The Art Salon – widely regarded as one of
the key events in Cape Town’s visual arts calendar – aims to present a
comprehensive and varied overview of the current state of South African
art. Artists featured include William Kentridge, Robert Hodgins, Sam
Nhlengethwa, Colbert Mashile, Richard Smith, Paul du Toit, Kevin Brand,
Stephen Inggs, Robert Slingsby, Paul Blomkamp, Diane Victor, Deborah
Bell, Claudette Schreuders, Nina Romm and Wendy Anziska.
Since its inception in 1992, the ART
SALON has been a major enterprise, bringing together –under one roof – a
large showcase of quality artworks, in various media and styles. In
keeping with international trends, this event sees a subtle shift towards
the most cutting-edge art, while still maintaining its backbone of
‘classics’, such as John Kramer and Erik Laubscher.
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Contemporary, younger artists have become
increasingly important since 2000, and this year the Salon will have
plenty to offer on this score, with artists such as Pamela Stretton, Peter
Eastman, Sanell Aggenbach, Dan Halter, Kate Gottgens, Jaco Sieberhagen,
Kathryn Smith, Alexandra Ross and Stuart Bird represented.
In addition to the traditional genres of
landscape and figurative painting, the ART SALON will also feature some of
the best in sculpture, photography, ceramics and contemporary Shangaan
beadwork.
Leading ceramic artists on this year’s
Salon include Louise Gelderblom, Astrid Dahl, Barbara Jackson, Hennie
Meyer, Helen Vaughan, Ruan Hoffmann, Laura du Toit, Rebecca Tetley and
Yvette McGee; while photographers of note include Stephen Inggs, Dale
Yudelman, Kathryn Smith and Jurgen Schadeberg.
According to Korber: ‘This year’s Art
Salon promises to have a more focused selection and is more directed
towards the demands of the contemporary collector than ever before, while
still showing the best possible work of established South African
artists. We hope this year’s offering will be the most exciting ever’.
‘Given the economic crisis facing the world’, she adds, ‘art, and
especially South African art, seems to have weathered this storm amazingly
well – against the most dire predictions’.
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