In South Africa, portraiture has a long and complex history. VISI gets up close and personal with a proliferation of artists who are tackling, refreshing and advancing the genre.

It’s funny to think that, 100 years ago, art historians thought traditional portraiture and figurative painting had run their course. But portraiture never went away; it continued to evolve and develop. In fact, there has been a recent explosion in the genre around the world as well as at home.

“There’s a lot going on with portraiture in South Africa,” confirms Everard Read’s Grace O’Malley. An exhibition of three portrait-style works by Ayanda Mabulu, titled “The Healers”, ran at Everard Read’s Circa Gallery in June and July. At the same time, an exhibition by Joni Brenner, “Between You and Me: Four Models in the Studio”, ran at SMAC Gallery in Johannesburg. “Who We Should Not Be”, an exhibition of mixed-media portraits by Navel Seakamela, was on display at Southern Guild in June and July too. And that’s just scratching the surface.

Works from Joni Brenner’s “Between You and Me: Four Models in the Studio” exhibition at SMAC Gallery in Johannesburg.

There has been much interest in the upcoming Zeitz MOCAA exhibition “When We See Us”, which concentrates on black portraiture and figuration, via the webinar series that has been running throughout the year leading up to its opening in November. Arisha Maharaj, an art specialist at auctioneers Strauss & Co, curated a themed sale that focused on portraits earlier this year, so the interest has clearly gained traction in the secondary market too. The headline work on that sale – a self-portrait by Heather Gourlay-Conyngham entitled Self in Jan’s Turban – which went on sale with an estimate of between R20 000 and R30 000, sold for almost R130 000.

Grace ventures that the recent international interest in work by Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo resulted in high-profile auction sales at Sotheby’s, and sparked an international focus on collecting contemporary African portraiture. But, she adds, “In South Africa, with our history of racist ethnographic photography and problematic artworks by white/European artists of black subjects, there is a significant power shift in portraiture being created by black artists of black subjects in a new political context.”

A prime example might be Zanele Muholi. “Zanele’s contributions to the genre of portraiture have been important declarations of personhood, both for themselves and for others,” says Sinazo Chiya, associate director at Stevenson, who represents Muholi. “In a country still battling the hangover of erasure and misrepresentation, their images say that to be deemed a deviant or inferior is not a statement to internalise. Rather, power, grace and beauty belong to all who claim them.”

Another curator, who preferred not to be named, agrees. “I feel that the first step towards taking back agency for the depiction of black experience is the portrait or self-portrait – the face and the body become the template, the entry point, the synthesis of everything; these also allow the viewer/audience a very tangible and undeniable point of human relatability.”

The power of the work of someone like Muholi has set the bar. As Sinazo says, “The portraits in ‘Faces and Phases’ and ‘Brave Beauties’ specifically are radical monuments to and for people who have been written out of history, called un-African, even killed. In Somnyama Ngonyama, their heroic and deeply sensitive images rewrite a myopic and victimhood-oriented narrative of blackness.”

History Matters

There has, however, been a growing tide of thought that finds that the proliferation of portraiture among contemporary artists is in danger of becoming a victim of its own success. The same tired tropes are growing banal through thoughtless repetition as fashion tempts more and more artists to forgo originality for what they think resonates right now.

While that is certainly true, at the same time, the treatment of the genre seems to be shifting gears again. As Grace says, “I think it’s important that contemporary African portraiture be seen in a wider context, and not as a fashion trend led by European and American art markets.”

Tandazani Dhlakama, assistant curator at Zeitz MOCAA, who is working on “When We See Us”, says the exhibition will bring a new level of reflection and complexity to the topic of portraiture and figuration, not least by “reminding everyone that black artists have been painting themselves for a very long time… So whatever you see today is part of a really important historical continuum.”

It’s important, she says, for audiences to be reminded that black portraiture is not simply about “reacting to a hegemony”. The webinars and exhibition will explore “important artistic lineages, artistic schools and different events that have shaped culture on the African continent or within black worlds”.

