THE SOUTH AFRICAN
February 2009 • Issue 1 Vol 4 • Subscription RSA 180 p.a • February Print & Distrib. 7 000 copies • Full online version available at www.arttimes.co.za
ART
TIMES
The art centres of New York andLondon are reeling in the wake of
a nancial recession. Galleries areclosing, the survival and efcacy of
public museums reliant on privatefunding are under threat andauction prices which dropped by
4,5 percent for the rst time in sixyears are expected to sink much
lower. The South African economyhas been partly cushioned againstthe effects of the global creditcrisis but the message hailing fromall spheres of local industry is that2009 will test the survival of manybusinesses. The local art worldcertainly won’t be impervious tothe economic downturn, but whichechelons of the industry will be themost aversely affected?Reliant on government rather than private funding for its runningcosts and acquisitions (albeitlimited), our local museums shouldbe able to weather the storm.However, most are reliant onprivate sponsors to bank roll major shows, such as Standard Bank’ssponsorship of Marlene Dumas’Intimate Relations at Iziko South
African National Gallery last year.
In fact artists, art projects and
programmes and award exhibi
-tions are all dependent on thebenevolence of corporate compa-nies. Corporate buyers are also alife-line for many a Joburg gallery.Standard Bank have cancelledtheir sponsorship of this year’sCape Town Jazz Festival but willcontinue as planned with acquisi-tions for their collection, saysMandie van der Spuy, the banks’art sponsorship manager.While Van der Spuy doesn’t fore-see any other major alterations totheir sponsorship programme shesays that the bank’s sponsorshipbudgets will all be tightened.“The programmes will all remain inplace but the budgets will be man-aged carefully and we will reducespending where we can.”Van der Spuy predicts that smaller sponsors might feel the pinch abit more and will be compelled tocancel actual projects.Ricardo Fornoni, is the co-owner
and curator at Resolution Gallery,
a relatively new gallery located onJoburg’s ‘art strip’ along Jan Smuts Avenue. He is optimistic that hisgallery will ride out an economicrecession.
“We are more exible and because
we are still small so our overheadsare not as high as the moreestablished galleries. There is agood chance that we will make itthrough this bad path if we keep
the quality of our exhibitions
high and keep developing newconcepts.”Fornoni is less hopeful aboutsecuring sponsorship for some of the bigger projects he had plannedfor the year.“We had two or three big projectsthat we are looking for sponsor-
ship, which I think will be difcult
to get.”The mood in art world is jittery,says Fornoni.“Everybody is quite concerned andpanicked; it is going to be a toughyear.”There is much talk abroad that
the recession will be benecial to
the art world; that art will become
less commodied. Some see the
reverse happening, suggestingthat with their backs up against thewall gallerists will prefer to investin “money shows” rather than riskyconceptual shows.For a new gallery like Resolutionthat is still trying to establish areputation they can’t afford not todo concept shows, says Fornoni.Michael Stevenson, owner of theMichael Stevenson gallery in CapeTown and partner in the Joburg-based Brodie/Stevenson, says thathis business felt the effects of theeconomic recession since the endof last year.
Continued on page 3
Bumpy road ahead
2009 will be a trying year for the art world nevertheless local players remain optimistic, writes Mary Corrigall
Not quite all doom and gloom, but always eternally cheerful,
Still life with spring owers
by Alfred Neville Lewis(1895-1972) to be seen at the SWELCO’s Decorative & Fine Arts Auction, Cape Town. Auction takes place onTuesday 24 February - Wednesday 25 February, 2009. See www.swelco.co.za for more details.
Page 2South African Art Times. February 2009
Nora NewtonMarieke Prinsloo
OpeningTuesday 10 February 6:30pm10 February to 15 March 2009
Curator: Mike Donkin
Monday - Friday: 9:00 - 17:00Saturday: 9:00 - 15:00
Nora Newton, Nguni Cattle at Coffee Bay,oil on canvas, 90 x 152cmMarieke Prinsloo, The PoetCement fondue, 45cm x 74cm x 26cm
Steve Kretzmann A conceptual collaborationbetween 21 of South Africa’s topartists - such as William Kentridge,Diane Victor, Willie Bester andBrett Murray to mention a few -would have thousands of art lovers
ocking to a gallery.
