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Bankable Art
I had forgotten that Brett Murray used to have a sense of humour. Perhaps he never lost it; maybe we did. Standing in front of Murray’s 2002 work I must Learn to speak Xhosa brings to mind his sharp...
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Invisible Entities
It was only going to be a matter of time before Stephen Hobbs would build another model of Vladimir Tatlin’s Monument to the Third International. The tower was conceived around 1919 by the Russian...
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Rebel without a Cause: Christian Nerf
When you send Christian Nerf an e-mail these days you get an immediate response, informing you that he is “itinerant”. In other words; don’t expect a speedy response. Nerf makes a good nomad. To all...
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Treasure Hunting: Photography and Mines
Neville Petersen expects a song and dance when he arrives at a mine shaft. East Rand Proprietary Mines South East Vertical (SEV) shaft in Boksburg has been closed since 2005, but there are a few guards...
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Something with a Pulse: Live Art Fest
‘Is he just going to stand there all night?” asks the little girl standing on a wooden bench in front of Athi-Patra Ruga’s Hope Street studio windows. A large crowd gathered in front of the building...
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Cape Town Art Week: Group Mentality
On the floor are stacked layers of tiles and bones, next to a porcelain dog that looks like it is guarding the installation. It’s one of many Kemang Wa Lehuleres that fill the first room of the...
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Land Issues: Transition
Can artists or photographers make work about the land without depicting it? This is the question I was interested in pursuing when I arrived at the Bus Factory in Joburg to view the Transition...
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The Art of Storytelling: Fiction as Fiction
There is every reason not to watch Yto Barrada’s filmic work Hand-me-Downs. It’s on a small screen, you have to put on headphones and it is exhibited in the same room as two of the most powerful works...
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2012 in Review
At the end of the year I am inevitably asked to list the art highlights. Anyone who has shared a bottle of wine with me will know I am not averse to reminiscing, but I am uneasy with making...
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Framing the City: Rodan Kane Hart, Faith 47 & Dala and understanding urbanity
Rodan Kane Hart's Exploded KaleidescopeUrbanisation typically “denotes a thickening of fields”, writes Abdumaliq Simone, a London-based sociologist, referring to this layered mishmash of diverse...
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Black & Light: Broomberg & Chanarin
ID 5, 2013It is unexpected and, perhaps, even disconcerting, to be confronted with a large collection of polaroids at Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin’s new exhibition, To Photograph the Details of a...
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Enjoy the Ride: Making Way
Athi-Patra Ruga heading towards Grahamstown in Performa ObscuraWhen we arrive at the Drill Hall, they’re already in their fishnet stockings and costumes, bending and stretching, as if readying...
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Absa L'Atelier: Enter!
I try to avoid being in the company of artists soon after the winner of an art award is announced. Unless they happen to be a recipient or previous recipient of an award they tend speak in expletives,...
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Identity Politics: Breitz, Kurgan, Gratrix & Pokroy
The Interview, Breitz (2012)A black cloth hangs over the entrance to the Goodman Gallery, subtly announcing that Candice Breitz’s new exhibition will entail an immersive filmic experience. The...
View ArticlePros and Cons of NAF appointment as curators of Venice Biennale
South Africa will be participating in the Venice Biennale this year. In pursuit of a balanced analysis of the National Arts Festival’s organisers’ appointment as the curators of the 55th La Biennale di...
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Capitalising on the City: Infecting the City
It is a warm summer’s evening and it couldn’t be an easier start. I’m lying flat on the grass in the Company’s Garden watching clouds floating across the sky. Metres away are Saxit, a foursome...
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Mixed Messages: Ian Grose, Andrew Putter and Claudette Schreuders at Stevenson
Dissimulation (Tulips) (2012).Since winning the Absa L'Atelier award in 2011 for a triptych dubbed Colour, Separation, Ian Grose became hot property. At the opening of Notes, a show presenting work...
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Studio Time: Pondering "productive procrastination" with Nerf/Kentridge...
Christian Nerf working inside Goethe on Mainpic by: Brett RubinOne Sunday, during the popular Arts On Main market at Maboneng, some visitors wandered into Goethe-on-Main looking for food. This wasn’t...
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Looking into Marikana: Mary Wafer
Crowd IThe images documenting the strikes and the tragedy that followed at Marikana were subject to an intense form of scrutiny. Initially this was for pragmatic reasons; via mediated photographic and...
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Packaging a life: Gerard Sekoto
A self-portrait of SekotoIt shouldn’t be the case, but of all the images that lingers it is a snapshot of the entrance of a pedestrian Parisian bar. You can’t see much of the interior; a faux wooden...
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