‘a what’s-on listing’

21ColumnVol.1 No.1. April – May 2021.

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Header Image: Coleen Winter, Pupa, paper and pin. SASOL New Signatures Merit Award Winner (2015). Source: SASOL New Signatures Art Competition 2015 Catalogue.

August House and Ellis House Open Studios

Group Exhibition

30 May 2021

On Sunday 30 May, August House and Ellis House will open their doors to the public, inviting them to view the artwork and meet the artists in their studios. This is the first time something of this nature has been done in Johannesburg and will allow the public to interact with almost 70 artists from different countries, cities and artists at different stages of their careers. This is a unique opportunity for the public to truly explore the visual arts and hear directly from the artists.

For more details on this event, visit August House website HERE and Ellis House website HERE

Gather ye Rosebuds while Ye May

Group Exhibition

ran 24 April to 25 May 2021

Here is an exhibition that I think cements the position that BKhz holds in the new frontier. Unannounced, it seeks to leverage the support of established names in exhibitions that features artists who have also come into their own. Locating all these artists within a specific theme levels the plane. Once the plane is levelled anyone interested in contemporary South African art has the opportunity to assess the different response to stimuli, the yearn to make art, on an equal footing. Such an act inevitably sends ripples, whose effects solicits attention. By the time I had had a look at this exhibition, a few artworks lingered on mind. Strong works featured in this group show, broke ground with exploration of non-traditional visual art media, as in the work of Talia Ramkilawan, Thinking about her thinking about me, Wool and Cloth in Hessian and Lunga Ntila, Kude Kwa Khanya Kuwe/ A Long Awaited Arrival Year (2021), Digital Photography.  And for those who enjoy narratives, Sphephelo Nguni’s Post 94 Pink Stairs (2021), Acrylic on canvas. Here is a painting that spins the traditional portrait genre on its head by flavouring it with post-modernity. And I use that word in its fluid sensibility. Two figures, instead of chairs; sit on a short flight of stairs. they stare outside of the picture plane – confronting the viewer while casually refreshing. The female figure, holds a slice of watermelon and the male figure is about to take a sip of what we can guess to be coffee. The hairstyles and clothing locates these figures within today’s hip youth community. They are adorned with the latest dress-up style of those who consider themselves to be ‘on the up to date with trends’. In many ways Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May expands on an assertion I made earlier this year, at the opening remarks of Wonder Buhle Mbambo transcript, when I remarked that the production of the visual art object is now a journey of self-discovery for the artist. Art, decisively, doesn’t really have to commit to a cause that rallies everybody together towards a common goal. Lest we forget resistance art of the 1980s, as much as art has the potential to do so; It remains loyal to self- exploration and self-mastery. Themes and approaches are fragmented into plurality of forms.

For more details on this exhibition, please reach out to the gallery HERE

For the Intraparadox interview podcast link HERE

24 May 21

~ mmutle arthur kgokong

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Group Exhibition

Runs until 30 May 2021

Henry James once wrote of Paris as a jewel, a city where what “seemed all surface one moment seemed all depth the next.” The same might be said for the ecstatic portraits of Nelson Makamo (b. 1982): rather than capture a single aspect of his subjects, he reveals their many facets, changed by the cast of light or by who is looking. In drawings, watercolors, monotypes, and oil paintings, the Johannesburg-based artist portrays children, his young cousin Mapule Maoto as well as strangers and acquaintances, often from his native province of Limpopo, South Africa—in all the complexity with which he encounters them. Radiant marks in explosive, varied colors cohere into the gestalt of Black faces. While Makamo is drawn to the simplicity and hopefulness that imbues the child’s perspective, we also see in his faces the glim­mers of hesitation, generosity, skepticism, grace, vulnerability, distraction, patience, and eagerness. That is, we see the abundance of what is always just behind the eyes, and in that abundance, a univer­sality.

In several of the works, wonderfully bright, oversized eyeglasses emphasize the act of seeing and the impact of being seen. “I believe that art can make you look at someone differently,” he told writer Enu­ma Okoro, “and I’ve always wondered, if we ignore other people, and fail to see them, can we still truly see ourselves?” Taking a cue from the openness of his subjects, Makamo works intuitively, without blueprint, foregrounding expression and experimentation in his practice. At Makasiini, Makamo will pre­sent his first exhibition comprising entirely of portraits. All but one were completed in 2021, since the pandemic, carrying with them a new appreciation for the intimacy and distance that together make up our conception of one another. Nelson Makamo, lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa.

