Page 1 12/02/05 01 01sv0212ART pcc1 12:16:13 PM 11/25/05 BUSINESSDAY

December 2005 Art

WILLIAM KENTRIDGE WWoo r r l l d d ffaammoouuss aarrttiisstt rrooootteedd iinn JJoozzii Page 12

ART HOTELS Pages 8-9

The Graskop Hotel and Cape Town’s Daddy Long Legs ditch traditional decor in favour of unique cultural Art in the State of Siege, 1988, silkscreen on Velin d’Arches Crème, 300 gsm and brown paper experiences

BUSINESSDAY in association with Page 2 12/02/05 01 01sv0212ART pcc1 12:16:50 PM 11/25/05

2BUSINESS DAY, December 2005 Art

E D I T O R ’s Companies help close the gap NOTE OUTH African artists are artist hampered financially in real- COMMENT artist William still reeling from the deci- ising work. Kentridge made to Josef sion in October to axe the Nicola Danby, CEO of Business & Talotta in an interview (see Brett Kebble Art Awards. The Arts South Africa (Basa), says Apages 6-7 of this edition) got family of the slain business- competitions could deliver useful me thinking. The gist of it was man found it too emotion- benefits for artists, depending on that while Johannesburg has the ally difficult to deal with the how they are structured to create one of the greatest concentra- Scompetition and reversed its deci - recognition. “A crucial factor is to tions of wealth anywhere in the sion to continue it in tribute to him. have a credible panel. Very often the world, its wealthy citizens do pre - The Kebble awards were highly selection process is geared to an im- cious little for the common cul- regarded. The competition actively perative of the sponsoring company, ture of the city — or, for that sought out new talent, and curator perhaps, which would also deter- matter, of the country as a whole. Clive van den Berg says it offered an mine who would participate. When I first sat down to write opportunity to explore different “But broadly, the more we can do this column, I was full in agree- kinds of content and subjects. He to mainstream the arts, the better. ment with Kentridge. But the said just weeks before the awards And corporate sector involvement, more I thought about it, the more were cancelled: “We make (an) effor t one hopes, does achieve that.” reason I found to disagree. to find artists interested in working Short of an “applause-o-meter” I started with Brett Kebble. in those languages that are trans- as devised by Cape Town’s Obz Café One cannot ignore the mining gressive in some instances. But we for its short film and video compe- magnate’s efforts in the art world, are equally interested in artists (who tition, a balanced panel is re g a rd e d whatever his motives were. In two are) interested in the continuation of as the best option. One of the newer short years the Brett Kebble Art a craft tradition which modernism awards, the FNB Art Prize launched Award did a huge amount to could erase.” in 1997, also invites nominations change the way art competitions In the 2004 Brett Kebble Art from the public. are held in SA, and took our artis- Awards catalogue, he pointed out The impetus for the Absa Atelier tic output to a whole new level. that most art competitions were 20 years ago under the Volkskas Sadly, Kebble is no longer with us, formatted around the idea that brand was rooted in apartheid-era and the art award along with him. artists worked in painting, sculpture, isolation, says Absa curator Cecile Then there is Anton Rupert, printmaking and photography, Loedolff. The award includes a who with his wife, the late sidelining new media, and “compe - residency in Paris. Loedolff says it Huberte, also made an important titions mounted during the past helped the careers of many artists contribution to the art world. decade minimally reflect the modes, through international exposure and And I can’t go on without practices and arguably ideas of publication in the catalogue. mentioning Dick Enthoven or the contemporary art.” “The competition has lifted out many corporations that have David Barritt, producer of the magnificent artists. Penny Siopis launched numerous art initia- awards, says Kebble’s motivation tives over the past few years. was a mixture of personal interest Standard Bank’s staging of a and a concern that not enough was Below, the judges for the Brett Picasso exhibition in SA next year being done to develop new talent in Kebble Art Award hard at work is just one of the recent endeav- SA. “It’s a disgrace government is not ours by big business. doing more…. But art can be a viable Elmarie Costandius, 11 Official Languages (detail), (11 glass bubbles), And, even though most of our business, generating incomes for 2005. Costandius is joint winner of the 2005 Sasol New Signatures art treasures remain locked up in lots of people…. We have the talent competition private collections and out of and the unique voice.” reach of average citizens, there Companies have to some extent are programmes such as the one bridged the gap. DaimlerChr ysler, was the first overall winner and Tom- She says competitions are useful run by MTN, where the cellphone Absa, PPC and Standard Bank spon- my Motswai was a merit winner in to create awareness. “A small per- company takes its art collection sor prominent awards, with different the competition’s second year. Isaac centage of people can afford to in- out to township schools. criteria and motivations. Some, like Khanyile (1996 winner) got more op- vest in original work or bother to vis- The Randlords did their bit by Sasol New Signatures, have particu- portunities to exhibit overseas, in- it galleries. Awards create a context opening the Johannesburg Art lar target markets. It has in the past cluding the South African embassy of value and solicit curiosity.” Gallery a century ago. The city’s excluded artists who have exhibited in France and Australia. And he is But AVA gallery director Estelle citizens are doing their bit now. solo. Teresa Lizamore, the group’s ploughing back his expertise into his Jacobs says competitions usually That said, though, I must art curator, says: “It is a competition own community in KwaZulu-Natal.” favour artists with resources. Sh e concede a point to Kentridge — for young, new talent.… There are Sanell Aggenbach, who won in concedes they play an important we should be doing more. no restrictions in medium and the 2003, says it offers something be- role in stoking debate, documenting work is very often experimental as yond a monetary prize: “An oppor- the art scene and attracting public entrants are mostly students.” tunity for relatively unknown young acclaim. “There is a positive element Julius Baumann Others, like the prestigious artists to gain recognition by offering — competitions are important on a b a u m a n n j @ b d f m .c o . z a Tollman Awards, are decided with- a corporate platform for exposure.” CV and do a lot to promote artists.” out a competition. The R100 000 The six-month residency is also a prize is based on exhibitions over the luxury to create work without past year and awarded to a young external pressure to deliver. Kim Gurney

I am the conscience of your the first. I slipped away with number infidelities and wicked escapades, two to elope to Europe for a year, to Early openings but read on, for I won’t name names duck her outraged, newly wedded JOIN — too many, too close, untold husband, who found us anyway the dots … allegiances lost and found. through Interpol. leave plenty of I shall stick to the gun I know And that is just the tip of the ice- best, to illustrate how gallery open- berg, for after-parties are where ings embellished my life. decadent mischief breeds. time to get around At my first art school opening I Lest you think these are the rem- was lured home by a kinky married iniscences of a prime gone by, just woman in a wide-rimmed hat, who this year an artist and his wife knocked her husband out with arrived at my loft after his show, and ALLERIES are the best pick-up picture; this is why openings are sleeping pills on the bed beside us. dropped their knickers at the door, joints in town — a prying brief traditionally held so early, to leave The clock was set, my fate was claiming they had planned it for from my editor. I might other- plenty of time to play. sealed. months. And later still, the young Gwise not have noticed the Thin ice that I skate on here, for I My second opening drove my artist who wouldn’t take my card, paramount perk of my vocation; an know the darkest recesses of all who buxom art history lecturer into my saying I’d never call, insisted on fol- art world populated by voraciously passed through my 35 years of art willing arms and transformed into a lowing me home, where we cavorted wanton hedonists, which is the philandering — the who, the why raging nymphomaniac, well known until the sun rose. I woke up later norm and not the exception. and the when, even the shape and under the important artists of the with my entire being covered in For the uninitiated, the common size of things to come, what excuses time. It was 17 hours before she let drawings, but the girl was gone. pick-up line is: “Shall we go some- and what behaviour to expect of the Braam this badly bruised but grinning writ- We still see each other at open- where for a bite afterwards?” That’s famous and obscure among er out of her apartment to lick his ings, and smile knowingly, because vague enough to allow room for academics, professors, museum Kruger wounds, until next time. we know it is all in the conquest, anything. You didn’t really believe directors, gallerists, curators, collec - In a world where hedonism is the norm, My first wife was met like this, while our eyes scan the gallery for we went for the art, plonk and finger tors, artists’ models and, u l t i m a t e l y, then my second, at the after-party of willing or unsuspecting prey. It may food? It took me years to get the the artists, young and old. it’s not about plonk, art and finger food a show of mine, the day I divorced well be you. Page 3 12/02/05 01 01sv0212ART pcc1 12:17:07 PM 11/25/05

