.co.za
David Krut Projects
From 8 Oct, Patmos and the
War at Sea by Alastair Whitton.
A dramatic series of thirty-
three works on paper.
David Krut Projects.
142 Jan Smuts Avenue,
Parkwood, Johannesburg
T. 011 447 0627
www.davidkrutpublishing.com
Everard Read Gallery Jhb
1-26 Oct, Mali, works by
Walter Voigt. 1-18 Oct, Four
Pierneef Sites, works by
Carl Becker
6 Jellicoe Avenue, Rosebank,
Johannesburg T. 011 788 4805
http://www.everard-read.co.za
Gallery MOMO Campus, Pretoria
3 Sep-5 Oct, Group Exhibition.
8 0ct-2 Nov, Murder on 7th,
visual artwork by Gabrielle
Goliath.
52 7th Avenue, Parktown
North, Johannesburg
T. 011 327 3247
www.gallerymomo.com
Gertrude Posel Gallery
20 Sep-26 Oct, [Sample] EC,
curated by Fiona Rankin-
Smith. Historical and contem-
porary work which images the
Eastern Cape from the 1830’s
to today.
University of the
Witwatersrand, Braamfontein
T. 011 717 1363
gallery@atlas.wits.ac.za
Goethe Institute
14 Sep-17 Oct, Shukumisa, a
collection of woodcut prints by
Isabel Thompson.
119 Jan Smuts Ave, Entrance
on New Port Road, Parkwood
T. 011 4423232
www.goethe.de/ins/za
Goodman Gallery Melrosearch
1-24 Oct, Absent Fields,
works by Marco Ciafanelli. 29
0ct-21 Nov, works by Mikhael
Subotzky.
163 Jan Smuts Avenue,
Parkwood, Johannesburg
T. 011 788 1113
www.goodman-gallery.com
GordArt Gallery board.
From 3 Oct, Main space: Treas-
ure! Sculptures and painting by
Colin Payne. Upstairs: paint-
ings by Craig Smith.
Shop 1 Parkwood Mansions,
144 Jan Smuts Ave, Parkwood,
T 011 880 5928
gordon@gordartgallery.com
Graham Fine Art Gallery
1 Oct-1 Nov, A South African
Dreamscape: The Discovery of
an Internal Terrain, paintings
by André van Vuuren.
Shop 31, Broadacres Lifestyle
Centre, Cnr. Valley & Cedar
Roads Fourways, Johannesburg
T.011 465 9192
www.grahamsgallery.co.za
GALLERY LISTINGS: GAUTENG, FREE STATE AND MPUMALANGA
Johannesburg Art Gallery
20 Sep-25 Oct, ‘Us’, curated
by Simon Njami and Bettina
Malcolmess, examines notions
of nation, culture, class, gen-
der, sexuality and race.
King George Street, Joubert
Park, Johannesburg
T. 011 725 3130
khwezig@joburg.org.za
www.joburg.org.za
Manor Gallery
8-24 Oct, paintings at The
opening of the 82nd Open
Exhibition.
Norscot Manor Centre, Pen-
guin Drive T. 011 465 7934
Email: gallery@wssa.org.za
www.wssa.org.za
Market Photo Workshop
Until 2 Oct, Residues, photog-
raphy by Juan Orrantia. From
14 Oct, Short Change, the
20th Anniversary Exhibition
1989-2009, opening by David
Goldblatt and work from cur-
rent students and alumni.
T. 011 834 1444 www.market-
photoworkshop.co.za
My son left (Refused proposal) | Cojimar, Cuba 2009
Sue Williamson at The Goodman Gallery Johannesburg
Museum Africa
25 May-24 Dec 2010,
l’Afrique: A Tribute to Maria
Stein-Lessing and Leopold
Spiegel; co-curated by
Nessa Leibhammer and Natalie
Knight.
Sep 16-28 Oct, Oswenka, an
exhibition of photographs by
TJ Lemon (Bensusan Museum
of Photography).
121 Bree Street, Newtown,
Johannesburg T. 011 833 5624
www.knightgalleries.net
Obert Contemporary at
From 8 Oct, Seventies On-
wards, works by Jan Neethling
exploring themes that the artist
has pursued over his four-
decade career as a painter,
including the female form and
power relations. An exhibi-
tion comprised of 15 variously
scaled mixed media works on
14 The High Street, Melrose
Arch T. 011 684 1214
www.obertcontemporary.com
Origins Centre
5 Aug-10 Oct, From Abidjan
to Joburg, works by Veronique
Tadjo.
Cnr Yale and Enoch Santonga
Str. University of the
Witwatersrand
T. 011 717 4700
www.origins.org.za
Resolution Gallery
Until Mid Oct, The Wealth
of No Nations, works by Pat
Mautloa and Godfried Donkor.
142 Jan Smuts Avenue, Park-
wood, Johannesburg
T. 011 880 4054
www.resolutiongallery.com
Pretoria
Oct, Kindlers and Angels,
works by Susanna Swart. 4-24
Rooke Gallery Oct, works by Wendy Malan.
Alette Wessels Kunskamer
17 Sep-1 Dec, The Unseen 16 Oct-4 Nov, works by André
Exhibition of Old Masters and
Works, a rare collection of
selected leading contemporary
Naudé
unseen works by two respective 173 Mackie Street, New Muck-
artists.
iconic artists, Mark Kanne- leneuk, Pretoria, Gauteng,
Maroelana Centre, Maroelana.
meyer: The Berlin paintings, 0181, T. 012 346 3100
GPS : S25º 46.748 EO28º
and Roger Ballen: The vintage www.artsassociationpta.co.za
15.615 T. 012 346 0728
photographs
C. 084 589 0711
By Appointment, The New- Tessa Teixeira’s Fine Art
www.artwessels.co.za
town, 37 Quinn Street New- Studio
town Johannesburg From 10 Oct, Should I go or
Fried Contemporary Art
T. 072 658 0762 should I stay: reflecting on the
Gallery
www.rookegallery.co.za South African Diaspora. Paint-
3 Oct-15 Nov, In From above
ings and installation by Tessa
and beyond, notions of per-
Sandton Civic Art Gallery Teixeira.
spective and viewpoint are ex-
15 Sep-5 Oct, Indian ‘Shared 2 Escombe Avenue, Parktown
plored in themes of space and
Histories’: painted narratives West, Johannesburg, (cnr West-
place with works by Marlise
from India. cliff drive) T.082 339 4848
Keith, Elfriede Dreyer and Eric
Nelson Mandela Square, corner info@tessateixeira.com
Duplan.
Maude and Fifth Streets,
430 Charles Str, Brooklyn,
Sandton T. 011 881 6430/32 Tina Skukan Gallery
Pretoria
23 Sep-18 Oct, technically so-
T. 012 346 0158
Sally Thompson Gallery phisticated and playful carved
www.friedcontemporary.com
2 Sep-10 Oct, Jo’burg Gini, wood pieces by Cecile Heystek.
photography by Sally Gaule. Plot 6, Koedoeberg Road,
Kraal Studio
78 Third Avenue, Melville, Faerie Glen T. 012 991 1733
29 Aug-10 Oct, Solitude and
T. 011 482 9719 artxhibit@hotmail.com
Things Collected.
www.thompsongallery.co.za
364 Milner Road, Waterkloof,
UNISA Art Gallery
Pretoria T. 082 464 6767
24 Sep-16 Oct, Amasiko eSintu
hanlieandclive@kraalstudio.
Craft Exhibition.
co.za
Theo van Wijk Building, Gold-
fields entrance, 5th floor. Unisa
Magpie Gallery
26 Sep-15 Oct, Beast of Bur-
T.012 429 6823
den, an exhibition of works by
hattif@unisa.ac.za
Steven Delport, MJ Lourens,
www.unisa.ac.za/gallery
Justice Mokoena, Sarel Petrus,
Gerda Smit and Fran Veda.
Shop 21B, Southdowns Shop-
Free State
ping Centre, Centurion
T. 012 665 1832
www.magpiegallery.co.za
Michael Heyns Gallery
7 Oct- 15 Nov, works by
Michael Heyns.
Bloemfontein
116 Kate Ave Rietondale Oliewenhuis Art Museum
Pretoria T. 082 451 5584 30 Sep-18 Oct, Freshford
Standard Bank Gallery
www.michaelheyns.co.za House Museum, Photographic
14 Oct-5 Dec, works by Alexis
Preller Competition Exhibition. 20
Millennium Gallery
Cnr. Simmonds & Frederick Oct-10 Jan 2010, David
30 Sep-17 Oct, Water, a photo-
Streets, Johannesburg, 2001 Goldblatt: photography; Some
graphic and multimedia exhibi-
T. 011 631 1889 Afrikaners Revisited (Main
tion by Nina Sederholm. Building). 29 Oct-19 Nov,
www.standardbankgallery.co.za
75 George Storrar Drive, Fractal young artist’s Exhibi-
Groenkloof T. 012 460-8217 tion (the Reservoir).
Seippel Gallery
mgallery@mweb.co.za 16 Harry Smith Street,
Opening Oct, Enter Exit, pho-
tography exhibition by Bloemfontein T. 051 447 9609
Naude Modern
Pierre Crocquet.
From 3 Oct, Chairs/Cheers/ Johan Smith Art Gallery
August House, 76-82 End
Stoele!, works by Andre Naude 26 Sep-4 Oct, 15th Annual
Street, Doornfontein
254a St Patrick’s Road, Muck- Exhibition, with invited artists,
T. 011 401 1421
leneuk Ridge, Pretoria, Alain Nortje, Elga Rabe, Hen-
www.seippel-gallery.com
T. 012 440 2201 nie Meyer, Llewellyn Davies
www.art.co.za/andrenaude and Elbe van Rooyen.
The Art Place, Gallery & Art
Centre Windmill Centre Main Street
Platform on 18th
12 Sep-3 Oct, Enchantment, Clarens T. 058 256 1620
From 8 Oct, Hartwarm, paint-
fine porcelain by Dale Lambert www.johansmith.co.za
ings and sculptures by Cecily
and paintings by Maureen
Pohl, Lothar Botcher, Corne Blou Donki Art Gallery
Rugani. 10-31 Oct, Introducing
Joubert, Adele Adendorf, Lieze Contemporary Art, Steel Sculp-
TAG, quilts and wall hangings.
Geyer and Kobus Walker. tures, Functional Art, Photog-
144 Milner Ave, Roosevelt
232 18th Street, Rietondale, raphy, Ceramics.
Park, T 011 888 9120
Pretoria T. 084 764 4258 Windmill Centre Main Street
www.platform18th.co.za Clarens T. 058 256 1757
University of Johannesburg
Arts Centre Gallery www.bloudonki.co.za
Pretoria Art Museum
2 Sep-14 Oct, retrospective of
Until 1 Dec, A selection of
oil paintings by Braam Kruger.
artworks tells a brief story of
University of Johannesburg,
South African art from the time
Auckland Park Kingsway
Mpumalanga
of the first San artists, includes
campus cnr. Kingsway and
early 20th century painters,
Universiteits Rd, Auckland
Resistance artists and artists
Park T. 011 559 2099/2556
of the 21st century. Also on
www.uj.ac.za/artsacademy The Loop Art Foundry &
show until Dec, the Corobrik
Sculpture Gallery
Collection, showcasing the de-
12 Nov, Night of 1000 Draw- Casterbridge Complex Corner
velopment of ceramics in South
ings, a one-night-only art R40 and Numbi Roads White
Africa in the past thirty years.
exhibition showcasing the vast River T. 013 751 2435 www.
T.012 344 1807/8
and varied creative talents of tlafoundry.co.za
www.pretoriaartmuseum.co.za
the city. Get involved by draw-
ing anything. Every donation
Pretoria Association of Arts
goes on display. For Doodle
27 Sep-15 Oct, works by
sessions and information visit:
Marinus Wiechers, Monica
www.1000drawings.co.za
Zaayman, Riette Vorster. 2-14
SA BUSINESS ART | OCTOBER 2009 JOHANNESBURG ART NEWS PAGE | 05
Colin Richards Parrot (African Grey) I (detail) 2009
Alex Dodd
There is no doubting the fact
that spring sweet spring has
sprung on the highly-strung
Highveld. We’ve had our first
cathartic thunderous storm and
the art world is starting to buzz
with the same kind of frenetic,
honey-making activity as the
bees (endangered though they
may well be).
The sun has already set and I’m
just back from the University
of Johannesburg where I’ve
been part of a team putting
together a two-day colloquium
called On Making that explores
the relationship between theory
and practice, thinking and mak-
ing, in an attempt to critically
engage with the global trend
towards practice-led research
in the fields of art, design and
architecture.
The theme of the event, which
is due to take place on 15 and
16 October at UJ’s Faculty of
Art, Design and Archiecture
(FADA) must have tapped into
some kind of zeitgeist because
the number of participants is
already at 80 and climbing – no
small stakes for an academic
get together. In addition to
several international keynote
addresses, a host of local
speakers, from both inside and
outside of the academic terrain,
will be presenting – from artists
Kathryn Smith, Penny Siopis,
Santu Mofokeng and Ger-
hard Marx, to architects Don
Albert and Thorsten Deckler,
to curators Farzanah Badsha
and Thembinkosi Goniwe, to
designers Clive Rundle and
Garth Walker, to writers/edi-
tors/publishers Sean O’Toole
and Bronwyn Law-Viljoen.
The colloquium is designed to
compliment this year’s FADA
staff show, which has been
curated by Rory Bester and ‘fo-
cuses on how creative and cu-
ratorial processes contribute to
methodological innovations in
practice-led research’. Whether
Watercolour (AOP Gallery)
you’re in on the academic
jargon or not, it’s a varied and
compelling multi-media show
well worth getting lost in for an
hour or two.
I was particularly drawn to an
installation by gallerist/artist
Gordon Froud entitled Excerpts
and Alterations of Alice, which
featured cabinets and book-
cases filled with an obses-
sive collection of books and
ephemera on the theme of Alice
in Wonderland. Froud’s fierce,
focused dedication to this
single wildly inventive text by
Lewis Carroll is a metaphoric
display of delicious dedication
to the limitlessness of the im-
agination. Bookcases, display
cabinets and collections of
dated ephemera are one of the
interesting, almost Victorian
sub-themes of this show, point-
ing towards a shared desire to
