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Current Shows

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Museum - Ubuhle bentsimbi: The beauty of beads (08 May 10 - 10 Oct 10)
Southern Nguni beadwork highlights from the Eastern Cape Celebrating the beauty of Southern Nguni beadwork, this historical exhibition draws on the beadwork collections of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum, with outstanding items sourced from the Amathole Museum in King William’s Town and the East London Museum. The exhibition will be accompanied by demonstrations of traditional beading techniques representing the many diverse regional styles on show. Replicas of historical beadwork items and contemporary jewellery inspired by the collection will be on sale at the Art Museum shop.

Jozi art:lab - Remotewords by Achim Monhé and Uta Kopp. (16 May 10 - 29 Aug 10)
Long in development, this urban land intervention conceived jointly by German artists Achim Mohne and Uta Kopp and South African author NIq Mhlongo will be presented at jozi art:lab, a new venue at Arts on Main. In this ongoing the artists have produced giant, permanent rooftop text interventions in urban areas. These texts become a part of the urban landscape as satelite mapping programs such as Google Earth progressively integrate them into aerial maps of the world's metropolises. Jozi art:lab is affiliated to German arts organisation the Sylt Foundation and will facilitate residencies, exhibitions and performance projects in the burgeoning 'Maboneng District' surrounding Arts on Main. Image: Achim Monhé and Uta Kopp Arts on Main, Doornfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2009; site-specific text intervention.

Durban Art Gallery - Art of the Ball (01 Jun 10 - 01 Aug 10)
The Durban Art Gallery will be entering into the 2010 fever with an exhibition curated from the permanent collection and other collections. It will be held in the rectangular gallery which will be transformed into an installation resembling a football pitch. Stern colonial figures peer down from the walls. The space is almost a perfectly proportioned football pitch, but the chalk markings are not regulation: they reflect another set of rules we are going to have to learn. Football-type figures rub shoulders with Mr Wobblyman; scale is distorted, and order absent in some spaces and militarised in other areas - reminiscent of an army command operation’s room layout with tiny icons being pushed about to represent a battlefield. The action draws different players in - only to discard them and move on. Image: Isolde Krams The Monument 1985 Cement fondue, resin & oil H: 183 cm

JAG - Deep Play by Harun Farocki (06 Jun 10 - 04 Sep 10)
A multimedia installation by harun Farocki. Harun Farocki’s Deep Play explores the 2006 World Cup finales from different new perspectives. 12 screens display a unique analysis of the 120 minute soccer match that was followed by a shootout won by Italy. It shows different “clean feed” angles taken from the last World Cup Final combining his own and official footage, digital analyses as well as 2D and 3D animation sequences. The installation combines all the detailed media coverage, from behind the scenes to the screaming coaches to the players who become avatars with their live counterparts. The Goethe-Institut and the Johannesburg Art Gallery present the installation which was part of the documenta 12 at Johannesburg Art Gallery opening on 6 June. The artist will be available for a walk-about on 29 June at 2pm-3pm.

Durban Art Gallery - Conflicting Interests (19 May 10 - 01 Aug 10)
'Conflicting Contexts' Various Artists at Durban Art Gallery This exhibition, curated by Vaughn Sadie, explores the conflicts inherent within the collection of the Durban Art Gallery. In its 119 years of existence as a public institution, the gallery has witnessed and recorded the ideological and political shifts that have shaped our country and the city of Durban. Using key works from the gallery's Victorian collection as its departure point, 'Conflicting Contexts' juxtaposes the prevailing themes of the period against more contemporary depictions of similar themes. The placement of the works in relation to each other reflects aspects of social history and the universal nature of recurring themes. Mon - Sat 8.30am - 4pm, Sun 11am - 4pm

Johannesburg Art Gallery - Borders (22 Jun 10 - 26 Sep 10)
The Johannesburg Art Gallery in partnership with CulturesFrance, the Ministry of Culture of Mali and the French institute of South Africa invites you to the opening of Borders-an exhibition from the 8th Bamako Encounters, The African Photographic Biennale on Sunday 20 June @ 4pm.

