ellermancontemporary - wetuwetu.com/map/resources/3733/issue5.pdf · at your service: 1 vicky...

8
Team Ellerman Graphic Club Revived EllErman HousE 180 Kloof Road BantRy Bay Cape town 8005 South afRiCa po Box 515 Sea point 8060 telephone +27 21 430-3200 fax +27 21 430-3215 email : [email protected] > www.ellerman.co.za “PeoPle”, says general manager nick Dreyer. “Once all the boxes have been checked by guests, relating to the hotel location, facilities and comfort of their rooms, it’s the quality of people who serve them which becomes the recurring theme during a stay. Nick and his staff have gone out of their way to ensure that the hotel becomes not just a destination, but an experience too. “Guests are here to enjoy our unique facilities and location and staff are here to anticipate their needs, without them even becoming aware of it.” When you speak to staff they use words such as ‘understated’ and ‘unobtrusive’ in describing their role in keeping guests happy. This approach to guests reveals an advanced awareness in managing this world-class establishment. “Staff have become accustomed to being flexible and supportive when dealing with requests. Our guests have diverse interests and preferences and we tailor-make our response to ensure we fulfill these as best possible,” explains Nick. All hotels have a certain character and Ellerman House is no exception. A hotel of this calibre recognises that wealth and success do not equate to overly stuffy service. Rather, the relaxed, confident character of both hotel and people are cherished as the true value of a memorable stay. Published by Schreiber Media / www.schreibermedia.net George Pemba Despite paintings dating back to the 1930’s, Pemba only came to prominence in 1991 as apartheid began to crumble. Originally working only in watercolour, he switched to oil on the advice of fellow artist Gerard Sekoto. Pemba’s works relish in portraits and group scenes, based on memory or imagination. Ellerman House offers stimulation for all the senses. The Graphic Club of South Africa was founded by Fred Schimmel in 1970 with the aim of making fine quality art, by well-known artists available at affordable prices. Fred worked with artists such as Cecil Skotnes, Walter Battiss, Lucky Sibiya and many others to make silkscreen works available to members as part of their subscription. During the seventies the Graphic Club produced many silkscreens and achieved its aim of spreading quality South African art into the homes of ordinary people. The club has now relaunched with a 21st century online format, with the same aims: to make original silkscreen prints available to people who may not be able to afford original art works by the well-known and established artists. Fred Schimmel’s daughter, Gail, has partnered with ArtVault in this endeavor and they remain committed to the values and quality cherished by the original club. For more information go to www.graphicclub.co.za ISSUE FIVE Maurice van Essche Born in Belgium in 1906, van Essche lived in Paris, Zaire and South Africa during his career as an artist. His work as a freelance cartoonist is evident in his treatment of the facial features in many of his paintings. Contemporary E llErman 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 At your service: 1 Vicky Dennett 2 Titus Kakova 3 Austen Johnston 4 Nick Dreyer 5 Lindsy Marais 6 William Mageqa 7 Cordelia Bauti. Diners Club Wine List Award 2010 Ellerman House Food & Beverage Manager, MJ Birch, recently brought home another Diners Club Diamond Award for our comprehensive wine list. This is the third consecutive year Ellerman House has won a Diners Club award for our wine list. MJ personally compiles an extensive cellar from the best Cape wineries as well as from cellar’s abroad. Our 7,500 bottles ensure an excellent match for any meal.

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Page 1: EllErmanContemporary - Wetuwetu.com/Map/Resources/3733/issue5.pdf · At your service: 1 Vicky Dennett 2 Titus Kakova 3 Austen Johnston 4 Nick Dreyer 5 Lindsy Marais 6 William Mageqa

Team Ellerman Graphic Club Revived

EllErman HousE 180 Kloof Road BantRy Bay Cape town 8005 South afRiCa po Box 515 Sea point 8060telephone +27 21 430-3200 fax +27 21 430-3215 email : [email protected] > www.ellerman.co.za

“PeoPle”, says general manager nick Dreyer. “Once all the boxes have been checked by guests, relating to the hotel location, facilities and comfort of their rooms, it’s the quality of people who serve them which becomes the recurring theme during a stay.

