joburg altarpiece a m a z i n g t h i n g s from other...

J O B U R G A L T A R P I E C E&A M A Z I N G T H I N G S F R O M O T H E R P L A C E S

M I C H A E L S T E V E N S O NC A P E T O W N

8 A U G U S T - 2 6 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 9

W I M B O T H A

Michael Stevenson is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Wim Botha. On show are a monumental print work, and an installation of mixed-media sculptural pieces.

Named for its place of origin, Joburg Altarpiece is the culmination of a series of large lino prints, some of which have been exhibited individually in the

past two years. In the Altarpiece eight panels are combined to complete the project. The component images, sourced from historical paintings and

sculptures, are skeletonised and stripped of their original meaning. The resulting danse macabre suggests its own mythology, with fluid identities and

indeterminate intent.

In the lower central panel of the Altarpiece, Botha has introduced the form of the tetrahedron, one of the Platonic or regular solids which have entranced

– and frustrated – man through the ages. These forms reappear in the installation Amazing Things from Other Places, in which a number of sculptural

pieces are suspended in a coherent but fragmented and multi-faceted arrangement. The Platonic solids are unique in that the faces, edges and angles

of each form are congruent; the name of each figure is derived from its number of faces, respectively 4, 6, 8, 12 and 20. Plato associated them with the

four classical elements, to which Aristotle added a fifth. Leonardo Da Vinci illustrated the solids for Luca Pacioli’s book The Divine Proportion, while the

German astronomer Johannes Kepler used them to propose a model for the movements of the known planets in the solar system.

This perpetual deliberation over these aesthetically seductive forms in the assumption that they must offer templates for elements of the universe

is the premise of the five sculptures at the core of Botha’s installation. Whereas previously his imagery often related to the Greek and Christian gods,

in this series he abstracts the wrestling between man and gods into a constellation of figurative and pure geometric forms. Entering the dynamic

between these elements and a sequence of portrait-studies carved in paper, viewers are inevitably drawn to position themselves as yet another

component in this disconcerting spatial universe.

This is Botha’s fourth solo exhibition at Michael Stevenson, following Apocalagnosia (2007), Cold Fusion: gods, heroes and martyrs (2005) and

Speculum (2003). In 2008 he had solo shows at Brodie/Stevenson in Johannesburg and Galerie Jette Rudolph in Berlin. Recent group exhibitions

include Self/Not-self at Brodie/Stevenson, Johannesburg (2009); Disguise: The art of attracting and deflecting attention at Michael Stevenson (2008);

Political Iconography at Jette Rudolph (2007); Olvida quien soy – Erase me from who I am at the Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas (2006);

the seventh Dakar Biennale (2006); Personal Affects: Power and Poetics in South African Art at the Museum for African Art and the Cathedral church of

St. John the Divine in New York City (2005); and the travelling exhibition Africa Remix (2004-2007). Botha was the Standard Bank Young Artist for Visual

Art in 2005.

Upcoming projects include the Triennial for Small Sculpture in Fellbach, concurrent with a solo exhibition at Galerie Jette Rudolph in Berlin; a solo

exhibition at Brodie/Stevenson in Johannesburg and a large sculpture commission for Nedbank, Johannesburg.

J O B U R G A L T A R P I E C E

Joburg Altarpiece2009Installation with eight linoprintsOverall dimensions 397 x 527cmEdition of 3

Joburg Altarpiece2009Installation view

Untitled (After Bernini)2009Linoprint on tea-stained paper197 x 85cm (unframed)Edition of 12

Apocalumbilicus2006Linoprint on tea-stained paper197.5 x 80.5cm (unframed)Edition of 12

Untitled (After Rubens)2008Linoprint on tea-stained paper197.5 x 80.5cm (unframed)Edition of 12

Rorschach (After Velazquez)2007Linoprints on tea-stained paper178 x 95cm each (unframed)Edition of 12

Untitled (After Rubens)2009Linoprint on tea-stained paper150 x 185cm (unframed)Edition of 12

A M A Z I N G T H I N G S F R O M O T H E R P L A C E S

Amazing Things from Other Places2009Wood, gold leaf, blackboard paintInstallation with five sculptural elementsInstallation dimensions variable

Amazing Things from Other Places2009Installation view

Portrait III2009

Carved Bibles, wood, stainless steel32 x 15 x 28cm

Portrait III

Portrait I2009Carved crossword dictionaries, wood, stainless steel48 x 18 x 24.5cm

Portrait I

Portrait IV2009

Carved Bibles, wood, stainless steel39 x 22 x 30cm

Portrait IV

Portrait II2009Carved Afrikaans dictionaries and vocabulary books, wood, stainless steel34 x 15 x 27cm

Portrait II

Installation detail (Hexahedron)84 x 266 x 84cm

Detail (Hexahedron)

Installation detail (Tetrahedron)95 x 207 x 90cm

Detail (Tetrahedron)

Installation detail (Icosahedron)105 x 215 x 94cm

Installation detail (Octahedron)125 x 145 x 105cm overall

Installation detail (Black Egret)32 x 56 x 44cm

Installation detail (Dodecahedron)146cm diameter

260 x 146 x 146cm overall

Amazing Things from Other Places2009

Installation view

joburg altarpiece a m a z i n g t h i n g s from other...

Documents