THE 2010 Standard Bank Young Artist for Visual Art, Michael MacGarry, is a graphic designer, writer and visual artist based in Johannesburg.
Endgame, the exhibition he staged at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, opened last night at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum and runs till September 5. MacGarry returned to South Africa after starting his design career in London and Dublin.

e first came to public attention in the 1990s as a founder member of the art collective Avant Car Guard. Individual artists in their own right, Zander Blom, Jan-Henri Booyens and MacGarry have produced three publications and have exhibited at a national and international level for several years. Their productions are based on a conceptual, self-reflexive and satirical approach to the art world.
Art critic Mary Corrigall describes the Endgame works as “subversive” and says the exhibition “pokes fun at traditional notions of the avant garde”.
MacGarry is considered one of a new breed of emerging young South African artists who are positioning themselves as artist/ commentators on contemporary socio-political contexts and trends in local and pan-African societies.
This exhibition investigates the ongoing ramifications of Western imperialism within the African continent, its connection to the continent’s ruling elites and, more specifically, exploitation of oil resources, which MacGarry sees as an extension of the colonial era.
MacGarry developed what he called theory-driven art which was originally placed before the public on the internet. Here he wrote about concepts, artwork, themes and film treatments, but never produced them, exhibited them or made material objects from them.
At that time, with no money and no studio, he says it was a good way to articulate ideas. As a skilled graphic designer, he also produced catalogues which showed ideas for art works accompanied by detailed texts.
Finally, finding his All Theory No Practice approach restrictive, he abandoned his purely theoretical approach and started making solid objects and two-dimensional prints.
In 2008, MacGarry exhibited works in various media from sculpture to large-scale photography and a series of bronzes under the title When Enough People Start Saying the Same Thing.
In an ensuing exhibition called This is Your World in Which We Grow, and We Will Grow To Hate You, imagery and text examined leadership in post independence African states.
Endgame is a continuation of this series of exhibitions. With the artist unable to be present himself, the exhibition was opened by Stephen Hobbs. Hobbs himself is one of this new band of artist/commentators. He is a partner in Trinity Sessions, a contemporary art production team that investigates relationships between art and business, collaborative practice and network development.