New to the Cape Town Art Fair, the "Unframed" Section Puts Large-Scale Installations in the Picture

Four extraordinary works by four local artists will provide the pioneering footprint of the first Unframed presentation at the Cape Town Art Fair, taking place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) from 17-19 February 2017. New to the fair line-up, the introduction of the Unframed section is intended to broaden the visitor experience and engagement with the galleries exhibiting at the fair.

Unframed is a special project section dedicated to large, museum-quality sculptures and installations. These works are heavily interactive and site specific, as they do not fit into the confines of an art fair booth.

The participating artists and galleries in the Unframed section are Mary Sibande from Gallery MOMO (Johannesburg and Cape Town), Liza Grobler from Everard Read/Circa (Johannesburg and Cape Town), and from SMITH gallery (Cape Town), both Michael Linders and Katharien de Villiers.

According to Gallery MOMO director Igsaan Martin, Sibande will be fabricating an entirely new sculpture. The work is similar in execution to that acquired by the Iziko South African National Gallery, but will feature a horse-mounted rider that resembles Sibande rather than the staple character that has dominated her previous sculptures, the domestic worker, Sophie. The work will make its debut at CTAF 2017.

As one of South Africa’s most influential and rising young artists, Sibande has exhibited extensively countrywide and abroad as well as being a recipient of the 2013 Standard Bank Young Artist Award.

Everard Read gallery will be presenting an immersive installation constructed by multi-media artist Liza Grobler. Grobler’s installations are intended to spark dialogues with the spaces in which they are displayed and explore the connections between people, artworks and the world around us.

For CTAF, Grobler will create a similar installation to her recent piece at Iziko South African National Gallery, which was woven into the atrium.

SMITH Gallery will also be showcasing new interactive artworks by artists Michael Linders and Katharien de Villiers.

Linders will present King of My Castle, a one-man jumping castle that will allow visitors to vividly experience the narcissism and self-importance of the Internet in real-time. The work is a large-scale continuation of his use of nostalgic imagery to comment upon the present, last seen in his most recent solo show at SMITH, entitled ‘Exile’ (2016).

De Villiers, will present The Carwash: a Declaration of the Independence of the Imagination and the Rights of Man to His Own Madness, a human carwash complete with whirling brushes and bits that will intimately involve the viewer from a tactile perspective. Awarded the Fine Art Prize from Stellenbosch University in 2012, De Villiers seeks to create a “physical manifestation of an industrial machine contextualised and treated as art” - raising questions about art as a product.

Instead of having all the Unframed works situated in a dedicated section, these four ambitious projects from four of South Africa’s leading galleries will be dispersed throughout the fair floor to create a number of unexpected encounters. By moving beyond the frame, CTAF 2017 aims to offer fairgoers an opportunity to experience art in a new and thought-provoking manner.

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.

ENDS

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For press enquiries and media accreditation, contact Lisa Pellatt on 021 762 1687 / 084 553 4629 or [email protected]