hold onto and cherish (even
damaged and warped) material
objects from the past, possibly
as a reaction to the demateri-
alized, high speed nature of
digital culture.
One of the refreshing elements
of the exhibition, are the lists
of 20 things (and why) that
influence and inform each
artists’ creative production.
For Rosalind Cleaver it’s 20
species of living creatures,
from the praying mantis to the
endangered wild dog, Lycaon
Pictus. For John Shirley it’s
20 albums, from Bob Dylan’s
Desire to Nick Drake’s Five
Leaves Left. For Ilse Pahl it’s
20 second-hand shops. For
Sandhya Lalloo it’s 20 foot-
wear inspirations, from a pair
of bright blue Wellingtons to a
pair of handmade sandals from
Phuket. For Leora Farber it’s
20 films, from Peter Greena-
way’s The Pillow Book to
Alain Resnais’ Hiroshima Mon
Amour. Viewers are invited to
take home copies of each list
– a bit like taking home a few
key pages of each artist’s diary.
And speaking of diaries, mine’s
busting at the seams with
must-see art happenings tak-
ing place around the city over
the next few weeks. Firstly,
there’s Marco Cianfanelli’s first
Goodman Gallery solo, Absent
Fields, opening on Thursday
night. Then there’s Bettina
Malcomess and Simon Njami’s
Us at JAG, a group show
exploring notions of differ-
ence, featuring Andrew Putter,
Bridget Baker, Daniel Halter,
Dorothee Kreutzfeldt, Frances
Goodman, Hasan & Husain
Essop, and Kudzanai Chiurai
among others – what a line
up! And the good news is that
there’s still time to catch one
last walkabout, taking place
from 12 to 1pm on 10 October
during the Spring Art Tour.
Taking place from 8 to 11
October, Artlogic’s Spring
Art Tour features a plethora
of exhibition launches, artist
talks and special projects along
with specially designed menus
at suggested lunch and dinner
venues to capitalise on the art
hungry vibe. Be sure to check
out the Joburg itinerary at
<springarttour.co.za> before
the whole hip jamboree has
passed you by. I might have to
take some lessons in Vulcan
teleportation from Star Trek’s
Spock before next Thursday
night in order to make the
launch of CO-OP in the heart
of Braamfontein (the new col-
laborative project space hosted
by Whatiftheworld, Dokter
and Misses and Open Johan-
nesburg), hotfoot it to Gabrielle
Goliath’s Murder on 7th at
Gallery MOMO and somehow
still see Colin Richards’ im-
maculately rendered African
Grey parrots at Art on Paper
all on the same night. It might
even be too tall an order for a
self-declared art pig such as
yours truly.
1mile²
coming to
Johannesburg
The project 1mile² asks
communities to map their
neighbourhood exploring the
biodiversity, cultural diversity,
and aesthetic diversity of their
local square mile.
Working in collaboration with
artists and an ecologist, the
programme brings together so-
cial and environmental sustain-
ability via a creative medium.
Communities are linked across
the world through an internet
platform that shares their find-
ings, ideas, attitudes, creativity
and approaches to conserva-
tion.
1mile² addresses the interrela-
tion between culture (including
issues such as faith and gender
equality) and the environ-
ment within diverse societies,
and provides education and
learning opportunities through
a process shaped by artistic
practice.
Visiting Arts is pleased to an-
nounce 1mile² Johannesburg.
The project, launching in
September, is set to take place
around the bustling Joubert
Park area of Johannesburg,
a frantic hub in one of the
‘greenest cities in the world’.
For three months a Joburg
artist, an artist from the UK
and a local ecologist will lead
a diverse group of participants
from across the community
in putting the area under the
microscope. Their discoveries,
they will not only share with
fellow South Africans week by
week, but with communities
doing the same in Bradford,
Edinburgh, Waltham Forest,
Smethwick (UK) and Karachi,
Dhaka, Shanghai, Tehran and
Delhi, creating a fascinating
living online artwork in www.
square-mile.net
The project is an exciting new
partnership between Visiting
Arts, Arts Alive 2009 festival
and JAG (Johannesburg Art
Gallery) who are passion-
ate about connecting to and
celebrating the creativity of the
local communities and in con-
necting them to the world.
Brenda Devar (Arts Alive) is
‘thrilled’ to be supporting the
project as part of Arts Alive
2009 and Antoinette Murdoch,
new Chief Curator at JAG
is pulling out all the stops to
bring the best of the city’s
thriving arts scene to take a
look.
As part of the Arts Alive
festival there will be opportu-
nities to connect with 1mile²
Johannesburg and its artists and
communities through events
throughout September.
Sabrina Smith-Noble
Visiting Arts
Art Leader
David Brodie
By Michael Coulson
One of the newest and sharp-
est gallerists around town is
David Brodie, who recently
added to his lustre by forming
a partnership with the gallery
considered by many to be the
star of Cape Town, if not the
whole of SA, Michael Steven-
son, to form Brodie/Stevenson.
While Brodie will continue to
originate some shows, he will
also broaden his offering by
providing a shop window in
Jo’burg for Stevenson’s Cape
artists. Indeed, his current exhi-
bition of Nandipa Mntambo is
a case in point, as it comprises
some work from her recent
Cape show (cynics would say,
the pieces that didn’t sell) plus
newly created work.
Brodie studied fine art at Wits
from 1996-1999, and like many
others started his gallery career
at Goodman Gallery while
completing his master’s. Wryly,
he admits that the last artwork
he ever completed himself
was his submission for his
master’s degree! By this stage
he’d become disillusioned with
the process of creating art and
found the gallery environment
invigorating.
Then came a spell at the
Jo’burg Art Gallery, which
he remembers as an “incred-
ible experience. There were
some great people there, and
it gave me direct access to the
kind of work I’ll never again
be able to stand around and
look at. But though JAG had
a heart of gold, its body was
wasting away. It was a difficult
time, and some good people
left. And at the same time as
I was becoming aware of its
organisational defects, I was
increasingly aware that I was
more suited to the commercial
gallery environment, not least
because things happen faster
there!”
So it was back to the Goodman
for a few years, to encoun-
ter “more fantastic art and
fantastic artists”. But while
the Goodman is sans pareil for
established artists, Brodie came
to realise that he wanted to
work in a creative partnership
with younger and emerging
artists, that he really believed
in. So he started his own
gallery, under the name Art
Extra, which opened its doors
on November 11 2007, just as
Goldman Sachs was collapsing,
taking the bubble in the world
art market with it.
It was always clear to Brodie
that his offerings had to strike a
balance between strong, excit-
ing work and what was viable.
His gallery had to be a com-
mercial space, not a museum,
and this was also important in
his tie-up with Michael Steven-
son, a year later.
As Brodie says, his backers are
shareholders in the gallery, and
he has to keep them happy. He
thinks they are, though they
haven’t seen any dividends yet.
Brodie first worked with
Stevenson in 2005 on an
exhibition, Personal Affects,
seen only in New York, which
included the likes of Robin
Rhode, Wim Botha, Diane Vic-
tor, Minette Vari and Sandile
Zulu. They had kept in contact
and worked together on other
projects, so he sees the partner-
ship as in effect formalising an
existing relationship.
While the model of two gal-
leries working in collabora-
tion has been tried elsewhere,
Brodie believes it’s the first
of its kind in SA. He’s a great
admirer of Stevenson’s exten-
sive knowledge and absolute
integrity and thinks he has the
most forward-thinking, clearly
formulated strategy of any
gallery on the continent. “It’s a
great privilege to be associated
with him.”
The combined stable will
include several of Brodie’s
long-standing artists, such as
Lawrence Lemoana, Reshma
Chhiba and Mary Wafer, as
well as Stevenson artists like
Mntambo, Wim Botha and
Conrad Botes.
While Mntambo’s exhibition
includes some work seen in
Cape Town, Botes’ recent show
was completely different from
his Cape Town show some
months previously. Zanele Mo-
holi’s upcoming show Faces &
Phases, on the other hand, will
approach the same issues as his
Cape show but in a different
way. As Brodie says, the mix of
new and old work must depend
on the specific circumstances,
bearing in mind that Jo’burg
and Cape Town are different
markets, with different tastes
and different artists. One of
Brodie/Stevenson’s objectives
is to try to bridge this gap.
Brodie says there’s no ques-
tion that business has been
hit by the downturn, though
– and he’s not unique in this
– he feels that his particular
market niche has held up bet-
ter than some. “We originally
showcased mainly younger,
emerging work, which was
priced accordingly. Most of our
buyers have been collecting for
no more than five or 10 years,
and we think they’ve cut back
much less than the corporate
market.
“Also, SA collectors largely
collect SA art, so to some
extent the market has been
insulated from international
trends. Slowdowns just force
galleries to work a bit harder.
“Buyers may look harder and
longer before they buy, and
be more selective, but that’s
a good thing. I’ve always en-
sured that my work is appropri-
ately priced; my biggest fear is
of over-pricing a young artist’s
work and blowing them out of
the water before their career
has started. On the other hand,
you mustn’t underprice them,
either, and you must let their
pricing develop as their career
grows.”
It’s a philosophy that seems
to combine philanthropy with
sound business practice, and
one can only hope that it will
continue to work for the benefit
of all concerned.
PAGE | 06
Eastern Cape
East London
Ann Bryant Art Gallery
17 Sep-4 Oct, paintings by
Stella Wills.
9 St Marks Road, Southernwood,
East London T. 043 722 4044
annbryant@intekom.co.za
Blacksmiths Sculpture Studio
From 2 Oct, sculptures by Frans
Boekkooi.
Pienaar Street (next to the brewery)
Nieu Bethesda T. 049 841 1636,
C. 082 865 2699
Heidi’s Gallery
From 2 Oct, a group exhibition of
paintings and sculptures by various
Eastern Cape artists.
Pienaar Street, Nieu Bethesda
T. 049 841 1636, C. 082 865 2699
Port Elizabeth
Alliance Francaise Port Elizabeth
3-23 Oct, a duo exhibition with
works in ceramics by Delphine Niez
and multimedia by Cheryl Dougans.
17 Mackay Street, Richmond Hill
T.041 585 7889
www.alliance.org.za
Jack Heath Gallery
6-22 Oct, Depression-Through the
fire, paintings and drawings by
Nicky Leigh.
Centre for Visual Art, University of
KwaZulu Natal, Ridge Road, Pieter-
maritzburg T. 033 260 5170
www.nickyleigh.co.za
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art
Museum
15 Aug-25 Nov, Poking Fun, works
from the Art Museum’s permanent
collection exploring humour, biting
commentary and satire.
1 Park Drive, Port Elizabeth
T. 041 506 2000
www.artmuseum.co.za
Northern Cape Dealers in South African contempo-
Kimberley
William Humphreys Art Gallery David Porter Antiques
From Oct 1, Cansa Exhibition, a
group exhibition by various artists
who donated their works.
Civic Centre, Cullinan Crescent,
Kimberley T. 053 831 1724
www.museumsnc.co.za
Western Cape 31 Oct-5 Dec, While you were
Cape Town Villiers.
34 Long
29 Sep-17 Oct, Recovery, a group
exhibition upstairs, with works by
Leonora van Staden, Jop Kunneke,
Sulette van der Merwe and Jeff
Koons. 20 Oct-21 Nov, ‘editions
limited’, a new selection of portraits
(downstairs) and other works by
Japanese artist Takashi Murakami
(upstairs).
34 Long Street, Cape Town
T. 021 426 4594
www.34long.com
3RD i Gallery
1 Oct-6 Nov, Heart, mixed media
artwork by Tina Nel and
Lisa T von Brandis.
95 Waterkant Street, De Waterkant.
T. 021 425 2266
Alliance Française