Like Sinazo, she emphasises the importance not of narratives of victimhood and suffering, but “black joy”. Portraiture and figuration, she notes, are an excellent vehicle for depicting the “idea of repose, the resting [or] seated figure, the reclining figure, and the thinking, pondering figure”. It’s a clear theme in Seakamela’s work at Southern Guild. As Tandazani points out, by joining contemporary depictions of joyousness as well as the quotidian, and filling out a non-reactionary history, both the genre and black subjectivity are given complexity. What she calls “black worlds” – both in Africa and the diaspora – has had its future made more complex by delving more deeply into its past.

Looking for more local art? Sign up to our weekly newsletter, here.

The post Face Time: South African Portraiture appeared first on Visi.

After several months of lockdown-induced closure, Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) has reopened with an unprecedented exhibition dedicated to the art made, owned and loved by Capetonians, titled Home Is Where The Art Is: Art Is Where The Home Is.

A first for a major museum in South Africa, the exhibition features over 2 000 artworks from professional and amateur artists, children and collectors alike. “As part of a re-positioning and re-articulation of the role of our institution, this exhibition marks a transformative shift in how Zeitz MOCAA engages with audiences and foregrounds the creativity and diversity of those in Cape Town,” says Koyo Kouoh, Executive Director and Chief Curator at Zeitz MOCAA .

Speaking directly to the context of the global pandemic, there is an apt focus on the home space, particularly through the lens of art that has offered solace and joy during trying times.

Artwork submissions have been arranged into five themes: The Garden, which explores the life of plants, growth, cultivation and labour; Outside, which encompasses landscapes and public space; Inside, which includes interiors, domestic spaces and inner psychological states; Time, which notes the ever-ticking clock and abstract expressions; and Relations, which celebrates interconnectedness, relationships and communities.

“Art is in the eye of the beholder could be the translation of Home Is Where The Art Is,” says Koyo. “With no hierarchy or selection, this is an opportunity for us to find out what art means to our audience and by the same token, attempting to find out what a museum could stand for in current times.”

Find out more about how Home Is Where The Art Is: Art Is Where The Home Is came about, here. The exhibition runs until 10 January 2021 and also features a series of public programmes. For more information, visit Zeitz MOCAA’s zeitzmocaa.museum or call 087 350 4777.

The post Inside The Exhibition: Home is Where The Art is: Art is Where The Home Is at Zeitz MOCAA appeared first on Visi.

The Home Is Where The Art Is: Art Is Where The Home Is exhibition marks the reopening of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) on 22 October 2020, after several months of closure due to lockdown.

The museum is encouraging people from across Cape Town to submit their work, a unique opportunity that allows residents to be part of the museum, not just as visitors but as participants, too.

Koyo Kouoh, Executive Director and Chief Curator at Zeitz MOCAA, says, “Since our inception, Capetonians have supported our young institution. This exhibition, which is unprecedented for a major museum, is our way of thanking everyone for their support. It is an invitation to be part of the museum’s ongoing success, particularly as we reopen after a challenging period. It is also an opportunity to celebrate the strength, unity and spirit of individuals throughout this difficult time.”

The open call welcomes artists at every level, working in any medium, as well as collectors, to submit work that they have created during the lockdown period within five categories. Parents with young children who are budding artists are welcome to enter under “Young Artist in Residence”. Other categories include “Homemade Gems”, geared towards hobby artists, while full-time, professional artists fall under the “Professional Practise” group. The category “Local Loves” is dedicated to artworks from artists across the continent. Lastly, those gifted artworks from loved ones can enter under the category “With Love From Gogo”.

There is a two-step submission process, with an online entry period ending today (5 October 2020), after which works can be dropped off between 6 and 11 October 2020 at various locations across the city, namely Tygerberg Art Centre in Parow, PJ Olivier Art School in Stellenbosch, Langa’s Soha Gallery, Isivivana Centre in Khayelitsha, Muizenberg’s Casa Labia Cultural Centre, Lalela Project in Hout Bay and Zeitz MOCAA at the V&A Waterfront.

The entry process is free and successful participants will receive a three-month pass to the museum, in addition to having their work exhibited.

“Cape Town is a city with people from all walks of life, nationalities and backgrounds,” says Kouoh. “We are delighted to open our doors to the people of Cape Town and invite them to bring their art home to Zeitz MOCAA.”

