South African art exhibition in New York
TJ
Collaboration between South African Artists, Curators and Performers at
Cathedral of St John the Divine and Museum for African Art in New York City
Personal Affects:
Power and Poetics in Contemporary South African Art
September to December 2004
A major visual art exhibition will showcase newly commissioned and recently
produced works by 17 South African artists at two venues in New York City.
The exhibition is part of a larger South African initiative to "expose to
New York the extraordinary creativity of the country", in the words of
project champion Dick Enthoven of Spier. The aim is to challenge existing
perceptions of South African art practice at this significant juncture: the
celebration of 10 years of democracy.
Personal Affects features an extraordinary line-up of artists working in
diverse media, including sculpture, drawing, photography, painting,
installation, video, performance and dance. A common thread throughout is
the highly personal point of departure of their working methods - the use of
the body, personal histories, and the construction of personal mythologies.
Moving beyond the confines of identity politics towards subtler
investigations of agency and affect, this exhibition looks at works of art
as the powerful and poetic expressions that artists leave behind - from the
ephemeral nature of performance art to more lasting material manifestations.
The exhibition will run in two venues concurrently, giving artists the
opportunity to respond to the spectacular challenge posed by the
contemplative spaces of the Cathedral as well as the white cube aesthetics
of the Museum. The majority of artists are producing new work for both
venues.
A major two-part catalogue will accompany the exhibition, and will
foreground the process of the artists' engagement with the venues and
institutions during site visits in February. Writers will include Okwui
Enwezor, Tracy Murinik and Liese van der Watt.
Most of the selected artists are increasingly well known in South Africa but
have received little previous exposure in New York. They are Jane Alexander,
Wim Botha, Steven Cohen, Churchill Madikida, Thando Mama, Mustafa Maluka,
Jay Pather, Johannes Phokela, Robin Rhode, Claudette Schreuders, Berni
Searle, Doreen Southwood, Samson Mudzunga, Clive van den Berg, Minnette
Vári, Diane Victor and Sandile Zulu.
A parallel performing arts programme will be staged at the Cathedral by
Dimpho Di Kopane opera company, comprising a series of operas and a one-off
concert in which the company will be joined by a number of Harlem choirs to
perform the world premiere of King Leopold's Soliloquy, based on the
original text by Mark Twain.
The visual art exhibition is headed by project director Ralph Freese (Spier
Arts Trust), with a curatorial team made up of David Brodie (formerly of
Johannesburg Art Gallery), Laurie Ann Farrell (Museum for African Art, New
York), Churchill Madikida (Constitutional Court), Sophie Perryer (Art South
Africa magazine) and Liese van der Watt (Art History Department, University
of Cape Town).
The Museum for African Art is the only independent museum in the United
States dedicated to African art and culture. The Museum celebrates the
majesty and wonder of the rich, varied and diverse cultures of the African
continent through a wide variety of exhibitions and public programming.
The Cathedral Church of St John the Divine, located on the western edge of
Harlem, is the largest in the world, as well as the largest gothic building
in the world. Its mission is also a lofty one, extending well beyond that of
a conventional Cathedral. Its charter states that it is to be "a house of
prayer for all people and a unifying center of intellectual light and
leadership," and it has lived that mission for over a century, as a
cherished civic and community institution.
Personal Affects opens at the Museum for African Art on September 21 and at
the Cathedral Church of St John the Divine on September 23.
Contacts
South Africa
Kurt Ackerman
Ph 021 423 8304
New York
Laurie Ann Farrell
Museum for African Art
Ph 718 784 7700 ext 111
Picture: No
Submitted by Sophie Perryer
Telephone Number: 021 423 0344
Cellphone Number: 083 277 1392
Client's name: Personal Affects