Spring is in the fair: Cape Town

Oct 01 2009 14:00

EXHIBITIONS
Opening on Friday October 2 at 6pm:

ERDMANNCONTEMPORARY & the PHOTOGRAPHERSgalleryZA
63 Shortmarket Street, Cape Town
021 422 2762
www.erdmanncontemporary.co.za
For the Spring Art Tour the gallery presents Parrot Jungle, the ninth solo exhibition of award-winning photographer Lien Botha. Her photographs are thought processes made visual. Evocative layered images function like poems with cryptic titles to assist the viewer with the interpretive process. The 48 images, selected by Botha for her exhibition, take the viewer on a road trip through South Africa. Botha introduces the viewer to the individuals she encountered and the places she had always wanted to visit.

ThePHOTOGRAPHERSgalleryZA is a platform for new innovations in contemporary South African photography.

iArt Gallery
iArt Gallery, 71 Loop Street, Cape Town
021 424 5140
www.iart.co.za
POSTER is an exhibition by Carla Crafford, inspired by the visual dialogue that happens during the process of photographing artworks for the purpose of making posters and other images. Crafford highlights these dialogues through the artwork of 15 artists whose work she photographed to create poster images.

João Ferreira Gallery
70 Loop Street and 80 Hout Street, Cape Town
027 21 4235403
www.joaoferreiragallery.com
João Ferreira Gallery is proud to present Araminta de Clermont's second solo exhibition with the gallery following the success of her first, After Life.

Life After has a specific interest in prison tattoos as works of art and culturally significant in their own right -- being the preferred art form of an especially disenfranchised and marginalised group.

The Before Life series of portraits looks at young people about to start their lives. She explores the ritual and costumes of the matric dance with its attendant psycho-social ramifications.

THE NEIGHBOURHOOD BAR Grolsch Spring Party
October 3 at 9pm
163 Long Street, Cape Town
021 424 7260
www.goodinthehood.co.za
The Neighbourhood Bar hosts the official Spring Tour After Party. Numbers are limited, but tickets are available at all participating galleries and Green Light outlets. Limited complimentary Grolsch and bar snacks will be served to party guests.

Opening on Thursday, October 8 at 6pm:
Goodman Gallery
3rd Floor, Fairweather House, 176 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock
021 462 7573/4
www.goodmangallerycape.com
Goodman Cape Town will be showing Kathryn Smith's Trauma Diorama: The Quarry, a photographic portfolio based on a short film shot on location in 2008. Smith worked in collaboration with internationally published novelist Margie Orford. The exhibition also introduces emerging Cape Town-based artist Sophie Brown. Both seductive and cryptic, these photos form part of a larger project in which murder, mystery, doubling and deceit converge in a multi-layered narrative.

Concurrently, Bili Bidjocka will be having his first solo exhibition in Cape Town. Though the Cameroon-born contemporary artist is best known for his installations and sculptures, he now shifts his focus to images interpreted through beads. This exhibition has been conceived as a wandering through the life of Bernardo Soares, who is the avatar of Portuguese poet (and one-time Durban denizen) Fernando Pessoa and protagonist of The Book of Disquiet. Merging the artist and the work of art by transforming the former into the latter, the artist becomes, in a sense, an artifact or a beautiful fiction.

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Michael Stevenson Gallery
Ground floor, Buchanan Building, 160 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock
021 462 1500
www.michaelstevenson.com
A double-header exhibition is on offer at Michael Stevenson: solo exhibitions by Meshac Gaba and Paul Edmunds will run concurrently.

Paul Edmund's Foam and Sleeve, 2009

Subtropicalia is the title of Paul Edmunds show. The exhibition will comprise a series of sculptures and two-dimensional pieces, a large-scale projection of the video work Weft and a limited edition publication of his short story. He writes that ideas for the work on show began with a short story he wrote recounting his "childhood in Johannesburg in the 1970s and 1980s and my enduring interest in skateboarding and surfing". His work, which is characterised by a concern with process, pattern and material, tends to be received with an emphasis on its abstract properties. With Subtropicalia, using his story as a template through which to view the work, he tracks how memory, sensory phenomena and abiding interests inform his exploration of materials, forms, repetitive processes and design.

