The 2017 Cape Town Art Fair Features Special Projects Showcasing Interactive Experience and Rising African Stars
Helen Teede, Here and Here and Here, 2016; Courtesy of the artist and First Floor Gallery Harare.
An outlandishly conceived and fully functioning human carwash will be an attention-grabbing feature at the upcoming Cape Town Art Fair (CTAF) 2017. This interactive sculpture by Katharine De Villiers of SMITH gallery in Cape Town boasts whirling brushes and rotating bits and bobs that require viewer participation. A conceptual and experiential piece, it forms part of the Unframed section – a brand new addition to the Fair’s programme.
Now in its fifth year, the CTAF runs from 17-19 February 2017 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC). Unframed is a special projects section that builds on the existing CTAF line-up. Unframed is dedicated to large sculptural works and installations widening visitor engagement at the Fair.
Four extraordinary works have been selected to provide the pioneering footprint of the first Unframed presentation. Mary Sibande of Gallery MOMO will be fabricating a new sculpture featuring a horse-mounted rider.
The Everard Read gallery will present a fantastical immersive installation constructed by multi-media artist Liza Grobler. Grobler’s entirely new site-specific work for CTAF will be similar to her recent 102 square meter installation that was woven into the atrium of the Iziko South African National Gallery.
Also presenting all-new works at CTAF is SMITH, which will showcase the work of Michael Linders alongside the aforementioned De Villiers. Linders is producing a one-man jumping castle.
The four ambitious installations will be dispersed throughout the Cape Town Art Fair to create a number of points of interest.
Tomorrows/Today, a special project organised by the Fair’s Curator, Tumelo Mosaka, showcases solo presentations of works by emerging artists from Africa and its Diaspora. Tomorrows/Today brings together the work of 10 contemporary artists who explore “the ideologies and conditions of our urban environment,” Mosaka explains.
Onyis Martin, represented by ARTLabAfrica in Nairobi, is a young painter and mixed media artist who examines how identity is influenced by consumerism. Also hailing from Nairobi is Jackie Karuti of Circle Art Gallery. An experimental new media artist whose practice spans installation, video and performance, Karuti will present conceptual works that deal with death, sexuality, space and urban culture. Karuti is a recent finalist in the Barclays L’Atelier Awards.
The US-based Nigerian artist Marcia Kure is represented by gallery BLOOM Art in Lagos. She is best known for mixed media works that explore aspects of womanhood. For CTAF Marcia will be presenting a new suite of collages dealing with the vulnerability of existing on the margins of society.
Gallery 1957, located in Accra, Ghana, will present the monumental mixed-media oevre of Serge Attukwei Clottey. Accra-based Clottey comments on consumerism and excessive consumption through repurposing everyday objects and re-imagining found materials.
Kinshasa-based Maurice Mbikayi is represented locally by Gallery MOMO. Mbikayi’s mixed-media works combine aspects of performance and sculpture. He has exhibited in Southern African countries and abroad.
South Africa’s Sandile Zulu is an award-winning artist who is represented by local gallery SMAC. Zulu is best known for his distinctive choice of materials – fire-branded surfaces. His work expresses his wide-ranging interests in biology, botany, history and philosophy.
Also hailing from South Africa is contemporary painter and lecturer Tanya Poole, represented by Everard Read and Circa Gallery stable who will present intimate interactions between women. She has exhibited in a number of local and international group shows and solo presentations and is an accomplished portraitist.
Goodman Gallery will present the gritty, penetrating photographic portraits of Thabiso Sekgala. One of the country’s most promising young documentarians, Sekgala’s talents were lost with his unexpected death in 2014 - yet his body of work endures. Sekgala’s photographs capture the urban environment and confront perceptions surrounding place.
Zimbabwean-born painter Helen Teede examines land and ownership. For Teede, the surrounding landscape provides a point of departure as she explores the ways in which the surface of the earth can offer multiple readings. She currently resides in Zimbabwe where she is represented by First Floor Gallery Harare, as well as Showcase Gallery in Dubai.
Finally, Joël Andrianomearisoa, who is represented by Sabrina Amrani Gallery in Madrid, will share works that capture urban space and depict the unexpected. His work was highlighted at the Dak’Art Biennale in Senegal in 2016.
Both Tomorrows/Today and Unframed will be on display for the duration of the fair from the 17-19 February 2017. The fair ticket includes viewing access to both of these Special Projects. Tickets are available online: http://www.capetownartfair.co.za/book-tickets/ or via Computicket outlets.
Ticket Prices 2017:
• General Access (until 13/02/2017) = R126
• General Access = R140
• Pensioners = R100
• Students = R100
• Kids aged 12 -18 = R100
• Kids under 12 = R50
Opening Hours:
Friday 17 February 2017: 11h00 – 19h00
Saturday 18 February 2017: 11h00 – 19h00
Sunday 19 February 2017: 11h00 – 19h00
For more information on CTAF please visit http://www.capetownartfair.co.za/ , email [email protected] , or call +27 (0)21 702 2280.
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For press enquiries and media accreditation, contact Lisa Pellatt on 021 762 1687 / 084 553 4629 or [email protected]