A series of public programmes will take place during the exhibition and run until 10 January 2021.

To submit online by 5 October 2020, email submissions@zeitzmocaa.museum. For more information, visit Zeitz MOCAA’s website or call 087 350 4777.

The post Zeitz MOCAA: Home Is Where The Art Is: Art Is Where The Home Is Exhibition appeared first on Visi.

From virtual 3D tours of Zeitz MOCAA’s exhibitions and a bag made from recycled materials to Instagram illustration commissions and free online design documentaries, these are the top VISI picks of the week series – week 327.

1. Zeitz MOCAA 3D Tours

Zeitz MOCAA has released a series of 3D virtual tours on its website. Explore exhibitions Five Bhobh: Painting At The End Of An Era, Still Here Tomorrow To High Five You Yesterday and The Main Complaint from the comfort of home. The museum has also made a series of audio tours available, with insights from architects, curators and artists.

Images courtesy of Zeitz MOCAA

2. The Joinery’s Together Tote

Local sustainable product brand The Joinery has released the Together Tote, made from Future Tex (a material formed from recycled plastic bottles and textile waste). Twenty percent of the proceeds of each sale will go to NGO FoodFlow, which provides food to the needy during lockdown. You can purchase your bag here.

Images courtesy of The Joinery

3. Rudi de Wet Illustrations

Want to send someone a gift during lockdown? Rudi de Wet Studios is taking commissions of simple custom drawings that he’ll send to you digitally. Each illustration’s proceeds will go towards buying food for a family via NGO FoodFlow. Commissions cost R500 and can be organised through direct messages on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-XNolrpjKV/

Image credit: @mrdewet on Instagram

4. Design Documentaries Streaming For Free

Every Tuesday, filmmaker Gary Hustwit streams one of his documentaries worldwide for free. The current documentary being screened is Rams, which follows the life of renowned German industrial designer Dieter Rams. Keep up to date with the latest screenings here.

Video credit: Film First on YouTube

5. Home Flags Collection by Hugo Suissas and Tiago Silva

Germany-based creative duo Hugo Suissas and Tiago Silva are behind the Home Flags Collection, which saw them place the world’s flags on little houses in an attempt to inspire people to stay home and stay safe.

Image credit: Hugo Suissas and Tiago Silva via designboom.com

Browse more like VISI picks of the week series – week 327 on picks of the week 301.

The post VISI Picks of the Week Series – Week 327 appeared first on Visi.

The winners of the 2018 World Architecture Festival have been announced, this year including the striking Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town, designed by architect Thomas Heatherwick.

The overall winner of this year’s awards (World Building of the Year), as well as the winner of the Mixed Use Completed Buildings category, was the Kampung Admiralty retirement village in Singapore, designed by Woha Architects.

According to the studio, the building is Singapore’s “first integrated public development that brings together a mix of public facilities and services under one roof.”

Image credit: woha.net

Below, in no particular order, are the winners in this year’s Completed Buildings category.

Civic Use – Maitland Riverlink, Maitland, Australia (CHROFI with McGregor Coxall)

Image credit: chrofi.com

Culture – The Piano Mill, Stanthorpe, Australia (Conrad Garrett)

Image credit: conradgargett.com.au

Display – Hammershus Visitor Centre, Allinge, Denmark (Arkitema Architects and Professor Christoffer Harlang)

Image credit: arkitema.com

Health – Hospital AZ Zeno, Knokke, Belgium (Temporary association AAPROG – BOECKX. – B2Ai)

Image credit: b2ai.com

Higher Education and Research – Exeter College Cohen Quadrangle, Oxford, United Kingdom (Alison Brooks Architects)

Image credit: alisonbrooksarchitects.com

Hotel and Leisure – Hotel Jakarta, Amsterdam, Netherlands (SeARCH)

Image credit: search.nl

House – 81 Hollybrook Grove, Dublin, Ireland (David-Leech Architects – A House in a Garden)

Image credit: david-leech.co.uk

Small Scale Housing – Weston Street, London, United Kingdom (Allford Hall Monaghan Morris)

Image credit: ahmm.co.uk

New and Old – Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town, South Africa (Heatherwick Studio)