23-Sep-13 Oct, paintings by Leon
Vermeulen.
155 Loop Street, Cape Town.
T. 021 4235699
www.alliance.org.za
ART GALLERY LISTINGS: EASTERN, NORTHERN AND WESTERN CAPE
Association for Visual Arts (AVA)
28 Sep-16 Oct, A Meeting, works by
Joanne Halse and Michael Taylor,
Através do olho mágico (through the
peephole) by Hannah Morris, and
Wood, a group exhibition includ-
ing works by Sam Allerton, Justin
Anschutz, Stuart Bird, Peter Jenks,
Jost Kirsten, Thami Kitty, Adrian
Kohler, Gimberg Nerf, Rowan Smith
and Donovan Ward.
35 Church Street, Cape Town
T. 021 424 7436
www.ava.co.za
Atlantic Art Gallery
A permanent display showcasing
leading contemporary South African
artists.
25 Wale Street Cape Town,
T. 021 423 5775
Blank Projects
1-24 Oct, The conductor’s fear
of the soloist-ten small pieces for
violin, a video still from a 3-channel
video installation by Marianne
Halter and Mario Marchisella.
113-115 Sir Lowry Road,
Woodstock T.072 1989 221
www.blankprojects.com
Cape Gallery 13 Aug-07 Oct, Weifeling, a
27 Sep-17 Oct, See, oil paintings by
Anthea Delmotte. 25 Oct-4 Dec, oil
paintings by Lesley Charnock.
60 Church Street, Cape Town
T. 021 423 5309
www.capegallery.co.za
Carbonage
14 Oct-12 Nov, New Art
Exhibition.
4th Floor, Harrington House, 37
Barrack Street, Cape Town.
www.carbonage.co.za
Carmel Art
Dealers in Fine art, exclusive
distributers of Pieter van der
Westhuizen etchings.
66 Vineyard Road, corner Cavend-
ish St, Claremont T.021 671 6601
Constantia Village Shopping
Centre, Main Road, Constantia
T. 021 794 6262
Christopher MǾller Art
rary art and South African masters.
82 Church Street, Cape Town
T. 021 439 3517
www.christophermollerart.co.za
Buyers and sellers of South African
art
T. 021 6830580/083 452 5862
david@davidporterantiques.com
Erdmann Contemporary /Photog-
raphers Gallery Iziko South African National
1-31 Oct, Parrot Jungle, a solo pho-
tography exhibition by Lien Botha.
sleeping, includes large paintings,
original works on paper, monotypes
and lithographs by Karlien de
63 Shortmarket Street, Cape Town
T. 021 422 2762
www.erdmanncontemporary.co.za
Everard Read Gallery -
Cape Town
8-22 Oct, Sex, Power & Money, a
group exhibition.
Portswood Rd, V&A Waterfront
T. 021 418 4527
www.everard-read-capetown.co.za
Exposure Gallery
From 1 Oct, Kevin Factor
Exhibition.
The Old Biscuit Mill, 373 Albert
Road, Woodstock T. 021 447 4124
www.exposuregallery.co.za
Focus Contemporary, Fine Young
Art
19 Sep-16 Oct, Om Shanti Om,
photography exhibition by Jochen
Manz. 17 Oct-6 Nov, Cast in Africa,
a collaborative sculpture show by
some of Cape Town’s finest young
talent, including works by Ian Cat-
tanach and Nicolas Wells-Bladen.
2 Long Street Cape Town
CAPE ART LISTINGS
T. 021 419 8888,
www.focuscontemporary.co.za
Gallery F
Contemporary and archival South
African Art.
221 Long Street, Cape Town
T. 021 422 5246
www.galleryf.co.za
Goodman Gallery, Cape 62 Kloof Street, Gardens
17 Sep-10 Oct, FICTION #1: Auto-
biography without form of Bernado
Soares by Bili Bidjocka.
3rd Floor, Fairweather House, 176
Sir Lowry Road Woodstock,
Cape Town T. 021 462 7573/4,
www.goodmangallerycape.com
Greatmore Art Studios
1-7 Oct, video installation by Max-
ense Denis
47-49 Greatmore St, Woodstock,
Cape Town T. 021 447 9699
info@greatmore.org
www.greatmoreart.org
Infin Art Gallery
Wolfe Street Chelsea Wynberg
T. 021 761 2816 and
Buitengracht St Cape Town
T. 021 423 2090
www.infinart.co.za
iArt Gallery
2-17 Oct, an exhibition inspired by
POSTER theft, a collection of origi-
nal art posters created by Carla
Crafford alongside work from the
artist featured in each poster. Artists
work on show include:
Diane Victor, Berco Wilsenach, Co-
bus Haupt, Pieter Swanepoel, Eric
Duplan, Magdel Fourie, Guy du
Toit, Wilma Cruise, Gordon Froud,
Johann Moolman, Sarel Petrus,
Egon Tania, Ladiné Joubert, Erna
Bodenstein-Ferreira, Curt Fors and
Jan van der Merwe.
71 Loop Street T. 021 424 5150
www.iart.co.za
iArt Gallery (Wembley Square)
1-17 Oct, Experience and the Scar,
work on paper by Colbert Mashile.
Wembley Square, Gardens
T. 021 424 5150
www.iart.co.za
Irma Stern Museum
3-24 Oct, Visitor, by Liza Grobler
and 14 other artists. The exhibition
will change daily: Objects, sounds,
friends and acquaintances will
occupy the space. Work ranges from
graphic prints to knitted sculptures
to musical interludes and interven-
tions.
Cecil Road, Rosebank, Cape Town
T. 021 685 5686
www.irmastern.co.za
Gallery Road Woodstock, Ground Floor.
9 Sep-30 Nov, The Everyday and
the Extraordinary, three decades of
architectural design by Jo Noero.
9 Jun-25 Oct, Cross-Pollination,
South African artists working from
1930-50. Includes work by Laubser,
Stern, Kibel, Pierneef, Sekoto and
Lipshitz. 30 Jun-25 Oct, Choices
2008, showcasing new artworks
acquired in 2008 by the Acquisitions
Committee.
Until 25 Oct, From Fire into
Bronze: The power of bronze,
works by Norman Catherine, Nandi
Mntambo and Claudette Schreud-
ers. From 14 Jul, The Art of Relief
Printing, an exhibition demystifying
print processes. Includes woodcuts,
wood, engravings and linocuts.
Government Avenue, Company’s
Garden T. 021 467 4660,
www.iziko.org.za
João Ferreira Gallery works by Jonathan Munnik.
2 Sep-3 Oct, ‘Before Life’, photog-
raphy by Araminta de Clermont.
7-31 Oct, From Here to Eternity II,
oil paintings by Louise Linder.
70 Loop Street, Cape Town,
T. 021 423 5403
www.joaoferreiragallery.com
Kalk Bay Modern
7-31 Oct, Paul Weinberg’s Photo-
graphic Exhibition.
1st Floor, Olympia Buildings, 136
Main Road Kalk Bay.
T.021 788 6571
Email: kbmodern@iafrica.com
www.kalkbaymodern.com
Kunst House 3-4 Oct, Guided Tours of the Hess
24 Sep-17 Oct, Seductress in
Distress, works by Thelma van
Rensburg.
T. 021 422 1255
www.kunsthouse.co.za
Lindy van Niekerk Art Gallery For Doodle sessions email:
Exhibition of SA’s leading artists.
31 Kommandeur Road, Welgemoed,
Belville
T. 021 913 7204/5
www.artpro.co.za
Michael Stevenson
Contemporary
1 Oct-21 Nov, The Street, sculpture
by Meschac Gaba and ‘Subtropi-
calia’, video, sculpture and a short
story by Paul Edmonds.
Ground Floor, Buchanan Building,
160 Sir Lowry Road, Cape Town
T. 021 462 1500
www.michaelstevenson.com
Raw Vision Gallery
multimedia exhibition by
Wessel Snyman.
89 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock
fishermike@mac.com
Rose Korber
Powerful new charcoal and pastel
drawings by Richard Smith, as well
as recent works on paper by Wil-
liam Kentridge, Deborah Bell and
Ryan Arenson.
48 Sedgemoor Road, Camps Bay,
Cape Town T. 021 438 9152
roskorb@icon.co.za
www.rosekorberart.com
Salon91 Contemporary
18 Sep-10 Oct, Abdication: paint-
ings, sculpture, animation, drawings
and a performance piece by Lourens
Joubert.
91 Kloof Street, Gardens, Cape
Town 021 424 6930
www.salon91art.co.za
South African Museum
25 Jul-Mar 2010, Subtle Thresholds,
the representational taxonomies
of disease, a mixed media show
curated by Fritha Langerman.
25 Queen Victoria Street,
Cape Town T. 021 481 3800
http://www.iziko.org.za
South Gallery
Showcasing creativity from
Kwazulu-Natal including Ardmore
Ceramic Art.
Fairweather House, 176 Sir Lowry
T. 021 465 4672
info@southgallery.co.za
These Four Walls Fine Art Galley
Until 3 0ct, Salon, a group exhibi-
tion including works by Tamsyn
Lancaster, Angela Briggs, Mary
Visser, Leboanna Lefuma, Em-
manuel Mutizwa, Philippa Allen and
Janet Anderson.
169 Lower Main Road,
Observatory T. 021 447 7393
www.thesefourwalls.co.za
Urban Contemporary Art
23 Sep-16 Oct, Historyⁿ, a group
show curated by Andrew Lam-
precht. Artists include Alan Taylor,
Brett Shuman, Catherine Ocholla,
Charles Maggs, Gavin Younge,
Lauren Palte, Maria van Rooyen,
Richard Chauke and Wayne Barker.
21 Oct-13 Nov, solo exhibition with
46 Lower Main Road, Observatory,
Cape Town T. 021 447 4132,
www.urbancontemporaryart.co.za
The South African Print Gallery
Artthrob Editions. Show extended to
end of October
107 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock,
Cape Town, T. 021 462 6851
www.printgallery.co.za
SA BUSINESS ART | OCTOBER 2009
What if the World…
1-31 Oct, a solo exhibition by up-
and-coming young painter Andrzej
Nowicki. First floor, 208 Albert
Road Woodstock T. 021 448 1438
www.whatiftheworld.com
Woodstock Industrial Centre
5 Nov, Night of 1000 Drawings,
a one-night-only art exhibition
showcasing the vast and varied
creative talents of the city. Get
involved by drawing anything.
Every donation goes on display.
capetown@1000drawings.co.za.
www.1000drawings.co.za
Worldart
23 Sep-12 Oct, Cityscapes, paint-
ings by Gavin Rain.
54 Church Street Cape Town CBD
T. 021 423 3075
www.worldart.co.za
Franschoek T. 021 886 6281
Galerie L’ Art
A permanent exhibition of old
masters.
Shop no 3, The Ivy, Krugerstreet,
Franschoek T. 021 876 2497
www.galart.co.za
Gallery Grande Provence
6 Sep-7 Oct, painting by Cornelia
Snook, objets d’art by Nanette Nel
and flowers by Okasie.
11 Oct-11 Nov, an exhibition
of recent paintings by Jenny
Groenewald, with bronze sculptures
by Angus Taylor, Anton Momberg
and Jupiter Studios.
Main Road Franschoek
T. 021 876 8600
www.grandeprovence.co.za
George
George Museum
19 Sep-23 Oct, Decade, highlights
from 10 Years of Collecting for the
Sanlam Art Collection.
9 Courtenay St, George
T. 044 873 5343
Oudtshoorn 34 Ryneveld Street, Stellenbosch
ArtKaroo Gallery
Until 23 Oct, Amongst Aloes, a solo
show of paintings by Janet Dixon. 1-
26 Oct, An Installation of Drawing
by Leanette Botha. 29 Oct-12 Nov,
Thijs Nel Solo Exhibition.
107 Baron van Reede Str,
Oudtshoorn T. 044 279 1093 janet@
artkaroo.co.za
www.artkaroo.co.za
Paarl
Off the Wall Contemporary
24 Sep- 30 Oct, Drawing Exhibi-
tion.
171 Main Road, Paarl
T. 021 872 8648 info@offthewall-
contemporary.co.za
www.offthewallcontemporary.com
Stellenbosch The Old Harbour Gallery
Art on 5
Permanent exhibition of paintings
and ceramics by Maryna de Witt,
Pera Schillings, and Karen Kieviet.
7b Andringa Street, Stellenbosch
T. 021 887 7234
Boezaart Bauermeister
3-4 Oct, Jewellery exhibition
Andmar building, Cnr Ryneveld and
Church St, T. 021 886 7569 www.
boezaartbauermeister.com
Delaire Graaff Estate
Art Collection
3-4 Oct, Guided tours of Delaire
Graff Estate Art Collection
R310 Helshoogte Pass
T. 021 808 5900
www.delaire.co.za
Dorp Straat Gallery
3-27 Oct, Hang in there, paintings
by Nigel Mullins and sculptures by
Kobus La Grange.
Church Street, Stellenbosch
T. 021 887 2256
www.dorpstraatgalery.co.za
Glen Carlou Estate
Art Collection.
Simondium Road, Klapmuts
T. 021 875 5314
www.glencarlou.co.za
Pier Rabe Antiques, Art and
Contemporary Design
3-4 Oct, Conceptual Installation
and Event by Strijdom van der
Merwe.
143 Dorp St, Stellenbosch
T. 021 883 9730
www.pierrabe.co.za
Red Black and White
3-4 Oct, Creative Blocks, curated by
Jeanetta Blignaut.
5a Distillery Road, Bosman’s Cross-
ing, Stellenbosch.
www.redblackandwhite.co.za
Rupert Museum
3-4 Oct, Rodin, bronze sculptures;
permanent collection of 20th Cen-
tury South African Art.
Stellentia Ave, T. 021 888 3344
www.rupertmuseum.org
Sasol Art Museum,
Stellenbosch University
16 Sep-24 Oct, works by Mbongeni
Buthelezi.
52 Ryneveld St, Stellenbosch
T. 021 808 3691
SMAC Art Gallery
From 3 Oct, paintings and pho-
tographic installations by Anton
Karstel, portraits by Nel Erasmus
and performances by Barend de Wet
and Tracey Rose
De Wet Centre, Church Street,
Stellenbosch T. 021 887 3607
www.smacgallery.com
Stellenbosch Art Gallery
Permanent exhibition of Conrad
Theys, John Kramer, Gregoire
Boonzaier, Adriaan Boshoff and
other artists.
T. 021-8878343
www.stellenboschartgallery.co.za
Tokara Winery
3-4 Oct, Art at Tokara exhibition.
R310 Helshoogte Pass
T. 021 808 5314
www.tokara.co.za
Elgin
Oudebrug Gallery
31 Oct-15 Nov, paintings and sculp-
tures by Sheena Ridley, Prof. Pierre
Volschenk, Xhanti Mpakama, Susan
Mitchenson, Paul Andrew and Niel
Jonker.
Grabouw, Elgin T. 021 859 2595
www.ridley.co.za
