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Turiya Magadlela - Umudiyadiya -
Her by Candice Breitz. This was the one half of Breitz’s Him+Her video artwork, which was made up of collection of clips from characters played over 30 years, all in conversation with each other, touching on many issues that especially affect women. -
Freedom and Independe by Bjørn Melhus Oberhausen -
ABSOLUT's Arts and Crafts -Baboink Art Bar
WORDS Malibongwe Tyilo IMAGES FNB JoburgArtFair / Blank Projects
The 11th of September marks the opening of the eighth annual FNB JoburgArtFair, where local, transcontinental and international galleries and artists will be showing the best and the newest they have to offer. Here, in no particular order, are five things to look forward to this year.
1. Turiya Magadlela
Turiya is this year’s recipient of the FNB Art Prize, which guarantees her an exhibition at the art fair, along with a cash prize of R100 000. Magadlela will present a series of pieces she began working on in 2013. The work is an ongoing contemplation of the history of imprisoned black South African leaders. Her work utilises a variety of familiar fabrics such as nylon, pantyhose, correctional services sheeting and uniforms. She plays on the associations that are intrinsic to these fabrics. In so doing, she infuses them with meaning, while creating abstract compositions, by stitching, folding and stretching them across wooden frames.
2. The Johannesburg Pavilion
Earlier this year, amidst concerns and uncertainty about the official South African representation at the Venice Biennale, FNB JoburgArtFair, in partnership with the 133 Arts Foundation organised the Johannesburg Pavilion, a group that went on to show at the Biennale. While we didn’t make it to see their work in Venice, we’re super excited that the artists also created work in-situ, and the resulting documentation will be shown at the fair.
3. Candice Breitz
Berlin-based South African artist Candice Breitz will be this year’s featured artist, as part of the art fair’s Special Projects programme. She will be presenting Him+Her, a work made up two video installations. For ‘Her,’ she has extracted clips out of different films made by Meryl Streep over 30 years. In the artwork, the characters played by Streep meet to discuss their needs, fears and desires. ‘Him’ also sees characters engaging in dialogue, however the work is derived from over four decades of Jack Nicholson films.
4. International Short Film Festival Oberhausen
As part of the fair’s focus on experimental film and live performance, there will be a central theatre space that will host a programme of screenings, performance and talks. The Goethe-Institut, a German cultural organisation that has been involved with the fair since its inception, has invited the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen to present a selection of international art films.
5. The Arts & Crafts – Baboink Art Bar
ABSOLUT Vodka has commissioned artist Cameron Platter to create its very first Art Bar installation in South Africa. The bar will investigate “consumption, excess, detritus within a fragmented South African identity and fill the ordinary and marginal with incendiary new meaning.”
The FNB JoburgArtFair runs from 11 to 13 September 2015 at the Sandton Convention Centre. For more information, visit fnbjoburgartfair.co.za. Tickets are available online at Webtickets.