Art BUSINESS DAY, December 2005 3 Show day for Melrose art

OOKS do furnish a room, is the minishes their social comment and sardonic title of a n ove l by turns them into decorative objects. modernist British author An- The new apartments are being Bthony Powell, describing the marketed, off plan, at R1m-R8m, lives of London’s upper middle and by the end of the show weekend classes 50 years ago. He would have 40 of the 62 had been sold. The show appreciated some of the ironies of tent, an elegant, Arabian-style edi- the latest venture in applied art, an fice in white, featured a central exhibition in Melrose Arch by Pam display of work by six local artists, Golding to launch the next phase of chosen by Strauss and Michael executive apartments for sale in this Obert, owner of the Obert Contem- temple of high capitalism. porary gallery in Melrose Arch. Art does indeed furnish a room, Obert is an American with a and very nicely too, if the show background in development studies Karoo Farm Problem, Matthew Hindley and Peter Eastman, lambda print on photographic paper apartment is anything to go by. and a passionate interest in local art. The mastermind behind the en- He is an aggressive defender of Mel- terprise is interior designer Mullerie rose Arch, which he calls an exciting graduate of the University of Preto- furnishing fabric samples. Obert says that these, and Se a n Rabe-Taljaard, who worked with lifestyle option. His gallery is min- ria, whose critical portrayals of “We wanted to appeal to the O’Toole’s Art South Africa publica- Golding’s Peet Strauss. Strauss is an imalist chic: a cement floor, desk President Robert Mugabe and his young and funky,” says Obert, “who tion, have had an enormous effect in art lover and aficionado whose tucked discretely to one side, and no government have made him persona would enjoy works like Era s m u s ’ s stabilising SA’s art market. Informed friendship with Willem Boshoff has intruding staff, the sort of hip image, non grata in his home country. Hi s unframed geometric grid rather than criticism, and a quantifiable tracking engineered the loan of some of the he reckons, that appeals to the Mel- work is hot property: his first exhibi- g i l t - f ra m e d wildlife and landscape.” of art and artist offered by Warren most significant works by one of SA’s rose Arch clientele and w a n n a b e e s. tion at Obert Contemporary earlier The synergy with Pam Golding is Siebrits from his gallery, make it leading conceptual artists — items Interestingly, the works on dis- this year was sold out, as was work in one of many transactional relation- possible to assign value and worth. taken from his KykAfrikaans play play were modestly priced at R5 000- this exhibition. Chiurai’s work ad- ships Obert cultivates. “My artists Says Pam Golding’s Strauss of the with words. But while much of his R20 000; this was at Strauss’s re- joined that of Peter Eastman, Mark have become my friends,” he says, joint venture: “It has been a success work is an attack on the establish- quest, to make the work accessible, Erasmus, Belgrade-born Maja “and have befriended each o t h e r. and we’ll definitely do it again.” ment, the effect of hanging these and the result has been quick sales. Maljevic’s abstracts and the neo- “Also, I work with other galler ies framed and mounted items in The big drawcard is young Zim- baroque of Henry Symonds, tongue rather than against them”, particu - exquisite and expensive rooms di- babwean Kudzanai Chiurai, a recent in cheek florals that mimic chintz larly what he classes as SA’s top six. Heather Mackie Page 4 12/02/05 01 01sv0212ART pcc1 12:17:30 PM 11/25/05

4BUSINESS DAY, December 2005 Art

Reflection, exploration and experimentation

N THE same week that artist laser-cut paper works that won him glass and digital imaging. Marco Cianfanelli’s show the prestigious Absa Atelier Award in His interest in materials and dif- opened at Gallery Momo in 2002, Cianfanelli has always been ferent modes of production was October, his decidedly post- drawn to the inventive possibilities sparked from an early age, growing modern water sculpture was inherent in a work’s “materiality”. up around south and central Johan- launched at the University of “I get a kick out of taking appli- nesburg. “My parents had a printing Johannesburg’s impressive cations and using them for a differ- works and my uncle’s engineering Inew art centre. Only weeks before ent function,” he says. “There’s an works was across the road, so I’d get that, a contoured steel sculpture unbelievable amount of materials to see new things all the time.” evoking evolution was installed at and processes out there and every It was partly this fascination with Forum Homini, a chic new boutique single one of them has been made materials and partly the exigencies hotel in the Cradle of Humankind. for a specific function. Once you of surviving as an artist in Johannes- Engineered by the same artist, start tapping into that and translat- burg in the mid-nineties that led him but spanning the public and domes- ing their possible use for artwork, it into the realm of public sculpture. Short-listed submission; the side elevation (top) and front elevation tic sphere, these events signal a fresh gets very exciting.” In 2000 he was commissioned by (above), submitted by Marco Cianfanelli and Jeremy Rose to the Nelson duality in terms of how an artist Over the past 10 years, he’s KCS Projects to design and install Mandela Bay Statue of Freedom Competition defines himself in contemporary experimented with burning mielie two sculpture fountains for Media24 Johannesburg. Although his fans are skins, branding animal hides, in Sandton. “It was the first big com- probably most familiar with the mosaics, works in concrete, sculpted missioned project I did on my own steel sculpture subtly introducing Pharmaceuticals, and producing a hauntingly monochromatic white sea sand, video, painting, masked and it scared the hell out of me. the client’s (SA Eagle) corporate mosaic work for FNB’s call centre. “Everything was new — working image by casting an eagle-shaped At first, companies seemed to buy as a contractor, being accountable, shadow on to the sandstone square into negative stereotypes of the artist doing stuff like laser cutting…. It was into which it is embedded. The steel as “bohemian loafer” and were the start of a whole new style of poles of the sculpture are picked up nervous to entrust him with the Building a million houses is working,” he says. in strips of colourful mosaics set into kinds of budgets and responsibilities Cianfanelli has come a long way the paving, depicting the street grid that projects of this nature entail. since then. His reinvention as a pub- of Johannesburg, overlaid with “But for me the idea of people “going to be easier than healing lic artist turned largely on a project iconic urban images. thinking I was useless was just un- he did in 2001, as part of the Hollard Since then Cianfanelli has been a acceptable,” he says. “I had to spend Street Mall upgrade in the heart of very busy man, completing a huge a lot of energy presenting the idea, people’s psychological spaces downtown Johannesburg. Commis- mosaic artwork for MTN’s head getting it across, convincing people sioned by Green Inc Landscape office, designing and installing a to do it.” The investment paid off Architects, he designed an abstract fountain installation for Roche and he managed to build a name for

Conceptual digital sketches by Cianfanelli in collaboration with the design team of Freedom Park (GAPP, MMAand Mashabane Rose), rated by President Thabo Mbeki as democratic SA’s most ” ambitious heritage project yet Page 5 12/02/05 01 01sv0212ART pcc1 12:18:39 PM 11/25/05

Art BUSINESS DAY, December 2005 5

A contoured steel skull installed and designed by the artist for Fo- rum Homini, a new boutique hotel in the Cradle of Humankind

himself in the corporate sphere by made it to the final short list. He multidisciplinary team conceptual - prompt for us to take chances in It’s the thing we most chronically honouring his commitments and worked with Jeremy Rose of Masha- ising and designing the monumental what we do. A bit of probing, a bit of need and we’re racing against time. I delivering quality work on time. bane Rose Architects, famed for their public space at Freedom Park, just reflection and research, a bit of think building a million houses is go- “After a lot of initial scepticism, I work on the Apartheid Museum, to outside Pretor ia. communication, a bit experimenta- ing to be way easier than healing ended up gaining respect from a conceptualise a sculpture commem- Rated by President Thabo Mbeki tion and exploration…. I try to apply people’s psychological spaces. very tight industry,” he says. orating the achievement of freedom as democratic SA’s most ambitious my skills to each context/project in “Art has to play a role in that. But This year has been his most in SA for the Port Elizabeth Harbour. project yet, Freedom Park is intend- the most suitable manner and that it has to merge with corporates and intense yet. Earlier in 2005 his joint Continuing his association with ed to be “a place of historical won- requires an evaluation of function, with government to do that. They submission in the Nelson Mandela Rose and Monna Mokoena of derment, where all ignorance and audience/viewer, budget, material, can’t do it on their own. You can’t Bay Statue of Freedom Competition Gallery Momo, he is also part of the hatred are crushed, where freedom language and so on.” assign the role of transformation to symbolises a milestone in the South What role, if any, can public art artists, you can’t assign it solely to African evolution”. play in the SA’s transformation government or corporates. I think SA It is perhaps at this level that the process? “Well, I think the might be an example of term “public art” is at its most argument about it being these three sitting contested, invoking unnerving asso- excess has fallen by around a table more ciations with the nationalist impuls- the wayside. This often than in a lot es inherent in a redundant colossus country so des- of other places.” such as the Voortrekker Monument. p e ra t e l y Should it fall on the taxpayer to needs bankroll these excursions of hubris? heal - Alex Dodd Cianfanelli is quick to admit the ing. term “public art” is a contentious one. Asked about its possible pur- poses in a post-totalitarian society Far right, the artist at the recently launched water sculpture designed and such as ours, he responds: “I don’t implemented for the University of Johannesburg’s impressive new art think we are in a position yet to centre. Picture: TYRONE ARTHUR answer or qualify that question and Above is a conceptual drawing and below is detail of the sculpture this very condition might be a good Page 6 12/02/05 01 01sv0212ART pcc1 12:19:04 PM 11/25/05

