/ 16 February 2012

Cape art picks: February 17 2012

American artist Mark Dion has taken a residency at the Michaelis School of Art.

American artist Mark Dion has taken a residency at the Michaelis School of Art at the University of Cape Town to work on a project that will be exhibited at Documenta 13 in Kassel, Germany, later this year.

For the work Dion continues his long-term exploration of scientific ­methodologies and classification systems. The Schildbach Xylotheque, a wooden library housed in the Natural History Museum in Kassel, provides his entry point. The library comprises hundreds of wooden volumes drawn from local tree and shrub species in an encyclopaedic arrangement. In a typically playful attempt to subvert the order of things, Dion is adding six new books to the Xylotheque, each presenting a specific wood from one of the five formerly missing continents.

Having already produced three books, he is moving into the Michaelis Upper Gallery to ­create the fourth. His residency will be launched with the opening of Context, an exhibition of works that use the book-object as a conceptual point of departure. Curated by Michaelis lecturer Fabian Saptouw, the ­exhibition brings works by local artists Fritha Langerman, Colin Richards, Pippa Skotnes, Morné Visagie and others into conversation with Dion’s project.

Michaelis Galleries, Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town’s Hiddingh campus, 37 Orange Street, Gardens, until March 17. Tel: 021 480 7170. ­Website: michaelis.uct.ac.za.

? Viewing young artist Dion Cupido’s Afro-pop portraits of various celebrities, one is reminded of the works of another Cape Town artist, Mustafa Maluka.

Like Maluka, Cupido was raised on the Cape Flats and has his roots in street art. Maluka has gone on to an international career that has taken him from Amsterdam and Helsinki to New York and Sao Paulo. And Cupido clearly has his sights on similar global destinations, at least if this new exhibition is anything to go by. Titled Perceptions of Beauty, it features a series of celebrity portraits that engage notions of blackness as presented in our media-driven world. Rihanna, Beyoncé, Alek Wek and even Oprah are among the ­recognisable faces Cupido delights in celebrating and subverting.

Worldart Gallery, 54 Church Street, until February 27. Tel: 021 423 3075. Website: worldart.co.za.