Image credit: Iwan Baan

Office – C&P Corporate Headquarters, Graz, Austria (INNOCAD Architecture)

Image credit: innocad.at

Production, Energy and Recycling – Länsisalmi Power Station, Vantaa, Finland (Parviainen Architects)

Image credit: parviainenark.fi

Religion – Belarusian Memorial Chapel, London, United Kingdom (Spheron Architects)

Image credit: spheronarchitects.co.uk

School – Muku Nursery School, Fuji City, Japan (Tezuka Architects)

Image credit: archello.com

Shopping – Shanghai Greenland Center / Greenland Being Funny (NIKKEN SEKKEI)

Image credit: Hu Wenkit / PDOING Vision via archdaily.com

Sport – Gymnasium Blaise Pascal High School, Abidjan, Ivory Coast (Koffi & Diabaté Architectes)

Image credit: archello.com

Transport – London Bridge Station, London, United Kingdom (Grimshaw)

Image credit: grimshaw.global

Villa – High Horse Ranch, Northern California, USA (KieranTimberlake)

Image credit: kierantimberlake.com

To view a list of 2017’s award-winning buildings, click here. For more information, visit worldarchitecturefestival.com.

The post Winners: World Architecture Festival 2018 appeared first on Visi.

Local artist Ruby Swinney talks to VISI about her latest show at Zeitz MOCAA and what inspires her emotive artworks.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I live in Cape Town and work full time as a practicing artist. I work out of a studio in Paarden Eiland. I graduated from Michaelis School of Fine Art in 2015. I was fortunate that Zeitz MOCAA bought my graduate show Half Light, and has been collecting my work ever since. My first museum solo show, Human Nature, will be coming to an end on 31 October 2018.

How did you come up with the concept for Human Nature?

Julia Kabat, who works at Zeitz MOCAA, curated the show. It reflects her conceptual, as well as her curatorial, ideas. The overall concept stems from the main themes she saw in my work. Human Nature is a broad term that encompasses many ideas that I explore in my practice.

What inspires your work?

I find inspiration in almost everything that I see in my direct environment. I also find inspiration in literature, music, art history and seeing what other artists are doing. I recently did a residency in Sicily and took the opportunity to travel to many museums and galleries throughout Portugal, Italy, France and Spain. I have a fascination with observing people interacting with public spaces, so I went with a particular focus on visiting botanical gardens and parks. I’ve built up a substantial collection of source material from that trip, much of which has informed my recent work, most noticeably in Red Garden, which is in the last room of Human Nature at Zeitz MOCAA.

What mediums do you use?

I mainly work with oil paint on translucent media, such as tracing paper, silk, perspex, as well as with projections. I’m interested in the qualities of light and luminosity primarily. I also make prints and installation works. I studied music as well as art, which is another avenue I plan to explore in my work in the future.

Prosaic Ritual of Youth

What process do you follow when creating your artworks?

I am usually drawn to a specific image, or I will photograph something that particularly interests me. I sometimes use Photoshop or manipulate the image while I am painting. I paint in a reductive way – I often remove paint to allow light to shine through instead of using white paint or opaque pigments.

Are there any local illustrators / artists on your radar at the moment?

South Africa has so many brilliant artists, but I particularly look to local women artists like Marlene Dumas, Jane Alexander, Penny Siopis, Sanell Aggenbach, Lisa Brice, Zanele Muholi and Nandipha Mntambo. Painters like Kate Gottgens and Georgina Gratrix are constantly making inspiring work. Wim Botha is also a huge inspiration, and his current show at the Norval Foundation is outstanding. Many of my peers who studied with me are making exciting new work. Michaela Younge, who shows with SMITH Studio makes incredible pieces from felt; Simphiwe Ndzube, who’s currently living in Los Angeles, combines installation, sculpture and painting in a unique, new way. I don’t know a lot about the illustration side of things but I love Tyla Mason’s illustrations.

What feeling are you trying to evoke through your pieces?

I’m trying to evoke a space of introspection. It takes time to take in the details and the full painting. Like an altarpiece in a cathedral, I want people to be able to enter into another psychological and emotional space in front of my work.

