Artspace Mentorship Programme

by Pat Sithole

So many gifted artists bud, but they are never given the opportunity to flourish. They are talented, but are never given the tools or the skills to perfect their craft. They pour their every ounce of energy and passion into their work, but are never given the opportunity to showcase it.

Artspace Gallery in Rosebank, Gauteng, presents a unique mentorship programme to unknown South African artists. This programme provides visual artists, who have promising career potential and who are ready to enter the professional market, an opportunity to work under the guidance of established contemporary artists in the same field. Here, budding artists learn invaluable skills and work towards their first solo exhibition in a professional, commercial gallery environment. The programme’s objective is to provide a platform from which new contemporary artists may launch their careers as professional artists.

Artspace Gallery curator, Teresa Lizamore, states, “It is very difficult for a new artist to break into the market. Galleries rarely work with unknown names. This programme is designed to give artists a foot in the door and to expose them to working within the professional sphere. Navigating through relationships with galleries can be intimidating for a new artist with little experience.”

This flagship project came into existence in 2008 and has showcased eleven new artists, some of whom have already made a significant impact in the art industry. These artists include:

• Lindi Arbi (mentored by Tanya Poole): a winner of the 2010 Spier Contemporary.
• Nomusa Makhubu (mentored by Tanya Poole): selected for the prestigious Dali International Photography Exhibition in China in August 2012.
• Same Mdluli (mentored by Leora Farber): currently studying towards her doctorate.
• Louis Olivier (mentored by Wilma Cruise): his first exhibition was a sell-out. His second solo exhibition at Artspace in late 2011 was yet again sold out. His third solo exhibition with Artspace will be in 2013.

This year, Artspace looks forward to hosting two exhibitions in August and September by their 2011/2012 mentees and mentors.

Mentees to showcase their work include Pat Sithole, mentored by Francki Burger, and Ruhan Janse van Vuuren, working under the guidance of Marco Cianfanelli.

Pat Sithole is from Kwa-Thema, a township in Springs, from which he draws his inspiration. “My work talks about reality; I draw objects that portray life. They may look old but I make sure they have life, so that whoever looks at them must not see any sadness of our history. Instead they must know that this is where we come from, we are proud of it and even more proud of where we are today in our township.”



by Pat Sithole



by Pat Sithole



Sithole is the nephew of well-known South African wood sculptor, the late Lucas Sithole. He completed matric at Kenneth Masikela Secondary School. He then enrolled at Intec College in 1999 where he studied Commercial Art for three years. He received merit awards for the Ekurhuleni National Fine Art Awards in 2006 and 2007. He was then selected for the Sasol New Signatures in 2009. Sithole currently teaches art at the Kwa-Thema Library to young people between 13 and 35 years of age.

Pat Sithole will be launching his solo exhibition on 8 August 2012.

Ruhan Janse van Vuuren was born in Amersfoort, Mpumalanga, in 1981, but currently resides in Pretoria. He was born to an accountant father and a teacher mother.

Janse van Vuuren’s interest in art immerged at a tender age, when he began to draw his own pictures: “As far as I can remember, I was always busy with drawings but colouring in seemed so restrictive.” When he was given LEGO as a gift, he soon realised the limitless potential of the blocks and created his own masterpieces. This was the beginning of his interest in three dimensional creations.

by Ruhan Janse van Vuuren

After the family moved to Pretoria, Janse van Vuuren attended the Jacqui Theron Art School. There, his interest in 3D objects lent to his clear talent for sculpture and upon finishing high school, received a distinction for Art. He won an art competition before he pursued his studies in Fine Arts at the Tshwane University of Technology, where he excelled and specialised in sculpture. His lecturer, Jan van der Merwe, was an inspiration to Janse van Vuuren and still has much influence. Janse van Vuuren’s final student exhibition sold out.

