THE SOUTH AFRICAN

ART

TIMES

www.arttimes.co.za • March 2008 • Issue 2 Vol 3 • Subscription RSA 180 p.a • March Print & Distrib. 8 000 copies • RSA Free. Available in Namibia & Zimbabwe

JOBURG ART FAIR SPECIALFree Global Art Times

Minnette Vári ,

The Falls II

, 2008. Pigment ink on cotton bre paper. Courtesy of the artist and the Goodman Gallery.

Page 2South African Art Times. March 2008

The South African

Art Times

March 2008www.arttimes.co.za

Published monthly by

Global Art Information

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artroom

Patrick Burnett

CAPE TOWN (WCN)The KwaZulu-Natal provincial gov-ernment has downplayed reportsthat a giant statue of King Shaka isto be built in the province, refusingto be drawn on the height or costof the structure.

Initial newspaper reports sug

-gested that the statue would dwarf the Statue of Liberty in New Yorkby 13 meters, rising 106-metresinto the air and coming at a pricetag of R200m, but Logan Maistry,spokesperson for KZN Premier Sbu Ndebele, said: “I don’t knowwhere they got those gures from.”He said architects were still busywith the design and costing, mak-

ing it impossible to give a height

and cost. However, he said: “Wecan conrm that it is going to be ahigh statue.”In his State of the Province ad-dress on February 13, Ndebelesaid as part of efforts to attract

investors to the province, a Memo

-randum of Understanding hadbeen signed on January 8between the KZN governmentand an international developer inDubai. He said the project involveda multi-billion rand investment onthe Northern side of the uThukela

River in the Macambini area.

Maistry said one of Ndebele’s pas-sions was to “restore heritage andculture to its rightful place”.“The premier is of the belief thatculture and heritage plays an

important part in bringing about

reconciliation and peace.”But DA provincial caucus leader Roger Burrows said: “At the mo-

ment, the whole thing remains

remarkable vague.”He said he did not believe theproject would happen until some-one was prepared to put moneyinto it. Maistry disagreed withsuggestions that money could bebetter spent on social needs.“We think it is absolutely importantthat in order to move forward weneed to know where we comefrom. People want to know aboutKing Shaka, they want to know thestory.”West Cape News

King Shaka will be high...

but not that high

Patrick Burnett

CAPE TOWN (WCN) – The rstentry in artist Kevin Brand’s heftyportfolio of work that stretchesback over 25 years is a photo-graph of a cast cement work whichsays simply, “Kevin Brand MakesThings.” Brand’s commitment to

making things, spanning back to

1982 as a young graduate fromthe University of Cape Town’sMichaelis School of Fine Art,paid off in January when he wasrewarded with the Mercedes-BenzSouth Africa 2008 Art Award. A sculptor by training, over theyears Brand has carved out aniche for himself making things ona grand and small scale, from thesteps of District Six, made out of seven tonnes of cardboard, to theiconic Sam Nzima image of Hector Pieterson taken during the 1976Soweto uprising and transposedon the Leerdam wall of The Castlein Cape Town.The judges in the Mercedes-Benz Art Award recognised Brand’swork for his commentary onSouth African society, his use of non-traditional sculpting materialsand the way in which his work hasbeen made accessible through its

location in public spaces.

“Being recognised for the body of work that you have done through-out your career, that is the nicething about it,” said Brand of theaward, speaking from his ofcesat the Cape Town campus of theCape Peninsula University of Tech-nology, where he works.Many of Brand’s creations havecarried a powerful commentaryabout life in South Africa, such as19 Boys Running, based on the1985 Uitenhague Massacre or

Never, Never Again, the District

Six piece created out of cardboard,but this is also not at the expenseof exploring intimate, personal

spaces.

Brand likens this duality to a reali-sation that it’s possible to embraceboth the Beatles and the RollingStones. A choice doesn’t need tobe made because both can beencompassed.“What I’m trying to do is makesense of my time on this earth andsometimes there are sad thingsto make comments about andsometimes there are intimate andhappy things you want to makecomments about, so you can doall those things at the same time,”he said.Brand maintains that he did not

set out to work in public spaces

but that some of his work lent itself

to this.