Mystery of Faith

Any exciting plans for the future?

I have a couple of shows planned. I will be exhibiting at a group show in Amsterdam, and am working towards my next solo with my gallery WHATIFTHEWORLD next year.

See more of Ruby’s work at whatiftheworld.com.

The post Artists We Love: Ruby Swinney appeared first on Visi.

The Norval Foundation is the latest jewel in the crown of Cape Town’s booming art circuit. We sat down with Director Elana Brundyn to find out more.

Elana Brundyn has the infectious enthusiasm of someone who has not only followed her bliss but is also standing on a rarefied summit to which her bliss has led her – and is thoroughly enjoying the view.

“I am changed every time I walk in here,” says the chief executive of the Norval Foundation, “and I have been fortunate to have travelled and seen many beautiful things. So imagine if you bring a child into a space like this. You can change their life instantly. The psyche gets so much more resilient and ambitious when it is inspired, and in many ways…” she gestures at the high glass walls of the Foundation’s Skotnes Restaurant, “that inspiration comes with scale and beauty.”

Skotnes Restaurant & Bar.

Elana is no stranger to scale and beauty. Before being beamed up by investment tycoon and former amateur golf champion Louis Norval to open his art museum on a rehabilitated glade in Steenberg, Cape Town, she owned her own contemporary art gallery and then helped to launch the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa.

We should probably pause here to dismiss the much-hyped notion of competition between the Norval Foundation and the Zeitz MOCAA (and one could probably add the Dylan Lewis Sculpture Garden to form a southern, central and northern artistic trinity). For one thing, the Norval had been in the pipeline for seven years by the time the Zeitz MOCAA opened. But, more importantly, you don’t go to one instead of the other.

If anything, you are compelled to visit the other because you have been to one. Elana’s overarching responsibility at the Norval Foundation is making sure it’s sustainable, which involves making sure the Foundation’s additional income streams – the restaurant, the shop, the state-of-the-art vault – are ticking over. She feels strongly that the venture is more than a not-for-profit and must be run according to strict business principles. But when it comes to projects of this nature, these are more indicators of traction than viability or success. It never was, and never will be, a question of return on investment. It is more a question of returning visitors.

“[The Foundation is] a gift from the Norval Family Trust,” says Elana, “a way of giving back. It has been proven that cities with strong art institutions have higher retention rates of professionals. We often say that museums are the cathedrals of our time. It’s a layer that society needs.”

Louis Norval had always loved art but began to collect in earnest after he felt a pang of sadness while watching a lovingly and tastefully assembled collection being auctioned off to individual buyers. But Elana insists the Foundation is not a vehicle to showcase Norval’s private collection, which comprised only 10% of the opening exhibitions. Rather, the idea here is to link young African art – what Elana refers to as “new identities” – with its predecessors.

It’s a powerful and lingering juxtaposition. “A lot of our institutions have done incredible work,” says Elana, “but there are very few that can compare or interweave these different timelines.”

It’s an exciting taste of things to come.

Wim Botha’s Heliostat exhibition, alongside Batlhaping Ba Re!, a solo exhibition by Mmakgabo Mapula Helen Sebidi, is currently on show in Galleries 2 – 8. For more information, visit norvalfoundation.org.

The post Inside The Norval Foundation appeared first on Visi.

The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa has launched an exhibition of contemporary painting from Zimbabwe. The show, which will run until March 2019, is entitled Five Bhobh – Painting at the End of an Era, and features 29 artists from Zimbabwe.

Five Bhobh (pronounced five bob), was inspired by the average amount needed to journey locally by kombi (minibus) in Zimbabwe. The artists in this exhibition mark the end of an era, offering foresights into an alternative dispensation. The metaphor of the kombi is the nation of Zimbabwe and the artists its passengers, who engage in social commentary.

Curated by Tandazani Dhlakama, the exhibition is divided into sections, namely Land, Politics, PaTonaz, Shemurenga, Memory, Spirituality and KuDiaspora.

