I'd missed the recent opening at Bell-Roberts owing to a swathe of worldly boredom, but in a lighter moment I decided to go and see what was happening. Maybe I was in a good mood, but I wasn't disappointed. I vaguely remember a charmingish show by Claire Sarembock at Bell-Roberts back when they were still situated on wild Loop Street, some sort of memoryidentityinabox stuff but nicely photographed and arranged. Her new show Time Can Whisper Here was interesting, although along a conceptually similar vein. On of my favourite aesthetics is the old photograph, and Claire used it here to good effect, cropping and digitally enlarging childhood photographs. There is a beautiful moment in a print when analogue and digital media collide, when the flaws, the grain and off-key colours of a small photo are printed in crystal exactness. And when you make anything bigger you heighten the emotions of the small thing, but obscure its nature at the same time. Very nice. Of course anyone's childhood photies can only hold one's attention for so long, and Ms Sarembock tried to soup it up with panels of large braille. On the one hand it serves to accentuate the impenetrable nature of the photos, as in only those who recognise the symbols can read it, but on the other hand, the one that doesn't read braille, one would have hoped for a more relevant element, a hook. Because as it stood they remained photies.
Off on the side gallery was a new show by Natasha Norman, who has been very busy lately being her second show in a month or so, albeit most of this work was (or closely resembled) her graduate work from a couple of years ago. I liked the work then and I still like it now. Think Malcolm Payne's Illuminated Manuscripts crossed with the Cosmo. Being largely about the language of advertising being based in sexuality, they are layered rich images, with pretty colour. The new prints on the show, which was a separate series, were less convincing. It's a slightly stymied approach, reworking renaissance paintings in a contemporary way with photographs, and I'm not sure how much beyond a pure aesthetic I could get out of it. It could have worked because the prints again were rich and opulent, but on closer inspection the photoshop work left something to be desired. This flaw pulled down the believability of the work, and with that illusion destroyed they looked flat. I would only like to see halos where they belong, gilt golden and glossy, and not as a thin fuzzy black line around a foot. Again like the last show by Natasha it's the fine details of finish that are letting the work down, and maybe a better idea would be to spread the shows a little wider apart and getting it perfect.

Labels: Bell-Roberts, claire sarembock, natasha norman

I took an afternoon nap last night, snapping out of it at 6:50pm, having to make a choice... do I rush to blank or Irma Stern first. I chose Irma Stern, believing that The 2nd Cape Town Biennale would be open later. I was wrong. Luckily, Lizza was on the scene and you can read about the biennale below. To the Irma Stern, then, where a trio of artists put on Contusions.

Owing to above-mentioned oversleeping I missed the opening speech by the Rev. B. Malcomess, and I regret that, as I imagined a bit of text not by the artists would be helpful. This show was full of artist's statements, which I always think are a bad idea. They prescribe a meaning to the art which doesn't necessarily exist, or reiterate a point that is already obvious. In the end, I started reading all three artists' statements but gave up after a sentence or two, and decided to look at the work instead. The entrance to the gallery was dominated by a work by Natasha Norman, consisting of a bunch of toy guns, recast in clear resin filled with children's toys, and mounted onto a tower of lightboxes. The effect was quite striking and vivid, marred slightly by bad finish on the resin, casting effects and reworking marks were all clearly visible. For this work to be effective I felt that the transparency of the recast guns was vital, I wanted them to be like crystal. Still, I found it a beautiful and interesting piece, visually appealing and conceptually interesting. The rest of the work on her show lost some of the subtlety and labored the point, pushing the connection between media, violence and children unnecessarily.

Following on in the next room was the work of Suzanne Duncan. With a mastery that was engrossing she wove her own hair into gauze, a handkerchief and some stockings. I normally find this 'body' work to be very South African academic, a surefire way of adding meaning to normal objects by using your own blood, underwear, hair, etc. This was done with a delicacy and attention to detail that kept me fascinated beyond my normal skepticism. Though without this materiality I'm afraid the work might have collapsed under it's own vacancy.

In the last room, populated by work by Dale Washkansky, there were two works that struck my fancy. The first was a beautifully printed triptych of a seascape, with Robben Island in the background. The emotive history of the island contrasted nicely with the harmless landscape. The second was another triptych of nude self-portraits. The photoshop work in these prints was opulent, the colors rich and the textures luscious in the best tradition of gay art. My only concern was the sandblasted circles on the glass covering his willy. Although this may have been an intentional comment on apartheid censorship (especially as he was posing with a protea), it seemed to me to come across as coy.

Reading back over this review, I worry that I have been overly negative, especially for a first show by young artists. Indeed, I would like to congratulate them for putting on a good, independent show, curating it well, and putting together a high-quality catalogue.

Labels: contusions, dale washkansky, natasha norman, suzanne duncan