AOM

Since the arrival of literate European settlers in what is now KwaZulu-Natal in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, numerous stories about the Drankensberg region have made their way into prints. But for every story which happens to have been written down, there are many  that have not, and which are therefore unavailableto us in our aim to wanting to establish a modern-day understanding of the history of the Drankensberg .This applies especially to the stories told by the unlettered San hunter-gatherers and their forebears during the several thousand years for which they inhabited these mountains, and by the isiNtu-speaking black farmer who have lived in the neigbouring uplands forthe pastthousand years or so.

This year we are seeking to expand our reach into the field of design in general and graphic design in particular through a number of initiatives. The first is the launch of a design book series called Skill Set – written and designed by Michael MacGarry – aimed at showcasing local design and providing much-needed material to secondary and tertiary institutions as well as design practitioners. The books will include useful information on aspects of design, examples of work by local designers, and interviews with South African design professionals. Volume One in the series, A Primer in Graphic Design, will be followed by handbooks on industrial design, fashion design and stage design, to name a few.

The second, ongoing, initiative is a focus on providing design books to schools, tertiary institutions and libraries. We have sourced a number of valuable design books for teachers and learners and distribute them through our bookstores in Cape Town and Johannesburg as well as directly to teachers at institutions across South Africa. Some of these titles on design and architecture (all available in our bookstores) are:

Design Books From David Krut Publishing
Skill Set One: A Primer in Graphic Design
Light on a Hill: Building the Constitutional Court of South Africa
Architecture and Vegetation
Points for Departure
Design Books from other Local and International Publishers
10 x SA Fashion Week
An A – Z of Type Designers
Craft Art in South Africa
Design for the Other 90%
Design Like You Give a Damn
Design Thinking
Design, Writing, Research
The Designer’s Desktop Manual
Inspiring Designers: A Source Book
Konstantin Grcic Industrial Design
Modern Architecture and Design
Notes on Book Design
Ogilvy on Advertising
Thinking with Type
Understanding Design
The Visual Dictionary of Fashion Design

DKP is beginning a collaboration with Assouline Publishing, New York who also distribute titles from the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum, New York. We are delighted to showcase some of their titles in our booth at Design Indaba. These gorgeous publications will be added to our distribution list and will be available in our bookstores and to the trade.

Finally, we are pleased to have begun collaborating with the Montebello Design Centre. Not only is our Cape Town branch situated on the premises of MDC in Newlands, but we have begun discussions on schools outreach, the facilitating of workshops for visual arts teachers at the Centre, and the promotion of design books in our store.

Where to find us

Cape Town
David Krut Publishing: Fine Art and Books, 31 Newlands Avenue, 021 685 0676
Manager: Alastair Whitton
alastair@davidkrut.com
carla@davidkrut.com

Johannesburg
David Krut Publishing and Bookstore
140 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood
Constitution Hill, Braamfontein
Johannesburg Art Gallery, Joubert Park
011 880 5648
Managing Editor: Bronwyn Law-Viljoen
bronwyn@davidkrut.com
dkarts@icon.co.za

www.davidkrutpublishing.com

David Krut Publishing is proud to announce the publication of the thirteenth book and Educational Supplement in the TAXI Art Books series, TAXI-013 Diane Victor, by Elizabeth Rankin and Karen von Veh.

Please join us for the book launch at David Krut Projects, 142 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood, on Saturday 8 March at 11 am.

The importance of Diane Victor’s impressive body of drawings and prints lies not simply in its biting social commentary and the sometimes macabre quality of her images, but also in the interplay between the tough and the fragile in her work, between the difficult subject matter of her visual narratives and the delicate mark-making and fragility of her preferred media.

Victor’s steady output over two decades, her dedication to technique and form, and her courageous and often humorous representation of the world around her have made her one of the most important of contemporary South African artists. She is a draughtswoman of the first order and her unflinching satire comments on the art traditions to which she is heir and the fragmented absurdity of South African history.

Diane Victor has exhibited widely in South Africa and abroad and her work is held by several important collections, including Iziko South African National Gallery and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Elizabeth Rankin, Professor of Art History at the University of Auckland, provides a meticulously researched essay on the importance of printmaking in Victor’s oeuvre, while Karen von Veh, Senior Lecturer in Art and Design at the University of Johannesburg, presents a provocative analysis of the Gothic elements in Victor’s drawings.

