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Fabrication 1. : Dan Halter, 2011. Woven archival prints on ivory enigma paper, 29.5 x 20.5 cm. Courtesy of Whatiftheworld Gallery. -
First Blood. : Athi-Patra Ruga, 2010. Wool and tapestry thread on tapestry canvas, 87 x 130 cm. Courtesy of Whatiftheworld Gallery. -
Future Proof (digital rendering). : Michael MacGarry, 2012. Found object, steel and enamel paint, 440 x 288 cm. Courtesy of Stevenson Gallery. -
Untitled (Frame IV). : By Mohau Modisakeng, 2012. C-print on watercolour paper, 150 x 200 cm. Courtesy of Brundyn + Gonsalves. -
Bird of Paradise. : By Georgina Gratrix, 2012. Oil on Canvas, 90.5 x 60 cm. Courtesy of SMAC Art Gallery. -
The Last Beadwork. : Ed Young, 2012. Strung glass beads on board. Courtesy of SMAC Art Gallery. -
Gather (forty). : By Liza Lou, 2010. Gold plated beads and stainless steel, 25 x 12 cm. -
The Church Lady in Blue. : By Wayne Barker, 2012. Beaded panel, 200 x 200 cm.
WORDS: Malibongwe Tyilo
VISI’s ubiquitous editor-at-large, Malibongwe Tyilo finally had a moment to pen his style observations from the Joburg Art Fair. Fashion and craft is what caught his eye.
Fashion fair
“Art fairs are the new fashion weeks” I overheard someone say as I was trying to photograph Marie Claire editor Aspasia Karras’s gorgeous skirt.
I think there definitely is some level of truth to that statement. I’ve been photographing and blogging about style at art openings for the past two years, and I have absolutely no doubt that for most attending these events, the swag is as important as the art on the wall.
Opening night itself was quite the buzz and the outfits were well calculated. In fact I felt the same way I feel when I am snapping away at fashion week; a quick peck on both cheeks, a brief conversation before one’s chat partner spots another person of interest and there’s another short-lived union of cheeks and lips, giving me a brief moment to snap pictures.
By the end of the evening I hadn’t paid nearly as much attention to the art as I should have, so I gave up and decided to revisit the fair on the last day by myself, sans camera.
Craft in art
I was struck by how much a lot of the pieces on show, while being respectable art pieces that pose the predictable range of socio-political questions, also would do just as well as pretty decor pieces. In recent times, a lot of artists have gone beyond merely questioning or celebrating society in their works.
More and more artists are now challenging the very media they work in. Although Zander Blom did not show at the fair, think of his blobs of oil paint that are no longer about just creating an image but also about pushing the craft of oil painting.
Artists showing at the fair who made outstanding work that pushed this trend towards craft-driven art were Liza Lou who showed a magnificent piece made up of over 1.2-million beads. Wayne Barker created his typically irreverent work but instead of paint and the usual selection of found objects, he used glass beads. I didn’t get the bead count on that but I have no doubt it’s close to Liza’s.
Two other artists that have been pushing craft in their art since their beginnings are Athi-Patra Ruga and Dan Halter. Athi-Patra is as famous for his intricate and subversive tapestries as he is for his video installations. Dan’s woven paper manuscripts have to be seen to be believed. They suggest a rather obsessive compulsive personality, and that’s before we even get into their subject matter.
Redesign the medium
There were many more artists whose works presented a leaning toward craft – Ed Young, Michael McGarry, Georgina Gratrix and Mohau Modisakeng’s costumes, to name but a few. I could go on and on about them, but that would require a different kind of article.
I am more fascinated by how this new love for craft changes the landscape, especially where decor and art meet. Back in Cape Town, I went to an opening recently with a group of friends who were also at the Joburg Art Fair. It was a bunch of paintings dealing with a variety of subject matter. While the paintings were nice enough, we felt a bit cheated.
We started asking ourselves how the artists could have maintained their questioning stance on socio-political issues but moved beyond it by challenging their medium, therefore challenging themselves.
Malibongwe “Mali” Tyilo is VISI’s ubiquitous editor-at-large, to be seen at all the fashionable openings snapping away for Skattie What Are You Wearing. Follow him on Twitter @skattie_what.
Malibongwe “Mali” Tyilo is VISI’s ubiquitous editor-at-large, to be seen at all the fashionable openings snapping away for Skattie What Are You Wearing. Follow him on Twitter @skattie_what.More Joburg Art Fair news
Kudzanai the rockstar
Winner of this year’s FNB Art Prize, Kudzanai Chiurai’s exhibition will form the centerpiece of the Joburg Art Fair, which starts tomorrow.
Shopping for art
With art fever in Jozi this week, we asked the likes of Sean O’Toole, Marianne Fassler, Ross Douglas, Roelof Petrus van Wyk, Joost Bosland, Jonathan Garnham, Fiona Mauchan, Gavin Rooke, Justin Rhodes and Michelle Constant: how do you start an art collection?
The verdict: Joburg Art Fair
Novelist Kathryn White donned her high heels, grabbed her champers and air-kissed her way through the Joburg Art Fair to bring us her personal verdict.
More art in Joburg
Our new street art blog
Photographer and visual anthropologer Sydelle Willow Smith is photo-blogging the I Art Joburg project in the Maboneng Precinct for us.