6BUSINESS DAY, December 2005 Art Kentridge: International icon,

T’s deliciously curious that one he’s in his groove — old enough to of the world’s most iconic know what he likes, young enough to artists lives and works on a go after it. highveld koppie, perched high “I did spend six months in New above the City of Gold, with York,” he says, “and I could have sweeping views over its north- enjoyed living there. But sometimes ern suburbs. In the distance are it’s best not to work in the centre. I Ithe decentralised business districts was unproductive while I was there; of Rosebank and Sandton. more productive when I returned.” On a clear day you can see forever Kentridge relishes his collabora- — past the ’70s-era Randburg tive projects: “Working with (com- skyline and onward to the golden- poser) Philip Miller can be done on a hued Magaliesberg. spin,” he says. Below him courses the caco- Says Miller: “Our first collabora- phonic lifeblood of a tree-lined tion was Felix in Exile, about 10 years megalopolis — home to kugels and ago. Over the past decade, we’ve squatters, business tycoons and learned to find a common language hawkers, commuters and joggers, with one another. As with a Balkan immigrants and Zimbab- marriage, or any other relationship, wean refugees. He’s firmly part of energies either work, or they don’t. this world. And unintendedly not. “What I enjoy about working with His work hangs in the world’s William is that he provides interpre- leading galleries and museums. His tive freedom in the narrative. most recent exhibition, a retrospec- “His narratives often aren’t com- tive, travelled from Italy’s Castello di pletely clear or mapped out at first, Rivoli to contemporary art museums and he likes it like that. The inter- comfortable with playing with dif- his creative art. In other words, it’s in Düsseldorf, Sydney and Montreal pretations become part of the ferent ideas until you find something by looking and finely observing that and, ultimately, the Johannesburg creative process. together that can work with his over- he knows where to go — it is Art Gallery. “We often seem to find our all vision of how a project should fundamentally a highly developed So, what keeps William Kentridge common language together quite look, feel and sound.” visual sensibility, which institutes its in Johannesburg? quickly. It’s not like normal film work A lot of Says Wits University’s Jane Taylor, own process of analysis.” “Inertia,” he smiles. “Who knows? where you’re handed completed who collaborated with Kentridge on Taylor says Kentridge’s work “has The children’s schools? The people I concepts. It’s conceptual, where “unexpected a number of projects: “I enjoy work- an enormous emotional complexity work with? It’s home.” you’re given figurative snapshots of ing with William for an enormous about it, often in very short frames. Kentridge is laid-back, with a imagery — a rough sketch, an object range of reasons. But I think one of So, in four, five or six minutes he’s slightly academic air about him. or footage. Sometimes four or five things start the main reasons is that I have an able to capture a sense of loss and He’s friendly, but not forceful. items, sometimes seven or eight. academic background, one that’s the potential for catastrophe. His Secure, but not arrogant. Engaging, “For example, on our latest pro- language-based, and I approach ideas are often profound and philo- but not gushing. There’s the feeling ject, the Black Box, William showed a to happen things intellectually. sophically rich, but still not alienat- short piece of black and white “William works from the opposite ing. For the viewer, it’s often almost footage of an old rhino hunt and when working direction: working in a dialogue with as simple as a drawing class, and asked me to compose an elegy for a himself, constantly referring back to very accessible.” ‘rhino’. In that sense, he serves as a and engaging with his own visual “His work only gets better,” says IF YOU’VE GOTTA catalyst for me and my work, plant- with William production. It’s almost an instinctu- Miller. “It was rougher before, with a ing ideas in my head,” says Miller. al process and yet, at the same time, real sense of process, with the rub HAVE ONE … “It’s a very exciting process — a we’re asking the same questions outs. If you look at Johannesburg: lot of unexpected things start to with different approaches. The Second Greatest City After Paris, IT’s near-impossible to price happen when working with William, “His powers of observation are you’ll see it’s very rough, on some Kentridge’s art, particularly as he who has an ability to make you feel astonishing. His visual acuity leads levels almost crude — and it’s this works in so many mediums, writes Josef Talotta. ” A small-edition DVD Kent- Above: Sleeper — Red, 1997, Etching, aquatint drypoint from two copper plates on velin d’Arches Blanc 300 gsm paper. Below: Installation shot: ridge movie just sold on auction Preparing the Flute, 2004/05, front and rear projection film on DVD for about £80 000 at Christie’s, London. What’s more, you’re up against some of the world’s lead- ing galleries, museums and private collections and let’s be straight: very few are willing — and able — to install a Kentridge opera in their homes. But to give you a first-hand idea of Kentridge’s ascent on the global art scene, I purchased a 35cm x45cm lithograph, The Jug in the Vineyard, signed and numbered, from Johannesburg’s Goodman Gallery in June 2001 for R3 500. In 2002, a lithograph from the same edition of 55 prints sold for R6 500; its most recent sale last year realised more than R25 000. In other words, its market value has increased more than seven-fold in less than four years. That said, local curators suggest you can still purchase original Kentridge etchings or lithographs from about R9 000 or R10 000. David Krut Publishing will soon publish a new book on the artist. William Kentridge Prints is the first book to focus solely on his formidable print oeuvre, filling a gap in published work on the artist to date. It is also the first major publication on William Kentridge to be pub- lished in SA and includes more than 180 works. Page 7 12/02/05 01 01sv0212ART pcc1 12:19:30 PM 11/25/05

Art BUSINESS DAY, December 2005 7 still working from home

crudeness that’s what makes the According to Kentridge “it’s those names will not only be forgotten, but film so powerful.” perfect Lutyens rooms. It was, with- they will be damned’.” Although Kentridge was awarded out a doubt, the most beautiful of The same holds true for today’s the Carnegie Prize at the Carnegie my shows.” captains of industry. Although International 1999-2000 in Pitts- The preservation of art and cul- Johannesburg is home to some of burgh, he doesn’t make a hoo-ha ture is, understandably, important to the world’s wealthiest families, about his success: “For the size of Kentridge: “The Johannesburg Art there’s precious little to show for it our art community, there are a lot of Gallery should be kept,” he says. “As through public projects — no Heinz South African artists who are doing a facility, it can never be replicated halls, no Guggenheim museums, no well internationally. Certainly a elsewhere in the city. Unfortunately, Munson-Williams-Proctor arts much higher percentage than any it’s in the midst of an organic taxi institutes. “Unless something is other country I know.” rank, which doesn’t even work for done, Johannesburg will become a What drives this collective the taxis as a space. city of private wealth and public success? “I suppose it’s our socio- “So many of the original Rand- poverty,” says Kentridge. political environment,” says Ken- lords spirited their money out of the The artist was en route to Berlin tridge, “as it’s a great pressure-cook- country,” says Kentridge, “with the at the time of his interview, where his er for the making of art.” notable exceptions of (Alfred) Beit latest work, Black Box/Chambre His retrospective tour featured at and (Lionel) Phillips. I think it was Noire, was about to open at the some of the world’s leading contem- Lady Phillips, when lobbying for a Guggenheim Berlin. The museum porary art museums, but it’s the public art collection, who said some- describes the work as “politically installation at the Johannesburg Art thing like, ‘Unless today’s business engaged, visually spectacular and Gallery that most impressed. leaders give back to the city, their concerned with the theme of memory. (It) plays with three mean- ings of ‘black box’ as the theatre space, the chambre noire (or body) of a camera and the flight-data recorder … while also exploring early film history and the German colonial experience in South West Africa, now known as Namibia.” Is he happy with his latest en- deavour? “I never know the atmos- phere until it’s done,” he says. “What drives the work is the work itself.”

