Joy of Jazz has come and gone, but there are two exhibitions currently showing that reference the medium in different ways.
? Printmaker Senzo Shabangu and painter and performance artist Vumelani Sibeko collaborate in an exhibition and ceremony titled Idubukile, which references and celebrates jazz legend Kippie Moeketsi and his legacy. The exhibition opens on September 3 and the opening event will include a feast of umqombothi (sorghum beer), music, an open-mic poetry session and installations by the two artists. Shabangu, on a residency at the David Krut Art Studio, is also exhibiting his work at the Krut Gallery on Jan Smuts Avenue. Idubukile is meant to foreground how black cultures negotiate urban environments.
Ko’ Spotong, Miriam Makeba Street, Newtown, on September 3 at 3.30pm. Tel: 073 718 9831.
? Artist Mbongeni Buthelezi’s mid-career retrospective opening this weekend at the Johannesburg Art Gallery is titled maNyauza, Silent Messages to My Mother. Fifteen years of artistic output culminate in Buthelezi’s painted plastic collages. Many are colourful portraits of rather nondescript places and individuals. The main aspect of the exhibition is an installation of 280 small abstract paintings (in his plastic medium) that make up a collage spanning 15m of wall space. According to the gallery statement, these small paintings are intended as “silent messages” to his late mother, “remembering conversations he used to have with her, growing up as a young man”. Other works speak about the artist’s appreciation of jazz.
The Johannesburg Art Gallery, King George Street, Joubert Park, from September 4 to January 15 2012. The gallery is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm. Entrance is free. The opening reception is on September 4 at 4pm.