David Krut Publishing,
Africa’s No 1 Arts Bookstore and Publisher

Defined by an astonishing amount of progress, 2007 has seen the gallery move premises from a modest bohemian space adjacent to David Krut Print Workshop (DKW) to a full-scale ‘white cube’ suitable for the calibre of projects that have now become customary at David Krut Projects. A tight schedule of shows this year has drawn crowds large and diverse contributing to what has developed as Johannesburg’s new art district along Jan Smuts Avenue. The year got off to a keen start with 5 Joburg Artists, an exhibition of monotypes by Stompie Selibe, Karin Preller, Lawrence Lemaoana, Mary Sibande and Ellen Papciak-Rose. These unique works, later added to the Art Bank’s 380-piece collection, were created during a collaborative project with the Joburg Art Bank and DKW and celebrated at a lively opening in February. This was followed by a solo exhibition by watercolour artist, Bruce Backhouse. His playful and witty works, also created in collaboration at DKW, contributed in some way to making the new gallery a relaxed and accessible space. Experimental events were also encouraged this year and some may remember the unusual one-night event in April at which Avant Car Guard (Zander Blom, Jan-Henri Booyens and Michael MacGarry) staged an event to launch their latest ‘album’. The trio installed a makeshift pirate shipwreck through which they emerged to sign their publication of photographs of their previously staged antics.

A photographic exhibition by Angela Buckland was initiated in May by the launch of a beautiful book published by David Krut Publishing entitled Light on a Hill: Building the Constitutional Court of South Africa. The show consisted of Buckland’s photographs of the building of the court as well as other images of building projects, and portrait studies of construction-site workers. We were grateful to have Judge Albie Sachs open the exhibition and entertain us with his anecdotes. Forging on, June at David Krut Projects saw the first exhibition of British artist, Julian Opie in South Africa. Opie’s large, striking works of primary colours and of bold black strokes were a treat to local audiences who rarely have the opportunity to experience the work of prominent international artists. This exhibition came to an end and before we knew what had hit us artists, celebrities and fashionistas were swarming into the gallery in July for the infamous pre-Crapalite exhibition. Artists Johan Engels and Robert Whitehead transformed the space into their own pre-Crapalite universe with beautifully constructed but wildly flamboyant installations.

The next installment was characterized by yet another unexpected but riotously successful collaboration between David Krut Projects and the Oppikoppi Festival. Looking for a way to introduce a further arts element to the music festival, Oppikoppi Productions approached us for advice. As a result New York, Brooklyn-based woodblock collaborative, Cannonball Press (Mike Houston and Martin Mazorra) were invited to South Africa to create a gigantic snake to parade around the festival. Their visit culminated in a Cannonball exhibition at the gallery and  coincided with a live performance by MaxNormal.tv. (aka Waddy Jones) who positioned himself in the window of the gallery for a week happily sewing limited-edtion, hand-made Dassies to be sold at Oppikoppi “The Way of the Dassie”.

Fashion design label, Strangelove was next to take centre stage in September with an exhibition entitled Selvage. Exploring issues of selvage and feminine identity in South Africa, Ziemek Pater and Carlo Gibson collaborated with printmaker Jillian Ross to create a series of prints based on patterns for a bodice previously designed by the duo. This was followed in November by Digital Surrogates, a show that brought together four artists from across the globe who blur the line between digital interactive media and the fine arts. The show featured five large digital portraits from a series entitled “13 Most Beautiful Avatars” by New York-based Eva and Franco Mattes alongside paintings by Bronwyn Millar and photographs by Pippa Stalker. Together this work translated persuasively into an analysis of self, public perception and possibility. Last but not least the year has come to an end with the internationally traveled exhibition Body Maps. These are artworks that were created by the Bambanani Women’s Group based in Cape Town. Fourteen women were invited to tell their stories through a community outreach programme initiated by the AIDS and Society Research Unit of the University of Cape Town (ASRU) and Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders). The resultant artworks formed this important exhibition that has traveled internationally since 2003.

Keywords: Art Gallery, Arts-and-Culture, News