Josef Talotta

Black Box/Chambre Noire is at the Guggenheim Berlin until January 15. Top left: Zeno Writing II (Soldiers/Italian Front), 2003, Suite of seven pho- The opera, Die Zauberflöte (The togravures with drypoint from two copper plates, on Hahnemuhle Above: Installation shot: Preparing the Flute; 2004-05 Magic Flute), tours France and Italy Bottom left: William Kentridge at work next year before coming to SA in 2007. Page 8 12/02/05 01 01sv0212ART pcc1 12:19:42 PM 11/25/05

8BUSINESS DAY, December 2005 Art Step into Daddy Long Legs’ parlour

ONG Street has long been the mother city’s liveliest locale, night and day. In recent years it has benefited from Cape Town’s inner city restoration project and today, the street is tidier and cleanerL than it has been for a while, and as vigorously charming as ever. Among the premises to receive a particularly special touch of late is a pretty, three-story Victorian-styled building dated 1903. Reborn as Daddy Long Legs, a “boutique hotel for independent travellers”, the es- tablishment is now a well-appointed and fully inhabitable interactive art exhibition, featuring 13 en suite rooms individually designed by South African artists across nine creative genres. Check in and you are treated to the interior decorating interpreta- tions of a visual artist, photographer, poet, graffiti artist, animator, sculp- tor, group of musicians, architect and designer. “We wanted to celebrate the creative spirit of Cape Town in a unique way and, at the same time, establish a stylish and comfortable hotel that adds to the cultural expe- rience of the city and country,” says Cape Town businessman Jody Aufrichtig, who managed the project and owns the building in partner- ship with Nicholas Ferguson. Artist and curator Kim Stern expresses her experience of strange bumps in the night in the Do Not From Khayelitsha to Kalk Bay … Anthony Smyth’s The Photo Booth room Disturb room with braille walls, astroturf floors and an extensive karaoke unit, which is set up even in a colourfully funky room that invites humorous suggestions on how one walls and envelops the bed. the shower. guests to enjoy each band member’s might travel with a dog. The result is Aufrichtig and Ferguson have Graffiti artist Mak1One says he selection of music, while animator a playful yet restful space. invested heavily in property on Long wants to take guests “into his head” and sculptor Frank van Reenen In The Photo Booth room, photo- Street and are champions of the with the three-dimensional roof appeals to travellers who are sad to grapher Anthony Smyth assembled “authentic lifestyle” of this region of sculpture in his room. “When I look leave their dogs at home. “The world 3 240 black and white images of Cape Town. “The Daddy Long Legs at objects I see them from every would be better place if people could Capetonians “from Khayelitsha to art project has exceeded expecta- angle, all the shadows and shapes just take their dogs with them wher- Kalk Bay”. Poet and author Finuala tions,” says Aufrichtig. “We are in and contours. I never just see some- ever they go,” says Van Reenen. Business & Arts South Africa Dowling muses on “meaning and awe of the enthusiasm, creativity thing flat and smooth,” he says. The “When I go away I feel traumatised — supporting business investment memories” in her soothing ro o m , and dedication of the artists and view from the window extends the by the thought of having to leave my in the arts Palimpsest. In Far From Home, delighted with the outcome.” graffiti theme with a mural by fellow dog Nesbit behind. I fantasise about Robin Sprong brings the Karoo to graffiti artist Fa i t h . ways I could bring him with.” w w w . b a s a .c o . z a Long Street with a landscape Musicians Freshlyground created In his room, Travel Dog, he offers photograph that entirely swathes the Penny Haw Page 9 12/02/05 01 01sv0212ART pcc1 12:20:05 PM 11/25/05

Art BUSINESS DAY, December 2005 9 A smorgasbord of

Business & Arts South Africa South African flavour — supporting business investment in the arts w w w . b a s a .c o . z a

ODGES and swish retreats are hardly an endangered species in SA, but finding one that is stylish and soul- fully authentic without replicating the A tall order safari cliché is something well worth writing home about. Beyond the leo- pard skin ottoman, beyond the hunt- for Legacy’s ingL trophy and mosquito-net bed cover, lies the fabulously fresh Graskop Hotel — an eclec- tic palace of homegrown ingenuity. As one of SA’s few authentic local art h o t e l s, Raphael hotel there’s simply no other establishment like it. In addition to being stylishly furnished and decorated with traditional and post-moder n HE Legacy Hotel & Resort Group’s African artefacts, the hotel is home to an recent involvement in art, particularly extensive collection of contemporary South with emerging artists in Gauteng, African art works by artists including Claudette Ttranspired when Nicky Wessels, pro- Schreuders, Pippa Skotnes, Willem Boshoff, ject manager for the luxury Raphael Pent- Andrew Milne, Stefanus Rademeyer, Jan van house Suites in Nelson Mandela Square in der Merwe and Heidi Nel. Sandton, contemplated the large, bland Where else in this country can you book spaces created by the building’s eight atri- into a room and find yourself in the mysterious ums that open up to the sky. riddle of a visual art installation? Several of the “The massive, four-storey atrium walls 19 en-suite bedrooms leading off the long — 9m high and 4m wide — called for tongue-and-groove upstairs corridor have attention and, after visiting numerous tal- been kitted out by individual artists, so you get ented but mostly unknown artists in places to stay in the Abrie Fourie suite, the Cecile like Alexander and Soweto, I realised what Heystek suite or the wonderfully flamboyant superb canvases the wall could be.” Barbara Wildenboer suite. We checked in to Wessels introduced the Raphael Mural Room 18, an urban surrealist installation by Art Competition and invited artists to Nicole Vinokur, featuring a delicious cerise propose ideas for murals in the atriums. ceiling offsetting the white ceiling fan and The winners were selected by a panel of crisp linen sheets. Her work is based on the judges: Moleleki Frank Ledimo, head of unexpected thrill of finding precious things in Vansa and the Craft Council of SA; Nicola the ordinary, which is exactly what we felt on Danby, CEO of Business & Art SA; Dr Ivan entering our inventive suite, which overlooks May, CEO of the Cow Parade; artist and ed- the grand swimming pool and lush g a rd e n s. ucator Bongi Dhlomo-Mautloa; Bart Dor- There’s something innately erotic about restein, CEO of Legacy; Karel Nel, professor hotels, but in this case the thrill of booking in is of art at the University of the Witwaters- coupled with the secret excitement of being rand; architect Francois Pienaar; and artist surrounded by hundreds of oblique messages Naomi Jacobson. encoded in the artworks. And there’s nothing “Once selected, the winners, who had predictable about the selection of artists or never previously undertaken a commission works, no copping in to a prescribed A-list of of this size, had to be trained and cham- who’s who in the art zoo. The selections are pioned to meet the opening deadline. Their refreshingly personal and idiosyncratic, and determination, and the end result, was therein lies the hotel’s other decadent thrill. breathtaking,” says Dhlomo-Mautloa. There’s something sweetly satisfying about The winning, and subsequently com- the idea that this whole boutique hotel missioned, artists were Alan Kupeta (With concept and all the plushness it entails has Bicycle); Kamogelo Makhonki (A Day in been built on the good fortune of a pancake Beyond the leopard skin ottoman: the Graskop Hotel offers an eclectic mix of authentic South Soweto); Clint Singh (Beaded Raphael); the baron. The passionate patron behind this African art, above, along with the famous Harrie’s Pancakes, below Pictures: WENDEL FERNANDES Soweto Ladies’ Art Club from Regina Mundi splendid art hotel is none other Harrie Siert- (River Mosaic); Siphiwe Ngwenya (Togeth- sema — he of Harrie’s Pancakes fame. In a er); Abe Mathabe (Untitled); and Thabo generous departure from the elegant but slight parlours in Dullstroom or Graskop. (There are Panorama route to the Blyde River Ca n yo n , Phala (I Khasi). The winners received French crêpe, Harrie’s lush pancakes are the also branches in Pretoria, Cape Town, each only 7km from God’s Window and 40km to the R20 000 each on completion, with all costs stuff of local legend. A trip to the lowveld isn’t with a gallery attached. Plans are afoot to Kruger National Park, the lazy lowveld town covered by the developers. A plaque with a quite the same without indulging in a sweet or extend the network to Franschoek, Plettenberg won his heart. story about the mural and the artist is dis- savoury treat at one of Harrie’s pancake Bay and Richmond in Northern Cape.) A tall strong man with short, cropped hair played opposite the murals. Throughout history, from Medici to Kebble, that’s more salt than pepper, Siertsema says “The competition opened our eyes to the dubious funding sources of arts patrons he’s been collecting over the past 30 years and just how much talent there is right on our have been an irksome tug on the artistic is most drawn to “abstract/realism”. While we doorstep,” says Wessels. “The hotel is such a conscience, so I took personal delight in know- were visiting the hotel, Cedric Nunn’s photo- fantastic place to display South African art ing this plenitude of art had been funded on graphic show Blood Relatives was up in the so we decided to take the project further.” the human weakness for sweetness. Right hotel gallery, while works by young Pretoria Legacy commissioned curatorial facili- down to the statue of St Augustine in the hotel artist Donna Kukama were on show in the Ar t tators Marcus Neustetter and Stephen gardens, good intentions seem alive and well. Sp a c e, linked to Harrie’s Pancakes. Hobbs of The Trinity Session to curate the A friend of Siertsema’s tells me that he’s “a Siertsema says he has “a real interest in the extended Raphael art collection, which in- huge animal lover. He’s quiet and reserved — work of young artists” because of the inherent cludes hundreds of works by about 150 lo- very intellectual, but a really nice person, with “challenge of trying to predict” where they’re cal artists. These are incorporated into the a lot of passion for the people around him.” headed. “The real reward comes when they design and décor of the suites and recep- Siertsema — who pronounces his name weave their way into major collections or gal- tion rooms. The work is labelled and similar “Hurry”, with a rolling gurgle of an “r” — leries,” he says. His tip to aspirant collectors is: pieces are available from a nearby gallery. bought his first painting, a watercolour by “Always buy with your heart and soul, but with “The Raphael project started something René Brisley, back in 1968 when he was still at the assistance of a gallerist or curator. extremely exciting,” says Wessels. “Not only school. He attributes his lifelong passion for “My priority has always been art that I ap- have we created a unique art collection that the arts to the influence of a “competent and preciate,” he says plainly. And that’s what is now accessible to an influential m a rk e t , respected” art teacher — “Mrs Connie Brand”. makes the Graskop Hotel such an unpreten- but we have also provided some phenom- He went on to study architecture at the tious aesthetic pleasure. “Good contemporary enally talented artists with a platform.” University of Pretoria and then, beckoned by art is too often hidden away in museum store- The group plans extend the idea to the the wideness of the world, joined South rooms and corporate buildings. My quest is to new Michelangelo Towers Hotel. African Airways as a flight attendant. bring art into public spaces.” But he found gravity again on a visit to a friend’s family in the mountain village of Penny Haw Graskop. Perfectly situated on the well-known Alex Dodd Page 10 12/02/05 01 01sv0212ART pcc1 12:45:24 PM 11/25/05