After school, Janse van Vuuren spent time working at Dionysus Sculpture Works, a foundry in Pretoria, as an assistant to Angus Taylor. He assisted in the process of the sculpture from clay to bronze, as well as worked on the sculpting process of many Monument commissions, including Chief Tshwane, Brenda Fassie and Solomon Mahlangu.

Janse van Vuuren is now focusing on his career as a full time artist. His sculptors are a reflection of the fragility of the human condition: “It is all about the small details that people cannot see but are significant to them.” He is influenced by people he meets, the stories they tell and the manner in which they deal with different situations.

Ruhan Janse van Vuuren’s solo exhibition will open on 1 September 2012.

Portret Hoek
by Ruhan Janse van Vuuren

Artspace Gallery

Address:

Chester Court

142 Jan Smuts Ave

Parkwood

Tel: +27 11 880 8802

Website: www.artspace-jhb.co.za 

Artist Proof Studio

Press Release

Coming of Age: 21 years of Artist Proof Studio

6th May 2012

A public lecture by William Kentridge 2:00 - 3:00pm

Opening reception at 3:30pm by Sibongile Khumalo

                                                           Closing 6th July 2012

William Kentridge: Colour Chart (2012)

Coming of Age is a retrospective exhibition of Artist Proof Studio (APS) which celebrates 21 years of printmaking in Newtown. The exhibition will open on 6^th May 2012 at the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG). This event will be a unique opportunity to experience the talent and energy of the artists at Artist Proof Studio, as well as other established artists who have supported the studio’s growth over the last 21 years.

Artist Proof Studio, a community based printmaking studio, partners with corporates, patrons, foundations, artists and individuals to create an environment in which talented young artists are offered the space and opportunity to reach their full potential. Editions of historic and current Artist Proof Studio artists will be showcased in 18 uniquely curated spaces within the Johannesburg Art gallery.

Elza Botha: In memoriam Ingwavuma van
die Timbavati vir Credo Vusamazulu Mutwa,
Maria Khosa en Linda Tucker (2008)

The exhibition will include the works of Philemon Hlungwane, Nelson Makamo, Lehlogonolo Mashaba, Lucas Nkgweng, Kim Berman and many emerging talents. New releases of editions from collaborating artists include William Kentridge, Diane Victor, Wim Botha, Norman Catherine, Paul Edmunds, Gerhard Marx, Colbert Mashile, Chris Diedericks, Kudzanai Chiurai and others. 

Please join us on Sunday the 6^th May for a public lecture by William Kentridge at 2pm, followed by the opening of the exhibition by Sibongile Khumalo. APS looks forward to hosting members of the public at various events during the exhibition and will hold a series of lectures, printmaking demonstrations and walkabouts during the month of May at the Johannesburg Art gallery and at Artist Proof Studio.

There will be regular updates on the website: www.artistproofstudio.co.za or for more info contact Tiny at tinym@joburg.org.za or Noli at admin@artistproofstudio.co.za.



Norman Catherine:  No title (2012)



Sandile Goje: Kids watching Christmas sunrise (2012)





Rory White: Visual Artist with a Dream...



The Licking Toad
(Digital)

The visual arts, including digital art, have always fascinated Rory White. As a result, he is obsessed with art, design and digital graphics, and always wants to learn more.

He is mostly self-taught, however, he did study art in high school. Having received a bursary for tertiary education, White attained a certificate in Graphic and Advertising Design through Intec College.

White's influences include: the Surrealists; fantasy artists such as Frank Franzetta and H. R. Geiger; Neo-Manga artists such as Eva Soulu; as well as video game designers, illustrators and concept artists most notably, American Mcgee, Daryl Mandrake and Syd Mead.

In terms of White's personal style, he always attempts to "twist" his subject just enough to make it unexpected or surreal. White draws from his dreams and his work often takes on African wildlife and textural elements.

White aspires to work full-time within both the print and video game industry as illustrator, conceptual artist and creature designer. Ultimately, White aims to develop a career within the South African gaming and illustration industries.