~ Annie Godfrey Larmon

Image and text used with courtesy of Makasiini Contemporary (Turku, Finland) and Annie Godfrey Larmon (USA).

Visit the gallery site HERE for more content

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Intra'Byte
#2

The first recipient of Meta Foundation Womxn To Watch Award, Zanele Montle, announced at the opening of this week her inclusion on the up coming exhibition Emergence at the Christopher Moller Gallery as of 26 May until 18 June 2021. I will keep track of this event and hopefully share more details at a later stage.
The closing of Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May is nigh. If you are in Johannesburg this weekend with time to spare head down to Keys Avenue to see this remarkable exhibition. Finland will continue to experience Nelson Makamo's Fortitude at Makasiini Contemporary, until the end of May (see previous content above for more details). Lastly, this years' studio open day at August House, is of a special nature as the space collaborate with Ellis House for a joint artists open studio experience. I know, I know, I seem to be neglecting my home-town. I will be scraping cyberspace over the next few days for the next Intra-byte that will reflect what is happening on this side of the world. May we find the artist. (psst... If you happen to have too many tabs open by the time you finished reading this, that's remarkable) 


21 May 2021

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Group Exhibition

02 – 30 May 2021

Johann van Heerden’s Art and Gallery in Garsfomtein unveils FABERGÉ Exhibition on Sunday 02 May 2021. This exhibition will run until May 31. More than 80 ceramic artworks, inspired by the House of Fabergé, will be on show. For more details you can reach out to the gallery:

082 4453917 or 079 7809807 email – johannvanheerdensart@gmail.com

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MACFO

Arts and Crafts Flea Market

In what has been planned as a monthly event, Mme Beutispot Bridget Makhubela of MACFO (Mamelodi Arts and Culture Forume), points out that the purpose of the market is to give local artists and businesses a platform to market and promote their business. The forum also sees this as an opportunity for creatives and their entities to also connecting with the community and stimulate other possible business opportunities.

Source : Beutispot Bridget Makhubela

For more details call or WhatsApp: 0797128933

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Intra'Byte
#1
~ mak.

It has been an interesting week with a couple of artists out there whom I had the privilege of knowing sharing significant developments in the developments of their career trajectories. On the eve of Freedom Day, Azael Langa revealed via Facebook that he was in Cape Town. At least that’s what the minimal text and the image on his wall announced to the world. It remains unclear whether the artist is moving to the coastal city permanently or that he will be a sojourner. It makes one wonder what kind of influence the Cape will exert on his art during this indefinite period in his artistic ascendancy. We should not dismiss the strong possibility that he too is capable of exerting some influence as an artist and depending on how long his stay there will last, he will surely leave some traces. Back inland just a few hours ago Nkhensani Rihlampfu, with the memory of Mintsu Island, his recent solo show still fresh in our minds, announced that he was this year’s Turban Art Fair Fresh Produce Artist Mentor. An opportunity which he too benefitted from as a mentee a few years ago, the artist remarked via his Facebook page. Here is evidence that social investments have returns.  

26 - 29 April

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Gather ye Rose-Buds while Ye May

Group Exhibition

24 April – 25 May 2021

According to BKhz the concept of this exhibition was stimulated by the late Bob Mabena’s last words shared via Instagram on the 9 August 2020 before his passing. In that post Mabena, a legend in the radio waves and at that time Power FM radio host and station manager, remarked “Gather ye Rose-buds while ye may, Old Time is still a flying and this same flower that smiles today. Tomorrow will be…”

These words sparked the conceptual theme for a group show that the BKhz Team was working on since late 2020. More than ten artists were invited to participate in this group show. Invited artists were asked the simple question, What are you living for? This promises to be an exhibition worthy of being seen as it present a mix of contemporary artists working in both divergent and convergent themes and art media. Gallery visitors can expect to see the work of Zanele Muholi, Turiya Magadlela, Ke Neil We and Banele Khoza, whose name is paired with that of Upile Chisala, just to name a few of a notable cast of artists who have responded to one of the existential questions confronting humanity. Please refer to the reverse poster for the full impression of featured artists.  

For more details, please reach out to the gallery HERE

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OLDER LISTINGS

Disclaimer: The information appearing on this page has been prepared in collaboration with artists and their respective studios. Some of the links may be broken due to the age of content represented herein.

Page content preserved 31 May 2021