TAXI Art Books is a series on contemporary South African artists initiated in 2000 by the French Institute of South Africa and Pro Helvetia – Arts Council of Switzerland, and published by David Krut Publishing. The series, funded by the Royal Netherland Embassy, Arts and Culture Trust, the French Institute, the French Embassy, the National Arts Council, David Krut Arts Resource,  and ProHelvetia – Arts Council of Switzerland, ims to broaden awareness of, and create an archive on, contemporary South African art. An Educational Supplement accompanies each book in the series and serves as a teaching resource for arts educators. The Supplement for TAXI-013 Diane Victor was written by Jacki McInnes, and co-written and designed by Lara Koseff.

TAXI-013 Diane Victor was sponsored by the National Arts Council, Arts and Culture Trust, the Royal Netherlands Embassy, and David Krut Arts Resource.

David Krut Publishing is the distributor of a new photography book on township style in Cape Town’s Langa, Guguletu & Khayelitsha townships. The Beautiful Struggle is published by Dokument Förlag & Distribution.

In a series of full-colour photographs by the Swedish photographer Per Englund, The Beautiful Struggle examines the fascinating street culture of South Africa, offering a candid and upbeat portrait of township style.

The townships of Cape Town burst with creativity. They are the places where traditional African culture meets global youth cultures, where Hip-hop is adapted to local conditions, and where fashion, dance and music offer the dream of a way out of poverty.

“Style is a big thing in the township. If you look good you feel good. You forget about poverty and find pleasure in the things that you own. It has always been there…” says Monwabizi Mfobo, resident of Langa.

Photographer Per Englund offers a brand new image of South Africa. In The Beautiful Struggle, the reader will meet young people talking about their lives and dreams and the ongoing struggles in a society in which the legacy of apartheid remains.

The texts are written by photographer Per Englund, Danish anthropologist Karen Waltorp, and Mlamli Figlan, who grew up in Guguletu. The foreword is by Marika Griesehl, Swedish Television’s former Africa correspondent.

The Beautiful Struggle
By Per Englund & Mlamli Figlan
Full colour
Hard Cover
205 x 265 mm
143 pages
ISBN: 978-9-1973981-5-2
Price R260

Booth No. 23, Sandton Convention Centre
March 13 – 16 2008

We invite you to visit our booth at the Joburg Art Fair this March. David Krut Projects forms part of a multi-layered organisation, every element of which you are guarenteed to find naturally incorporated into the eccentric personality of Booth 23. We are a project space intimately linked to a professional print workshop (DKW), an art books publishing house (DKP) and a community outreach programme (TAEP). We also collaborate on an ongoing basis with David Krut Projects, New York (DKNY). Established in 2001 and based in Chelsea, DKNY provides us with the opportunity to promote the work of South African emerging and established artists abroad and allows us to bring to South Africa the work of numerous international artists.

We aim to use the three days at the fair, as we do our experimental project space, as a place to communicate, in a personal and meaningful way, with the public. Our fair events roster will detail when certain artists will be present to elaborate, in person, on their works. The printmakers from DKW will be present to explain the different methods of printmaking and the benefits, for an artist, of expanding a body of work by incorporating an edition of etchings or unique monotypes. We would also like to draw the new collectors’ attention to the accessibilty of prints and the increasing potential of investing in international art.

On view will be original works by featured artists, Ryan Arenson, Colbert Mashile, Maja Maljevic, Andrzej Nowicki, Alastair Whitton, Sandile Zulu. There will be a range of prints, on exhibition and in drawers by artists Bruce Backhouse, Deborah Bell, Wilma Cruise, Johan Engels, Trasi Henen, William Kentridge, David Koloane, Dorothee Kreutzfeldt, Avhashoni Mainganye, Colbert Mashile, Andrzej Nowicki, Ellen Papciak-Rose, Stompie Selibe, Penny Siopis, Sean Slemon, Nathaniel Stern, Strangelove, Diane Victor, Mary Wafer, Robert Whitehead and Sandile Zulu.

Prints by a range of American and British artists will also be on exhibition. These include: Frank Auerbach (UK), Leslie Dill (USA), Mark Francis (UK), David Hockney (UK), Howard Hodgkin (UK), Julian Opie (UK) and Kiki Smith (USA).

