Sneak peek for Cape Town

ErdmannContemporary is proud to announce the publication and launch of Manfred Zylla art & resistance. This is the first comprehensive book on Manfred Zylla’s long career as an artist and includes illustrations of artworks dating back to 1959 to the present. The book is compiled and written by Heidi Erdmann.

Manfred Zylla art & resistance is a collector’s edition of 100 signed copies. Each book is sold with an accompanying two colour woodcut, with an option of four different designs. Friday 17 February (5 – 6pm only) at ErdmannContemporary

Qampi sold to museum collection

We are thrilled to announce that San Francisco Museum of Modern Art have recently purchased a series of photographs by Cape Town based photographer Lindeka Qampi. This self taught photographer is known for her positive reflection of township life. She is currently working on a new series, Langa Today, which is due to be launched at this gallery later this year.

Face to Face a photographic installation by Jurgen Schadeberg

Some years ago while I was teaching photography at the Central School of Art & Design in London I experimented with portraiture. I found that photographing the face when isolated from jewelery, clothes and hair, leads to a more intense image. By using simple lighting and by asking the sitter to be as relaxed as possible revealed a face not usually seen.

We often tend to see and recognize each other by the total structure of a person from top to toe rather than by the isolated face. The project took five years to complete and all my subjects are South Africans drawn from a variety of ages and cultures and yet they all have South African expressions. Somehow, when melted together on one wall, these portraits give us an insight into the South African face with all the scars from the past and hopes for the future - Jurgen Schadeberg.

This 5 paneled installation is for sale, contact the gallery for more information.

The Working Proof portfolio

This portfolio (complete or individually) is now available for sale from Erdmann Contemporary. It includes 10 lithographs on Fabriano paper each measuring 66 x 51cm. Works by Jane Alexander, Katherine Bull, Stephen Inggs, William Kentridge, Fritha Langerman, Malcolm Payne, Roderick Sauls, Pippa Skotnes, Dominic Thorburn and Gavin Younge are included. This portfolio was released in 2003, and the project was coordinated by Stephen Inggs.
Contact the gallery for more detail and illustrations.

Gary Van Wyk - New work

Gary Van Wyk’s debut solo exhibition which was hosted at this gallery in July 2011, earned him critical acclaim. For the past six months most of Gary’s time has been spent on his commercial career.

This week Van Wyk has finally confirmed that work on his next solo exhibition has indeed started. We can also confirm that the exhibition will be shot with his newly acquired Hasselblad camera. This is a portrait of the artist with his father.

Van Wyk’s next solo exhibition will open towards the end of 2012.

Photographs by John Kramer

I have long known that celebrated Cape Town painter, John Kramer is a good photographer. I have also long known that he uses his own photographs as source material for his paintings.

However, he has just released a collection of photographs which signals a departure. The new collection includes photographic images with a strong painterly aesthetic, all taken in bright and natural light of small Karoo towns. Kramer is a master of capturing the brightest moment, which is also the most quiet, in these small, forgotten and dusty towns.

Cleary to launch new series at Photo LA

Cape Town photographer, Melanie Cleary has enjoyed a busy year. She has been working on two new series of work, both focusing on youth.

Both series will be launched at Photo LA between 12 – 16 January 2012. The gallery will also showcase the work of David Lurie, Erik Chevalier and emerging talent, Lindeka Qampi. The fair is being held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

Mail & Guardian listing

Erdmann Contemporary isn’t an easy gallery to pigeonhole. Its not as big and flashy as the Goodman or Stevenson galleries. Its not as young and hip as Whatiftheworld. Its not as commercially focused as the Everard Read. Rather, the gallery owes its ongoing success to its unflagging commitment to the artists in its stable, a large dose of good old-fashioned hard work and plenty of passion. The gallery’s annual summer group exhibition is proof of all these qualities. Focused on painting its an understated, solid show that contrasts narrative-driven portraiture with landscape works that tell diverse stories. Names include Mark Hipper, David Hlongwane, Diana Hyslop and Manfred Zylla, alongside works by newer talents and introducing Mozambican painter Berardo Carrula Tomos.

(As published in the Friday section November 25 - December 01).

Wildenboer wins the Public Vote Prize

Cape Town based conceptualist, Barbara Wildenboer has been announced as the Winner of the Public Vote Prize at his year’s African Art Prize competition. The work of the Top 20 artists were on view at the Joburg Art Fair during September. The public was invited to vote for their favorite piece on the exhibition. The African Art Prize is organized by the Hong Kong based charity, the Sovereign Art Foundation.
Click here to view article

Schadeberg at Willy Brandt Haus, Berlin

Jurgen Schadeberg’s exhibition Seventy years of photography has opened at the Willy Brandt Haus in Berlin, Germany. The exhibition will be on view until January 2012. This is one of the most comprehensive exhibitions by one of South Africa’s great photographic talents. The exhibition brings together all aspects of Schadeberg’s oeuvre. His latest series of work, produced in France during 2010, will also be on view in Berlin, at the Alliance Francaise gallery.

Visit Willy Brandt Haus website for more information about this exhibition here.

Chevalier showing in Cuba

Italian photographer Erik Chevalier is showing with Mauro Magni at Centro Provincial De Artes Plasticas Y Diseno, Habana, Cuba, 22 November to 4 December 2011. The exhibition forms part of the XIVth week of Italian culture in Cuba and is presented by the Centro Di Sarro. The title of the exhibition is VISUS, which is Latin for sharpness. It defines the eye’s capacity to distinguish detail through line and shadow. Most of the photographs are overlapped negatives of a portrait and a second image. The choice of the second image is Chevalier’s reaction to the sitters persona. Cape Town photographer Lindeka Qampi is one of his subjects.

The 2011 African Art Prize presented by Sovereign Art Foundation

The Top 20 artworks selected by an international panel of judges went on view at the FNB Joburg Art Fair, 22 - 25 September. This exhibition moved to the Nirox Foundation at Arts on Main in Johannesburg for the month of October.
The next stop is a Cape Town venue, details to be confirmed. Barbara Wildenboer*, Godfried Donkor, Khaled Hafez, Wilma Cruise, Themba Shibase, David Lurie and Karlien De Villiers are amongst the finalists.

Read Andrew Mulenga’s article from the South African Art Times here. Visit the African Arts Trust here for more information.

Traveling museum retrospective for Manfred Zylla

A long awaited traveling museum retrospective of German/South African artist Manfred Zylla will open on 15 February 2012 at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum in Port Elizabeth. The exhibition will include works from the mid-1950’s to the present. Zylla started his career, together with his brother, Eckhardt and friend Frieder Pfister, when these talented young painters started impromptu live painting performances in the village square of Augsburg, Germany. Zylla has since enjoyed a long career. Central to that career has been his commitment to using his art as a tool for change. A book on Zylla’s life work is also now in production.