But in the two years the concep-tual Heritage Cache, conceivedby Cobus van Bosch and Arlene Amaler-Raviv, has been running,only scores, rather than thou-sands, of people have seen it.Perhaps this has something to dowith the fact that the work lieshalf-way up Table Mountain, buriedunder rocks and leaves.While this may limit the number of people who view it, the location,
and nding it, is all part of the
concept. You need to know whereto look, be keen to don a pair of comfortable shoes and hike to thesite, and then scratch around to
discover exactly where the treas
-ure lies buried. The co-ordinatesand a global positioning system
(GPS) help with what is, in fact, an
adult treasure hunt. And what you can look forward tounearthing are 21 objects chosenby artists William Kentridge,Diane Victor, Willem Boshoff, LienBotha, Willie Bester, Brett Murray,
Churchill Madikida, Gordon Froud,
Raymond Smith, Cobus vanBosch, Arlene Amaler-Raviv,Sanell Aggenbagh, Dale Yudel-
man, Norman O’Flynn, Liza Grob
-ler, Conrad Botes, Andrew Porter,Kevin Brand, Adriennevan Eeden, Inge du Plessisand Leonard Wichtmann.Each object represents an aspectof South African heritage a ndcomes attached with notes tobe read while taking in a grandview of the Atlantic ocean belowand the Twelve Apostles above,whereafter you put it back as you
found it so that the next person
may enjoy it.But while the entire concept may
seem rather strange and exotic
to gallery pundits, the HeritageCache is part of a global
phenonmen called Geocaching, in
which (mostly outdoor) enthusiastshunt for objects using co-ordinatesposted at www.geocaching.com.This activity, which started in 2000
with a bunch of Americans experi
-menting with the accuracy of their
GPSs, has grown to include tens
of thousands of participants whohunt for over 720 000 geocachesin over 200 countries.Most of the cache’s are smallobjects such as toys or artifactsof little worth. Some cache’s aresimply a notebook to record thatyou found it.The Heritage Cache, of course,
is an exception. While art lovers
would appreciate its contents, geo-cache enthusiasts who have foundit as part of their normal treasure
hunting quest have also expressed
appreciation for what it contains.Some of the feedback posted bygeocachers on the geocachewebsite were: “Such a pleasure toenjoy some thing arty,” and, “That
is quite a box full of goodies!”
And it seems van Bosch and Amaler-Raviv may also be con-tributing to art education, as somepeople indicated they would need
to nd out more about the artists
involved: “A very interesting cache
- now I will have to nd out what itall means!” said one geocacher.
Originally planned to be part of t he X-CAPE programmewithin the abortive CAPE07event, Amaler- Raviv said theidea evolved after Van Bosch mether to talk about her successful
‘Autobiography in Paint’ exhibition
which she was putting on at World Art in Johannesburg.She said it became apparent thatshe and Van Bosch were reading“similar stuff” at the time andshe was “going mal”over “the wayimagesintheuniverseconnect”.She said Van Bosch started talkingabout geographical points and
GPS, “this amazing new technol
-
ogy” and the concept was nalised
“within a day”.She said the response from theartists who were invited to contribute found objects worth less thanR20 each, was “fantastic”.“There’s even some dagga inthere.” She said they last visitedthe cache about two months ago tocheck its contents, and everythingwas still there. No-one had even litup the dagga zol.And if you’re in Johannesburgand feeling left out, don’t fret,she said they were planningto plant a cache in Jo’burg,“soon”.The Heritage Cache coordinatesare 18° 23’40.10 eastand 33° 56’54.88south. And if youdon’thave
a GPS,
don’t worry, agood map will do.
There’s a Kentridge somewhere up there........
The South African
Art Times
February 2009www.arttimes.co.za
Published monthly by
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Editor: Gabriel Clark-Brown
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Deadline for news, articles andadvertising is the 20th of eachmonth. The Art Times is publishedin the last week of each month.Newspaper rights: The newspaper reserves the right to reject any ma-terial that could be found offensiveby its readers. Opinions and views
expressed in the SA Art Times do
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cial viewpoint of the editor, staff
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Cover: Lyndi SalesPhoto: David Bloomer
Hidden art a treasure to nd
Artist’s inspiration,Table Mountain Photo: Steve Kretzmann
KUNSGALERY
CAPE TOWN
JOHANS BORMAN
FINE ART GALLERY
A showcase for the best of South African Masters,as well as some leadingcontemporary artists.
Telephone: 021 423 6075www.johansborman.co.zaMon-Fri: 10h00 - 18h00Sat: 09h00 - 14h00or by appointmentIn Fin Art BuildingUpper Buitengracht Street, Cape Town 8001Cell: 082 566 4631E-mail: art@johansborman.co.za
Walter Battiss ‘Tahiti’ 35 x 40 cm
South African Art Times. February 2009 Page 3
Bumpy roadahead
continued from Page 1
“Our international collectors havebeen much more cautious.”Nevertheless he says that he willcontinue to pursue the same busi-ness model.“If you believe in what you do youcannot change strategy.”