Andrzej Nowicki Prints & Originals at David Krut Projects will coincide with our presence at the fair. This solo exhibition (to open at 18:00 on the 21st February) will show original watercolours and prints by Cape Town-based, artist Andrzej Nowicki.

Primary personnel at the fair shall include David Krut; Gallery Manager, Lucy Rayner; Workshop Manager, Jillian Ross and Managing Editor, Bronwyn Law-Viljoen. David Krut Publishing (DKP) will have a separate booth at the fair featuring the latest South African art titles. For a list of these please visit: www.davidkrutpublishing.com…..

Watch this space for a list of Joburg Art Fair related events.

For further information contact:
Gallery Manager: Lucy Rayner
t: 011 447 0727,
e: lucy@davidkrut.com
w:www.davidkrutpublishing.com
142 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood.

Hours: Mon – Sat 09h00-17h00

A Solo Exhibition by AVANT CAR GUARD at David Krut Projects
Opens 18:30 on Thursday 3 April, 2008

AVANT CAR GUARD are Zander Blom, Jan-Henri Booyens and Michael MacGarry – a three member visual artist from Johannesburg. They have exhibited at a national and international level over the past 18 months, and have published a book on their production entitled Volume 1. Their approach to art production, the art world and their own collective role as a singular artist is characterized by a strong sense of humour and a punk sensibility. Their approach focuses on conceptual art manifested through photography, multiples and performance. “A sincere act to invent something insincere,” is probably the most succinct definition of their method.

UPCOMING EVENTS -

ACG All Up in Yo Bizniz
Featuring new work and a commissioned performance
WHATIFTHEWORLD at Joburg Art Fair – Booth No. 9, Sandton Convention Centre
Runs 13 – 16 March 2008

Volume II
A limited edition monograph of recent work by AVANT CAR GUARD
Due for release March 2008

Volume III
A published volume of works by AVANT CAR GUARD
Due for release May 2008

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS + PUBLICATIONS -

12.2007
The Void Romance
A solo exhibition by AVANT CAR GUARD at Whatiftheworld/Gallery, Cape Town.
www.whatiftheworld.com

08.2007
AVANT CAR GUARD included in the group exhibition 3C (Committee and Critics Choice) at the Association for Visual Arts in Cape Town.
www.ava.co.za

08.2007
Naked Frontier Ambition Vibes
A solo exhibition by AVANT CAR GUARD at whatiftheworld/project room, Cape Town.
www.whatiftheworld.com

06.2007
Volume II
A solo exhibition by AVANT CAR GUARD at The Pure Project, New York City.
www.thepureproject.com

03.2007
The launch of AVANT CAR GUARD – Volume I at David Krut Projects, Johannesburg.
www.davidkrut.com

03.2007
A selection of work from AVANT CAR GUARD – Volume II included in the publication: One Million and Forty-Four Years (And Sixty-Three Days), edited by Kathryn Smith and published by SMAC Gallery, in Stellenbosch.
www.smacgallery.co.za

02.2007
Having secured both operational support and project funding from the World Art World and Corporate Entities, AVANT CAR GUARD publish a call for submissions to the Africa Biennale 2008.

02.2007
AVANT CAR GUARD represented on MySpace Music.
www.myspace.com/avantcarguard

12.2006
Skakel Oor na die Donkerkant
The launch of AVANT CAR GUARD – Volume I at Bell-Roberts Contemporary, in Cape Town.
www.bell-roberts.com

11.2006
AVANT CAR GUARD publish Volume I – a 22-page hand finished, individually numbered publication packaged in a hand finished cardboard sleave.
Designed, edited and published: AVANT CAR GUARD
Edition: 500.5
ISBN: 978-0-6280-37358-4
Dimensions: Book (290 x 290 mm) / Sleave (295 x 300 mm)
To order a copy send a request to: info@avantcarguard.com

10.2005
AVANT CAR GUARD evicted from Dirt Contemporary, in Cape Town, ahead of the scheduled opening of their solo exhibition – titled AVANT CAR GUARD.