Nick and his staff have gone out of their way to ensure that the hotel becomes not just a destination, but an experience too.

“Guests are here to enjoy our unique facilities and location and staff are here to anticipate their needs, without them even becoming aware of it.”

When you speak to staff they use words such as ‘understated’

and ‘unobtrusive’ in describing their role in keeping guests happy. This approach to guests reveals an advanced awareness in managing this world-class establishment.

“Staff have become accustomed to being flexible and supportive when dealing with requests. Our guests have diverse interests and preferences and we tailor-make our response to ensure we fulfill these as best possible,” explains Nick.

All hotels have a certain character and Ellerman House is no exception. A hotel of this

calibre recognises that wealth and success do not equate to overly stuffy service. Rather, the relaxed, confident character of both hotel and people are cherished as the true value of a memorable stay.

Publ

ished

by

Schr

eibe

r Med

ia /

ww

w.sc

hrei

berm

edia

.net

George PembaDespite paintings dating back to the 1930’s, Pemba only came to prominence in 1991 as apartheid began to crumble. Originally working only in watercolour, he switched to oil on the advice of fellow artist Gerard Sekoto. Pemba’s works relish in portraits and group scenes, based on memory or imagination.

Ellerman House offers stimulation for all the senses.

The Graphic Club of South Africa was founded by Fred Schimmel in 1970 with the aim of making fine quality art, by well-known artists available at affordable prices. Fred worked with artists such as Cecil Skotnes, Walter Battiss, Lucky Sibiya and many others to make silkscreen works available to members as part of their subscription. During the seventies the Graphic Club produced many silkscreens and achieved its aim of spreading quality South African art into the homes of ordinary people. The club has now relaunched with a 21st century online format, with the same aims: to make original silkscreen prints available to people who may not be able to afford original art works by the well-known and established artists. Fred Schimmel’s daughter, Gail, has partnered with ArtVault in this endeavor and they remain committed to the values and quality cherished by the original club.

For more information go to www.graphicclub.co.za

ISSUE FIVE

Maurice van EsscheBorn in Belgium in 1906, van Essche lived in Paris, Zaire and South Africa during his career as an artist. His work as a freelance cartoonist is evident in his treatment of the facial features in many of his paintings.

ContemporaryEllErman

1 2

3

4 5

6

7

At your service: 1 Vicky Dennett 2 Titus Kakova 3 Austen Johnston 4 Nick Dreyer 5 Lindsy Marais 6 William Mageqa 7 Cordelia Bauti.

Diners Club Wine List Award 2010Ellerman House Food & Beverage Manager, MJ Birch, recently brought home another Diners Club Diamond Award for our comprehensive wine list. This is the third consecutive year Ellerman House has won a Diners Club award for our wine list. MJ personally compiles an extensive cellar from the best Cape wineries as well as from cellar’s abroad. Our 7,500 bottles ensure an excellent match for any meal.

Page 2: EllErmanContemporary - Wetuwetu.com/Map/Resources/3733/issue5.pdf · At your service: 1 Vicky Dennett 2 Titus Kakova 3 Austen Johnston 4 Nick Dreyer 5 Lindsy Marais 6 William Mageqa