10 BUSINESS DAY, December 2005 Art An artist’s life: RICHARD SCOTT Scott, who says he paints not to eat but because he can, spell of Scott’s astutely marketed There will be seven buildings, in lowercase letters of his stamp-block is writing his name on the planet’s surface brand of, well, let’s call it Kiddy Pop. seven cities around the world, each signature. The first “r” will be built in Since persuading the Hout Bay devoted to a different medium, and Cape Town soon, with the rest to Gallery to hand over R300 for Two each taking their shape from the follow within the next 15 years. Trees in a Field of Sky, a There is a philanthropic 90cm x90cm impasto and acrylic underpinning to this starry-eyed on a home-made pine frame, Scott plan, but it is impossible to ignore has sold hundreds of works at the artistic vision: one day, Childlike home and abroad, not be- when you are looking down cause he needs to, but be- from interstellar orbit, you cause he can. will be able to see “I don’t paint to Richard Scott’s signa- eat,” he says, having ture from s p a c e. simplicity made his bread- For now, he is and-jam in inter- happy enough to net development make his mark on during the the planet in dot.com boom. colour and line, In 2002, he sold in a style that will and a big plan his thriving Cape make some peo- Town c o m p a n y, ple go, “But my Shocked, and t h re e - ye a r- o l d reinvented him- could have paint- HE artist dips his brush senior, casting a glance at the paint- self as a full-time ed that!” into the palette, scooping splattered toddler heading for the artist, drawing on- To which the up a big lick of colour and trestle-table, “in the beginning I ly on a few years of only possible an- slapping it onto the canvas would take a little strain when peo- art class and a stint swer is that they with glee. A splash of ple told me that my work was child- as a technical illustra- didn’t, and the world shocking blue; a burst of like. Now I take it as a compliment.” tor: “You know, those would be a better place sunshine yellow; a jolt of Picasso once said he spent his guys that draw exploded if they did. Tblinding Arctic white, the colour that career learning to paint like a child views of engines and stuff.” isn’t even a colour. again, but Scott seems to have got it This background seeps The artist lets go of the brush, like right from the start. His bright, witty through in his nuts-and-bolts ap- Gus Silber a caveman resisting the impulse of works appeal to the three-year-old proach to art, which he views with a evolution. He jabs his fingers into inside us, but at the same time they disarming absence of pretension, the palette, and begins daubing are entirely grown-up in their almost and a sly sense of reverse psychology colour onto the floor and walls, as if brutal discipline: a series of pet sub- that implies he couldn’t care less the canvas isn’t big enough to con- jects (cats, cars, trees, flowers, cot- about his own success. “I would tain his imagination. Meet Richie tages, lighthouses, “babes”) etched rather someone wanted my art,” he Above: Blue Who, 2004, impasto Scott, 3, contemporary artist. in solid white against blocks or declares, “than had it in their pos- and acrylic He has been invited into the splodges or dribbles of smack-in- s e s s i o n .” studio, in Melkbosstrand, near Cape your-face colour. But of course he does care, and Town, by his father, Richard, 37, who You can tell a Richard Scott from on an exponential scale, just as his is working with slightly more across the room, which must explain canvases have zoomed from modest Right: Richard Scott in his studio restraint on a painting of a woman in why Woolworths uses a selection, squares into almost wall-size ob- a bikini, outlining her curves with a blown up to banner size, to shout the longs. Already, plans for the Richard series of fluid black lines that lend way to the kiddies’ section. But it is Scott Foundation, which will provide flesh and substance to the numbing not just the retail textile merchan- space and funding for aspirant Below: Rose Redhead, 2004, nothingness of white. ”Ja,” says Scott disers who have fallen under the artists, are well under way. impasto and acrylic

IF YOU’VE GOTTA HAVE ONE …

WANT a Richard Scott on your wall? Only three years ago, you would have been able to pick up a 90cm x 90cm Richard Scott canvas for less than R500. Today, you can expect to pay up to R10 000 for a work of the same size, and about R2 000 for a 30 x 30cm work. On the auction market, a set of six 30 x 30cm Scotts fetched R16 000 at Sotheby’s last year, while a 150cm x 150cm work went for R35 000 in Rotterdam. Scott’s work is available at several Cape Town galleries, including the Hout Bay Gallery (www.houtbaygallery.co.za), the Rossouw Gallery (www.art10- .co.za) and the Virtual Gallery (www.vgaller y.co.za). For more information, con- tact Scott’s agent, Charl Bezuidenhout, on 082 901 5045, or visit www.richardscott.com. Page 11 12/02/05 01 01sv0212ART pcc1 12:21:30 PM 11/25/05

Art BUSINESS DAY, December 2005 11 An artist’s life: THERESA-ANNE MACKINTOSH Young artist is still finding her way, but her sheer professionalism IF YOU’VE GOTTA will steer her to eminence HAVE ONE …