Hermanus
An exhibition of art and sculpture.
No.4 Warrington Place, Harbour
Road, Hermanus
T. 028 313 2751 / 0822595515
www.oldharbourgallery.co.za
Philip Harper Galleries
Specialising in South African old
masters and select contemporary
artists.
Oudehof Mall, 167 Main Rod,
Hermanus T. 028 312 4836
www.philipharpergalleries.co.za
l’Agulhas
Red Corridor Gallery
Sculpture by Rudi Neuland, paint-
ings by Leszek Skurski and textile
objects by Joanna Skurska.
4 Main Road, L’Agulhas 7287
T. 028 435 7503
info@capeagulhas-arthouse.com
www.capeagulhas-arthouse.com
www.redcorridor-RSA.com
SA BUSINESS ART | OCTOBER 2009 CAPE ART
Invisible beauty of
sickness probed
Melvyn Minnaar reviews:
Fritha Langerman’s Subtle Thresholds
at the Iziko SA Museum.
There is something very poign-
ant in wandering around this
in-between museum room in a
time in which the World Health
Organisation warned, a few
months ago, that the notorious
N1H1 influenza virus would
place “all of humanity under
threat”.
Fears about the invisible
killer have been toned down
somewhat since, even though
several dead, South Africans
included, lie in the wake of the
deadly virus.
All manner of variations on
that nasty little instigator of ill
and illness surrounds one in
this major installation: a grand,
ambitious project that inves-
tigates the invisible beauty of
sickness.
It brings sharply into focus the
fact that, in an effort to cope
with the dangers and disasters
of disease, we humans insist on
codifying and boxing-in as best
we can the signals that, actu-
ally, scare us no end.
Coincidentally, we recently
marked 40 years since the
first men on the moon came
back to earth and were held in
quarantine, before accolades
and stardom, until such time
as Nasa’s medical people were
happy that they didn’t bring
strange, evil contamination
from outer space.
In the light of the subtle and
not so subtle social politics and
propaganda manipulations that
played out all over the world
as the so-called “swine flu”
caused havoc in a world we
humans try so hard to control,
Langerman’ s serious, very
serious - but awesomely beauti-
ful and challenging - show
illustrates, the fine lines that we
use to divide knowledge. She
reminds us that aesthetics lurks
in those dividing lines.
Using illness as a metaphor
(not the first time it has been
done, of course, and there
are strong overtones here of
Camus’s famous existentialist
novel about the human condi-
tion, The Plague), she revital-
ises it, and suggests that the
“subtle thresholds” of her title
are the limits that keep us from
a fuller understanding of that
which, in some ways, threatens
human existence most.
Being “subtle thresholds”, the
inference is that we should
breach those.
For this purpose, she has set
out to create a remarkable
environment.
Drawing on the holdings of
the Iziko, UCT and Wits Adler
collections, bringing together
biomedical objects, images and
artefacts from the zoological,
human and microbial spheres,
she created crisp interventions.
(Everyone is taken by the
bandaged, “medicated” stuffed
animals. It charmingly trips
another vital wire about life
and medication.)
Being a skilled and precise
graphic artist, Langerman takes
up on the curious loveliness in
the geometric and other pat-
terns that constitute representa-
tions of microscopic organisms
like viruses and uses these to
visually define the various parts
in all their density of texts and
objects. All of the latter are,
naturally, offered in the highest
of curatorial presentation.
At the same time, there is a de-
licious, even amusing feeling,
to a presentation that has all the
wacko dramatic flair of an off-
beat Madame Tussauds set-up.
Curiosity and scary stuff, theat-
rically-presented, have always
had box-office appeal.
Using projections, texts and
digital images, as well as
those museum objects, Subtle
Thresholds is, the artists
proposes, concerned with the
means through which images
are seen (or not) and under-
stood (or misunderstood). For
this reason, the installation
employs “devices that heighten
vision: scopes, light, shadows,
reflection, projections, etc.”
Subtle Thresholds is a major,
pioneering art work, which
took Langerman two years to
research and construct. It liter-
ally employs hundreds of bits
and pieces. She uses historic
medical equipment.
A 68-metre timeline - that
includes a biblical concord-
ance of disease - together with
a running list of thousands of
species, charts the display.
There are light boxes with viral
images made from pharma-
cological lab plastics, where
we encounter those influenza
nasties.
Sign plates with GPS co-ordi-
nates show disease outbreaks,
electron microscope images of
animal droppings in trefoil and
quatrefoil-shaped frames, steel
silhouettes of bacteria, and 512
cut-out hands, derived from
art-historical images of healing,
add to the visual dramatics.
It is not an easy, walk-through
exhibition this. It takes time
to read, see and figure out the
lay-out and threads that the
artist-cum-museum-curator has
plotted for the visitor to follow,
cross refer to, and come to
terms with.
The result is a most enlighten-
ing, eye-opening and fulfill-
ing experience. It is simply
brilliant.
First published in
The Cape Times
Vuleka Art
winners 2009
Art Winner: Doorway to Comfort, by Angeline le Roux
This year the prestigious na-
tional Vuleka Art Competition
has drawn just three short of
400 entries – 83 more than last
year. A selection of 57 works
is currently on exhibition in
the Art.b Gallery in Bellville’s
library complex (Carel van
Aswegen Street).
Vuleka (the Xhosa word for
‘open’) is hosted annually
by The Arts Association of
Bellville (Art.b) in conjunc-
tion with the financial services
group Sanlam. It is open for
artists (18 years and older) who
have not had a solo exhibition
during the preceding three
years.
A three-dimensional work in
paper and metal, titled Door-
way to Comfort, by Angeline
le Roux, was adjudged the best
artwork overall and has landed
her a windfall of R10 000 and a
return flight to Paris, France.
Angeline (36), currently from
Slanghoek, Rawsonville, also
won the category Best Three-
dimensional work, including
ceramics (R5 000). She is
no stranger to Vuleka, having
won the prize for three-dimen-
sional works in 2005. She was
awarded a merit prize at the
Sasol New Signatures competi-
tion the following year.
The prizewinner in the catego-
ry Best painting in oil, water or
acrylic is Zonia Nel-Scheffer
from Stellenberg for The Miss-
ing Year, an oil painting on
board (R5 000).
Instead of a category prize for
Works in any other medium,
including photography, the ad-
judicators opted for two merit
prizes of R2 500 each. These
were awarded to:
Lionel Smit from Somerset
West, for Residue (Oil on
canvas); and
Klara-Marie Den Heijer from
The Strand, for Post Modern
Thinker in glass, ink and
acetate film.
Maxie Oosthuizen, co-ordina-
tor of exhibitions at the Art.
b Gallery, expressed her joy at
the fact that the entries were
representative of a wide spec-
trum of cultures and age groups
and that the record number of
entries seemed to indicate that
the competition had clearly be-
come recognised as a respected
art platform.
While most entries were drawn
from the Cape metropole and
Boland towns, some travelled
from as far as Potchefstroom,
Parys (Free State), Johan-
nesburg, Grahamstown, Port
Elizabeth, George, Okiep and
Steinkopf indicating the ex-
panding footprint of Vuleka.
Melvyn Minnaar
The Artful Viewer
Bronze Business
Will bronze ever go out of
business in the ‘monument
industry’? One would think
that in this country where the
lowest copper cable connection
to Telkom is unsafe and fair
game to scrap metal thieves,
the question will be particularly
potent.
Then there is the business of
grandiose public statues in
a tradition which is essen-
tially a colonialist construct.
Theoretically, liberated African
aesthetic thinking should have
reject it, but seemingly the
industry continues merrily. (I
know, this is a hoary hobby
horse, but it still amazes - and
still empowers bad public art.)
The case of the replaced bronze
monument to cadres Williams
and Waterwitch at the Athlone
police station by Egon Tanya
and Guy du Toit (originally
one of the better such projects,
and the new one isn’t too bad
either) is poignant marker in
this sometimes foolish busi-
ness. There is something rather
darkly amusing that the work,
broken and stolen in pieces by
copper thieves two years ago,
was replaced in August by a
follow-up adaptation - which
probably doubled up the cost as
well as the effort. Let’s hope it
stays put.
This thing with bronze - wheth-
er turned into art, or simply
statements of personal and/or
political power - seems to be
an odd aspect of the human
condition. Yes, we know it has
its roots in the distant ‘bronze
age’, but the way it entered
the realm of art does throw out
questions about its mysterious
metal appeal.
It doesn’t answer directly, but
Hayden Proud’s ambitious Fire
to Form exhibition at the Iziko
SA National Gallery provides a
couple of thoughtful pointers.
All about bronze art, this is
every beginner and advanced
enthusiast’s chance to learn just
about everything: from casting
methods to patinas; all things
sculptural and technical. (It’s
surprising how little we all
know about this.)
The show is scheduled to close
at the end of this month, but
Iziko being what it is, one
never knows. Rush and see it.
Proud has done a fine curato-
rial job, sourcing nearly 100
pieces from the Iziko and
Sanlam collections (the latter
has surprising good stuff) with
some additional loans from lo-
cal private collectors. Explana-
PAGE | 07
tory texts are good and there’s
an interactive programme for
visitors to engage with. In a
number of ways, it is quite an
important show, covering a
wide range.
Unfortunately, there is a
serious space and presentation
problem, with the whole lot
squashed into the one room. It
makes for difficult negotiation.
Pompous bronzes and the like
- as humans and personalities
do - need breathing space. This
crowded bazaar runs a little
low on viewer oxygen.
Nevertheless, it is great to
see some of the SANG pieces
that had been out of sight for
yonks. These are the works that
compel the essential ques-
tions about the significance of
bronze sculpture, both in the
Western tradition and else-
where. (The Iziko collection
of Ashanti pieces, acquired in
1971, showcases the vibrant
bronze-casting traditions of
West Africa, and makes a
vibrant counterfoil to the ro-
mantic grandeur that pervades
elsewhere - both the ‘colonial’
European traditions and the
iconoclastic traits that informed
modernism and beyond.)
There are more than a few
artworks that oblige a reward-
ing visit to this major under-
promoted exhibition. But the
display piece not to miss is the
recently-acquired casting of the
famous Gloria Victis! by the
Beaux-Arts sculptor Antonin
Mercie. What a work of art
this is! What a magnificent
indulgence.
Originally created by the young
French artist (he became vastly
famous later) in the early-
1870s, it is one of the most fa-
mous of all bronzes pieces, for
various reasons. One of these,
as Proud says, is that what
began as a projected victory
memorial, had to be turned into
one glorifying the dead of the
losers - after France’s defeat
in the Franco-Prussian war of
1870. Thus the title in English:
‘Glory to the Vanquished!’
Many castings of the sculpture,
in various sizes, exist, but the
Iziko version is a valuable one
from the famous Ferdinand
Barbedienne foundry. The
piece, apparently wanted by
the Boston Museum of Fine
Arts, was donated to the SANG
in 2004 by Donna Nicholas in
memory of her husband, the
collector Dimitri Nicholas in
2004. A great gift, if ever there
was one.
One cannot talk about the
bronze business - puzzling as it
is - without having a
look at this.
PAGE | 08 SA BUSINESS ART | OCTOBER 2009