Kevin RobertsTHE WEFT, THOSE VARIED HORIzONTAL THREADS that provide the colour, pattern and the pictorial surface to woven cloth, can be seen as the figures, images, objects and surroundings that Roberts so painstakingly depicted, and the symbolic meanings that they suggest. Roberts, who died in August 2009, was careful not to interpret his own work too closely, believing that there must be space for each viewer to construct his or her own meanings from the paintings. He was quoted as saying that his paintings seek to evoke a sense of mystery that resonates with the viewer or to suggest a poetic promise of meaning, but never closure. However, recurring symbols provide abundant material for interpretation. Many works show a robed woman, sitting or standing quietly or engaged in some activity, yet always still, calm and tranquil. She is an archetype, not a specific person, a Madonna or mother, sister of daughter, a teacher or a bearer of new life, or a metaphor for some aspect of the human condition, such as human spirituality, the unconscious, the meditative and the instinctive. She is juxtaposed with myriad other signs: signs of the mundane, everyday world, such as plastic chairs, crates and bowls; allusions to Africa, such as enclosures made from thatch or sticks; references to Europe or the East in roses, patterned hangings, embroidered cloths or trellises. Through these images, Roberts alluded to various cultural traditions. One is the tradition of western painting that peaked during the Italian Renaissance (the bird, for example, may represent the angel of the annunciation), as well as part of ancient Greece, Rome, the Gothic and Middle East. Traces can be found of Nigerian Ife figures, Picasso’s Mediterranean women, the painting on Fulani cattle, and many other visual sources.

Equally important are symbols of nature such as flowers, cows, birds, landscapes, water in many forms, fossils, local fauna and flora, such as acacia trees and buck. Readings of these are varied and potentially complex. For example, the bird is often a messenger, of rain, of change or of the passing of time. The cow long fascinated Roberts, because of the intimate and long relationship between man and cattle in Africa. The cow could signify possession and wealth or, placed on a palette or trestle, suggest an object of worship or the female principle. Water is a sign of plenty, luxury and ease, or of spiritual renewal. It also represents the female principle and the subconscious. The landscapes are typical of South Africa with its grasslands, thorn bush or ploughed fields, and give a sense of place.

Roberts responded to nature, to his urban environment, to art and to the cultures that exist around him, weaving them into his highly personal paintings and sculptures. All these symbols resonate, reflect or reinforce each other. They give rise to more abstract considerations, which may be specific to an individual work, but which, taken as a whole, often construct meditations about the relationship of man to nature, the tendency and ability to control and tame nature, the tension between containment and freedom, the cyclical passage of time, the workings of memory and the interrelationships between nature and culture.

– Ingrid Stevens

Above: Nature Nurture. Below: Detail from Messages of Rain. Below right: Robert’s allows viewers their own meaning.

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Page 3: EllErmanContemporary - Wetuwetu.com/Map/Resources/3733/issue5.pdf · At your service: 1 Vicky Dennett 2 Titus Kakova 3 Austen Johnston 4 Nick Dreyer 5 Lindsy Marais 6 William Mageqa

Jean DoyleTHE ELEMENTS OF My SCULPTURES are scavenged from many different sources. These may include a Bob Dylan lyric, the soaring notes of Sibongile Khumalo’s powerful voice, an innocent bystander who unwittingly poses for me or the Duchess of Kent’s hat. I am a hunter/gatherer who finds rich pickings at every turn and my influences range from artists, writers, movie-makers; those people who review my work and those who interpret it. At times my sculptures themselves betray me and are not loyal to my intention. They masquerade in fancy dress and I can never, therefore, claim my sculptures as wholly my own. I grew up in a home where creativity was a part of everyday existence. My father was a painter as well as being a craftsman of considerable talent and I was exposed to painting from an early age, as well as leather tooling, wood carving, pottery and carpentry. As a child I took little pleasure in toys, but would sit beneath his easel making ‘frames’ for his paintings from old wooden fruit boxes. The Frank Joubert Art School nurtured my creativity during my school years then later, as a student, I was most influenced by Stephen de Villiers, who gave me the fundamentals of picture-making and a life-long interest in art history. Ute Brittingh gave me a thorough grounding in form, balance, volume, structure and the character of 3 dimension. All this stood me in good stead for when I felt I could