Wessel Snyman Creative - Trilogy | Conradie De Freitas Delmotte (15 Jul 10 - 15 Aug 10)
Trilogy | Conradie De Freitas Delmotte, an exhibition by three brilliant painters, Christiaan Conradie, Jesse de Freitas, Anthea Delmotte, large format oil on canvas exploring figures, the body and landscapes, both physical and of the mind. Please join us for a glass of wine at the opening on Thursday 15th July at 7pm at Wessel Snyman Creative, 17 Bree Street Cape Town. Image: Christiaan Conradie: Joggels

Trent Gallery at Brooklyn Theatre - Battiss 5, The Battiss Family Art Exhibition (17 Jul 10 - 22 Aug 10)
A unique art exhibition is opening on 17 July 2010 at the Trent Art Gallery in association with Brooklyn Theatre (opening between 09:00 and 13:00 on 17 July). The BATTISS FAMILY ART EXHIBITION presents paintings by Walter Battiss, his wife Grace Battiss (née Anderson), their daughter-in-law Rain Battiss (née Smith), and their granddaughters; Camilla and Grace Battiss. The exhibition closes 22 August 2010. Image: Walter Battiss; Bushman Child.

Gallery MOMO - New African photography (15 Jul 10 - 07 Aug 10)
featuring Siemon Allen, Sammy Baloji, Patricia Driscoll, Ayana Vellissia Jackson, George Mahashe and Andrew Tshabangu. Opening 15 July 6-8pm.

YOUNGBLACKMAN - Stealing the Words by Belinda Blignaut (22 Jul 10 - 22 Aug 10)
Working with the body, from the mouth and using breath to 'speak', Belinda Blignaut's new installation 'Stealing the Words' slowly inhabits the YoungBlackman space during the days leading up to the opening. The performative process leaves behind messy, oddly fetishistic forms which may seem to be familiar yet not, beings that could be alive yet aren't. Blignaut's work contains elements of contemporary ritual, repetition and endurance to find the results that come with doing something for a longer period of time than is comfortable.
The piece speaks about transformation, transmutation, disruption, contamination, abjectification, marginalisation, repression and expression. Viewers are invited to step closer and look a little more carefully. Exhibition Opens 6:00pm - 9:00pm on thursday 22 July 2010.

UJ Art Gallery - Rooftop II, a Group exhibition (31 Jul 10 - 28 Aug 10)
An indoor and outdoor sculpture exhibition entitled Rooftop II will be hosted at the UJ Art Gallery from Saturday 31 July to 28 August 2010. This show, including over 60 works by 48 artists, will be curated by Gordon Froud. Froud has a long history of curating exhibitions all over South Africa and is an active sculptor with more than 300 exhibitions to his credit. He also curated the previous Rooftop exhibition that was shown at St Lorient Art and Fashion Gallery in Pretoria and went on to a very successful run at the University of Johannesburg Art Gallery that has a rooftop grass park designed as a sculpture park. This exhibition was hugely successful drawing hundreds to the opening and garnering various media articles and television coverage. Based on its success, Lucy Anastasiadis of St Lorient again asked Gordon Froud to curate Rooftop II for the Pretoria venue, this time to coincide with the world cup in June and July. Froud suggested a subtheme of glass as sculpture for this year’s show to which artists were encouraged to respond but were not held to at all. This has resulted in interesting collaborations between sculptors and glass artists. The UJ Art Gallery has invited the show to be moved to their gallery in August where it will be shown outdoors. A larger sculpture show will be showcased in the magnificent gallery indoors affording a greater number of sculptors to participate. Some of the artists participating include Lukas Thobejane, Marina Aguiar, Craig Muller, Patrick Jabour, Paul Boulitreau, Renier le Roux, Stephanie Fassler, Retief and Marilene Van Wyk, Rhuan Janse Van Rensburg, Richard Forbes, Ronit Judelman, Rosemarie Marriott, Rossouw Van der Walt, Sanna Swart, Moses Seleko, St John Fuller, John Hodgkiss, Steven Delport, Sybrand Wiechers, Seitisho, Isolde Krams, Robin Geduld and Zweletu Nanise. The exhibition will be opened by Antoinette Murdoch, chief curator the Johannesburg Art Gallery on 31 July 2010 at 12:00. Image: Sybrand Wiechers: Title: “Says I” Medium: steel