“I make it for myself initially, but

I also like it to be accessible topeople who have not been to artschool or even been to school. Ilike to work it so there is some

visual magnet for them and theycan get something out of it.”Brand’s next exhibition, Set theWorld on Fire, is scheduled for display at the Bell Roberts Galleryin May.-- West Cape NewsThis years winner of the Mercedes-Benz South Africa 2008 Art Award, Sculptor Kevin Brand

Brand sets the world on re

The Joburg Art Fair is burning oneveryone’s lips and ears. Never hasSouth Africa had such an interna-tional art fair – for now at least, a blip(here on the big dark continent) onthe international art radar (over 250art fairs internationally and counting).The real thrill is that for once thingsseem to be well organized, especiallyfor it’s rst time, the folk in Johannes-burg seem to know what to do. Withthis event there is a welcome lapse of promises by organizers of 10 000’sof any artists being included and later pie in face stuff.It seems that Ross Douglas and CobiLauscagne really have done their homework and placed every of their

own pennies into it , as well as FNB

bold backing. The Fair might be small

in proportion to the SA art market

(there have been groans throughoutthe 98% of galleries not invited) butone has to start somewhere and if the Fair is a success, you can beassured that people having woken upand smelt the possible money in artfairs. In addition, the success of theshow raises the whole of the SA artin an international light. My bet, andcongratulations are on Ross and Cobiand their dedicated team to go forthand given time make that blip strongand bright the world over.

Editorial

South African Art Times. March 2008 Page 3

By Aspasia KarrasFrom: The Times, South AfricaART is the new rock ‘n roll, andartists the new rock stars. It’s truehe world over.At Art Basel and Frieze in London,

celebrities in sneakers make the

100m dash on the opening night of he art fairs so they can be rst tospend their celebrity dollars on thedernier cri (the latest thing) of theart world.here are about 240 art fairs thatake place around the world, butsome have the kind of cachet andrisson that attracts the high-oc-ane, jet-setting types you associ-ate with the social pages of glossy

magazines.

Art is sexy right now and RossDouglas is propelling Joburg intohis heady rmament. I’m noteeling very heady myself as Iwade through the building site inMilpark where his Artlogic ofcesare housed the week before thecity’s debut Contemporary Art Fair is due to open.Sponsored by FNB, the fair willrepresent 15 of the country’s topalleries, six international galleriesand a series of art events — in-cluding a show curated by SimonNjami, the curator of Africa Remix;an installation by internationallyacclaimed South African artistRobin Rhode; and a screening of illiam Kentridge lms.But after a few minutes with RossI’m sold. It’s not that this laconicellow, who is resting his Con-verse-clad feet on a Gregor Jenkindesigner desk, is particularly excit-able but, in his measured way, he

makes a convincing business case

or urbanity and culture.“We have got to push the creativityof the city and give South Africansan equivalent experience to whathey can get overseas. A countryneeds creativity and South Africais an easy place to be creative.If you invest in creativity it keepscreative people invested in thesociety.London is so clever. It captured itcreativity market and as a result itis a sexy place. If you want keepthe talented professionals in your city you have to give them theculture that they can get globally.”Hosting an art fair in the currentpsychological and economicalclimate in the country seems al-most counter-intuitive — art is notexactly a bread and butter issue.“Our market is busy immigrating Australia,” he half-heartedly jests,“and it can seem a devastating

blow ...

But it’s time to kick off in South Africa. “We have spent every cent

we have here.

I have six friends who have beenshot dead, but 1 cannot let thatundermine our hope for the future.”His specic hope for the future liesin creating “something sustainableand commercial, that captures the

imagination.

“We wanted to make a fair that issustainable, critically acclaimedand unique enough that it willattract foreign visitors. We are aniche market and unique player inthe international art world, and theonly art fair in Africa dedicated to African art,“We are lucky becausethere is a lot of interest. African artis huge internationally and our art-ists arc internationally acclaimed.”Ross’s company, Artlogic, uses artevents to promote companies andbrands. In this instance, FNB willprovide the brand kudos.He came to this eld via lmproduction, which he abandonedbecause he was disappointed inthe prospects of the South Africanlm industry.“In Africa, of all the creativeindustries art is the only one that isnot reliant on a big economy. Thinkof what it lakes to produce a lm or even take a theatrical productionon tour.”“We are culturally conservativein South Africa but we are at acrossroads, Contemporary art inits essence breaks down and chal-lenges stereotypes,”Perhaps an art fair is preciselywhat we need right now, as weseem to be battling for our coun-try’s very soul.• See www.joburgartfair.co.zamore in information

Sexier than rock ‘n roll

Joburg fair aims to use art to keep talented professional in the city

Were it will all happen: Sandton Convention Centre. (Photo not part of the Times article) Photo: John Hodgkiss