abandon my student years and invent my own kind of creativity.My style has therefore evolved through the process of work and reflection and is my version of the truth. I delight in the volume and bounty of my figures, whether I am translating famous nudes from historical paintings into bronze and endowing them with incongruous attributes, or depicting self consciously well-nourished and thoroughly contemporary females. I have a natural inclination towards volume; extravagant and immoderate polished surfaces relieved by areas of intricate detail – bold women, swelling with sensuality bearing an arsenal of jewellery. A lurking element of camp reinforces this hyperbole. The clay with which I sculpt is sympathetic, unresisting and forgiving: it doesn’t hold me to any promises or make any demands. I completely fill my allotted space with it, like filling an entire canvass with paint or a whole page with writing. In our foundry, using skill and craftsmanship and sometimes feats of engineering, we transform this responsive and malleable material into hard, resisting, burnished bronze. It becomes defiant, exists independently and alludes to indestructibility. My creations are of art and technology, wholly and distinctly dependent on each other; a coexistence of control and sensuality.

Above: The artist at work on a commissioned bust for an American banker. Top right: Madonna of Muizenberg. Above right: Daughters of the British Empire.Below: The Pursuit of Wisdom.

Page 4: EllErmanContemporary - Wetuwetu.com/Map/Resources/3733/issue5.pdf · At your service: 1 Vicky Dennett 2 Titus Kakova 3 Austen Johnston 4 Nick Dreyer 5 Lindsy Marais 6 William Mageqa

Dylan LewisAs one of only a handful of

living artists to have had a solo exhibition at Christie’s of London, Dylan Lewis is

one of South Africa’s greatest creative exports. In June 2007, the final editions of the South African sculptor’s work went under the hammer in an auction titled Predators and Prey – The Animal Bronzes of Dylan Lewis. The auction filled the South Kensington sale hall to capacity; all 75 sculptures sold within just 90 minutes and all estimates were exceeded, putting Lewis firmly on the art world’s centre stage.

But that’s not to say that Lewis had been in the wings before this momentous milestone. Among long-standing collectors of his sculpture are royalty, captains of industry and

heads of state around the world. Indeed, Lewis’s first ever solo exhibition was back in 1995, a relatively small affair at his intimate studio in the Cape Town winelands district of Stellenbosch. His first international exhibition followed in the late 90s, the start of a concerted exhibitions programme which entailed showing between three and five times every year across the United Kingdom, North America and South Africa. Over this seven-year period he gathered a loyal core of collectors and garnered a formidable reputation, taking his place on the international art stage as a sculptor of enormous merit and formidable talent with his bronze animals and birds, and particularly his large cat predators.

Although initially recognised primarily as an animalier, Lewis’s most influential

inspiration has never been either the large cats or animals at all. Instead, what truly drives Lewis is his passion for wilderness. Dylan Lewis was born in Johannesburg in 1964, and grew up in Africa. He is the son of the late well-known sculptor of birds Robin Lewis and comes from an artistic family. His great-grandfather, Thomas Rayfon Lewis, and grandmother, Renee Hughes, were accomplished painters, his great grandmother was a concert pianist, and his mother Valerie and brother Tim are practicing artists today. In addition to the family’s love of art was a tandem love of nature and the outdoors, and the young Lewis spent a good deal of time in the wild, untamed spaces of Africa, collecting interesting stones and rocks in arid canyons and observing animals in their natural habitat. These early years saw

the start of Lewis’s abiding passion for wilderness. It is in wilderness areas that he feels most at home, and his subjects function as metaphors for landscape through which the artist can communicate his deeper concerns. It could even be said that cliff overhangs, arid earth forms and large natural outcropping of rock are as much his models as any flesh and blood subjects, as are the energetic, swirling patterns he sees in natural phenomena from cloud formations, to swirls of dust, to grasslands, twisted tree trunks and even his fingerprints.

However, before turning to sculpture, Lewis started his career as a painter, and had forged a reputation for himself as such before picking up sculpting tools after the death of his father. His painting was driven by his desire to capture the African

Above: Lewis urges us to wake up and acknowledge our link to the wild.Above Right: Male Trans-Figure V Maquette. Below Right: Walking Lion Maquette II.

