New Work at KBM: Zak Benjamin

The Kalk Bay Modern has recently acquired some exciting new work by the artist Zak Benjamin.

The etchings featured in this blog, now part of the KBM collection, are intricate depictions of the most ordinary household scenes, naturally occurring still lives. There is however, something delightfully quirky about them, elevating them far and above a simple study. Their humbleness is the basis for an extremely genuine quality that, to me, seems to stem from a deep love of life and shrewd sense of humour.

Born in 1951 in Pretoria, the son of a typical Afrikaans family, Zak Benjamin’s artistic and spiritual path has led him to struggle enormously with the social systems he grew up under. Though at one point a member of the Voortrekker movement and the Nationalist Party Youth Movement, his deep seated Christian values could not coexist with the policies of the Nationalist Government.

He dropped out of University and spent the next few years doing odd jobs and living in Europe before returning to South Africa and university where he did a BA in Fine Arts.

In the mid 1980’s Zak experienced a profound religious conversion that led to his friendship with sculptor Gert Swart. Together they have worked on many projects, continually working through what it means to be committed Christians and contemporary artists.

In 1991 Zak was able to start working as a full time artist. His work is varied in theme, some involving a personal iconography set in fantasy, whilst others look into the simplest aspects of everyday life and unearth their subtle poignancy. 

Mermaids and Mountains: Nicolaas Maritz

Mermaids and Mountains, an exhibition of paintings by Darling-based artist Nicolaas Maritz, will be opening this Wednesday June at the Kalk Bay Modern.

Maritz is a recognised South African artist whose work features in every major public and private collection in South Africa. His work is bold, brightly coloured and most often tongue-in-cheek – he finds humour to be a vital tool as an artist or ‘visual synthesizer’ and his 30 year career has allowed him to accumulate the rich and somewhat esoteric artistic code or language. Over the years these visual narratives have grown and multiplied in an organic manner enhancing the depth and complexity of his work.

He has worked with a variety of media but has a longstanding passion for enamel on board, often using simple house-paints as he did when experimenting in his parent’s garage when he was young. He has a particular fondness for certain traditional colours and has a deep interest and rich knowledge of their origins.

Maritz has been having annual studio exhibitions at the MSG, (MARITZ STUDIO GALLERY) in Darling since 1992. He won the NCSS CBC Notable Children's Trade Book Award (USA) in 1992 and the Parents' Choice Illustration Honor (USA) in 1994.  He has exhibited widely, including the Valparaiso Biennale and the Cape Town Triennials.

New Artwork at Kalk Bay Modern

The Kalk Bay Modern has recently acquired some new artwork by the exciting, upcoming artist Michael Chibogo.

He is passionately inspired to be the voice of the homeless and expresses their plight through the media of printing, painting and poetry.  His intensely atmospheric work also speaks out against the abuse of drugs and alcohol that are the downfall of many homeless people, pointing out how these substances can lead any of us down their sad path. His work is inspired by a deep empathy and desire to ease the suffering of our less fortunate fellows.

Chibogo has participated in a number of exhibitions many at the Artist Proof Studio, in Newtown where he now works as an assistant facilitator. He also works for the Creative Inner City Initiative were he facilitates silkscreen printing workshops.

KBM is in the throes of preparation for a particularly exciting exhibition featuring art on paper to open later this year as well as the upcoming Nicolaas Maritz exhibition entitled Mermaids and Mountains which opens on Wednesday the 9^th of June.

Be sure not to miss out on any of these exciting events!

Ardmore Exhibition (A Tribute to Cecil Skotnes)

The inspiring origins of the Ardmore Ceramic workshop make their beautiful pieces a fitting accompaniment to the work of veteran South Africa artist, Cecil Skotnes, in the Kalk Bay Modern’s most recent exhibition, A Tribute to Cecil Skotnes. The Ardmore section of the show was opened by Jonathan Berning, the son of Fée Berning who started the workshop after taking the now legendary Bonnie Ntshalintsha on as an assistant to her own private work.

Over time the workshop grew and a second workspace was established, providing a large group of self-employed  previously-disadvantaged artists the infrastructure to make their livings.


To view the Ardmore Ceramic Art website click on the link below
 http://www.ardmoreceramics.co.za/index.php

This beautiful piece below, currently on display at KBM, is entitled Ukwashela – The Proposal and was sculpted by Petros Gumbi and painted by Mickey Chonco. 

It depicts a traditional Zulu ceremony in which a man proposes to a woman and she accepts him by donning white beads. The figures dancing around the piece are symbolic of the couples coming of age as newlyweds. Other traditional symbols used are a wooden stick – induku, and a spoon -  ukhezo. The stick is the groom’s symbol indicating that he has reached the maturity to be a husband while the spoon is symbolic of the woman’s role in her future marriage – that of nurturer, care-giver and home-maker.

Petros Gumbi is a highly talented and skilled craftsman, taught under Fée Berning, and now one of Ardmore’s most successful artists.
Mickey Chonco has a passion for painting although he is also highly skilled in ceramic sculpture. His work is immediately recognizable by his particular sensitivity for colour which results in a distinctive harmony and elegance

The Kalk Bay Modern always has a selection of beautiful Ardmore Ceramics on display and is proud to have some particularly notable pieces on exhibition at the moment.

These beautiful ceramic sculptures coupled with the powerful prints of Cecil Skotnes make this an exhibition not to be missed.

A Tribute to Cecil Skotnes

From 7 to 30 April, 2010, the Kalk Bay Modern had the pleasure of presenting one of their most exciting shows yet. A Tribute to Cecil Skotnes was opened by Tom Scully, the printer Skotnes worked with on a series entitled The Assassination of Shaka (1974) which is still on display at KBM.

