EDSON CHAGAS the Angolan Artist Explores Space, Form, and Experience at the 55Th Venice Biennale

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EDSON CHAGAS the Angolan Artist Explores Space, Form, and Experience at the 55Th Venice Biennale

Magazine > AFRICAN SPOTLIGHT: EDSON CHAGAS RENAISSANCE MAN: EDSON CHAGAS The Angolan Artist Explores Space, Form, and Experience at the 55th Venice Biennale Artist Edson Chagas’ work is the centrepiece of the Angolan Pavilion—and the highlight of this year’s Venice Biennale. Taking part for the first time at the biannual art event, Angola was awarded the Golden Lion for ‘Best National Participation’ for its exhibition Luanda, Encyclopaedic City. The exhibition is built around 23 pillars of stacked posters printed with photographs from Chagas’ series Found not Taken. The often-gritty images depict cast-off items that gain new meaning through the context in which they were found—and in some cases, placed—by the artist. The Angolan pavilion is hosted at the 16th Century Palazzo Cini, a small museum in the heart of Venice where Renaissance masters adorn the walls. Against the haloed refinement of this venue, the take-away posters iterate the disposability of the artworks and how space redefines an object’s meaning—while also serving to emphasize the contrast between Africa’s accelerated development and Europe’s classical history. Since Angola’s three-decade-long civil war ended in 2002, the former Portuguese colony has become the fastest growing economy in Africa. This rapid development has brought with it an inevitable, gentrified sprawl. Formerly useful items lie abandoned, reminiscent of a time when wealth was less abundant and ingenuity meant survival to many Angolans. Although the photographs selected to be part of Luanda, Encyclopaedic City focus solely on the artist’s native city, Lost not Taken is an ongoing documentation of cities Chagas visits worldwide. The Venice Biennale runs until November 24, 2013. Images: Edson Chagas/Courtesy of Beyond Entropy Limited https://kisua.com/magazine/read/spotlight-african-edson-chagas .

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15 February 2020, Cape Town
CONTEMPORARY ART 15 February 2020 CT 2020/1 2 Contemporary Art including the Property of a Collector Saturday 15 February 2020 at 6 pm Bubbly and canapés from 5 pm VEnuE abSEntEE anD TELEPHonE biDS Quay 7 Warehouse, 11 East Pier Road Tel +27 (0) 21 683 6560 V&A Waterfront, Cape Town +27 (0) 78 044 8185 GPS Co-ordinates: 33°54’05.4”S 18°25’27.9”E [email protected] PREVIEW payMEnt Thursday 13 and Friday 14 February Tel +27 (0) 21 683 6560 from 10 am to 5 pm +27 (0) 11 728 8246 Saturday 15 February from 10 am to 6 pm [email protected] LEctuRES anD WalKaboutS conDition REpoRTS See page 10 [email protected] ENQuiRIES anD cataloGUES www.straussart.co.za +27 (0) 21 683 6560 +27 (0) 78 044 8185 contact nuMBERS DURinG PREVIEW anD auction ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE: R220.00 Tel +27 (0) 78 044 8185 All lots are sold subject to the conditions of business +27 (0) 72 337 8405 printed at the back of ths catalogue PUBLIC AUCTION BY DIRECTORS F KILBOURN (EXECUTIVE CHAIRPERSON), E BRADLEY, CB STRAUSS, C WIESE, J GINSBERG, C WELZ, V PHILLIPS (MD), B GENOVESE (MD), AND S GOODMAN (EXECUTIVE) 4 Contents 3 Sale Information 6 Directors, Specialists, Administration 8 Map and Directions 9 Buying at Strauss & Co 10 Lectures and Walkabouts 12 Contemporary Art Auction at 6pm Lots 1–102 121 Conditions of Business 125 Bidding Form 126 Shipping Instruction Form 132 Artist Index PAGE 2 Lot 21 Yves Klein Table IKB® (detail) LEFT Lot 53 William Kentridge Small Koppie 2 (detail) From the Property of a Collector 5 Directors Specialists Administration
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MOUSSE 55Th Venice Biennale. Edson Chagas at the Angolan
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Luanda, Angola Bogota, Colombia 94
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Buchanan Building 46 7th Avenue Prinsengracht 371B [email protected] 160 Sir Lowry Road Parktown North 1016 HK Amsterdam www.stevenson.info 7925 Cape Town 2193 Johannesburg The Netherlands +27 21 462 1500 +27 11 403 1055 +31 62 532 1380 @stevenson_za EDSON CHAGAS Born 1977, Luanda, Angola Lives between Angola and Portugal EDUCATION Documentary photography, University of Newport, Wales Photojournalism, London College of Communication (LCC), UK Photography, Escola Técnica de Imagem e Comunicação, Portugal Photography and Audio, Centro Comunitário de Arcena, Portugal SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS Stevenson, Cape Town, South Africa Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town, South Africa Kunst Haus Wien, Vienna Museu Colecção Berardo, Lisbon, Portugal Scrap Metal Gallery, Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, Toronto, Canada Stevenson, Johannesburg, South Africa Instituto Camões – Centro Cultural Português, Luanda, Angola Belfast Exposed Photography, Belfast, UK A Palazzo Gallery, Brescia, Italy Angola Pavilion, Palazzo Cini, Italy Luanda, Angola SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 18th FotoFest Biennial, Houston, Texas, USA Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, USA BOZAR Centre for Arts, Brussels, Belgium Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany Porto Photography Biennial, Portugal Stevenson, Cape Town, South Africa Daegu Photo Biennale, South Korea Stevenson, Cape Town, South Africa Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Quebec, Canada 11th Mercosul Biennial, Porto Alegre, Brazil , A4 Arts Foundation, Cape Town, South Africa National Gallery of Victoria Triennial,
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