Inkhorse
(Digital)



You can view more of Rory White's work at:

http://rorywhite.deviantart.com/

Rory White's paintings can be viewed at:

http://www.southafricanartists.com/ShowArtist.asp?Code=WHITE001



Prey
(Acrylic)



The Point of No Return
(Acrylic)



Blue Crane
(Acrylic)



Down in the Garden
(Mixed media)







Scott Ormerod: emerging illustration talent

Pin-up

Meet Scott Ormerod, 24 year old photography graduate from Tshwane University of Technology and graphic designer whose true desire is to be an illustrationist. The reason behind this desire is that he can let his imagination run wild, with very few restrictions to hold him back.

Budda

Photographs are used as references to create his illustrations. Ormerod adds his personal experiences and imagination to each image and is largely inspired by pin-ups from American art; but what truly inspires his work is an Asian influence, which includes Japanese and Chinese artworks.

Stacey

His illustrations are a true testimony to the energy it takes to produce each one - each is detailed and vibrant, with a life and personality of its own.

You can visit Scott Ormerod’s website at: http://www.wix.com/scotty2orm/dreamerchild

Humming bird

Henning Lüdeke: Fluidity in Creativity

Ariane

Henning Lüdeke experiences the digital world as something that has the potential to be tangible, something in which we could interact in a more physical and natural way. He links creativity and technology in his efforts to produce differently and to bridge the gap between electronic and print media.



He first distinguishes between digital and electronic media, one of the main tenets of his recent show Unnatural Selection. He believes that letters from the Roman alphabet, for example, are digital and have the same meaning, regardless of whether they are hand written, printed or sculptured. In other words, digital systems need not be binary or electronic. Lüdeke believes that “Electronic, binary media has become synonymous with the concept 'digital' since it’s easy to accurately transmit and reproduce 0’s and 1’s through electronic circuits and has thus become ubiquitous. The exciting aspect of electronic media is that it’s computable. Media can, therefore, be transformed and disseminated in new and organic ways. Online media runs on inorganic machinery, but the software platforms and processes of creating media on, for example, social networks become organic in nature.”

Lüdeke sees print media as Dry Digital media and electronic digital media as Wet Electronics. The dry, tangible nature of print media gives it the quality of being Dry Digital media. In Lüdeke's view, once we disseminate Dry Digital media, information and meaning may become illegible or even lost. Electronic digital media, on the other hand, is fluid, travelling quickly. Information in this form remains intact and meaning does not deteriorate once it has been disseminated. “Fluidity also means that the creation and processing of digital media becomes easy,” says Lüdeke. “When we manipulate these digital electronic images, not only does information become fluid, but wet as well. The shine and glossiness of tangible prints become wet again.”

Arnoldoa

Through his unrelenting fascination with technology and its potential to go further, he creates images that are at once fluid and static; both ‘wet’ and ‘dry’. He works with virtual spaces, traditionally seen as intangible, and tries to create what he calls Tangible Virtual Space Interfaces by transforming its fluid, electronic digital nature to the dry digital nature of printed media.

Unnatural Selection is a collection of organic images that resemble butterflies, but are, in fact, digital collages of images of shoes collected from a variety of commercial online shoe advertisements. “It needed to be a product that’s easily accessible and varied in form, texture and colour, as to provide enough material to satisfy the collage process,” says Lüdeke. He believes that the collaged images should be arranged in patterns that form digital signatures, so that their meaning would be transferred not only from the glossy screen to the glossy prints, but also from glossy prints to photographs and subsequent reproductions. “Each shoe fly could by likened to a character, and whole arrangements as pages from a sci-fi novel,” says Lüdeke. “The patterns of the butterflies signify their digital nature, but through the collages being printed on organic material, they may fade and degrade again, ultimately experiencing the death associated with organic entities.”