TINA fibreglass sculptures each sell for R12 000, while Babies, ceramic sculptures, sell for R9 000 each. Walking a Theresa-Anne Mackintosh is represented by Gallery Momo (Monna Mokoena), Tel: (011) 327-3247. Mackintosh can be reached directly on 083 310-6924 or on e- thin line mail: [email protected]. In these media she may well turn to the work of Conrad Botes, who also made the crossover from his underground and celebrated Bitter- HE fine art fraternity is very incestuous muddle-puddle, based comix to fine art, with exhilarating precious about their hear t- on who screws whom or who lec- panache in his recent lithographs. rending sacrifices and tured whom. However, as much as she values unwavering commitment I briefly taught the shy and se- her unexceptional typeface, featured to their work during their cretive Mackintosh on a locum stint in so many works, I suggest she gets struggle to make a living and introduced her to the FIG over it, and leaves it in her former from art, which remains a gallery, where she and many of her Above: Girl, 2004, acrylic and oil on canvas, 1 020mm x 1 020mm life, where it belongs. Tpainfully uncertain occupation. inordinately talented classmates had Below: title: Jackie the Kid projection, animation But Mackintosh’s sheer profes- But everything associated with their first solo exposure. sionalism, and meticulous docu- money is not necessarily dirty or I first took notice of her new work mentation and commentaries in corrupt. In fact, throughout history it after revisiting Quinton Tarantino’s music video Paranoid Android (Art any cartoon could ever have. That, in lasting catalogues, reflect her deter- was the artists with solid business Kill Bill, confirming my wonderment South Africa, 2004) in Jackie the Kid fine art terms, is called presence. mination to succeed as an eminent acumen who became successful — at his superb sense of fusion in cine- (NSA Gallery, Durban, 2004). It Her exhibition this year, Theresa- artist, and I would be very surprised Giotto, Da Vinci, Rubens, Monet, matography, which interfaces so centred on an absurd three-minute Anne Mackintosh at Franchise if she does not. Braque and our own William Kent- well with his private world and our animation piece wherein Tina, who Gallery, Johannesburg, was less con- r idgewho, after all, is admirably a growing globalisation. gave birth to a goat, approaches a templated and perhaps too soon. self-made animator, which is what Mackintosh’s animation, and pharmacist for goat’s milk. In it Though the sculptures were equally Braam Kruger makes him so important as a role sculptures of her own cartoon char- Mackintosh obliquely addresses faultlessly executed, it was a shame model in this context. Frankly, pseu- a c t e r s, showed an uncanny echo of many personal and gender issues her multiple slip-cast ceramic and do-academic artists will do well the Japanese Manga school Taranti - but for me it recalls the German variously glazed “babies” were called chasing an MBA instead of an MA. no so admires. She constantly refers Expressionist cartoons of the 1930s. that, for it enforced my irritation by This long-winded introduction is to movies like Magnolia and Eraser- While the narrative is clearly their installation, coyly seated on a aimed at showing why Theresa- head and Rosemary’s Baby, and says important and future animated con- cordoned-off carpet in the middle of Anne Mackintosh, despite her im- she would rather be in the camp of tributions will be welcomed, I am the space, lending the show the am- pressive track record, her awards in Tarantino, David Lynch or Michel more interested in the sculpture of biance of a crèche in a Pretoria mall. the commercial animation world Gondry (a music video director) the stark and mute Tina, exquisitely But, individually, they are power ful, and her MA cum laude from the than many artists. But she needs to manufactured multiples in fibre- alien, bear-like fetishes. University of Pretoria, will be evalu- go easy on the influence, for person- glass placed in the centre of the exhi- Though I sympathise with Mac- ated as an artist exclusively on her al parody on other art can easily slip bition space. Few artists beyond kintosh’s desire to explore an assort- two recent exhibitions, which mark into imitated pastiche. Kevin Brand and Brett Murray pro- ment of challenges like painting, her re-entry as a “real artist” into an An alert Alexander Sudheim flatly duce work of such startling imme- drawing and watercolour, they hard- art world that appears from outside accuses her of cribbing one too diacy. It is as if the statues have more ly relate to the main sculptures and to be a veritable Alcatraz, but is an many elements from Radiohead’s animation locked up in them than actually read like a group show. Page 12 12/02/05 01 01sv0212ART pcc1 12:21:55 PM 11/25/05

12 BUSINESS DAY, December 2005 Art An artist’s LANGA MAGWA life: In his exploration of his In search of the own identity, Magwa pays homage to dying African customs self inside the skin

HE skin is the largest organ of the body and, next to the brain, the most complicated. Because of the sources and complexity of his work, it is fit- ting that skin is conceptual sculptor Langa Magwa’s chosen medium. Magwa’s face was scarified when he wasT about three years old, in accordance with Zulu tradition on his father’s side of the family. But a parental split meant Magwa was sent from Kwamagoda village near Richmond in KwaZulu-Natal to his Xhosa maternal grand- parents near Adelaide in Eastern Cape. In this different cultural environment, he continually asked himself: “Why do I have these scars on my face?” They were a constant source of insults and he grew up hating them. “I even took wax from a tree and tried to erase them. My grandfather said: ‘Don’t. You have to have these things, they are your father’s thing; they tell you who you are.” When he was 21, Magwa went back to KwaZulu-Natal. “I saw lots of Zulu people with Inkone, wooden skin with wooden feather scars on their faces. I relaxed. But I asked my mother, ‘Why the scars?’. “At 21 I saw my father for the first time. He artists (each from a different country) and later told me who made the scars and what they burned these onto five springbok hides. These mean. Then I attempted to love the scars. This works underscore identity, which is core to precious thing, this information, I use as the Magwa personally and professionally. theme and concept of my art. Growing up in his Xhosa grandfather’s “My work is deeply saturated in African household, Magwa experienced a cultural customs embedded in the use of skin, human tradition different from his father’s, and was and animal, as a form of expression and circumcised — not a Zulu practice. communication. African people used to wear “My grandfather said: ‘I know your people animal skins and sleep on them. Each animal on your father’s side don’t do this, but you’re and its skin has a specific role when practising under me here. You have to do this, otherwise our rituals, which include the rite of passage, you won’t be recognised as a man.’ Practising identity (adornment) and medicinal use.” both scarification and circumcision led to the It’s no surprise then that animal skins for m questioning of my origins and identity.” Magwa’s canvas. The resonant cultural objects Finally, though, Magwa says: “Scarification he attaches to them — drums or Zulu female played a big role in finding my identity, expec- headdress, for example — and the images he tations from my community, and has expand- burns into them, are akin to applying paint, or ed into me researching other similar rituals of scarification. Magwa uses hide, the tough skin the African people. My art then becomes a tool of animals, notably cattle, goats, buck and in expressing and searching for this identity.” snakes. He “wants people to feel and touch the That process is being furthered by his MA work — to be inside the skin”. thesis, The Use of Skin as a Means of Identity in Each of his sculptures proposes a ro b u s t Zulu Culture, which he is completing at the discourse. Take Amaqanda ka Cilo, a head- Durban Institute of Technology. dress traditionally worn by older married women with children, mounted on a stretched Nguni cattle hide. “The devaluing of Zulu cul- Darryl Accone ture is very much perpetuated by the influence of urban or western values. For generations Zulu people have been exposed to western ide- ologies. They have slowly disdained their own Above: Unta, Shield with Light customs, regarding them as primitive, un- Left: Amaqanda kaCilo, wooden skin with civilised, even terming them as barbaric. headdress gear “Currently there has been a move towards recapturing traditional trends but, unfortu- nately, some of us lack the significant back- ground information that comes with using such items that are valuable (or rather, that IF YOU’VE GOTTA should be regarded as valuable). Hence you find individuals wearing without complying HAVE ONE … with the necessary code of conduct or k n ow i n g the meaning behind their adornments.” LANGA Magwa’s sculptures fetch between The search for meaning and identity, R3 500 and R6 500. Prices vary according whether individual or group, suffuses Ma g w a ’ s to materials and complexity of conception springbok-hide series. The springbok is and creation. particularly culturally resonant and relevant, Of late, Magwa has replaced his signa- he says: traditionally, young Zulus wear spring- ture stretched cowhides with what he calls bok hides when dancing; the springbok was on “wooden skins”, examples of which he the old South African coat of arms, and displayed at the Renault 2005 Artists remains the symbol of SA’s rugby team. But, Exhibition in Sandton last month. Magwa reveals, there are dark-brown spring- At that show, one of Magwa’s most am- bok skins, as well as white and fawn. bitious works, Ibahadi, went for R17 500. At an artists’ workshop in Scotland in 2003, Magwa took thumb prints from his 20 fellow Ibahadi, skins with fingerprints Page 13 12/02/05 01 01sv0212ART pcc1 12:22:15 PM 11/25/05

Art BUSINESS DAY, December 2005 13 An artist’s life: OBIE OBERHOLZER Photographer Obie Oberholzer shoots from the hip, and expresses his passion for SA in bold colour — never black and white Wanderlust in the HappySadland