ART GALLERY LISTINGS: KWA ZULU - NATAL

Durban

Artisan Contemporary
30 Sep-28 Oct, the latest Nieu
Bethesda-inspired work by
internationally-celebrated ce-
ramicist Charmaine Haines.
344 Florida Rd, Morningside,
T. 031 312 4364
sue@artisan.co.za

Art Space - DBN

5-24 Oct, Ceramics SA/KZN
Regional Exhibition (Main
Gallery),
Stillness Moves, works by Ellis
Pearson (Middle Gallery). 26
Oct–14 Nov, work by UNISA
Students, Cally Lotz (Middle
Gallery) and Anthea Martin
(Front Room).10 Oct, Showing
of Art 21 Series 5. 17-23 Oct,
works by Vega Imagination Lab
students (Front Room).
3 Millar Road, Durban. T.031
312 0793 www.artspace-dur-
ban.com

Durban Art Gallery

12 Aug-end Oct, PAST/
PRESENT, works by Andrew
Verster. Until Dec 2009, Pic(k)
Of The DAG, South African Peter Machen
works from the gallery’s Per-
manent Collection. Sometimes it’s the most obvi- perfect stillness. ceiving credit where credit was
Second Floor, City Hall, Anton ous things which can be the None of that seemed to matter overwhelmingly due. Sculptor
Lembede Street, Durban most powerful. Personally though, partially because there Noria Mabasa, choreographer
T. 031 311 2268 speaking of course – because was so much going on over Jay Pather, cartoonist Nanda
strettonj@durban.gov.za it was only myself and a friend the course of the evening, and Sooben and cross-cultural
www.durban.gov.za/durban/dis- who thought that the projection partially because much of the muso and high kicker Johnny
cover/museums/dag of a rotating geometric pattern joy of Red Eye lies in watching Clegg all had awards bestowed
onto the ridged textures of the things happen and enjoying a upon them, as did genius jazz
Elizabeth Gordon Gallery monolithic City Treasury build- full diversity of human beings pianist the late Bheki Mse-
A variety of new South African ing opposite the City Hall was and art run amok in the gal- leku and theatre personality
artworks, including paintings King Zorro is your Art Bus guide one of the most beautiful things lery’s baroque colonial space. the late Alfred Nokwe. Now,
we’d seen in ages The fact that no-one on the as anyone who’s attended an

A Moveable Arts
by Hugh Mbayiwa, Scott Bredin
and Ezequeil Mabote. It wasn’t conceptual. It wasn’t other side of the room could awards ceremony will tell you,
120 Florida Road, Durban breath-takingly intelligent. It hear the choral singers for they tend to be deathly boring
wasn’t even going as art. It their first two songs seemed and overflowing with pomp,