Cecil Skotnes, who died on the 7^th of April 2009, was one of South Africa’s most venerated artists and social activists. During the racist Apartheid regime when black people were barred from all universities and institutions, he acted as cultural officer at the influential Polly Street Art Centre of the 50’s, training and encouraging young black artists, some of whom became household names.
He also set up the Nyanga Art Centre in the 80's, and taught at the legendary Community Arts Project. He was awarded the Goodman Gallery Award in 2005 for a lifetime of service to South African community and art.

In his own words:
“My work is grounded in an African idiom - when I was a boy at school a friend in the church ran a Salvation Army school in Soweto, so I visited there often, and since then I have traversed the entire country. It's been a fortuitous trek, this journey.
'There are two elements here - a great depth of understanding of the art of southern Africa before the white man even put his foot in the country and secondly, my experience in teaching and working with a serious small group of township people who became professional artists.”
He often dealt with aspects of South African history that were neglected due to the Aparthed government. The Assassination of Shaka, based on a poem by Stephen Gray of the same title, is an example of his passion for the authentic South African narrative. 

As pointed out by Sue Williamson in an ARTHROB biography on Cecil Skotnes, one does not need to look hard to see how deeply rooted in the atmosphere of Africa Cecil Skotnes’ work is – it is plain to see in his rich earth colours and stark intense forms.

To read the entire biography on the fascinating household name, click on the link below.

http://www.artthrob.co.za/06july/artbio.html
This show also contained several beautiful pieces from the Ardmore Ceramic Workshop which will be the subject of the next blog.

Hand-inHand Beadworks.

Today I present you with a feast for the eyes in the form of the beaded art cloths created by the Hand-in-Hand project supported by the Omba Arts Trust. 

The artist’s we are currently looking at belong to groups that mostly fall under the umbrella project of the Omba Arts Trust and are Namibian in origin. After Namibia’s independence in 1990 the tourist trade began to blossom with the result that new products, crafts and artworks began to develop within the local San communities. Beadwork has been a traditional craft practised by San women across Southern Africa since time immemorial but it has been given a new life through wonderful projects like Hand-in-Hand.




Most of the subject matter derives from what was once the traditional work of San women – gathering. The vegetable garden created in the community is their contemporary equivalent and of great important to their livelihoods, thus vegetables, as well as flowers, insects, birds and small animals are common themes. 




The work below is by Christina Eises and is unusual in its subject matter – depicted is a man hunting, a subject that is common enough amongst the male painters and printers in San art groups but rare amongst the women. 

The above work, also dealing with the unusual hunting theme is signed Magdalena Eises, so perhaps the women’s claim to the traditional images of hunting is something these sisters feel strongly about!



My particular favourites are this charming depiction of two tortoises in the scrub by Mara Britz and this unusual, slightly abstracted scene with a horse and a bird in flight by Maria Kasube.

And here are a few more exquisite works by Elizabeth Ganses, Katarina Kous and Martha Kavatjindje respectively.

These breathtaking works are all created on a black cloth background which allows the light-catching beads to really sparkle. It takes about a week of fulltime beading to create one of these beautiful pieces.

Broken Arrow Contributors

The Broken Arrow exhibition (which runs until 31March) has been contributed to by many different organisations and project groups. The oft-mentioned Omba Arts Trust is a Namibian NGO whose aim is to help alleviate poverty by creating jobs in the craft sector. They support many arts and craft projects of which the Ekoka project – a textile range created by KBM director Cheryl Rumbak using the designs of the Ekoka San – is one.
(Click on the link below for redirection to the Omba Arts Trust homepage)
http://www.omba.org.na/


Also falling under the Omba umbrella are the Art-i-San products, made by re-settled San communities now living on farms in eastern Namibia. The Donkerbos/Sonneblom farm is the home of Art-i-San, and their beautiful handmade ostrich eggshell and wire jewellery is currently on display as part of the Broken Arrow exhibition. Each bead in this exquisite jewellery is handmade and the income generated from the Art-i-San project is of vital importance to this community.

(Click on the link below to view an article in the Namibian Economist on a successful Art-i-San exhibition) 
http://www.economist.com.na/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=16616:art-i-san-exhibition-opens-&catid=539:general-news
Also created in the Art-i-San project, and on display in Broken Arrow, are the wire and wooden animals and beaded art cloths I have mentioned. The animals are both by Benny Martin and the beaded cloth is by Bettie Britz.

A large wall in the KBM (features below) is devoted to a stunning installation of linocut art prints, a series of “tubers” (veldt food) by San artist from Donkerblom Farm. We will have a closer look at the individual images at a later stage.

It is heartening to know that the fantastic work being done by the Omba Arts Trust is not up to them alone. KURU Development Trust from Botwana provided the oil paintings on canvas and reduction linocuts for the Exhibition.
“Kuru” is a Naro word meaning “ Do” or ‘Create’, chosen by the founders of the organisation as an appropriate word for the self-development projects initiated for the marginalised San peoples of Botswana. [Click on the link below to view their homepage]
http://www.artprintsa.com/the-kuru-art-project.html


SASI – the South African San Institute – is another admirable, independent NGO who upliftment efforts are primarily focussed on the San peoples of South Africa.
Their Vision: “To support the San peoples to grow and develop to the extent to which they can take permanent control over their lives, resources and destiny and harness with pride their unique heritage.








They in turn work in partnership with the Kuru Family of Organisations-KFO and the Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa-WIMSA, and other San organisations. (Click on the link below to visit their homepage)
http://www.sasi.org.za/

The Kalk Bay Modern would like to thank the Omba Arts Trust, The Kuru Development Trust and SASI for their contribution.