Substance of Shadows Aesop’s aphorism “Beware that you do not lose the substance by grasping at the shadow’ is subverted by Emmanuel in the title of his latest exhibition “Substance of Shadows’’, a culmination of 6 years work. Using the material of carbon ‘paper’, Emmanuel’s time-consuming, detailed, painstaking technique; consummate skill; and deeply personal and […]
Read More »Researching the migration of European Honey Buzzards Back in 2016 we had a guest stay from Novia University of Applied Sciences in Ekenäs, Finland. On his first morning at breakfast overlooking the birdfeeders in the garden, I saw his binoculars on his table and launched into an enthusiastic conversation (rather one-sided) about our local garden […]
Read More »Wits Standard Bank African Art Collection Closed for a couple of months, the Wits Art Museum is now open for viewing of the exhibition Seen, Heard and Valued: WAM Celebrates 40 years of the Standard Bank African Art Collection. The history of the Standard Bank collection dates back to 1979, when the bank started to […]
Read More »Turmoil in South Africa The events of the week of 11th July 2021 left South Africa reeling. Much has been written about what happened; why; and what needs to be done so that it does not happen again. Many “Joe and Jill Does” have resorted to the all too superficial view of both generalizing and […]
Read More »Cry the Beloved Country. What do we do in times like this? Watch the news to keep abreast? Weep for those small businesses and informal traders who have lost everything; for all those who will lose their jobs; for the further disruption of the vaccine roll-out; for the possible shortage of oxygen, essential medications, and […]
Read More »Jeppe Street Post Office 1935 While writing my last post on Art Deco in Johannebsurg, I came across photos in my archive of the Jeppe Street Post Office. Three years ago Laurice Taitz of Johannebsurg In Your Pocket together with JDA and Africa Housing Company [AFCHO] arranged a tour of this 1935 Public Works building. […]
Read More »Buildings competing for Numero Uno Like many born and bred Jozi-ites I have seen many iterations of this mad brash vibrant city, not least of all the Sandton sky-line. Glinting glass phalluses compete for attention a la Donkey-of-Shrek fame in a persistent “Choose Me! Choose Me!”. The bigger, the taller, the more expensive, the more […]
Read More »Some things are very South African, in fact probably very Joburg. The cry of the mielie-seller with her trolley, the leather worker on his wonky chair with his pile of shoes and sundry items, single sweets and fruit laid out on a sloping makeshift table at the corner vendor, waste pickers with their massive load […]
Read More »Men and Monuments was on show for over a year at the Wits Art Museum Sadly this post is really a case of “closing the door after the horse has bolted” (in a manner of speaking) … or, put another way, “too little too late”. I am ashamed to say that Emmanuel’s exhibition at Wits […]
Read More »This is not flattery “Flattery”: excessive and insincere praise, given especially to further one’s own interests. Diane Victor brushes off gratuitous positive feedback. Flattery as a human failing is a strong theme in this solo exhibition. In an interview Victor talked about the vain stupidity of contemporary society in terms of “the infatuation that seems […]
Read More »