Feast - The Arts Bus

T. 031 303 8133
eqqart@iafrica.com
Imbizo Art Gallery
24 Sep-31 Oct, Décor Delight,
with works by Pieter Lessing.
Shop 7A, Ballito Lifestyle
Centre, Ballito 4418
T. 032 946 1937
info@imbizogallery.co.za
Tamasa Gallery
20 Oct-11 Nov, Trees, oils,
pastels and charcoal works by
acclaimed KwaZulu-Natal art-
ist Pippa Lea Pennington.
36 Overport Drive, Durban
T. 031 207 1223
Pietermaritzburg at 9am and returning to the
Tatham Art Gallery
18 Sep-18 Oct, African Ceram-
ics UKZN Alumni Exhibition.
27 Oct-14 March, the Sch-
reiner Gallery New Acquisi-
tions Exhibition, including a
linoprint by Vuli Nyoni, and a
rolling ball sculpture by Zotha
Shange.
Cnr. Of Chief Albert Luthuli
(Commercial) Rd. and Church
Street (Opposite City Hall)
Pietermaritzburg
T. 033 342 1804
www.tatham.org.za
SEND YOUR SHOW
LISTINGS TO:
SHOW@ARTTIMES.CO.ZA
The Arts Bus - a free hop-on,
hop-off city bus service which
allows arts lovers to visit eight
of the city’s premier galleries in
one Saturday - is being hosted
again as part of the Celebrate
Durban season over Heritage
month and October.
The Celebrate Durban season
bus schedule will cover eight
weekends - Sat 12, 19, 26 Sept
and 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 Oct leav-
ing from the KZNSA Gallery
gallery mid afternoon. There
is safe parking at the KZNSA
Gallery.
A Movable Arts Feast, AKA
the Arts Bus, is an innovative
project to encourage the pubic
to visit Durban’s many galler-
ies. It is being hosted for the
second year by VANSA (Visual
Arts Association of SA, KZN)
as part of the Celebrate Durban
season supported by the City. It
receives supplementary support
from the Department of Arts
and Culture.
People are encouraged to visit
a selection of Durban’s premier
galleries through an “art gallery
trail”. Members of the public
will be able to park their cars
in Glenwood and hop on the
specially-decorated free Art
Bus at the KZNSA Gallery
which leaves the gallery at 9am
every Saturday. It will travel
a dedicated circuit to these
venues throughout the day
allowing visitors to visit some
of Durban’s top galleries every
Saturday.
Arts Bus tour guide King Zorro
will be providing narrative
along the route about the gal-
leries and exhibitions on show.
The following galleries will be
part of the initiative KZNSA
Gallery in Glenwood; Durban
University of Technology Art
Gallery in Steve Biko / Berea
Road; Durban Art Gallery in
Durban City Hall; BAT Centre
along Margaret Mcnadi Ave;
African Art Centre and Artisan
Gallery both in Florida Road;
artSPACE durban is in Millar
Rd, off Umgeni Road and the
Kizo Art Gallery in Gateway.
A ninth stop is the Kunene
Museum in Churchill Rd,
close to the KZNSA Gallery in
Glenwood.
Bus entry is free and all are
welcome. Seats are limited so
booking is advisable
Enquiries and bookings: Domy
Cortes 031 208 9430 / 073 719
0444 / domy@saol.com.
Detailed info / online booking
on www.pubmat.co.za
Free Saturday Durban art gal-
leries bus
Leaves KZNSA Gallery 9am
Returns mid afternoon
was supplied by a production
company and was the kind of
thing you might even see at
one of those boring alcohol or
cigarette sponsored parties. But
it was reeeaal pretty, and build-
ing-sized reeeaal pretty at that.
The supersized disco eye candy
was a sign of the art-based
event Red Eye returning to the
Durban Art Gallery, and the
citizens of Durban – well those
who were prepared to shell out
forty bucks – reclaiming the
streets, or at least the stretch of
road outside city hall, which
had been cordoned off from
traffic and which connected
the gallery to the King Club
and Zulu Jazz Lounge where a
rocking after party took place.
I had been helping out with the
evening, my contribution being
organising the music inside
the gallery, for which had I
gathered one of Durban’s most
loved DJs, a hot electronic
band named Seak and Mbon-
geni Ngema’s new favourite
isicathimiya band uSuthu into
what was supposed to be a
collaboration but which ended
up with barely a sound-check
between them.
It didn’t really work, but not
because the three different
musical styles didn’t meld. The
acoustics in the circular gallery
sent the sounds flying around
the room’s domed structure.
And a big whole in the middle
of the room didn’t really help
to gather rapport between the
entertainers and the audience,
who were also blocked from
each other by a group of super-
styled models posed in picture-
to matter only to a few; most
people seemed content to hear
them whispering, although I
was greatly relieved when the
group broke with tradition and
brought in backing tracks for
their last three songs.
But the fact that people will
watch singers they can’t hear
doesn’t mean that they they’re
being blindly receptive. It’s
more about the fact that the
audience become immersed
in the process of Red Eye,
including anything that might
go wrong, and so when things
do go wrong, they are strangely
invisible, the distance between
the performers and the audi-
ence shrunk by the sense that
everyone in the space is part of
a larger performance. And Dur-
banites like to perform, albeit
as casually and unconsciously
as possible, like the crew of
goth-looking boys who had
rows of metal studs – and even
feathers on one angel boy – in-
serted under their their freshly
reddened skin for the evening,
the adornments applied pub-
licly with all the ceremony of a
back stage make-up room.
But more than anything, this
latest Red Eye – the first in
several years – was an indica-
tion of how much the event
had been missed, “isn’t it great
to have it back” being the
evening’s mantra.
A week earlier, I’d been a
few hundred metres away at
the ICC, where the Heritage
Awards ceremony was being
held and where six South
African creative talents – some
famous, some less so – were re-
pretension and exclusivity.
Which was what I was pretty
much expecting. But I was
more than pleasantly surprised
to find instead an event infused
with good feeling, warmth and
a remarkable inclusiveness,
something I found hugely en-
couraging, and which induced
in me the feeling that I am part
of the broad family of eThek-
wini, something I haven’t felt
in some time.
Much of this feeling came from
the premier Zweli Mkhize, who
spoke humbly and off-the-cuff
about the patchworked col-
lective culture of KZN, where
the continuing geographical
and economic divisions of
apartheid don’t preclude a
common enjoyment of each
other’s cultures, something that
was reflected in the Ceremony
itself and then re-echoed at
Red Eye a week later. But what
was even more impressive
than Mkhize’s tenderness and
humanity was the fact that he
arrived on time. In all my years
of cultural function-going, this
was, I’m pretty certain, the first
time that an audience has not
been kept waiting by a member
of provincial government. For
that alone, Mkhize has my re-
spect. But most importantly, in
a province in which ethnic and
cultural divisions continue to
remain central parts of the vo-
cabularies of many politicians,
his words – and hopefully his
actions – can only help to heal
our culture and broaden the
language of our arts.
Photo: Christopher Laurenz
SA BUSINESS ART | OCTOBER 2009 PAGE | 09

Taken with the opening of FIVE.

From left to right: Jo-Marie Rabe, Christina Bryer, Lyn Smuts,
Leon Vermeulen, Katherine Glenday and Piér Rabe

The approaching storm, Robert Macintosh (Jnr)

Tracy Payne: Rooikanol- From the Cape Chakras series

Michael Stevenson

The show curated by Simon Njami, founding editor of Revue Noir and curator
Us of Africa Remix, and Bettina Malcomess, a writer and artist. The show takes
Us is a show of new work by younger and more established local and international artists around the theme of group identity, whether nation, culture, class, gender, sexuality or race.

The showplace
is curatedat theNjami,
by Simon Johannesburg Art
founding editor of Revue Gallery,
Noir and Goethe
curator of Africa Institute,
Remix, and Bettina Malcomess, aas well
writer as Pro Helvetia,
and artist.
The show takes place at the Johannesburg Art Gallery, in partnership with the generous support of the Goethe Institute, as well as Prohelvetzia, and the Goodman Gallery at the Goodman
Goodman
Gallery Project Gallery
space at Arts on Main. at the GoodmanGallery Project space at Arts on Main.
See Press release below

Top to bottom“Montparnasse” by Aldo Balding

Top: Brett Baileys opening piece| Annabell Lebethe CEO National
Arts Council, Advocate Brenda Madumise, Chair National Arts
Trust and friend| Minister of Art and Culture Ms Lulu Xingwana
giving key note address| Crowd scene, and below, a panelists.
Marlene Dumas and Gavin Young photo that is included at the Leonora van StadenThe Dream 2009 From the show: Recovery A selectio
History Show at UCA Gallery, Observatory, CT. works by various artists 23 September – 17 October 2009 upstairs at 34
See www.urbancontemporaryart.co.za for more details. Long Fine Art Recovery showcases new talent, handpicked by 34Long,
alongside work by some well-known artists with whom the Gallery has
long been associated. http://vgallery.co.za/34long/recovery/ind.htm
PAGE | 10
The Oyster Box’s Art Collection
- a tribute to KZN known and aspiring artists
Following two years of
meticulous planning, delicate
craftsmanship and time-hon-
ouring restoration, one of
South Africa’s architectural
treasures, the Oyster Box
opens its elegant, timeless,
welcoming doors once more
on 1 October 2009.
The Oyster Box Hotel will
once again be part of South
Africa’s most treasured history
by recalling and re-igniting
precious memories of the past
- it also sets the stage for a
celebration and tribute to the
vibrant people and culture of
KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and
South Africa. There’s no better
way to convey and encapsulate
this than through the medium
and expression of art.
The Oyster Box’s Art Collec-
tion brings together a vibrant
and exciting tradition of
paintings by contemporary
Zulu-speaking artists in KZN
into this iconic setting. The
hotel’s owners have always
been patrons and collectors of
contemporary South African
art. In 2003 they established the
annual Tollman Award for the
Visual Arts, in which a grant
is given directly to a young
artist who has received critical
recognition, but is hampered by
finances in realising the poten-
tial of their work. The hotel’s
art collection is an extension of
this commitment and reflects
the property’s principled belief
in the support of the local com-
munity as a part of its pioneer-
ing vision for the hotel’s role
in sustainable tourism and
conservation.
The collection is a colourful
visual description of the tradi-
tional folk tales, myths and dai-
ly lives of the people of KZN
and gives us an insight into life
in their communities. Their
narrative style is of vital impor-
tance in understanding South
African history and specifically
Zulu culture. Story-telling as a
means of transferring knowl-
edge and skills from generation
to generation is an inherent
part of Zulu culture, as is im-
mediately apparent in these
paintings. In doing so, these
chosen aspiring artists will
receive exposure to the many
South African and international
Artists Sibusiso Duma, Kzwakele Gumbi and Joseph Manana guests that visit the hotel. They
will also heighten awareness
of the distinctive creativity and
Last chance to advertise in
The South African Art Information Directory 2010
South Africa’s most comprehensive and reliable visual art information directory
see www.saaid.co.za for rates and circulation details
resourcefulness of KZN.The
collection is a colourful visual
description of the traditional
folk tales, myths and daily lives
of the people of KZN and gives
us an insight into life in their
communities. Their narrative
style is of vital importance in
understanding South African
history and specifically Zulu
culture. Story-telling as a
means of transferring knowl-
edge and skills from generation
to generation is an inherent
part of Zulu culture, as is im-
mediately apparent in these
paintings. In doing so, these
chosen aspiting artists will
receive exposure to the many
South African and international
guests that visit the hotel. They
will also heighten awareness
of the distinctive creativity and
resourcefulness of KZN.
The collection will continue
to evolve. There are already
over 80 selected paintings in
the hotel’s collection by 14
KZN artists. At first glance, the
paintings with their bold col-
ours often appear playful, witty
and optimistic, yet many of
them simultaneously reflect on
socially sensitive issues such as
health, HIV/AIDS, democracy
and teen pregnancy.
The collection has been curated
by Yvette Dunn from Durban
and Michael Stevenson in Cape
Town. Many of the painters
whose work is represented in
the Oyster Box Collection were
encouraged by the African
Art Centre which has offered
Saturday art classes to aspiring
painters, called the Velobala
Group, since 1994. The late
Trevor Makhoba (1956-2003)
also inspired many of these
artists. He was well-known for
his controversial, socially criti-
cal narrative painting style, the
influence of which can be seen
in the works of Sibusiso Duma
and Welcome Danca who were
his students from 1993 to 2003.
There are 20 paintings by
SIBUSISO DUMA
in the collection. His quiet
paintings are metaphors for
daily life and are distinctive
and simple in conception, with
one or two figures situated in
a landscape and sky depicted
in flat bands of colour. He was
born in Durban in 1978 and is
self-taught aside from some
guidance from Makhoba over
SA BUSINESS ART | OCTOBER 2009
four years.
The seven paintings by
WELCOME DANCA
are painted with more realism
and illustrate daily activities
such as work, hair-braiding and
communicating. He also has
a quiet humour, most promi-
nently seen in his painting
TV is Rare in the Countryside
which shows a group of chil-
dren gathered in a doorway in a
village watching television. He
was born in Umlazi, KwaZulu-
Natal, and studied graphic
design at the Durban Institute
of Technology and with Trevor
Makhoba for four years. His
hope is that by painting the
traditional Zulu way of life,
its customs and ceremonies,
people will gain an apprecia-
tion and understanding of Zulu
culture.
The eighteen paintings by
JOSEPH MANANA illustrate
his amazing flair for pattern
and design. His themes are
daily occurrences and myths in
traditional Zulu life. His acute
sense of colour and rhythmic
compositions bring his subjects
to life, with vibrantly patterned
fabrics and stylised landscapes.
He tenderly portrays his sub-
jects, be they dancers, babies,
chiefs or a daughter asking her
mother for advice. He often
plays with the scale of figures
in relation to the landscape
– two children are larger than a
baby elephant, and a frog is the
same size as a person. Manana
was born in 1964 in Weenen
in KwaZulu-Natal, and studied
fine art at what is now the Dur-
ban Institute of Technology for
three years from the age of 36.
In the ten paintings by
SIPHIWE ZULU, the artist of-
fers us poetic reflections on the
essence of life. His abstracted
fields of dots are in a Pointillist
style of his own and combine
text and image. He depicts con-
cepts and ideas such as ‘change
is pain’, ‘the crossroads of life’,
‘a U-turn’, and quirky subjects
including the sideways walk of
a crab! He was born in 1961 in
Lamontville, KwaZulu-Natal,
and after leaving school has
held various jobs as a machine
operator, mechanic’s assist-
ant and petrol attendant. He is
a seasoned marathon runner
and won bronze medals in the
Comrades Marathon in 1986,
1987 and 1988. He attended the
African Art Centre’s Velobala
Art Classes from 1994 to 1997
and studied fine art at the
Durban Institute of Technology
for one year.
The collection includes four
paintings by
SIYABONGA SIKOSANA
which continue the tradition
of township art. There is one
work by THEMBA SIWELA,
also in the township tradition
but with a strong awareness of
cartoons. A work by MESHAC
THULANI MBOKAZI, born in
1979 in Umlazi, KwaZulu-Na-
tal, takes this genre into a rural
landscape.
As he writes about his painting
in the collection: “My artwork,
in oil paint on canvas, shows
a rural sub-township where
beauty is appreciated in a
strange manner. An elderly man
appreciates a young, beautiful
lady by touching her hand; he
reflects that he still has human-
ity even though he is ageing,
and kissing her hand shows that
although he is old he can still
love. The whole artwork re-
flects harmony and interaction
in a community, with the stall
women gossiping and laughing
at the sight of the lovely lady
who keeps herself beautiful.”
ZWAKELE GUMBI,
born in 1973 in Estcourt,
KwaZulu-Natal, also gently ob-
serves the world that surrounds
him. After leaving school, he
received excellent training
from Fay Halsted-Berning of
Ardmore, who taught him the
finer points of painting. In his
own words, his painting in the
collection depicts “a happy
couple watching animals at
the zoo. The interaction or
relationship between the two is
a result of their pure, deep and
abiding love for one another.
In this picture there is also an
element of giving and receiving
between the two lovers. This is
portrayed by the ceramic gift
which the boyfriend is giving
to his girlfriend, which symbol-
izes their love for one another.
The animals in the background
also reflect the qualities of be-
ing cared for, and interaction.”
SA BUSINESS ART | OCTOBER 2009 GALLERY BUZZ PAGE | 11

Top six images from Red Eye, Durban. Top left image: Peter Machen, Gabi Brown and Tamlyn Martin Photo: Christopher Laurenz.

