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Posts tagged Shoes from Chinese Ships

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1 August – 1 September 2012 

Group exhibition featuring the work of Gabrielle Raaff, Lisa Firer, Katrine Claassens, Wessel Snyman, Colijn Strydom, Danni Liang, Elsabe Milandri, Fan Cheng, Sarah Pratt & Sunette Viljoen.

Curated by Katrine Claassens, Monique du Preez & Candice Jezek.

 

About ~ Shoes From Chinese Ships

Walking on Strand beach near Cape Town one comes across a proliferation of shoes and other plastic debris from China scattered along the high-tide mark. From the survivors of a Ming dynasty shipwreck integrating into Kenyan society, to the story of a giraffe being welcomed to China as unicorn in the early 15 th century, the history of shoreline arrivals and trade between Africa and China is a long and often mysterious one.
Taking the sea, the vehicle for the original contact between China and Africa, as a point of departure Shoes From Chinese Ships features both emerging and established Chinese and South African artists. The show is a conversation in painting, drawing, installation and sculpture between the intricate and increasingly complicated relationship between Africa and China. Interrupting the commercial import/export relationship and replacing it with an integrated one that allows for a more personal discourse with a faraway place, the exhibition includes a collaboration between some of the South African artists involved and students from the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou. Living and working all around the world the artists explore the mystery, depth and intricacy of exchanges brought about by trade between these two countries throughout the centuries.

About ~ The Artists 

Working from China, South Africa, Germany and France the artists selected for Shoes From Chinese Ships are all of South African or Chinese nationality. The artists were selected for their visual and conceptual sensibilities, particularly the elements of nostalgia, fragility, mystery and displacement that tie their works together…

(visit the “artist’s section” to find out more about the featured artists or use this “TAG”)

Students from The China Academy

Students from The China Academy of Art are participating in collaboration with the South African artists listed above. The China Academy of Art is the most influential academy of fine arts in China with the most complete range of degree offerings and programs of study. It houses a diverse pool of artistic talent, with a focus on integrating theory and practice. Combining modern technical and cultural disciplines with traditional ones, the academy encompasses fine art, architecture, film and new media.

 

Colijn Strydom’s first solo show was a drawing performance done at Dirt Contemporary in Kloof street, Cape Town in 2005, where he was locked in a gallery for a week. Since then he has gone on to make charcoal drawings, ink drawings and animations with titles such as “Tell your daddy I say hello”, “Sad People from the Future” and “Poppies in October”. The galleries at which he has exhibited include Artspace, the AVA, Brundyn+Gonsalves, Grande Provence, the University of Stellenbosch Gallery and Salon91. He has also shown work at the Klein Karoo Kunstefees and at the Design Indaba. The artist has worked with theatre makers, producing animations for Louis Pretorius’ play “30 seconds”, and most recently “Die Kortstondige Raklewe van Anastasia W” (written by Marlene van Niekerk, directed by Marthinus Basson). He graduated with a BA (Fine Arts) from the University of Pretoria in 2002, and a MA (Fine Arts) from the University of Stellenbosch in 2008.

Danni Liang is a second-generation immigrant from South China living in South Africa. Danni speaks fluent Mandarin, Chinese and English. Her primary education, which she received in China, has left with her a strong influence of the Eastern aesthetic, which she expresses through her art practice and creativity in general. Liang completed high school in Pretoria, at Pro Arte Alphen Park (an art high school in Pretoria), and then went on to obtain a Bachelors Degree in Fine Art from Michaelis in 2010, majoring in New media. After graduation, she worked at the CCDI (cape craft and design institute). Danni Liang currently lives and works in Cape Town, dividing her time between running a successful restaurant and her art-making.

Elsabé Milandri was born in Pretoria in 1980. The artist completed her BA in Fine Art at the University of Pretoria during 2002. She then moved to Cape Town where she obtained a Masters in Fine Art, New Media at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, UCT, 2006. Since 2010 she has had three solo exhibitions and has taken part in group exhibitions countrywide. Her work is also represented by Literoom, Basel, Switzerland. Much of her output has been paintings and drawings on paper, with a focus on ink and waterbased media, investigating the everyday, the intimate, the feminine. Elsabe’s works are usually of a conceptual nature, and supported by informed research. She has lectured at various institutions in drawing, new media, videography, illustration and design.

