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Poison Ivy

ART THEMES || THEME ONE: HIBERNATION

August 20, 2024 - CECONLINE | Grace Crooks

The materia born from artistic landscapes, both present and past, is one of our greatest sources of admiration. ART THEMES is our irreverent tribute to the messaging that lies within these bodies of work. This bi-monthly digital review, curated according to thematic concepts, uses common interests and themes to collate the work of great artists – as we make unusual and intriguing connections across ambiguous and clarified perspectives, literal and figurative alike. 

Enter August’s theme: Hibernation. The sentiment of hibernation is aptly woven together by poet Chen Chen, who gives his take on the notion: “Yes– give yourself the time. To mull things over. Ruminate. To chew, yes. To hibernate, let things sit fallow. To follow intuitions. To study. To read, reread. To experiment wildly, experiment carefully. To care. To care about your mind, heart, belly and your every toe. To care about and for your language. To language your care.”

Each winter seems to have the profound ability to cause a ripple of introspection, to retreat into oneself, to take stock. It is both a physiological response to the change in natural surroundings, but also an emotional and psychological reaction. We are all affected instinctually, saving resources in various silos of our lives. Employing a hibernation tactic, mindset or practice feels unavoidable but is also nothing to deter from – each season has its glory. These artists represent some sort of coming inside, shielding, recovering, going within, cocooning towards what we hope is the warmth we seek, towards the betterment of self through hibernation.

 Read the full article here: https://ceconline.co.za/art-themes-theme-one-hibernation/ 

 

CDL

Githan Coopoo is breaking the ceramic rules

January 18, 2024 - Charlene Prempeh | FINANCIAL TIMES

Cape Town-based ceramic artist Githan Coopoo is in the throes of art directing a fashion show for his friend and collaborator, the LVMH prize winning designer Sindiso Khumalo. He has much to say about the experience. “People like to think that Cape Town is beautiful because of the mountains and the landscape, but it’s what the land has been through that matters,” he exclaims, leaping from his seat to gesture towards the panorama.  

Read the full article here: https://www.ft.com/content/4fc684c4-93a7-4937-b918-32cab4b8d80d 

NEWSLETTER JUNE 2023

June 30, 2023 - EVERARD READ CAPE TOWN

Groot Gat, the exhibition to mark Lady Skollie’s win as this year’s Standard Bank Young Artist for Visual Arts, debuts in June 2023 at the National Arts Festival in Makhanda, South Africa.

Lady Skollie discusses how in this body of work the hole or cave becomes a metaphor for tackling the complexity of Brown identities in South Africa. Groot Gat is on view in Makhanda until 2 July. The body of work will tour across the country – bringing powerful art and important ideas to diverse communities.

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CAP 31

"In and Out of Time" : Exploring Temporality at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair

February 17, 2023 - Chaze Matakala | AKAMA

AMAKA speaks with the exhibitors and curators of the Tomorrows/Today section of the fair. 

The 10th edition of the Investec Cape Town Art Fair (ICTAF) will take place from the 17th - the 19th of February 2023 in the Mother City, which attracts history mixed with memory and desire.

 

Read the full article here: https://amaka.studio/explore/articles/investec-cape-town-art-fair

 

COOPOO, GITHAN (PORTRAIT BY MICHA SERRAF)

"My art is obnoxious, queer and necessary,"

February 3, 2023 - Evan-Lee Courie | Bizcommunity

Visual artists across the globe, and specifically in Africa, have over the years reimagined their African identity, creating narratives that include all facets of life. Historically, sexuality, queerness, and gender expression were seen as 'un-African'. While it is still illegal to be LGBTQ+ in many African countries, there is a growing visibility of LGBTQ+ identities in the creative arts, pushing conversations that in the past were seen as taboo, but for self-taught jewellery designer and sculptor Githan Coopoo, he describes his art as obnoxious, queer and necessary.

 

Read the full article here: https://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/484/235446.html 

RAC0835 DARK Copy

THE GREAT ESCAPE: CAN ART OFFER A RESPITE FROM REALITY?

December 14, 2022 - Mary Corrigall | Latitudes Online

Summer holidays present lazy days by the pool. South African artists have been depicting this scene and others that offer an escape from reality. 

 

Read the full article here: https://editorial.latitudes.online/blog/posts/the-great-escape-can-art-offer-a-respite-from-reality/ 

Standard Bank Themba Mokase Young Artist Day 1 1210 RT

Lady Skollie: Winner of the 2022 Standard Bank Young Award for Visual Arts

November 30, 2022

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE 2022 STANDARD BANK YOUNG ARTIST AWARD WINNERS

Receiving a Standard Bank Young Artist Award is a pinnacle point: this is one of the most prestigious prizes offered to South African artists under the age of 35. This year’s winners join the ranks of a stellar collective that have become household names over the last four decades. Standard Bank Young Artist Award winners are cherished as national treasures, and many have gone on to find new audiences on the African continent and achieve international acclaim.

 

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Christies auction

Record-breaking sale of Microsoft co-founder's art collection surpasses $1.6 billion

November 11, 2022 - Jacqui Palumbo & Oscar Holland | CNN

Art from the private collection of late Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen fetched over $1.6 billion this week to become the largest single-owner sale in auction history.

Works by Georges Seurat, Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and Gustav Klimt all sold for over $100 million across a record-shattering two nights at Christie's in New York.

Spanning 500 years of art history, art from Allen's collection was offered on Wednesday and Thursday, with all proceeds going to philanthropic causes, the auction house said. Christie's had initially estimated that the 150-plus works would sell for a combined $1 billion, but the landmark sum was exceeded even before the conclusion of day one.


Read the full article here: https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/paul-allen-collection-christies-auction-record/index.html 

HAROLD VOIGT

HAROLD VOIGT: May 1, 1939 - October 9, 2022

October 9, 2022

Everard Read regrets to announce the passing of the eminent South African artist, Harold Voigt, born 1 May 1939 in Johannesburg.

Over a long and productive career, Voigt became one of the finest painters of this era. His searingly insightful renderings of the South African landscape and quiet interiors of his home and studio were collected internationally.
 
Everard Read was privileged to represent this thoughtful, elegant man from the mid-1970s. Many successful exhibitions attested to Voigt’s rise to the front rank of figurative painting in South Africa. “There simply hasn’t been a better painter wielding a brush during my era as a dealer,” says Mark Read. “Voigt’s painstaking accumulation of oil paint and glazes on canvas is technically on a par with the best of the old masters.”
 
Never a man to court fashion in contemporary art commentary, Voigt was nonetheless avidly sought after by collectors and institutions globally. He shall be profoundly missed. 
 
An exhibition celebrating this exceptional South African painter’s life will be presented in the coming months.