Visitors to the Spring Baardskeerdersbos Art Route with Art Route guest artist: Hanneke Benade (in pink cap) “Reach” by Lionel Smit
PAGE | 12
Sensation Sells
Bonhams refused export licences on four works
By Michael Coulson
London auction house
Bonham’s has been refused
export licences for four
pictures on offer at its sale of
SA art in London on October
13/14. They are a Thomas
Bowler view of Adderley St,
two portrait paintings by the
little-known Bertram Dumb-
leton (not to be confused with
a well-known character in the
Results of Strauss & Co’s Johannesburg Auction
By Michael Coulson
Second auction of this week
understandably fell well short
of the new house’s much hyped
maiden venture, but they con-
firm that the market for SA art
is still reasonable, and certainly
top the intervening sale at rival
Stephan Welz & Co (Swelco)
(no longer in association with
Sotheby’s!)
No doubt Strauss pulled out
all the stops to reap the cream
of the crop for its maiden sale,
but it made a virtue of this by
emphasising the inclusion this
time of important works by
artists who are highly respected
but often overshadowed by the
Harry Potter saga), and an early
work by Gerald Sekoto, Boy
With Yellow Cap.
Bowler’s depictions of
early British colonial SA are
major items of Africana, and
Bonham’s SA agent Penny
Culverwell says export licences
are routinely refused for works
painted by Sekoto before he
left for Paris. But the bar on
Dumbleton is surprising. He is
star names. It also adopted the
common international practice
of splitting the sale into two,
with lesser works consigned to
an afternoon sale.
There were 136 SA lots in the
main evening sale, of which 99
(73%) were sold, with a gross
of fractionally over R20m just
topping the minimum estimate
of R19.2m. In testament to the
quality of the selection, all 12
the top estimates (ranging from
a low low of R350 000 to a high
high of R900 000) were sold,
mostly comfortably within their
estimates.
Most pleasing were two interior
scenes by Freida Lock, one
of which was the only item to
top R1m: R1.003m (including
ART AUCTIONS
By Jo-Marie Rabe
On the 8th of December an
important Rembrandt paint-
ing will be on offer at the Old
Masters sale at Christie’s,
London. Portrait of a Man,
Half-Length, With His Arms
Akimbo was painted in 1658.
The period signifies one during
which Rembrandt the artist was
at his pinnacle, but Rembrandt
the man, quite down and out.
Having declared bankruptcy
two years before, 1658 was the
year in which he had to sell
his house and move his studio.
Arms Akimbo was one of only
two works done during that
tumultuous year.
The pre-sale estimate is ₤18m
– ₤25m. Everyone is hoping
for ₤25m. It could easily fetch
that amount. It has the right
provenance (a paper trail reach-
ing right back to year dot), a
famous seller (not Hello maga-
zine material, but American
collector Barbara Johnson is a
well-known player in the world
of art), a good story (you
know, the finger-wagging look-
what-happens-when-a-genius-
has-to-file-for-bankruptcy!
one) and most importantly of
all, a massive media campaign
behind it.
The last time this amount of
press was offered to a piece
of art was during the build-up
to the sale of Mark Rothko’s
White centre (yellow, pink and
lavender on rose) - but that was
Rothko at ₤37,4m in 2007, a
year before the fall.
It is the first time in decades
that an old master is attract-
ing such attention. Does the
painting warrant it? For sure,
but that is not the reason for the
furore (it never is, is it?).
The origin of the hype is
slightly more sinister – what’s
at play here is an industry’s
needs to re-establish itself as
not even mentioned in Audrey
Beerman’s 1993 work, Painting
in SA. According to Grania
Ogilvie’s Dictionary of SA
Painters & Sculptors, he was
born in 1896 in George and
died in 1966 in Cape Town. He
studied in London and Paris
and lived variously in SA and
Europe, finally settling in SA
in 1938.
In 2006, Bonham’s sold a
buyer’s premium) for No 15,
estimated at R500 000-R700
000) and R835 000 for No 14
(est R400 000-R600 000). The
cover lot, a composition by
Maggie Laubser, was the run-
ner-up price, at R891 000 (R700
000-R900 000), while among
lots to go well over estimate
were Alexis Preller’s Primav-
era Profile at R724 000 (R400
000-R600 000) and Anton Van
Wouw’s sculpture Shangaan,
at R501 000 (R350 000-R450
000).
Also notable were another
Laubser, Fishing Boats, at R579
000 (R500 000-R700 000) and
Edoardo Villa’s Masai Warrior
at R646 000 (R600 000-R800
reliable and a world media that
needs mad-figure stories to sell
their product. Until more or
less a year ago, plenty of sensa-
tional press releases came out
of the contemporary art scene.
At least, that was the case up
until Lehman Brothers filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protec-
tion in September 2008 and the
contemporary art market went
into free fall. Prices for some
contemporary art has lost up
to 60% of its value this year
alone.
A frantic scramble for a straw
to clutch resulted in the reas-
sessment of the Old Master
category. This previously
lacklustre and un-newsworthy
market was holding up – Halle-
lujah! Attention: calling all spin
doctors, there is work to be
done. During the last few years
(after the recovery of the 1990
fall-out) the face (and motiva-
tion) of the contemporary art
collector has changed. Hedge-
fund managers merely propped
prices for famous pop stars and
mighty industrialists, resulting
in speculative behavior that is
currently undergoing severe
correcting phase.
Old Master collectors, on the
other hand, are deeply com-
mitted but mostly unknown.
Well not always. Last year Jeff
Koons bought a 16th Cen-
tury wood carving by Tilman
Riemenschneider and Damien
Hirst apparently also collects
Old Masters. Old Master col-
lectors still seem to aspire to
connoisseurship – a concept
scorned by many for its build-
in suggestion of elitist privilege
and stuffy clubbyness.Yet,
perhaps it is exactly the knowl-
edge based decision making
and protected environment that
has caused this market not to
grow beyond it’s own capacity,
Dumbleton for R10 900.
These two offerings are both
estimated at GBP2 000-GBP3
000, so even if he is seldom
seen they are hardly national
treasures.
The bar does not mean that the
works have been withdrawn
from the sale, but success-
ful buyers will have to pay
for them in Rand through a
specified lawyer’s trust account
000). Villa was in fact the most
represented artist, with 10 works
on offer, all of which sold.
He was followed by Hugo
Naude (five sold out of eight),
Carl Buchner (three of six sold),
and five each from David Botha
(four sold), Ruth Everard-Haden
and Laubser (both all sold).
The difference in the two ses-
sions is well illustrated in an
average minimum estimate
of R17 400 in the afternoon,
against R141 000 for the main
body. The sales ratio of the 215
consigned lots was 78%, with
a gross of R3.4m, 91% of the
minimum estimate of R3.75m.
Sadly, only two of the five extra
lots offered on behalf of a Tuks
SA BUSINESS ART | OCTOBER 2009
unintentionally save-guarding
its players against the ebb and
flow of fashion buying and
making it an attractive proposi-
tion. Who knows?
Local scene
In October 2007 four rare and
important South African Old
Master works came under the
hammer at the Cape Town
branch of Stephan Welz and
Co. (then in association with
Sotheby’s).
The five portaits of Xhosa
chiefs were painted between
1847 and 1853 by Frederick
Timpson I’Ons (1802 - 1887),
a portrait and landscape painter
from Islington, England. He
settled in Grahamstown in
1834. The painting of Chief
Mqhayi (lot 385) was done in
1847. Lot 384 consisted of four
portraits of four Xhoza Chiefs.
The portrait of Chiefs Sandile,
Maqoma, Siyolo and Phato
were commissioned by Sir
George Cathcart, then governor
of the Cape Colony, in order
to capture “the visages of the
savages”.
Not discounting I’Ons’s artistic
merit, it is in fact this painstak-
ing “capturing” of the scenes
and peoples he painted that has
contributed to his status as one
of South Africa’s Old Masters.
In the case of the four chiefs,
I’Ons attention to dress and
demeanor yields a document
all the more important for pre-
dating photographic representa-
tion. To academia these works
represent an extremely valuable
source of ethnographic refer-
ence. But to a large contingent
of South Africans the value of
these works were much more
than referential. Before the sale
murmurs were heard from vari-
ous groups about the desirabil-
ity of selling items of cultural
importance on public auction.
in Cape Town. They will,
however, avoid the 14% export
Vat. The four pictures will be
on show at the Everard Read
gallery, Jo’burg, from next
Monday.
Other lots can already be seen
on Bonham’s web site.
The printed catalogue arrived
in SA late last week and is now
being distributed.
bursary fund were sold, raising
a disappointing R42 000.
Just two items reached R100
000: R106 000 for a David
Botha landscape (est R75
000-R100 000), and R100 000
for a Tinus de Jongh landscape
(R100 000-R150 000). A Frans
Oerder pencil drawing went for
R95 000 (R50 000-R80 000)
and two lots on R78 000 were
another Botha landscape (R80
000-R100 000) and Terence
McCaw’s Libertas (the cover
lot, R40 000-R60 000).
All seven Erich Mayers sold
and five of the six Gregoire
Boonzaaiers, but only two of
the six Walter Battisses. Five
lots each were by Errol Boyley,
Robert Hodgins (both all sold),
Needless to say that on the
night of the auction, all eyes
were on these four works. The
room had its usually highs and
lows with the usual punters and
telephone bidders battling it
out for supremacy. Nothing out
of the ordinary. That is until,
about ten minutes before the
much talked about lots were to
be auctioned, a group consist-
ing of several (I have forgotten
the exact number, but not the
effect it had) unfamiliar but
magnificently dressed men
and women walked into the
room. One of the men bought
both lots. As the gavel hit the
podium, they got up (as one)
and walked out. It felt like a
statement.
The buyer was Chief Fadama.
He acted on behalf of the
Xhosa King, King Zanesizwe
Sandile the sixth and a direct
descendant of Chief Maqoma.
In an interview with Die
Burger Chief Fadama said (my
translation) “It is an insult to us
that these works are sold like
animals. The King told me to
buy the paintings. Price is not
an issue.” Pride has no price.
Judging from the discrepancy
between the estimated values
and the prices realized it seems
as if there were many other
potential buyers. The group
of 4 was estimated at R30
000 – R50 000 and realized
R260 000; the portrait of Chief
Mqhayi, estimated at R20 000
– R 30 000 was sold for R280
000.
These Old Masters did perform
wonderfully and attracted the
type of attention that other
sectors of the market are pining
for. Now it is just a matter of
looking to the future to see if
this was a one-off occurrence
or the beginning of a local
trend as well.
Culverwell says this is not the
first time Bonham’s has been
refused an export licence.
An iconic Preller in its previous
show was refused an export
licence and promptly sold for
three times the estimate, which
she half-seriously hopes may
be a happy augury for this sale.
W H Coetzer , Otto Klar (both
four sold), Cecil Skotnes and
Piet van Heerden (both three
sold).
The overall gross for both ses-
sions was R23.5m, just within
the range of R23m-R33m,
though excluding the buyer’s
premium would bring the take
down to about R21m.
The sale room focus now shifts
to Cape Town, with Strauss &
Co on October 8, including sev-
eral major Sterns and Laubsers,
two Tretchis and the collection
of the late Leslie Milner. On
October 20 and 21, the Swelco
Cape sale has major works by
Pieter Wenning, Stanley Pinker,
Pierneef and Preller.
The South African Sale
13 & 14 October 2009
London
Enquiries Catalogue
Giles Peppiatt +44 (0) 1666 502 200
+44 (0) 20 7468 8355 subscriptions@bonhams.com
giles.peppiatt@bonhams.com
Illustrated:
Hannah O’Leary Irma Stern (1894-1966)
+44 (0) 20 7468 8213 Ripe Fields Bonhams
hannah.oleary@bonhams.com oil on canvas 101 New Bond Street
Estimate: ZAR 2,000,000 - 2,500,000 London W1S 1SR
(£150,000 - 200,000) www.bonhams.com/sasale