Greenleaf Canvas

“Form and function are intrinsically linked. There’s ample evidence of people’s sentiments embedded in the acquisition, use and customisation of their possessions. Yet underneath all the veneer, the underlying functions remain. In my view, technology is about solving important problems and, therefore, creativity needs to be employed in a serious manner. Whimsical technology is backwardly created and serves its own purpose. Creativity employed in finding truly great designs serves a higher purpose in my view. After important solutions are designed, we can worry about playing with the surface aesthetic.”

 

“Unnatural Selection refers to the fact that electronic platforms are driven by humans, not computers,” says Lüdeke. “When buying shoes online, you engage with a virtual interface that connects the whole supply chain, with its accompanying environmental impact.” It is in this way that Lüdeke tries to find ways of transporting online commercial media into tangible, tactile spaces within the context of consumerism. Although he was aware of the ‘skoenlapper’ concept, it was not Lüdeke's intention to connect with the Afrikaans. It is incidental and unavoidable.



During the first stage of this evolutionary process, the digital prints remind us to re-integrate our online experiences with everyday life; we need to remain or become grounded again. “During the project I was concerned with the environmentalist buzz saturating the media. I needed an industrially produced product that serves as a metaphor for the way people create their identities via consumerism.” Lüdeke chose to digitally collage shoes as they provide a “container identity” the moment you step into them, yet they also physically separate you from the earth. The result is a symbolic “Cyberian” species that hints at the transformation of earth as a nurturer into a Femme Fatale.

A second phase finds us interacting with these forms through an interactive digital projection - tangible, but still virtual. Currently, Lüdeke is considering transforming the two dimensional designs into autonomous flying sculptures.

"Computers and the internet in particular, provide a global democratic platform. But only for those that are both literate and computer literate. My work attempts to convey some of the magical qualities inherent in communicating via virtual spaces, especially for people who don’t intimately know the possibilities of electronic communication. Concepts of the exchange of knowledge and products are integral in my collages. The prints provide only a glimpse into online realties, but stimulate conversation about the politics of being/becoming engaged in electronic space.” During his first show at the Association of Arts, he had an interactive projection where people could interact with projected butterflies that would respond to touch. These types of ‘physical computing’ spaces, according to Lüdeke, mediate between the illiterate/uninitiated and virtual space. “Without any foreknowledge of how computers work, one can engage with elements of virtual worlds by the wave of a hand. I intend to develop more such portals for future shows.”



Greenleaf

Thereafter, he spent two years at the Cape Town-based Studio 2666 art collective. He also crossed over into the theatrical, winning a Fleur du Cap award for best props made for Lara Foot-Newton's award winning Karoo Moose in 2008.

Unnatural Selection is Lüdeke's debut solo exhibition. It made its first appearance at the Association of Arts Pretoria in April 2010. The exhibition opened at Artspace Warehouse in Johannesburg on 5 September 2010 and ended 2 October 2010. “I’m happy with the positive response. This show provides a decent platform from which future works will evolve.”

Based in Melkbosstrand, Lüdeke studied at three different institutions. He first studied a specialised year course in 3D animation at Allenby Campus, followed by a course in Visual Communication at Open Window Art Academy, including modules in 3D Animation, Layout, Web Design, Drawing, Painting and Photography. He finally graduated with a BA in Fine Art from Stellenbosch in 2006. During his university studies, he did stop-frame experiments and learnt much from Rosalin Burr, a lecturer in animation, social theory/art history and drawing.

Thereafter, he spent two years at the Cape Town-based Studio 2666 art collective. He also crossed over into the theatrical, winning a Fleur du Cap award for best props made for Lara Foot-Newton's award winning Karoo Moose in 2008.

Unnatural Selection is Lüdeke's debut solo exhibition. It made its first appearance at the Association of Arts Pretoria in April 2010. The exhibition opened at Artspace Warehouse in Johannesburg on 5 September 2010 and ended 2 October 2010. “I’m happy with the positive response. This show provides a decent platform from which future works will evolve.”