Fan Cheng was born 1981 in Shandong, China. He currently lives and works in Nimes, France. In June 2010 he obtained his degree at l’Ecole Superieure des Beaux-Arts de Nimes and in October 2010 he won the Prix CHD Art Production/Jeune Artiste in Montpellier, France. He is currently exhibiting at Atelier de YanWei in Perpignon, France.

Gabrielle Raaff was born in Johannesburg in 1970 and graduated with a Fine Art Degree from Stellenbosch University in 1992. Gabby also studied at Saint Martins College, London. She lecturers in drawing, illustration and design and has exhibited widely in South Africa. In 2007 Gabrielle had work selected for the finals of the Spier Contemporary. Recent projects include group shows “Periphery” (2008) at These Four Walls Gallery and “Supermarket” (2009) at the Muti Gallery. Her first solo show entitled “In Our Midst” took place at the Muti Gallery in April 2009 in Cape Town. In August 2009 she completed a two-week residency at the Nirox Foundation with her partner, sculptor Justin Fiske. In 2010 she took part in several group shows: “Sifting Through The Madness” and “Coppertone 77” at Salon 91 in Cape Town and “Source” and “Hybrid” with Carol Lee in Johannesburg. Selected group shows in 2011 have been “Relation” with sculptor Kobus Le Grange at The Dorp Street Gallery in Stellenbosch, “People” with Tom Cullberg at Chagan Contemporary in London and “Paper is You” at Salon 91. Gabrielle lives in Lakeside with her partner and daughter and works from a studio in Observatory.

Katrine Claassens holds a Visual Arts Degree from the University of Stellenbosch. She was selected as finalist for both the Absa Atelier and Sasol New Signatures art competitions during 2008. She has held two solo shows to date “The Jacaranda Girls & Other Stories” at Salon91 in Cape Town (2011) and “The Birds/ Les Oiseaux” for Sweet as Candy in Montreal (2010). Group exhibititions include “Greatest Hits” at the Association of Visual Arts (AVA) in Cape Town (2008) and “Woord en Beeld”e at Grevilleas Galery (2012), to mention but a few. She currently lives and works between South Africa, France and Montreal.

Lisa Firer studied at both the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of the Western Cape. She is a master ceramicist, who started working in porcelain during 1990 and since has worked at Ardmore Ceramic Studios and exhibited all over the world and in South Africa, winning many awards for her dynamic creations. She currently runs ‘Lisa Firer Ceramics’, which is her very own ceramic production studio, and also produces one-off porcelain artworks for exhibitions.

Sarah Pratt holds a Master of Fine Arts degree. She is a highly skilled printmaker, specializing in copper etching, linocut, collograph and monoprint. She has lectured in the print department of Michaelis as a part-time staff member for 10 years. She is a highly prolific artist, constantly creating, and participating in a number of exhibitions. She Sarah works from a group studio in Observatory, where she is currently interested in paper cut-out work, ink on paper, monoprints and drypoints.

Sunette Viljoen is currently living and working in Cape Town. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Stellenbosch in 2007, after which she spent some time abroad in London and New York, before returning to South Africa in 2010. She recently completed her Masters in Fine Art at the University of Cape Town’s Michaelis School of Fine Art. Viljoen works in various mediums, incorporating printmaking, sculpture, drawing and photography in room-sized installations. She has also initiated and exhibited in various group shows since 2007. Awards include: Stiftung Künstlerdorf Schöppingen Artist residency, Germany; South African National Research Foundation Freestanding Master Scholarship (2011); South African National Arts Council Individual Bursary award (2010).

Wessel Snyman studied Fine Art at Stellenbosch, majoring in printmaking and kinetic sculpture.  His subsequent work has been an ongoing investigation into the Freudian mind, focussing on the sensitivities and nuances of gender, sexuality and the accompanying emotional complexities.  His material focus is mostly on paper and the found object, oftentimes biological, in conjunction with mechanics to automate the inanimate object.  Wessel Snyman lives and works in Cape Town.