Page 5: EllErmanContemporary - Wetuwetu.com/Map/Resources/3733/issue5.pdf · At your service: 1 Vicky Dennett 2 Titus Kakova 3 Austen Johnston 4 Nick Dreyer 5 Lindsy Marais 6 William Mageqa

light and the textures and subtleties of the African landscape, which over time found expression in his sculptures.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Lewis’s first sculptures were done very much in his father’s fashion and were also of bird forms. However, Lewis quickly started to develop his own style and added successive new animal subjects to his repertoire, including rhino, buffalo, baboon, and most prolifically, the large wild cat predators of Africa. Until 2005, working from his studio just outside Stellenbosch, Cape Town, Lewis focused extensively on the leopard, lion and cheetah.

Monumental in scale and surreal in their inverted repose, these figures are etched with the remnants of earthy textures and embedded with craftily disguised signifiers

of dimly remembered, animal-like, freedoms: a leg is strangely cat-like, a line, sensuously feline. These somnambulent visions defy gravity, reaching into another dimension through the veil of sleep – into a dream world where shapeshifting and metamorphosis are possible, where instinct is rediscovered and the coils of human limitation and culpability are banished.

These visions conjure the shaman, the conveyor of truths, as much as they do the despair of the human condition and life’s central paradoxes. Ultimately, these graceful yet weighty figures communicate desperate longing, loss and the extent to which humans are irrevocably tied to the earth.

They bid us to wake up, before wilderness is only the stuff of our collective, distantly remembered, dreams.

“Over the past few years i have become increasingly aware of the significance of wilderness to the human psyche, and have been

exploring the idea of coexisting internal and external, free and

untamed wild spaces.”

Page 6: EllErmanContemporary - Wetuwetu.com/Map/Resources/3733/issue5.pdf · At your service: 1 Vicky Dennett 2 Titus Kakova 3 Austen Johnston 4 Nick Dreyer 5 Lindsy Marais 6 William Mageqa

A Unique Sense of PlaceWHAT IS THE SOUTH AFRICAN AESTHETIC? This is a core question Wesley de Wit of Circa Landscapes continually tries to answer, and is presently grappling with as he tackles a new project at Ellerman House.

Ever since the epoch of famous South African architect Herbert Baker and landscape painter Jakobus Pierneef it seems the search for our unique aesthetic has slipped away. These two visual pioneers of the early 20th Century understood the inherant value of the South African landscape and sought to enhance it rather than dominate it.

“To gaze out on our natural landscape the answer becomes simple,” says de Wit.

“Uncontaminated by human neurosis and a distorted view of how human settlement should sit with our surroundings, this country’s landscape and unique flora and fauna provide a calm and deep-felt serenity that must be among the worlds very best.”

The challenge to design a new garden for Ellerman House was a chance to delve back in time for de Wit, to recover the good and throw

out the baggage of any ill-fitting nostalgia which might exist on the present site. He also wants to create a platform for the present with a possible view of the future.

With the rapid expansion of Ellerman House the disjointed boundary’s between the original historical building and the contemporary Ellerman Villa required a new seamless approach. The kloof between the Villa and Ellerman House will now be a continuation of the existing lawn terrace, yet carved out of water, which will cascade down among radiating arch’s inspired by the existing geometry found on site. Arched walkways will connect various parts of this new creation in a visual twist of contemporary/classical design.

De Wit see’s this landscape as being an animation of movement, growth and time.

“Water starts as a natural-looking spring and ends in strict geometric pools. Indigenous reeds will change and grow in height as they move down the contours and commissioned sculpture will introduce a human, intellectual

element.” A grand plan to introduce the

illusion of movement in the Ellerman garden is also planned. A variety of indigenous Protea, the Pin Cushion, is planned for the lawn terraces. These will be planted in rows, starting with dark red varieties on one side and fading through the colour spectrum to a pale yellow variety at the far side. This giant ‘fade’ will create a dynamic, artistic element to the grounds.

“It’s all about taking the best of the old and the best of the new and creating something truly unique,” concludes de Wit.

