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Penny Siopis – Blow Up -
Lyndi Sales – Winding Course -
Robyn Penn – Monolith Letter from Velazquez to Magritte -
Penny Siopis – Ash -
Mary Wafer – Aerial I -
Gerhard Marx – Weather I -
Lyn Smuts – Silence and Vibration
WORDS Eugene Yiga
Early in 2011, Standard Bank Gallery curator Barbara Freemantle embarked on a collaborative project with the bank’s Sustainability Management. Its goal was to highlight issues concerning biodiversity. This led to the creation of a series of South African art exhibitions related to the four elements: water, fire, earth and air.
“I was a part-curator of the Water show and I curated the Botanical (Earth) show,” says Cyril Coetzee. “Now, in the Air show, I’m once again looking at the response of various contemporary South African artists to a theme.”
All the shows were conceived as diverse and multimedia exhibits ranging from painting, sculpture, graphics, photography, installation and video to ethnographic and roadside art.
“Most of the chosen artists are interested in the interface between art and science in one way or another, which may be said to constitute a second theme of the exhibition,” Coetzee says of the main threads running through the series. “There is a substantial and fascinating component of air-related African material culture art included. Robyn Sassen has selected these for the exhibition.”
Viewers who like Walter Oltmann can see something new that he has made for this show, much as he made a specific piece for the previous exhibition. Coetzee also loves a big wall piece by Lyndi Sales, which he describes as “one of her best”.
“There are some magnificent big works by Penny Siopis, Karel Nel, Sandile Zulu, Lyn Smuts, and Robyn Penn,” he says. “The Ghanaian Coffin is exquisite. And Christine Cronjé’s videos are truly arresting.”
Coetzee adds that the opening musical performance by Madeline Groenewald, who he describes as an emerging artist with great talent, should not be missed, as it relates to a whole series of pieces she has done especially for the show. Another emerging Cape Town artist, who Coetzee calls “a real painter’s painter” is Katherine Spindler.
“Air is the basis of life itself, yet we live in times when the safety of our air is in serious danger,” Coetzee says. “Air is by its nature something invisible, yet here is a visually sumptuous display of work related to this invisible thing we take for granted! This exhibition aspires to be visually rich and conceptually diverse, accessible for everyone, yet no less intellectually challenging.”
Visit Air: Inspiration – Expiration at the Standard Bank Gallery until 3 December 2016. The Standard Bank Gallery is located at Simmonds Street & Frederick Street, Johannesburg Central.