Shemurenga

The artists exhibiting are Admire Kamudzengerere, Anthony Bumhira, Berry Bickle, Charles Bhebe, Cosmos Shiridzinomwa, Duncan Wylie, Gareth Nyandoro, Gillian Rosselli, Greg Shaw, Helen Teede, Isheanesu Dondo, Janet Siringwani-Nyabeze, John Kotze, Kresiah Mukwazhi, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, Kufa Makwavarara, Misheck Masamvu, Mostaff Muchawaya, Percy Manyonga, Portia Zvavahera, Rashid Jogee, Richard Mudariki, Shalom Kufakwatenzi, Simon Back, Tatenda Magaisa, Tawanda Reza, Thakor Patel, Troy Makaza and Wallen Mapondera.

The museum is open from Wednesday to Monday (including public holidays) from 10am – 6pm. Last entry is at 5:30pm. Extended opening hours on the first Friday of the month, 10am – 9pm. Last entry is at 8:30pm.

For more information about the exhibition, visit zeitzmocaa.museum.

The post Five Bhobh – Painting At The End of an Era at Zeitz MOCAA appeared first on Visi.

Artist Banele Khoza’s exhibition, currently showing at Zeitz MOCAA, forms part of the Curatorial Lab’s current focus on LGBTQI+ rights and issues.

Banele’s dreamlike acrylic forms explore the sensuality of the nude male form while alluding to homoerotic fantasies and pressing feelings of susceptibility and longing. Through figurative abstraction, feverish paint application and a ghost-like blend of pinks and blues, Banele displays a style that is both acutely sensitive and unsuppressed. The light pencil traces of composition are the shadows of the fervent strokes that deliver a wash of colour and emotion to isolated white space.

Banele’s figurative forms explore societal notions of love and desire in a digital space and the intimate connections that can be expected through social media platforms.

The Curatorial Lab at Zeitz MOCAA is a multi-disciplinary space for experimental curatorial practice and research that explores undiscovered methods, subversive subject matter, under-represented topics and issues, and much more. The LGBTQI+ Banele Khoza exhibition is dedicated to providing a space for the voices and experiences of this community to be heard.

This exhibition runs until 16 September 2018. For more information, visit zeitzmocaa.museum.

The post Banele Khoza Exhibition at Zeitz MOCAA appeared first on Visi.

The first-ever African edition of the international moving-image festival Ciclope was held in Cape Town at the glorious Zeitz MOCAA.

Ciclope festival and awards ceremony is hosted annually in Berlin, Germany, as a way to recognise and reward exceptional craft in moving image.

Now in its eighth year, it’s been held in major cities including New York, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo, Sydney and now Cape Town, and serves as a platform for directors, creatives, artists, producers and brands to celebrate exceptional work, share knowledge and be inspired.

The African festival, which received over 150 submissions across 16 categories, was hosted at the Zeitz MOCAA on 10 April 2018. Eighteen winners were awarded: 12 in the Branded Content category, which included sub-categories like Animation, Casting, and Cinematography; five winners in the Special Categories, which included Low Budget, Long Form and Music Video; and the Grand Prix winner, Beats by Dre, which was directed by Terence Neale, produced by Park Pictures and created by agency JohnXHannes New York.

Video credit: Beats by Dre on YouTube

The local jury was comprised of the likes of Fran Luckin, Chief Creative Officer of Grey Africa, Alistair King, founding partner and Chief Creative Officer of King James, and Mbithi Masya, Director at Fat Rain Films – all who spoke at the festival – amongst others.

Production Company of the Year was awarded to 03:07, who were also the production company behind the “On the Road” Volkswagen advert that won for Direction (90 seconds and over) recognising industry stalwart – and festival speaker – Kim Engelbrecht, known for his highly emotive ads.

Video credit: 0307 on Vimeo

“Jury members were impressed by the quality of work submitted across the continent; submissions which showcased not only innovative and creative execution – but importantly – technical expertise,” says Ciclope Director Francisco Condorelli. “This year’s entries have set a high benchmark for future regional legs, and we are encouraged by the success of the inaugural African edition of Ciclope, as well as the support received from the local industry.”

The winners in each category, as well as the Grand Prix winner, will receive an automatic entry to the flagship festival, which will be hosted in Berlin later this year. Read more and get a full list of the winners, here.

The post First African Edition of Ciclope appeared first on Visi.