Festivals near and far - August 7, 2009

Kalfiefees is in full swing this week-end, mostly theatre but lots of music and the visual arts, too. The Missions House Gallery in De Villiers Street, Onrus, is staying open till 18h00 each evening and is offering theatre guests a glass of sherry if they pop in before the evening performances. What’s to see? Well, among others, crisp new works in acrylics by Sharon Welman - intriguing compositions of shells; Di Johnson Ackerman’s closely-observed farmsteads and weathered timber piers; and if you are lucky, a portrait or two by popular Onrus-resident Hennie Niemann, Jnr.

Grahamstown Festival

Art also features strongly at Grahamstown each July. I have not been for several years but I asked Rodney Anderson, known for his passion for cinema, to comment on his trip last month.

“Although the primary magnet for our visits to Grahamstown National Arts Festival is the fine Film Festival curated by Trevor Steel-Taylor, we always visit as many of the fine art and sculpture exhibitions as we can within the time constraints.

Highlights in fine art were for me Jennifer Ord’s exhibition entitled “Obelisks and Epitaphs” a showing of mixed media works by the “hand maid / crone” ( her words). Her work, besides its complexity and innovation, shows great artistic craftsmanship with care in detail and great subtlety. The pieces included two-dimensional constructs and large sculptures and were produced in association with the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.

White bulls by Jennifer Ord

Nicholas Hlobo

The Standard Bank young artist awardee Nicholas Hlobo’s installation of strange large black rubber / lace and ribbon blobs grouped like odd black monsters in a dim red lighted room reminded me of bizarre creatures from an Ed Wood science fiction movie of the Fifties. They obviously were not to everyone’s taste despite his unique vision. [Hlobo’s show at Michael Stevenson Gallery in Woodstock has just ended. He has also been seen at the Tate Modern in London and featured on the front page of last week’s Sunday Times Review– a name to watch. PC]

Johan Badenhorst exhibited two- and three-dimensional works depicting swallows and hawks etc., in exuberant reds against grey back ground which caught my fancy.

The collection of modern Shona stone sculptures from three sculptors at the Provost impressed. Their unusual contemporary themes and an outstanding choice of indigenous stone with textures, striations and forms set them well apart from the usual repetitive tourist concepts.

Graham Jones’s sculptures, principally of animal heads mounted on modified tall wooden plant stands, drew attention to his angst regarding the industrial animal husbandry that is driven by the human consumption of meat. (This theme, interestingly, also appeared in the film The Lives of Animals by Alex Harvey .UK 2002) With animal heads of wood, stone, found objects with mixed media colourisation he created stark and poignantly-beautiful sculpture forms.

Maureen Quin

On the way home via Alexandria we had the pleasure of visiting the impressive sculpture garden and studio at the home of one of South Africa’s most talented sculptors, Maureen Quin. Some of the works, like “The Hunt,” were also part of a series that has taken a decade or more to complete. Mrs Quin was friendly, warm and forthcoming and offered us a personal insight into the themes and the artistic visions which gave rise to the many wonderful bronze sculptures and art pieces on view. See www.quin-art.co.za.” [Walker Bay Gallery has some of her works. PC]

Great to have this first-hand account of Rodney and Ebeline’s visit to our most important arts festival.

SNIPPETS

• Rossouw Modern’s satellite at Greyton is showing scenes in oils of Greyton by our Hermanus artist Annemarie Du Plooy. “In nature, when sunlight is added, the way colours change – it’s amazing!” says Annemarie.
Annemarie Du Plooy - Greyton Doorscape, oils

• Pierre Rossouw (no relation) has recently joined Rossouw Modern and will be on duty (with his own paintbrush in hand) at Greyton. And Elsie Minnaar is back, just for an hour or so each day, after her gruesome car accident. Major surgery has not dimmed her spirit and it is good to see her around again.

• If you are going to see the flowers up Nieuwoudtville way, do not miss “Flowerscapes 2009!” a show by Dale and son Mel Elliott with over 100 paintings celebrating nature’s colours. At Die Smidswinkel Restaurant till 12 September. The Elliotts hold regular workshops at their Villiersdorp art complex.

• Gallerey La Marey was declared officially open on Wednesday evening at their glossy Marine Square venue.

• News and views always welcome at niblos@telkomsa.net