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Art and Design Centre, 72 Loop Street, Cape Townt 021 423 5641 f 086 694 7450c 082 485 3077 e [email protected]

D V 8 a r c h i t e c t s

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Phragmites australis

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Art and Design Centre, 72 Loop Street, Cape Townt 021 423 5641 f 086 694 7450c 082 485 3077 e [email protected]

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To Office entranceTo John Meyer entrance

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Phragmites australis

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Tasting room floor

Pool room

Art and Design Centre, 72 Loop Street, Cape Townt 021 423 5641 f 086 694 7450c 082 485 3077 e [email protected]

D V 8 a r c h i t e c t s

Top: A sculpture by Dylan Lewis in Kirstenbosch Gardens encapsulates the spirit for the new landscaping. Above: Plans for the new Ellerman House garden tie together the old and new buildings. Below: Texture ideas.

“The fog lifted, I could hear again … I survived.” – David Helfgott

Regarded as one of the most outstanding pianists of his time and the subject of the Oscar award-winning film Shine, David Helfgott gave an exclusive performance for Ellerman House guests on 17th September. The musical extravaganza was accompanied by a dinner prepared by acclaimed chefs and paired with Waterford Wines. The sounds of the finest silver, china and crystal mingled with Helfgott’s brilliance on the piano as a select group of guests enjoyed a remarkable evening.

Helfgott is currently a third of the way through a grueling world tour and returned to South Africa in early September to perform – a country he ‘loves passionately’. Helfgott’s musical career, paralleled at times with crippling bouts of mental illness, is well known and well documented. The critically acclaimed film Shine (1996), inspired by Helfgott’s life, made a tremendous impact on audiences around the globe.

He suffered long periods of hospitalisation during the 1970’s. The greatest crisis for Helfgott at this time was the loss of his ‘inner’ music but he remembers the day the music came back: “The fog lifted, I could hear again … I survived.” As Helfgott re-emerged from this decade of darkness, so did his career. He met and married his wife Gillian and with the help of his promoter, Mike Parry, embarked on a series of sell-out concerts in Australia.

At the beginning of 2009, a 2.7 metre sculpture of a piano was dedicated to Helfgott in recognition of his courage, contribution to music and work in the community. It’s the work of internationally recognised sculpture John Van Der Kolk and is placed in Bellingen Council Park in Melbourne, Australia.

All who attended Helfgott’s soirée at Ellerman House will be sure to remember the evening as a truly unique experience – a remarkable man in a remarkable place.

Creative Musical Genius

Page 7: EllErmanContemporary - Wetuwetu.com/Map/Resources/3733/issue5.pdf · At your service: 1 Vicky Dennett 2 Titus Kakova 3 Austen Johnston 4 Nick Dreyer 5 Lindsy Marais 6 William Mageqa

Painters, esPecially in the Western tradition of easel painting, have long learned their craft by copying works either by their teachers or by established masters. How suitable then that this first solo show by Georgina Gratrix takes as its root conceptual underpinning the reworking of existing ‘masterpieces’. However, these are not slavish copies, attempting to capture something of the aura of existing works but deeply conceptually rooted comments and critiques not just on individual works but on the very notions of what ‘great painting is… or may be. The recent critical, curatorial and academic celebration of painting, after a short (in historical terms) hiatus when painting was declared ‘dead’ by some and outmoded by many more has seen a celebration of new and intellectually intriguing approaches and techniques by a younger generation of artists who, while they have definitely been informed and no doubt influenced by the ‘DOA’ arguments, have resisted this premature burial and demonstrated to us that perhaps it was not a case that painting was dead but rather that it hadn’t really begun living yet.

While one can easily (and cynically) argue that perhaps the ‘triumph of painting’ (as the influential Saatchi Gallery exhibition of 2005 titled it) or it’s nascent re-emergence may be the result of market factors which have seen a major upturn in a booming art market and where things that hang on walls sell better than conceptual etherealities, it is clear that as rarely before painting is taking centre-stage in the world’s art consciousness: both to the ‘in-crowd’ and the general public.