Galleries will undoubtedly be less
keen to take risks on unknownartists but Stevenson believesthat this won’t impede the rise of remarkable young talent.“The recession has brought backthe focus to the art itself. If youhave talent it will manifest and you
will nd the support. Those without
a distinctive intent will battle morethan they did before (to get a footin the door).”
The “ush years” as Stevenson
terms it may be over but it is busi-ness as usual for the Stevensonenterprise which will participate inseven art fairs this year, includingthe Joburg Art Fair, which runs in April. Stevenson isn’t the only gal-lerist that is sticking to his guns. Sofar all 24 of the galleries committed
to exhibiting at the Joburg Art Fair
haven’t cancelled, according toRoss Douglas, the fair’s director and head of Artlogic. The fair’sprimary sponsor – FNB - aswell as a host of other secondarysponsors have also remainedcommitted to supporting the event,he says.Douglas is optimistic about the ArtFair and suggests that its success
isn’t measured by its nancial ac
-complishments.“Those short on money may notspend at the art fair now but will re-turn to the galleries when they dohave money. The art fair is aboutmore than commercial success it isabout introducing contemporary artto South Africans.”It’s been a busy few months even
or a workaholic like Gordon
Froud. Not only has he put togeth-er not just one, but two, dazzling
exhibitions in part-fullment of his
master’s degree at the Universityof Johannesburg (where he alsoeaches); for the second time inwo years his gordart gallery has
had to move after nding that a
landlord’s view of a reasonablerental was incompatible with theearning power of an art gallery. Mind you, Froud is used to a workschedule that would make mostblench. “I come from a poor whitebackground. At one time while
I was studying I had ve jobs.
Nobody told me that sort of thingcouldn’t be done. It’s all a questionof time management.” And, headmits, a metabolism that requiresless sleep than most people. hat he sees as chapter three(“And, I hope, the last”) of gordart’shistory entails a move to Johan-nesburg’s Parkwood art strip. It’ssmaller than either of his former premises in Melville, and when Ilast visited him in Melville he wasagonising over which artists he’dscheduled for this year could nolonger be accommodated.Partly as corollaries to this, hesees two other possible conse-quences of the move. First, hehopes a smaller gallery with, ineffect, fewer shows will be lesstime-consuming and allow moreopportunity for creating art; sec-ondly, a shift in approach.“I’ve always seen gordart as adevelopmental gallery,” he says,a philosophy that goes all the wayback to the early 1990s when heran the ICA gallery in Newtown.
“Several artists who had their rst
showings with us have gone on tomainstream galleries. We madethe initial investment but others
beneted from the resultant higher
prices.“That model is no longer viable.While we’ll always remain a
developmental gallery, for nancial
reasons we need a change in fo-cus. So we’re starting to develop
a stable of four or ve artists who’ll
stay with us after they becomeestablished.”Froud didn’t set out to become agallerist, or even an artist, thoughhe admits that as a child he wasalways making things out of everyday objects. The only way he
could nance post-matric studies(he matriculated in Germiston in
1981) was by a bursary. The oldTransvaal Education Departmentoffered bursaries in maths and art,but insisted he study art – asubject he took up only in hismatric year - where the lack of teachers was greater.“My parents would have preferredme to become a lawyer or anaccountant, but eventually theyrealised my heart wasn’t in it, andrelented.” Froud trained as a realist sculptor under Peter Schutz at Wits, learn-ing all the traditional techniques.
But for ve years after he gradu
-ated in 1986 he created nothing. “Icouldn’t afford traditional materials,but my interest in unusual materi-als developed, encouraged by thelikes of Karel Nel.”Cups, cutlery, wine glasses, tooth-picks and coat hangers, mostly inplastic, all became grist to his mill.
He’s proud that his rst plastic
cup show, in Paris in 2000 duringhis residency at the Cite des ArtsInternational (later replicated at the African Window, in Pretoria), was
one of the rst of its kind.
By the time of his master’s showslast year, though, he’d progressedfrom using literally found objectsto being a major buyer of theseitems.
He sees no conict in his roles of
artist and gallerist. “Up to now I’vesold my work through other galler-ies, but that may also change.”And while he agrees that the art
market is in for a difcult year, he
doesn’t believe Johannesburg isover-galleried. “We’re continuallyhaving to turn away artists who
want to exhibit. And on the other
side of the picture, we have our own market. We don’t appeal tothe millionaires or the corporatemarket. Our market is the up-and-coming 30- and 40-year-olds, withpockets to match.” Let’s hope he’s right; if he isn’t,the repercussions will be felt far beyond the art market.
Absolutely Gordon Froud
Michael Coulson meets up with the Gordon Froud of Gordart
Gordon Froud
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