BIE Oberholzer, photog- ensures high quality and sharp journeys in southern Africa”. Above: Self portrait, circa 1977, Durban rapher, direct talker, definition in the prints. His drift towards photog ra p h y Below: Moonrise over Motel Swimming Pool, 1999, Bubi River, Masvingo teacher and Africa trav- Like his conversation, Oberhol- began with the interest in design Province, Zimbabwe eller, has a passion for zer’s books are slightly haphazard sparked by his father, an engineer. the HappySadland — SA. journeys. He thinks the best was Be- Oberholzer grew up on a farm In his photographs the yond Bagamoyo, about the nine- outside Pretoria. At Stellenbosch skies are really big and month Cape to Cairo journey he be- University he studied graphic de- Oblue, his soils are really brown, and gan after voting in what is now sign, played rugby and had fun. the people are often smiling. Ober- Mussina in 1994. Bagamoyo is a After realising he gained a “quick- holzer’s books show the real virtu- small former slavery and ivory port er fix” from putting an image on osity of a wandering photographer. in Tanzania, and the name means emulsion than from drawing or Many of SA’s art photographers “let your heart hang” in Swahili. He painting, Oberholzer went to the use black and white and when they drew the maps for his books and in a Bavarian State Institute of Photogra- use colour, these are very subdued. few the text is in his handwriting. phy in Munich, Germany, to study. He calls himself a “photographic Some critics say his dreamlike writ - “Anybody coming from a privi- thug” and goes ballistic at the ing is better than his photography. leged white background who goes to mention of the phrase “art photo- Oberholzer loves the freedom of Stellenbosch and fails history of art grapher”; he rails against the lack of wandering. “Freedom is not know- is immediately struck by the work taste and visual literacy in SA. ing where I am going. I get in my ethic and competition that exists in “We have lost the word ‘p a s s i o n ’ . double cab and take the seats out Europe. It was a real wake-up call.” I’m often criticised because my and have a bed. Freedom to me is He returned to SA and “jumped pictures are too passionate, too coming to a T junction and saying, around a bit”, working as a commer- colourful, too intense,” he says. “We mmmmm, let’s go left.” cial photographer and teaching SA’s live in a tremendously passionate Oberholzer lectured on photo- first photography diploma course, at country and there are not many graphy for 20 years until he retired Natal Technikon. He returned to photographers who capture that. I three years ago as a professor of fine Munich for another year, then spent try to capture what I feel. art at Rhodes University. He now a career at Rhodes, teaching his stu- To do that he uses only colour works on his own photography and dents practical things, he stresses. film. “I do my own colour printing. I takes pictures to go with stories on That theorists have hijacked the have not done black and white for a Africa that appear in high-end mag- galleries and public taste is a theme long time, because I’m too visually azines such as Conde Nast Traveller of his. Students miss things like how singular to multitask on both.” and German magazines including to photograph a bottle or a land- He uses an Asahi Pentax 6x7 Stern. His latest project is a book of scape and have portfolios emulating camera, and a medium format that photographs on “more strange what is in the galleries. “They lack understanding of words like line, form, shape, and can’t get jobs,” he says. “We have not had a culture about line, shape and light. There is IF YOU’VE GOTTA HAVE ONE … a sadness there. Look in Plett and see 15 different architectural styles. “I have no price tag,” insists Ober- people think, I would not feel the Where is our feeling for the country? holzer. “The museums don’t want freedom,” he says. “We have stopped looking at our them because they say the colours After a second call and some whereabouts and at what we feel have been manipulated because cajoling about editorial pressure, and where we come from. Every pic- they are too bright and insincere he relents — he will sell a 40cm x ture needs some intrigue.” and too happy. I love the journey. 50cm colour print, one of five, for And if I had to worry about what between R3 000 and R5 000. Jonathan Katzenellenbogen Page 14 12/02/05 01 01sv0212ART pcc1 12:22:33 PM 11/25/05

14 BUSINESS DAY, December 2005 Art On the stoep in Fordsburg

T’s easy to tell where the artists preside. Pink plastic roses are twined around the filigree wrought-iron balcony and a makeshift sculpture decorates the wraparound stoep. It is almost lunchtime and Fords- Iburg’s streets are abuzz with trade and traffic — shoppers, h a w k e r s, beggars and businessmen shuffling along the pavements and calling across the street, getting in their last deals before the imam’s call and the respite of midday. I ring the bell on the corner of Lilian and Main Road and the wooden door swings open to Carl Becker in a blue ove ra l l . We climb a rickety flight of stairs to the first-floor studio he shares with Hermann Niebuhr and Dave Rowett, all graduates of Rhodes Uni- versity’s art school. “It was Hermann and Dave who found the place. It was completely derelict when they stumbled on it,” says Becker. “We moved in in October 2003.” Before that, Becker, who plays in a band with renegade writer Riaan Malan, worked out of a studio in Yeoville for about 20 years. The rust- ing pressed ceilings, wooden floors and sash windows have prevailed from his bohemian student days, through the heyday of Rockey Street to the hubbub of Fordsburg, w h e re they now seem to form part of an unspoken ethic. Niebuhr emerges from his studio and we step into the kitchen with its old gas stove, aluminium kettle, boxed red wine and plateful of garlic cloves. Furnished with only the bare essentials, it strikes me as being a very “painterly” kitchen, each iconic object calling out to be reproduced. It’s been a big year for Becker and Niebuhr. Becker’s solo show, History Paintings, yielded a splash of red stickers at the Everard Read Gallery in October and, earlier in the year, Niebuhr presented a winning solo of semi-abstract urban landscapes at the Absa Gallery downtown. tic hub for years. On Mahlatini and paintings recall the way Ger man From top to bottom: Hermann The aroma of brewing espresso Street, the other side of the Oriental writer WG Sebald uncovers the Niebuhr’s Blue IQ, oil on canvas; competes with the distinctive brew Plaza, lies The Bag Factory, home to ghosts of Second World War Europe Year of the Rooster, oil on canvas; of oil paint, turps and linseed oil. We big names like Sam Nhengethwa, in the decaying spas of Prague. Main Street Lights, oil on canvas; step out into the sunshine and take Kay Hassan, David Koloane, Pat He has spent many a day wan- Night walkers, oil on canvas up our positions on the stoep. Across Mautloa and Tracey Rose. dering about the mine dumps and the road Saad Butchery and Ghusia Although Becker and Niebuhr streets of downtown Jo’burg with his After Rhodes he spent six years in box of tricks, like some oddly dis- the Karoo town of De Rust, “contin - placed 19th century landscape artist uing that isolated thing of coming to on a field trip. “In a sense I actually terms with painting, learning to read come from the tradition of Romantic the landscape”. On re turning to Jo- landscape painters,” says Becker. hannesburg, his hometown, in 2002, “They were my precursors.” he and Becker embarked on a joint His landscapes become abstract exercise, installing themselves with territories in which Victorian ladies, pencils and clipboards along indus- women with buckets on their heads, trial byways to chart Main Reef Road. knob-kierie wielding African war- In many ways the Lilian Street Stu- riors, giraffes, lions, prospectors, dios grew out of that project. miners and magnates tussle over Niebuhr’s recent depopulated turf. While some wield weapons, cityscapes are infused with the others labour beneath the baking speed and pace of the city. More sun or loaf about, and fair-skinned about selection and reduction than faders retreat beneath u m b re l l a s. direct representation, they capture a “I’ve been looking at the city for a sense of how it feels to be downtown. long time. I did my first drawings in “Most of the work for the last ex- Jo’burg in the ’70s,” Becker says. hibition I made comes from here. “But now, I’m looking at it from There’s no need to go much further the other side and I suppose I’m also than this vantage point,” he says. Carl Becker’s 98 Figures, 98 Years, 2004, oil on canvas more in it now.” “The location, this area, this studio, Becker was Niebuhr’s drawing has been absolutely vital.” lecturer at Rhodes, during the era of Foods (strictly Halaal) compete with were both painting Johannesburg Robert Brooks, George Coutouvides MTN and Coca-Cola signage, and pi- before their move to Fordsburg, their and Noel Hodnett, in the early ’90s. Alex Dodd geons rest on the rafters of a red- presence on this side of the city has “There was a definite focus on brick factory building. From this dis- renewed their perceptions of the landscape at Rhodes,” says Niebuhr, tance, the ribbon of cars on the M1 rapidly evolving African metropolis. “a rejection of contemporary trends Becker can be contacted on 084- resembles a long line of dinky toys. Haunted by Johannesburg’s and an embrace of classical training 873-2445. Niebuhr, on sabbatical Neighbouring the Newtown cul- abandoned Edwardian buildings — a lot of drawing and that thing of in New York, can be reached at tural precinct, unassuming Fords- and slowly disappearing mine ‘learn your craft before you start ex- h n i e b u h r @ y a h o o. c o. u k burg has been an underground artis- dumps, Becker’s recent drawings pressing yourself’.” Page 15 12/02/05 01 01sv0212ART pcc1 12:39:59 PM 11/25/05

Art BUSINESS DAY, December 2005 15 A pan-African gallery in WWHHAATT’’’SS OONN David Krut Arts Resource Address: 140 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood, Johannesburg Call: Tel: 011 880 4242; Fax 011 880 6368 Hours: Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, Saturdays 9am to 4pm. the heart of Newtown Until January 31: Collaborations: 25 Years of Prints and Multiples. This exhibition showcases the works of the many South African artists whose works on paper have been published by David Krut. EN years ago, a young Frenchman arrived in Johannesburg to begin a tour Forthcoming in December from David of duty at the French Institute of SA. Hi s Krut Publishing was to prove an unusual posting, William Kentridge Prints, the first book on notable for its longevity and the remark- William Kentridge to focus solely on the artist’s able dynamism he brought to arts and prints, and the first major publication on culture projects, particularly in the vi- Kentridge to be published in SA. sual arts. Much of the energy and innovative spirit www.davidkrut.com T www.davidkrutpublishing.com were innate to him, but he drew inspiration also from the heady first decade of SA’s democracy. Early this year, Henri Vergon was granted per- manent resident status here. Shortly thereafter, he left the institute and, with Billie Zangewa, began to realise a long-cherished dream: a pan-African arts platform that would bring Africa to the south- ern tip of the continent and vice versa. That vision is embodied in Afronova, a pan- African gallery for modern and contemporary art situated in the cultural hub of Newtown in down- town Johannesburg. But Afronova’s location is even more propitious: in the heart of The Market Theatre precinct, directly opposite the t h e a t re complex and landmark restaurant Gramadoelas. And there are more positive auguries yet, for Afronova occupies the premises of the long defunct but still hallowed Yard of Ale. From the Bell-Roberts Gallery Address: 89 Bree Street, Cape Town Call: Tel: (021) 422 1100 Hours: Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5.30pm, Saturdays 10am to 1pm. The partnerships December 7 to January 7: Robert Slingsby, Power House. Slingsby’s first solo exhibition of “Vergon is forging paintings and bronze sculptures in Cape Town in 10 years. January 11 to February 11: Contemporary are adding to the Print Collection. A book portfolio of 20 original limited edition prints by 20 leading South African artists. potential of the area February 15 to March 18: Roelof Louw: New work. www.bell-roberts.com