Gratrix’s source-list for her body of work (or bodies of work, for there are several distinct but inter-related groupings in Master Copy is large and ranges from the acknowledged heroes of Modernism to much- loved English landscapists through to lesser-known or local producers. In drawing from all these she simultaneously undermines the assumptions of what characterises a masterpiece whilst still drawing on received ideas about who is the ‘top of the pops’ (or top of the masters). Thus her Women Wallpaper series leaches much of the painterly meaning from

the work of male genii of Modernism (tellingly from iconic high spots in the history of modern art where women are the subject of the male gaze and the artist’s brush) and leave us just with the relative colour values and proportion of those works in images that condense and redefine their works into … well … wallpaper. Thus the subject has become the subjector. Significantly these works are all created at the same scale as the original work.

Another nod towards the history of art consists in the variety of media that the artist has chosen to employ in Master Copy. Here we find most of the hierarchy of materials that painters have negotiated in the history of easel painting, from oils through acrylics to tempera as well as paper collage, pencil crayons, and even felt-tip pens. In addition there are a number of monotypes; significantly this last-mentioned being a print-making technique that produces a unique exemplar. This seems to be no mere display of virtuosity on the part of Gratrix (which in many ways it is) but perhaps also displays (through the counter-intuitive and thus critical manner in which she engages with these media) a demand upon the viewer to re-assess the assumptions that underlie these materials and processes.

Indeed, Gratrix has challenged herself in the production of these works. In some ways it would seem that Gratrix has taken the entire corpus of painting and turned it into her playground: taking it seriously but not being scared to have fun with it and not fearing the results of poking it in the ribs (or pulling its tail). Neither is she scared of ‘bad art’ (or at least art that has been declared ‘bad’ by experts, self-styled or otherwise) or kitsch. By drawing on the vast range of sources and mashing these up with the sacrosanct icons of high art she reveals that the New Painting is at once part of, and also draws its inspiration from, the vibrant popular culture that surrounds both artists and their viewers.

This is, I would argue, what gives Georgina Gratrix her undeniable contemporary edge.

– Andrew Lamprecht

Book Review

Tate Modern Artists: Antony Gormley

Published by Tate Publishing, 2010

Sculpture is an act of faith in life, in its continuity – Antony Gormley

As a consummate showman, Antony Gormley has sought a broad stage and received even broader acclaim for his iconic projects. His work, ranging from the fourth plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square to the remote Outback in Australia, generates lively debate and has cemented his place among today’s leading contemporary artists.Gormley’s large-scale projects such as the Angel of the North at Gateshead, the 100 cast-iron sculptures placed on a British beach for Another Place, and the 51 stark black steel statues in the Outback for Inside Australia, has taken his work beyond the gallery to engage the public in previously untried settings.In this survey of the artist’s work, Martin Caiger-Smith examines Gormley’s influences and assesses his relationship to minimalism, arte povera, land and environmental art, and his response to the challenge of engaging with figurative sculpture at the beginning of the twenty-first century. With an in-depth analysis of six key works and over 100 colour illustrations, this is the perfect introduction to a widely respected contemporary artist.

– www.tate.org.uk

Georgina Gratix

Page 8: EllErmanContemporary - Wetuwetu.com/Map/Resources/3733/issue5.pdf · At your service: 1 Vicky Dennett 2 Titus Kakova 3 Austen Johnston 4 Nick Dreyer 5 Lindsy Marais 6 William Mageqa

Global News

Banksy’s Street Art Art on the move

JAPAN

Jeff koons is the seventeenth artist to design one of a series of BMW Art Cars. His artwork was applied to a race spec E92 BMW M3 which competed at the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans with BMW Motorsport. The car was revealed to the public in Paris at The Pompidou Centre in June 2010. The BMW Art Car Project was introduced by the French race car driver and auctioneer Hervé Poulain, who wanted to invite artists to create a canvas on an automobile. In 1975 Poulain commissioned American artist and friend Alexander Calder to paint the first BMW Art Car.