www.bonhams.com
PAGE | 14 SA AUCTIONS SA BUSINESS ART | OCTOBER 2009

Stephan Weltz & Co.

Upcoming Auction: Tuesday 20 October 09
For more information as well as download the catalogue at www.swelco.co.za

An iconic J.H. Pierneef titled
‘The Baobab, Bushveld,
Messina’ (pre-sale estimate
R2 400 000-2 800 000) is the
highlight of Stephan Welz
& Company (Pty) Limited’s
Spring auction. The sale will
take place on 20 & 21 October
in the Old Mutual Conference
Centre at Kirstenbosch Botani-
cal Gardens, Cape Town. The
pre-sale viewing, which is open
to the public, runs from 16
through 18 October.
Shona Robie, Manager of the
Cape Town Office and Head of
Ceramics, comments that the
sale is comprised of a strong
cross-section of Decorative and
Fine Arts items and that “in ad-
dition to the majestic ‘Baobab’
and other show-stopping South
African paintings, collectors of
decorative art will not be disap-
pointed by the rich variety of
works. These include, amongst
many others, a Celestial Globe
by Johann Bernhard Bauer of
Nuremburg (R7 000-9 000)
and a seductive aquamarine
Venini ‘A Bollicine’ glass vase
by Carlo Scarpa (R40 000-60
000)”.
“ ‘The Baobab’ was origi-
nally sold by the company
in the late 1980s and we are
delighted to again be offering
this work ,” Ian Hunter, Head
of Paintings. “ ‘The Baobab’ is
a masterwork; executed in the
artist’s mature style, featuring
a dynamic composition in a
symphony of bushveld hues.
The mighty tree straddles the
landscape with assured grace
and gravity, its ancient form
marrying both earth and sky.”
In addition to this monumental
work, Hunter draws attention
to other South African mas-
terworks on the sale including
Ethel Ruth Prowse’s ‘A View
of St George’s Cathedral’
(R140 000-180 000), Pieter
Wenning’s lush ‘Geboue Met
Bome’ (R600 000-800 000),
a late period Irma Stern titled
‘After the Storm, Alicante’
(R1 800 000-2 200 000) which
showcases Stern’s strong sense
of design and colour mastery,
an early Alexis Preller titled
‘Still Life with African Head
and Horse Skull’ (R1 200 000-
1 600 000) dating from the end
of WW2 and Stanley Pinker’s
languorous rendering of a
sunbathing couple in ‘Suntan’
(R300 000-400 000).
There is also a unique invest-
ment opportunity in ‘Homage’
(R40 000-60 000), a print
portfolio created in memory
of Cecil Skotnes. This project
has brought together some of
South Africa’s most prominent
contemporary artists including
William Kentridge and Peter
Clarke. The proceeds from the
sale of the portfolio will go
towards the establishing of a
‘The Baobab, Bushveld, essina’ (pre-sale estimate R2 400 000-2 800 000)
scholarship in Skotnes’ name
at the Michaelis School of Fine
Art.
According to Anton Welz of
the Furniture Department, dis-
cerning collectors who desire
signature pieces to complete
a home or collection will not
be disappointed. “A covetable
Egg Chair and Ottoman (R75
000-85 000) designed by Arne
Jacobsen executed in 2000 is
included in the contemporary
furniture session while Cape
Furniture collectors will vie for
an 18th century stinkwood peg-
top table (R15 000-20 000) and
a fine Cape yellowwood and
stinkwood jonkmanskas (R25
000-35 000).” Welz goes
on to say that English furniture
stalwarts will be delighted with
a fine Regency rosewood writ-
ing table (R40 000-60 000),
an English Longcase clock by
Thomas Page of Norwich circa
1780 (R20 000-25 000) and
a George IV mahogany and
inlaid extending dining table
(R35 000-45 000).
The tradition of great crafts-
manship is well represented by
the cross-section of ceramics
on offer. Enthusiasts are spoilt
with a selection of works from
around the globe. Some of the
oldest pieces on offer include
a collection of Pre-Columbian
wares. One such example is a
Moche Vessel in the form of
a Seated Feline (R12 000-15
000) dated circa 200BC-
700AD executed during the
Pre-Classical period. Included
in the Chinese section is a
Chinese green- glazed pottery
model of a Grain Storage Jar
(R8 000-10 000) dating from
the Han Dynasty 206BC-
220AD. One of the highlights
from the English ceramic ses-
sion is a pair of Staffordshire
two-handled vases and covers,
circa 1820 (R12 000-15 000).
Works of Art include a pair of
Italian marble and gilt-metal
figures of Allegorical Putti
(R20 000-30 000) from the
19th Century and a fine Chi-
nese Mughal-style white-jade
teapot and cover (R9 000-12
000). The teapot, originally
part of the Brownlow Collec-
tion, was sold by Christies in
1984.
Viewing:
Friday 16 October
10am till 8pm
Saturday 17 October
10am till 3pm
Sunday 18 October
10am till 5pm
Auction:
Tuesday 20 October
Session 1 10am
Session 2 2.30pm
Session 3 7pm
Wednesday 21 October
Session 4 10am

Ashbey’s Galleries cc
Established 1891

Fine Art Auctioneers & Consultants

Catalogue sale by Public Auction – 15 October 2009 @ 10:00

Lot 289 Piet van Heerden (R60000/80000) Lot 226 Rembrandt Bugatti (Posthumous Casting) (R60000/80000)

43 Church Street Tel: 021 423-8060

CAPE TOWN Fax: 021 423-3047
email: info@ashbeys.co.za www.ashbeysgalleries.co.za
SA BUSINESS ART | OCTOBER 2009 SA AUCTIONS
The Milner Art Collection
Leslie Milner, was born in
Lithuania in 1927 and moved to
South Africa with his family at
the age of six. After matricu-
lating in 1948, he joined the
family business, ”Milly’s”, and
embarked upon a career defined
by industry and innovation.
Over the course of the next dec-
ades he travelled extensively,
pioneering many areas of South
African foods. He established
a frozen food plant, a pickled
cucumber factory and South
Africa’s first smoked salmon
factory which, in addition to
supplying the local market,
exported to Germany, Australia
and Canada under the name of
“King Solomon”. Following
the sale of the ‘Milly’s’ chain in
1984, he relocated to Johan-
nesburg. Five years later, Leslie
and his wife, Dorothy, pur-
chased a small factory called
New York Bagels in London’s
Kentish Town which grew to
become a leading producer of
fresh and frozen bagels. This
became the namesake for the
landmark deli and bakery in
Sea Point, once the location
of an old Milly’s store, which
they opened upon their return to
South Africa.
Leslie Milner’s interest in art
was stimulated in the 1950s,
when he met Solly Disner, a
Irma Stern
SOUTH AFRICAN 1894-1966
Still Life with Dahlias
signed and dated 1930
oil on canvas, 92 by 67cm
R3 500 000 – 5 000 000
PAGE | 15
Strauss & Co.
Upcoming Auction: Thursday 08 October 09
For more information as well as download the catalogue at www.straussart.co.za
the dust-jacket and frontis-
piece of the book Wolf Kibel
by Freda Kibel and Neville
sculptor and poet of Polish
Dubow. It has been described
origin who lived above his
by the late Professor Neville
small factory in Hatfield Street.
Dubow as “ ….a remarkable
Disner was also an art dealer
statement whose emotional
and, through him, Leslie was
content is carried as much by
introduced to the leading Cape
its overall treatment as by the
artists of the time. He would
characterisation of the face.
sometimes accept art in lieu of
The painted area corresponding
rent and purchased some of his
to the sitter’s shirt is composed
finest paintings from Disner,
of great rivers of broken white
including important works by
interspersed with tiny spatter-
Maggie Laubser, Paul du Toit
ings of local colour, the whole
and Maurice van Essche, but
bifurcated by the red gash of a
his first acquisition was notably
tie. Its effect is one of an up-
Irma Stern’s Still life with Tiger
ward surge of nervous energy
Lilies and a Melon. His wife re-
capped and stilled by the face.
calls how furious she was with
It is a compelling image.
him when he brought the paint-
If one wants, one can already
ing home, as they still had no
read into it the premonition of
curtains or chairs. He formed
the death mask. It assumes a
enduring ties within the art
cast which is at once quizzical,
world, including with Gerard
shrewd, even gently self-mock-
Sekoto who he often visited in
ing. It is a brave man’s view of
Paris. Leslie did not speculate
himself. No touch of self-pity
in art. He trusted his instincts
softens its awareness. Instead
and made choices motivated
there is the barest hint of a
by the sheer enjoyment his col-
swagger, but no sooner mooted
lection provided. Consequently
than turned into a shrug.’
many of these paintings have
never been seen outside the
Lot 285
circle of Milner’s family and
friends. He was well-known
Wolf Kibel
for his pioneering work in the
SOUTH AFRICAN 1903-1938
food industry, but many people
will be surprised to discover his
Self Portrait
passion for art.
oil on canvas laid down on
He passed away in March 2009
A highly important self portrait & Co. in their inaugural Cape as one of the icons of South board, 43 by 39,5cm
after a short illness at the age
by South African artist, Wolf Town auction on 8 October African art and is featured
of 81.
Kibel, is to be sold by Strauss 2009. This work is regarded prominently in literature and on R500 000 – 600 000
Irma Stern
SOUTH AFRICAN 1894-1966
Carla
signed and dated 1944, inscribed with the title, the artist’s name and address on the stretcher
oil on canvas, 55 by 49,5cm
R2 500 000 – 3 500 000
 The South African Print Gallery
Presents the

ARTTHROB PRINT EDITION

including a brand new Robert Hodgin’s Print. Artists include: Guy Tillim, Mikhael Subotzky, Penny Siopis, David Goldblatt, Williem Boshoff more.

Extended until 17 October 2009

107 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock, Cape Town www.printgallery.co.za