late 1980s until the demise of apartheid, a legendary café society flourished at” the Yard, attracting artists, actors, writers, dancers, directors, choreographers, intellectuals, activists and left-wing journalists. Those past resonances aside, the venue has the virtues of high visibility and large windows that offer an unrestricted view into the gallery space. Had you come here in the first half of the year, however, the view would have been very different. Various successors to the Yard had let the place run down inside and out. The splendid windows that stretch almost from pavement level to the ceiling had grown opaque with dust while the interior was an extravaganza of grease. Vergon and his team set to work with gusto. Michael Stevenson Some anchor tenants and neighbours were con- Afronova’s Henri Vergon kept the original windows of the legendary Yard of Ale Picture: TYRONE ARTHUR Address: Hill House, De Smidt Street, Green cerned that the historic venue might irrevocably Point, Cape Town be changed but they need not have worried. When Call: (021) 421 2575 Afronova was unveiled, it retained the hallmark turous platform for gastronomy and networking”. The Dance Factory and The Bassline. Hours: Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm and Edwardian tiling of the facade, and its original Afronova has a carefully stocked bookshop Vergon’s own act of faith was to invest all his Saturday, 10am to1pm. windows. Those windows afford more than a with a catalogue of publications on African art. savings in Afronova. “On the night we opened,” he December 6 to January 14: South African panorama into Afronova — they are windows into Already, its rectangular white interior has hosted a tells me, “I had zero in my bank account.” The art 1850 to now the world of contemporary and modern African number of book launches. Vergon sees Afronova investment has paid off, because whenever you January 18 to February 18: Deborah art. Afronova, the gallery, is the display case for as a resource and facilitator for African art. His see Henri Vergon these days, he is smiling. Poynton and Hylton Nel Afronova, the pan-African arts platform. extensive travels on the continent, from Yaounde February 22 to March 25: Pieter Hugo Since opening in August, Afronova has hosted to Cairo to Dakar, from Ethiopia to Mali, have led artists such as Samson Mnisi (Johannesburg), to a network of international residencies and to Darryl Accone Gera Mawi Mazgabu (Addis Ababa), Sandile Zulu easing the way for South Africans to premier cul- (Johannesburg) and Gonçalo Mabunda (Maputo). tural events such as the Bamako Biennale of Vergon will produce catalogues for each show, African Photography and the Dakar Biennale of at which he is a dab hand from his days at the contemporary art. Plans for next year include AFRONOVA LINEUP French institute. Nonetheless, he emphasises that Afronova residencies, of flexible in duration, and a Warren Siebrits of Warren Siebrits Modern and pan-African outdoor sculpture biennale. Until December 7: Helen Joseph: Bound Contemporary Art in Johannesburg is the master Conversations with Vergon justify faith in the December 9 to 17: Group show: Afr icanism at making fine catalogues. ability of art to transform. Already, The Market January 20 to 28: Nonhlanhla Kambule- Another initiative is twinning exhibition open- precinct has a distinctly upbeat air because of Makgati: What I Saw ings with Artists Dinners. Held at Gramadoelas, Afronova’s presence. The partnerships Vergon is Ho u r s : Tuesday to Saturday 1pm- 8pm these bring together invited visual artists, writers, forging are adding to the potential of the area. Ph o n e : 083 726-5906 playwrights, dancers, poets, designers, filmmak- Collaborations are natural in this environment: Safe parking: Corner of Miriam Makeba and ers, people from the creative industries and the Bag Factory and the Artist Proof Studio are a Gwigwi Mrwebi streets “cultural enthusiasts” in a “convivial and adven- few minutes’ walk away, as are Museum Afrika, Page 16 12/02/05 01 01sv0212ART pcc1 12:23:00 PM 11/25/05

Buy with the heart, not the FA I R head — but keep an eye on the market, which many feel is too hot not to cool down. Oh, and anything by Walter Battiss is hot right VALUE now, is the advice of MICHAEL BERNARDI The lowdown on the art market SA’s temperature — as taken in Pretoria

RT buyers always hope the Other big names include Irma auctioneer hasn’t done his Stern and Pierneef, two benchmark homework and that they South African artists whose prices can get a bargain,” says have become a barometer. Ber nardi Michael Bernardi of sold two Sterns from her Zanzibar Bernardi Auctioneers in period. The seated Arab reading Pretoria, commenting on went for R55 000 (its estimate was theA October auction and the excel- R50 000-R80 000) while the oil on lent prices fetched for several items. canvas depicting a Zanzibar family, But anyone hoping that Pretoria listed as the most valuable painting might be Johannesburg’s poor rela- on the sale, topped the estimate tion in the auction stakes should R200 000-R400 000 at R430 000. think again. The internet has made This is the top price for any paint- catalogues available to anyone with ing sold by Bernardi to date, and ex- computer access, and Bernardi has actly the same amount netted by a been using the internet as a market- Pierneef landscape in the Au g u s t ing tool since the late 1990s. The auction, the big Bo-Kaap scene of company also fields phone bids Upper Pentz Street. Of the four from all over the country. Pierneefs on sale in October, a Land- One reason sales are held on a scape of Trees in the Bushveld (not a Monday is to keep out what Ber nardi major work) realised R280 000. calls the sightseers; it’s the ser ious Bernardi was hoping to hit the collectors rather than the trippers half-million mark in August with the the auction house wants to attract. sale of Boy on a Crocodile by Alexis As to the diplomats, they do not Preller. It fetched R325 000, which constitute a substantial part of the still puts Preller’s work in the cate- art market and do not significantly gory of seriously collectable. affect prices. Anyway, says Bernardi, Of the record-breaking R1m re- he would rather keep the works in cently paid at a Sotheby’s auction for Above, Tretchikoff’s Portrait of a Zulu Girl, above, fetched R140 000. SA. “It’s bad for us when work leaves a Namaqualand scene by Pieter Right, Alexis Preller’s Classic Head, oil on wood panel, fetched R95 000 the country as it becomes impossi- Hugo Naude, Bernardi said it was an ble to track … and may end up in a extraordinary painting done specif- garage sale somewhere like Calgary, ically to order. His own Naude sale, prints, estimated at R2 000-R4 000, Aspects of Life (estimate: R80 000- where it’s unlikely to be recognised.” in August, of a lesser landscape in sold for between R4 000 and R6 100. R100 000) sold for R110 000; and So, what’s hot at Bernardi’s? For a Natal, fetched R90 000 — against an These are hot; what’s not, is less Three Women in a Landscape, from start, Tretchikoff. Portrait of a Zulu estimate of R50 000-R80 000. easy to identify. Bernardi is too much his Limpopo period (R30 000- Girl by SA’s king of kitsch sold in In the lower reaches, Gregoire’s the gentleman to kiss and tell, pre- R50 000) went for R65 000. October for R140 000, more than the still life went for R90 000, his still life ferring to refer, tactfully, to 10 or so Like Welz, Bernardi urges R120 000 fetched by Karel Nel’s pas- and violin for R70 000 and Maggie minor works that did not sell. prospective buyers to buy with the tel, Availing Themselves of Rotary Laubser’s minor work Fish and His punter’s tip, though, is any- heart, not the head — but to keep a Action, even though Nel’s work sel - Flowers, estimated at R10 000- thing by Walter Battiss, whose prices weather-eye out for the market, dom comes up for sale at auctions. R15 000, fetched a handsome have risen substantially in anticipa- which many feel is too hot not to The fact that Tretchikoff is no longer R21 000 — proving Stephan Welz’s tion of the major revival on display at cool down. painting helps to push up the price point about the increased value of the Standard Bank Art Gallery. and it may indicate a swing back to SA’s woman artists. Norman Cather- Bernardi lists two works he sold accessible work. ine’s humorous, Battiss-like screen- in August that exceeded estimates: Heather Mackie