According to Thomas Girst, who has been in charge of the BMW Art Cars project since 2004, the purpose of the project has changed over time: “In the beginning the cars were raced. There wasn’t much of a public relations effort around them. Since then, some of the Art Cars have been used in advertisements to show that BMW is a player in the arts.”

Many renowned artists have created BMW Art Cars, including David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella, and Andy Warhol. To date, a total of 17 BMW Art Cars, based on both racing and regular production vehicles, have been created.

“Banksy Does not ProDuce greeting cards or print photo-canvases or paint commissions or sell freshly baked bagels. Banksy cannot be found on Facebook/Twitter/Myspace, etc.”

This is what Banksy’s website states. So who is Banksy? His name may be familiar to millions around the world but the identity of the British-born street artist still remains a mystery, despite reported ‘outings’ in the British press. “I am unable to comment on who may or may not be Banksy, but anyone described as being ‘good at drawing’ doesn’t sound like Banksy to me.” he is reported to have stated on his website. Rumours aside, there is a wealth of information on the internet pertaining to Banksy’s work, as well as a number of books published. His latest project, a documentary and Banksyfilm production Exit Through the Giftshop billed as, “the worlds first street art disaster movie”, went on general release in March 2010.

So is Banksy’s work vandalism or is it art? According to Peter Gibson, a

spokesperson for Keep Britain Tidy, Banksy’s work is simple: vandalism. Diane Shakespeare, an official for the same organisation, was quoted as saying: “We are concerned that Banksy’s street art glorifies what is essentially vandalism”. Graffiti laws in Great Britain carry stiff penalties, so it is unsurprising he wishes to remain one of the most prolific, yet anonymous, street artists of the 21st century. But graffiti war is looming on London’s streets. An apparent feud has developed between Banksy and fellow graffiti artist King Robbo, after Banksy painted over a 24-year old Robbo piece on the banks of London’s Regent Canal. In retaliation, several Banksy pieces in London and other cities around the world have been painted over by ‘Team Robbo’. Could this be the start of a visual dismantling of Banksy’s work? Or perhaps a joint collaboration to court publicity for both artists? One thing is for certain, we’ll never know.

–www.banksy.co.uk

WooD, metal, Plastic? Hardly the most comfortable of materials to wear but Japanese fashion designer yuima Nakazato is no stranger to incorporating them into his award-winning designs. Nakazato trained at The Royal Academy of Fine Art in Antwerp, Belgium, graduating with an MA in Fashion Design in 2008 with his “Wooden Dimension” collection. He started his own brand three seasons ago and although he presents in Europe, his studio is based in Tokyo, a far cry from the small village of Antwerp where, he says, “you have no choice but to use your imagination”. And it’s Nakazato’s imagination for art you can wear, which has not only won him a number of prestigious awards; it also caught the attention of the Pop world. Both Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas and Lady Gaga are fans of his unique stage creations.

The concept of wearable art or “Art wear” is nothing new. Contemporary artists have always pushed the

conventional boundaries, turning an everyday necessity into something spectacularly Avant Garde.

A well known example is the ‘Electric Dress’, a burqa-like costume consisting mostly of variously coloured electrified and painted light bulbs, enmeshed in a tangle of wires, created in 1956 by the Japanese Gutai artist Atsuko Tanaka. This extreme garment was something like a stage costume. Not really wearable in an everyday, practical sense, it functioned rather as part of a daring work of performance art.

However, a more recent example of practical wearable art, is seen with the project called: Aliveshoes. Aliveshoes artisans hand-craft individual shoes, which are used in artistic installations. Then each shoe in the installation has a picture of the gestalt creation stitched into its tongue. Later, the shoes are sold, allowing individuals to wear what was once an integral element of a piece of art. Art on the move? Most definitely.

Above: Moving art takes the stage: Lady Gaga is a fan.

Above: BMW Art Cars on display at Grand Central Station, New York and an illustration for the design by Koons (inset).

Above: Vandalism or art?

USA

UNITED KINGDOM

Jeff Koons paints BMW