Meshac Gaba will be presenting The Street in this exhibition he extends on Tresses -- a series of wearable sculptures woven from artificial hair in the shape of iconic South African buildings. This time Gaba explores the shape of cars, including Mercedes, Studebaker, Jeep, Fire Truck, School Bus, Tank, Smart, Picasso and Beetle. Like the skyscrapers which inspired Gaba's first series of Tresses while on a residency in New York City,

Meshac Gaba's Car Tresses, 2008

cars have been potent symbols of progress in the modern era, embodying technological achievement and prosperity. The wearable sculptures will be accompanied by video. Other works on show will include Colours of Cotonou, picture frames covered in cut-outs from Beninese bank notes. These enclose found "colours", whether pieces of textiles or simply the floor or wall behind an empty frame, drawing our gaze again to the fabric of everyday life.

whatiftheworld
208 Albert Road, Woodstock
021 448 1438
www.whatiftheworld.com
Polish-born artist Andrzej Norwicki follows up his critically acclaimed debut solo exhibition The Gloaming with another at whatiftheworld for the Spring Art Tour. Drawing on references and influences outside of the traditional highbrow art context, Andrzej Nowicki shows a playful engagement with ephemera from popular culture. He makes paintings and drawings that create parallel universes where people and objects multiply and metamorphose into ever more strange visions. His disquieting dreamlike tableaux combine the seductive allure of a fairy tales with the perverse playfulness of Surrealism and the insight of speculative fiction to create disordered narratives. Working with these extended narratives in the medium of watercolour and collage, Nowicki engages with the more formal aspects of his practice consciously, exploring the use of pattern and repetition.

Everard Read Gallery
3 Portswood Road, V & A Waterfront
021 418 4527
Beezy Bailey shows new work on the theme of The Dancing Jesus, which follows up on the subject of Fallen Angels. He describes himself as a conduit of visual messages greater than himself, at best a messenger from God, at worst a Fallen Angel. Bailey belives it is not for him to explain the contents of his work; this is for the viewer to do. It should make for an interesting experience.

Blank Projects
113 - 115 Sir Lowry's Road, Woodstock
www.blankprojects.com
Blank projects will show The Conductor's Fear of the Soloist, a work by Swiss artists Marianne Halter and Mario Marchisella, who consciously stage the misinterpretation of an everyday situation. It comprises a performance piece at the taxi-rank in central Johannesburg that effectively interferes and plays with the given order, leading to absurd moments.

Black projects is a partner project space of the the Goethe-Institute. It is set to continue the Goethe Institute's involvement with experimental art practice.

SPECIAL PROJECTS
Thursday October 8 at 6pm:
Art Videos at Twiice International (same as the videos at Paul Smith in Johannesburg)
70 - 72 Bree Street, Cape Town
021 487 9060
www.twiice.com
Galleries have been invited to show art videos at two exciting venues in Cape Town and Jo'burg. Twiice International in Cape Town is housed in a three-story building full of classic design furniture. Paul Smith in Jo'burg is a shop in a house designed by award-winning architect Sarah Calburn. Both of these venues provide interesting spaces in which to experience the video art which will be displayed on various monitors throughout the venues.

Highlights of this Special Project include videos by: the art collective AVANT CAR GUARD; Lerato Shadi, a young performance and video artist based in Johannesburg; and Athi-Patra Ruga, a young artist whose work comfortably straddles the divide between fashion, performance and photography.
Through a selection of exciting videos, the organisers hope to offer a promising peek at the future of video art in South Africa.

BMW ART TALKS
On Saturday October 3:

9.15am: Everard Read Gallery
3 Portswood Road, V&A Waterfront
Beezy Bailey gives a talk on Painting and the Dancing Christ and his exhibition.

10.45am: whatiftheworld
208 Albert Road, Woodstock
021 448 1438
Curator Ashleigh Mclean discusses Andrzej Nowicki's exhibition The Gloaming in a walkabout.

11am: iArt Gallery
iArt Gallery, 71 Loop Street, Cape Town
021 424 5140
Carla Crafford will conduct a walkabout of her exhibition POSTER.