Association for Visual Arts (AVA) Gallery - Three solo Exhibitions by Erika Elk , Nike Romano and David Rossouw (26 Jul 10 - 20 Aug 10)
The AVA in partnership with Spier invites you to the opening of three solo exhibitions MATERIAL MATTERS by ERICA ELK Opening address by Virginia MacKenny THE SUM OF THE PARTS by NIKE ROMANO WORKER INTERRUPTED by DAVID ROSSOUW Opening at the AVA Gallery at 6 pm Monday, 26 July 2010 at 18h00 Exhibition Closes Friday, 20 August 2010 at 13h00 Erica Elk presents a mixed media body of work Material Matters in the Main gallery. Elk utilises everyday materials reconstituting them into a contemporary visual language. In the Long gallery Nike Romano explores the space where science, the personal and art intersect. This mixed media body of work is a visual exploration that endeavours to contain the uncontainable. The theme of ordering chaos, both at a domestic level and within the universe runs through Romano’s practice and can be noted in her attention to detail and choose of materials. Worker Interrupted by David Rossouw will employ the Artstrip. A photographic study of the aesthetic of the ordinary and the everyday that references the strong relationship between work and identity. Worker Interrupted references the notion that work influences one’s identity in a physical way. The physical appearance of a worker can be altered subtly over time as muscles are developed due to physical labour. On a superficial level, this alteration can also be in the form of clothing or bodies becoming soiled due to the nature of the work. Opening 6pm on 26 July 2010. Exhibition concludes 20 August 2010 @ 1pm.

Kimberley Hotel - Art Exhibition / One-Night Event: ‘The Big Hole’ at the Kimberley Hotel (11 Aug 10 - 11 Aug 10)
Curated by Catherine Ocholla Mavericks, provocateurs and household names in the contemporary South African artscape will take over one of Cape Town’s most historical watering holes, the Kimberley Hotel, on Wednesday the 11th of August, in a madcap art exhibition, party and cultural response to the local of many of Cape Town’s most creative individuals. ‘The Big Hole’ provides an opportunity for artists to investigate the sometimes murky legends circulating around the Kimberley, as well as some of the various South African histories ingrained in the site. David Southwood, for example, will show some of his original raunchy photographs from the days when the Kimberley was a brothel. Other artists, such as Ed Young, will be dealing with its current incarnation as a multi-purpose recreational facility by ‘playing’ with the slot machines at the back of the bar. Visitors to ‘The Big Hole’ on the night will be able to see a number of site-specific interventions, including works by Belinda Blignaut, Stuart Bird, Suzy Bell, and Art Heat’s Robert Sloon. Revelers can also take part in performative interventions that rely on the audience’s partying spirit, such as works by Andrew Lamprecht & James Hoets, Linda Stupart and Wayne Barker, who will shoot glamour photographs of willing victims in a specially constructed studio on the night of the exhibition (participants are encouraged to bring a prop along for this intervention). There will also be video and traditional media responses, including works by Pieter Hugo, Jake Aikman, David Scadden and Henk Serfontein, and an upstairs open studio featuring the VVIPs William Kentridge and Marlene Dumas, and a host of other artists. The studio will be home to ‘The Red Dot Sale’ which will take place each Saturday until the 28th of August. Over 30 artists will be involved in the event, many of them reflecting on the time that they have spent at the Kimberley over the years. In doing so, they will provide not only a night to remember, but also an enduring legacy and affectionate tribute to this ‘grand lady’ of Roeland Street from those who love her most. The Big Hole: Wednesday, 11th August, 18:00 onwards. The Red Dot Sale: 14th, 21st and 28th August, 10:00 – 17:00, or by appointment