On the 23 of May 2016 I sat down with Taiwo Ohu against the background of his exhibition at the Pretoria Art Museum at that time. He spoke to me about his training, the challenges that face in the crises of lack of traditional art making material and his then upcoming exhibition which was meant to erect international good relations between South Africa and Nigeria.
Plight of a little man
»» The warning signals of the neglect of our boys has never been whistle clear as it is today. It is easy to blame someone but all this cold violence against women that we are witnessing begs a simple question. How do we raise our boys in comparison to girls? Have we evolved what it means to be a man in our contemporary society the same way we have evolved the idea of a woman as an identity and are continuing to do so in our effort to socially redress the role of women and parity thereof? No. Boys are neglected and are expected to grow into men who will love and protect our sisters, daughters and mothers as well as brother and fathers ««
SWAZIGOLD, Tlale Makhene
» Tlale Makhene’s new album has hit the sound sphere. I had a chance of listening to it. Verdict? lets just say I was transported…
- Ntfonjeni
Outlines the musicianship that will take you through this offering.
- Labantfu
Piano leads, Makhene’s percussion is pervasive as the melodious chorus of Max Hoba builds. Nathi Shongwe’s Keys raises the curtains. Wait for the guitar of Erik Paliani to chip in and the Tenor Saxophone of Ayo Solanke to exchange with it and what you’ve got is a promise of things to come in Swazigold.
- Mahamba To Chilomoni
This track settles us within the album. Sabu Satsha is audible at the opening supporting the lyrics. But as the song takes it second turn Nathi Shongwe reintroduce the medoc vocals led by Max Hoba. Makhene is there entranced and on fire as one of the female vocalist goes into a Busi Mhlongo mode.
- Lelive
This is a horn base track thanks to the antics of Ayo Solanke on Tenor and Soprano Saxophone. With Max Hoba leading the meditative vocals. Makhene percussion and Satsha’s drums interjects periodically.
- Mswati
Shongwe and the vocalists pays homage to the King with Makhene creating a background canvas upon which all is invited to play. Ayo Solanke’s horn chips in further down this track. Not aggressively so as not to upset this balanced orchestra.
Gestures
The UNISA’s 2016 4th Year Exhibition
» An academic exhibition for fourth year students is an important milestone in the career of the art student. Simultaneously a fourth year art exhibition is a grand gesture from the institution itself to say to art patrons that this is our achievement over the past four years or so; This is the direction that art might take. Of course the ‘direction’ will solely rely on the art students themselves should they pursue their art practice further beyond academia because there is a vast difference between making art for marks and making art to say something within the annals of the fine arts fraternity mindful of commerce and socio-political environments. Even without care to these preoccupations for the artist to make art and contribute to human culture by continuously evolving the art object towards certain possibilities or ‘direction’, to retain the set tone above, it is a resounding milestone in their art practice «
The Symphony of Line and Colour
I
Contemporary Outlook
|>>>/ There is something daring about art when it becomes a personal reflection; when it’s thematic considerations are meditations of its maker on themselves. This mode of working which is a tenant of contemporary art is a brave leap as the artist leads the viewer into a personal space both in imagery and a nuanced psychology of the self. If the body of work produced in this frame of mind sees the artist sharing personal anecdotes with the viewer through art making discourses then the viewer can be seen as accessing what can be akin to a memoir through a strewn body of a work that represents a ‘particular period’ in the artist’s life and career. The reader should note that I am saying that the memoir access that they will be subjected to with regard to the artist only represents a ‘particular period’ in the artist’s life because surely the artist focus, if they are constantly searching for new forms of artistic expressions, will shift in time and come to bare on something else \<<<|
INTRAPARADOX: Interview with Nelmarie Du Preez
GUI Interrogations
26 September 2016 at 09:00, Pretoria Art Museum
• [Mmutle Arthur Kgokong: Good morning Nelmarie]/[Nelmarie Du Preez: Good morning Mmutle/[Mmutle AK: It might have been great to see you immediately after the opening of SASOL New Signatures but we know that it is a very busy time with regards to the press the following day and obviously you might be having some works that you need to go back to the following day and so on ]/[Nelmarie dP (Smiles, nods and chuckles)]/[Mmutle AK: yah congratulations on the exhibition, something very different…]/[Nelmarie Dp: Yes (chuckles)]/[Mmutle AK: from what we are used to uhm you are focusing on automation and other things I see
NdP:
Uhm… automation mostly and how automation influences the way that we as humans communicate with each other and also how we extend our bodies via these machines that are automated or just you know programmed to enhance our daily lives and, so I am interested in what impact that has on our bodies but also on our relationships
MAK:
Ohh,… it is very interesting that you talk about relationships between machines and human beings and you know I feel when I look at your uhm your artist statement I came across this word which maybe it’s a simple word •
Continue reading INTRAPARADOX: Interview with Nelmarie Du Preez
Diary log 5 November
The first draft of Intraparadox: Interview with Nelmarie du Preez which I conducted on 26 September 2016 is complete. It has been long overdue but I have completed it finally ! Over the next couple of weeks I will be readying it for blogging. It has been a difficult period writerly to emerge from the 47 minutes of this interview because of other pending projects as well professional workload elsewhere. But as always it has been a great pleasure to delve into the body of work that was featured in the SASOL NEW Signatures Solo exhibition 2016 through the perspective of the interview. Du Preez comes across surprisingly as spontaneous and a humorous as a person. To a greater extent she is clinical in her execution of her technologically driven work. You can look forward to a discovery of GUI (Graphic User Interface) and the discourse between herself and this phenomenon that gives birth to her idea about art and technology. May we find the artist.
Subject – Intraparadox: Interview with Nelmarie du Preez