11am: Clarke's Bookshop
211 Long Street, Cape Town
021 423 5739
www.clarkesbooks.co.za/artbooks
Andrew Lamprecht discusses The State Of the Art, looking at publications about art and artists in South Africa, a basic overview of what is happening in South African art publishing and the different forms of publishing, from gallery catalogues to trade publications. Only about 30 people can fit into the shop at a time, so this is an RSVP event.

11.30am: ERDMANNCONTEMPORARY & the PHOTOGRAPHERSgalleryZA
Lien Botha will present an audience participation required walkabout of her latest exhibition Parrot Jungle.

12pm: Biblioteq
30 Hudson Street, De Waterkant
021 425 6582
Bloody Marys and Pieter Hugo host a book signing of the newly released NOLLYWOOD.
Storm Janse van Rensburg also talks on Linking Contemporary Art, the Continent and the World and Bili Bidjocka's show happening at the Goodman Gallery, Cape Town.

12pm: João Ferreira Gallery
A discussion on the work of Araminta de Clermont, with particular regard to her latest series Before Life as well as her earlier work, Life After, and photography as a whole.

RESTAURANTS
The Grand Café
35 Victoria Road, Camps Bay
021 438 4253
www.thegrand.co.za
The Grand Café presents its Grand Art Menu, where flavours, aromas and style define the alchemy of taste. Past the colonial shuttered doors and windows and pink-milkshake-coloured exterior is an interior of crisp damask-covered tables alongside an eclectic assortment of dark wooden chairs. In the Grand's art of fine cuisine you will find fresh produce, a creative take on the classics and a sense of boho-chic within the walls of Cape Town's grandest destination dining experience, overlooking the azure of Camps Bay.

Royale
273 Long Street
021 422 4536
Royale Eatery is a popular burger restaurant on Long Street. It is famous for having a large selection of burgers, with some original options on the menu. There are chicken and vegetarian options, but in general there are large and tasty meat burgers. Burgers come with a choice of fries, potato wedges or sweet potato chips. You'll also get sweet chilli sauce, tomato sauce and sourcream condiments. Special menu will be the "Summertime" burger -- a juicy, basted beef burger topped with homemade beetroot relish and satay sauce. And the perfect accompaniment to any burger is a great shake, so for the duration of the Spring Art Tour we will be serving an apple and fresh mint shake.

Giovanni's Deliworld
103 Main Road, Sea Point
021 434 6893
Giovanni's is a good meeting place for people who love good food, coffee and wine. They boast a big selection of freshly prepared meals and delicacies -- genuine Parma hams, Italian salamis, mortadella, Spanish iberico and Serrano hams, French Roquefort, Italian Gorgonzola, balsamic vinegars and wine -- and the list goes on and on. All food can be prepared to take away or you can take a seat at the coffee bar for a quick bite.

Boo Radley's
62 Hout Street
021 424 3040
www.booradleys.co.za
Boo Radley's forms part of a new stable of art, culture, food and entertainment venues on the city block that is bordered by Castle, Long and Hout. Boo Radley's extends this creative experience with impromptu live music and a part-time staff of actors, comedians, performers and students. Boo's kitchen is primed to ensure that as theatre-goers you make your show but return for coffee and desserts or a slow bottle of wine. Alternately, come post-theatre and enjoy a leisurely supper.

Caveau
Caveau Heritage Square
92 Bree Street, Cape Town.
021 422 1367
Caveau has garnered extensive acclaim with its excellent food, extensive and innovative wine list, relaxed atmosphere and attentive service. It even secured a place among the Condé Nast United States list of "35 Coolest International Night Spots".
Caveau has a well-stocked product area, including a fresh pasta station, charcuterie and a Raw Bar serving carpaccio, tartare, oysters, and is home to a full-time sushi chef. Seating in the historical courtyard allows guests access to the Caveau restaurant menu, as well as the Deli offerings.

The Kitchen
111 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock (opposite Michael Stevenson, between the Palm Centre and Banks)
021 4622201
www.karendudley.co.za
The Kitchen is actually a real working kitchen. They boast delicious food and really good coffee. They also have a wide selection of delicious salads, tarts, little sweet nibblies, chicken dishes and, of course, their famous sandwiches -- really the best you will ever eat! Things are kept super affordable so that people can visit regularly.

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Spring is in the fair: Cape Town

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