The world I paint has no future. It is a self-contained place without apparent movement. Yet on closer scrutiny, movement of a sort can be perceived. A receding pull from the past, to the past. This pull stems from the exploration of the old roads, an attempt to discover among these paths that which has been forgotten or overlooked. Strangely, when discovered, the relics that inspire my world carry with them qualities that resonate with the uncertainty we usually associate with the future; their unfamiliarity stems from their connection with a now distant world.

- Nowicki 2007

David Krut Projects is proud to announce a solo exhibition of unique watercolours and prints by Andrzej Nowicki. Nowicki is a recent Masters graduate from the Michaelis School of Fine Arts (University of Cape Town) and a recipient of the Irma Stern Scholarship from 2005 to 2007. He relocates this year as a practising artist to New York. Born in Poland, he moved to South Africa with his family at the age of eight. Although he has lived in South Africa for nearly twenty years, it is intriguing how closely comparable his work is, in palette and subject matter, to Post Socialist, East German painting. Nowicki makes the reminiscent sepia-tinged landscapes and strangely detached figures his own, by weaving them into nostalgic and biographical narratives. The result is both alienating and beautiful.The exhibition will include watercolours with a new series of prints recently created in collaboration with the printmakers at David Krut Print Workshop.142 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood.t: 011 447 0727,e: lucy@davidkrut.comw:www.davidkrutpublishing.comHours: Mon – Sat 09h00-17h00

The new David Krut Bookstore at JAG stocks a range of books and magazines on South African and international art, architecture and design, including publications from David Krut Publishing, Tate Publishing (UK), Nazraeli Press (USA) and Illuminations dvds (UK), as well as catalogues of shows at the Johannesburg Art Gallery. In the coming months the store will expand its stock to include a broader range of books, catalogues, brochures and other publications.

The bookstore joins several other initiatives in and around the Johannesburg Art Gallery that are bringing new life to the area. The gallery’s exciting programme of exhibitions is drawing larger audiences to the Joubert Park precinct and ventures such as the Joubert Park Project and other community projects related to the 2010 FIFA World Cup are seeking to invigorate parts of downtown Johannesburg.

The Taxi Art Education Programme (TAEP), an outreach initative of David Krut Arts Resource, will meet regularly in the new bookstore and will expand their activities into this part of town. Several of the TAEP facilitators are now employed at the bookstore, which is proving an ideal venue for this group to meet and learn about art, art history and books, whilst gaining invaluable knowledge of the retail environment.

The bookstore will be open during gallery hours – Tuesdays to Sundays from 10:00am till 17:00pm –and during all exhibition openings. David Krut Publishing is planning a series of discussions, book launches and other events for the bookstore, so please make sure that you are on our mailing list and up to date with our programme of activities.

Interesting links:
Joubert Park Project
2010 Fifa World Cup development
Taxi Art Education Program (TAEP)

Art Bank Joburg (ABJ) and David Krut Print Workshop (DKW) have just completed a printmaking workshop facilitated by project manager Brendan Copestake. Six Johannesburg-based artists were given the chance to experiment with the monotype process in the DKW studio, creating works that will be added to the ABJ’s extensive collection. A selection of these works on paper will be exhibited at David Krut Projects in a show entitled 06:08.

Artists Vincent Baloyi, Lance Friedlande, Maja Maljevic, Pauline Mazibuko, Lehlogonolo (Hloni) Mashaba and Ilze Pahl, worked at DKW for two days and, under the direction of printmakers Jillian Ross, Lungi Khongisa and Niall Bingham, were encouraged to explore a variety of themes and techniques.

This workshop, along with many others organised by Art Bank Joburg, gives artists the opportunity to learn new skills or brush up on old ones and work in a collaborative environment. It also serves as an opportunity to expand ABJ’s collection, which now comprises 1054 artworks in a variety of media. ABJ rents these works from their collection to the public and private sector. Now in its second year of operation, ABJ is one of the success stories of the South African art scene.

DKW is a professional printmaking facility specialising in intaglio techniques and producing limited-edition and unique works on paper. Both established and emerging artists, including William Kentridge, Deborah Bell, Colbert Mashile, Sandile Zulu, Andrzej Nowicki and many others, have worked with the printmakers in this collaborative environment, producing works that are both experimental and technically accomplished.

Please join us for the opening of 6:08 on Saturday 9 February at 5pm. The exhibition will run to 16 February.

David Krut Projects
142 Jan Smuts Avenue
Parkwood
Johannesburg