Newly launched Roger Ballen Foundation hosts Stephen Shore in his first solo SA exhibit

The Roger Ballen Foundation recently announced the first solo exhibition in South Africa of Stephen Shore, one of the icons of colour photography at the South African National Gallery in Cape Town. The show will focus on two of Shore’s seminal series: American Surfaces and Uncommon Places, along with his more recent work including his ibooks. The exhibition will be complemented by a lecture series and workshop at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town; the workshop received additional support by the US Consulate General in Cape Town.

Stephen Shore’s early colour photography, from the 1970’s, was some of the first colour photography to be included within the canon of art. He was 14 when the Museum of Modern Art (New York) collected his work; he was the youngest person ever to have a solo show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art at the age of 23. His images are now seen as classic Americana; culturally rich images showing the tempo, palette and artifacts of the time and place. Although seemingly taken in a snap-shot style, deep reflection reveals that they are carefully constructed compositions. Shore has influenced countless contemporary photographers, from Andreas Gursky to Nan Goldin.

The Johannesburg-based Roger Ballen Foundation, is dedicated to promoting the education of photography in South Africa by developing programmes that further the appreciation and understanding of the photographic medium. It is the first institution of its kind to focus on bringing to South Africa international photographers at the forefront of their art.

Ballen, internationally recognised for his psychologically haunting black-and-white images, often attributes the development of his own visual literacy to his New York childhood when he was surrounded by many of the great photographers of the day such as Cartier-Bresson, Kertesz, Steichen, Strand and Arbus. This experience made him appreciate the value of exposure to world renowned photographers and the desire to create a similar milieu for the South African artistic community.

“Because we work with artists from around the world, our programme enables students and general audiences to engage with notable contemporary photographic art that would not otherwise be seen in South Africa” explains Ballen.

”Each component of our series will focus on one important contemporary artist that uses photography as an integral part of his practice. It will include an exhibition and a lecture series to help expand the South African discourse on photography.”

The Shore show will be followed in May 2009 by a Vik Muniz exhibition, in partnership with the Johannesburg Art Gallery. A corresponding lecture series and master class will be presented in partnership with the Wits School of Arts.

Exhibition:
South African National Gallery
Government Avenue, Company’s Garden, Cape Town. Open 10:00-17:00 Tuesday to Sunday. From 24 September- 23 November 08.

Lectures:
Open to the public
At 1pm Tuesday and Wednesday, 14 and 15 October 2008
At the Commerce Lecture Theatre, 1st Floor Commerce Building, Michaelis School of Fine Art, Hiddingh Campus, 37 Orange Street, Cape Town
The Tuesday lecture will focus on his exhibition at the National Gallery.
On Wednesday, there will be a conversation between Shore and the curator, Meredith Randall, as well as an in-depth question and answer session from the audience.
Please see www.rogerballen.org for a map to the campus and for more information.

Workshop:
Taught by Stephen Shore
On Wednesday and Thursday, 15 and 16 October 2008.
To apply for placement in the class, please contact Svea Josephy on: svea.josephy@uct.ac.za or 021 480 7111 as well as our website www.rogerballen.org for an application.

(Above Picture) Steven Shore :Ginger Shore, Causeway Inn, Tampa, Florida, November 17, 1977