Joburg Art Fair highlights

WORDS & PHOTOS Malibongwe Tyilo

Reporting from this past weekend’s Joburg Art Fair, our intrepid editor-at-large Malibongwe Tyilo says: “The era of the struggling artist is over. Artists are the pop stars and art fairs are the new fashion weeks.”

Every year the country’s galleries and the crème de la crème of the South African art community gather at the Sandton Convention Centre to see the best our artists have to offer, at the FNB Joburg Art Fair. Open to the public from Friday 27 to Sunday 29 September, the ticket you really want to get your hands on is for the exclusive opening party on the evening of Thursday 26 September.

There’s no shame in enjoying art while rubbing shoulders with the who’s-who. If you really love to party, the opening night was followed by an afterparty at a super snazzy venue, The Sands, leading this writer to declare the era of the struggling artist over. Artists are the pop stars, and art fairs are the new fashion weeks!

The controversy

The fair was almost overshadowed by the controversy that ensued when the organisers removed artist Ayanda Mabulu’s work, Yakhal’ Inkomo – Black Man’s Cry. Ayanda’s work portrayed President Jacob Zuma in a not-so-flattering light regarding his role in the Marikana incident and, if we think back to the Spear incident, we know what happens when artists mess with the Pres.

Anyway, it became quite a scandal and internationally famous South African photographer David Goldblatt threatened to take down his work in protest. Then the organisers did a bit of an about-turn and put Ayanda’s work back on display. Ayanda’s piece is now, of course, far more popular than it ever was before the whole drama, and the protesters that gathered around the Goodman Gallery during the Spear incident last year are now oddly silent.

The rest of the art

This year’s event paid tribute to the medium of photography. Of course this doesn’t mean there was less of other mediums. There was a wide variety, experimenting across media, including Standard Bank Young Artist Mary Sibande’s large purple, rather ominous, Non Winged Ceiling Being, accompanied by prints of the artist dressed in purple outfits that look as though they grew from the installation – my favourite of which was Terrible Beauty.

As for the traditional photography, there was so much it’s hard to choose the best, although no doubt the works of young artists like Mohau Modisakeng (read our interview with him here) really held their own. My personal favourite, however, has to be the photographs taken from Santu Mofokeng’s book and research project, The Black Photo Album (1890 -1950). It was the first work our deputy editor, Annemarie Meintjes, and I saw as we walked in, and we were awed by the dignity the pictures returned to its subjects. While the images were not taken by Mofokeng himself (they were taken before he was born), his work collecting them is of great importance.

Another piece that must be mentioned is Norman Catherine’s massive sculpture, the Cogigator. Sculpture is one of those mediums that I admire not only for the craft it requires, but for its ability to evolve over the years while maintaining a certain classic quality. This piece, aside from its incredible beauty, does just that – it must be seen to be believed.

There were many more works to look at and, if we wrote about each, we’d have to publish our own book… Not a bad idea – The VISI Guide to Art Fair. Maybe next time. For now, do browse the gallery above to see some of our highlights at this year’s art fair.

We hope to air kiss you all there next year!

Read more of VISI’s articles about the Joburg Art Fair here.

www.fnbjoburgartfair.co.za