In the movie A Good Year, the Russell Crowe character comments on Vincent van Gogh’s Road with Cypress and Star, which his boss, Sir Nigel, has on his wall. Dismissively, Sir Nigel explains that it’s a copy, and that the original, which he never gets to see, is locked up in his vault. This raises so many questions about the nature of art, and the ways in which we consume it. Is art something we buy to own, because it has some recognised intrinsic value, and people will know we are wealthy or important if we own certain paintings? Or is it something we buy to look at just because it is beautiful?
It’s a particularly good time to ask those questions, because South African art is booming. But art, as distinct from artefact, from craft or design, is difficult to define. Art is not a necessity, but it’s not necessarily a luxury either. We don’t need art to survive, but we certainly need it to thrive. We need art because it’s an intrinsic part of what makes us human.
One of the most important of the archaeological remains found at Blombos Cave in the southern Cape is an engraved stone. It’s not a hand axe, not a scraper and certainly not a club. It’s just a piece of decorated stone – and it’s about 100 000 years old, which predates the oldest cave paintings. And the reason it’s important is that it shows us that humans have, possibly always – perhaps even before we became fully human – felt the need to create art and to have art around us.
So, if we’ve been making art in South Africa since long before anyone else, what makes this a particularly interesting time? In search of an answer, I chatted to Andrew Lamprecht, consulting art curator and lecturer at UCT’s Michaelis School of Fine Art. ‘The contemporary art scene in South Africa is growing,’ he told me. There is so much that is fresh and new – evidenced, he says, by the fact that there are now two major art fairs and a host of smaller ones, whereas five years ago there was just one. Cape Town is becoming an art destination of note. It’s not quite there with Berlin or New York – yet! – but it’s getting there. There is a disproportionate quality and quantity of art for the size of the city. And, partly because of the exchange rate, and partly because we simply don’t realise the value of some of our artists, much South African art is very reasonably priced.
It’s not just local. African and South African art is becoming big overseas. The Armory Show in New York will be featuring three South African artists, Athi-Patra Ruga, Ed Young and Lebohang Kganye, along with another five African artists. And the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair will celebrate the best of the continent’s art and artists in New York in May, and in London in October.
It’s almost like we’ve grown up. There was a time during apartheid when it seemed impossible to think beyond Struggle Art. Everything had to have a political meaning, had to convey a protest message – and it wasn’t a pretty one. Art still conveys meaning, and it still communicates. It always will, and it always did – right from that first scratched rock in Blombos Cave – though now we’re a tad more chilled about what the message is that we’re conveying.
But that doesn’t mean South African art has been reduced to nothing more than decorative renditions of whitewashed fishermen’s cottages and big-eyed impalas, or soft-focus water colours of cosmos fluttering in the breeze. The end of apartheid was like the killing of a dragon that was so huge, so omnipresent and omnipotent, that we couldn’t see past it. Now that the dragon’s been slain, we can see both the hoard of treasure it was sleeping on and the trail of destruction it – and we – have wreaked. So art can just celebrate the beauty of the world, or it can protest about some very real issues like environmental degradation, global climate change, genocide, violence, racism and xenophobia. Or both at the same time.
The freeing of the intention of art also entails the freeing of the medium and the context. And part of this new energy is the emergence of some spectacularly innovative conceptual art, thought-provoking environmental art, and socially significant urban art like graffiti and highly formalised graphic poster- and sticker-style works. We are positioning ourselves firmly within the continent of Africa so that, while we push at international frontiers, we also consolidate our Africanness.
That’s why it’s a great time to buy something beautiful to fill that big white space on the lounge wall – or even as an investment. And this is where it gets tricky. How do you choose art? Sometimes it’s obvious. If the first time you see a painting you get that sensation in your gut – you know, the same sensation as when you fell in love for the first time, or the last time, an intense desire that is half pleasure, half pain – if you get that feeling when you see a painting, it’s time to haul out your wallet and buy it. Because living with that painting will always be a pleasure.
But if you’re looking for investment art, you can be a little more objective. It’s probably not worth buying a Van Gogh to keep in a vault even if you can afford to, because, quite frankly, it’s not likely to increase much in value. Rather scout the galleries – and even the art school exhibitions – looking for an up-and-coming young artist that appeals to you. Find something you feel you can live with, something that makes you smile, even if it doesn’t actually raise your blood pressure and make you sweat. What might well bring a major twinkle to your eye is the day you casually say, ten years down the line, when someone notices it on your wall, ‘Oh that? Yes, lovely, isn’t it. I bought it for a song when she was totally unknown. Just because I liked it.’
But if you want to Buy Art (with capital letters), if you really and genuinely want to start a collection, it may be worth getting some advice. There are people, like Andrew, who offer a curating service to aspiring collectors. They keep abreast of interesting trends, sometimes influencing them in the process, and are well positioned to predict which young artists are going to become big. But never ever stop listening to your own gut, and your own heart. If you love it, buy it. If it makes you queasy, no matter how important the artist might become in the future, leave it in the gallery. Unless, of course, you have a vault you can lock it in so you don’t have to look at it till you sell it for a profit.
RESOURCES
ART FAIRS
Cape Town Art Fair, www.capetownartfair.co.za
FNB Joburg Art Fair, www.fnbjoburgartfair.co.za
That Art Fair in Cape Town, www.thatartfair.com
Turbine Art Fair in Joburg, www.turbineartfair.co.za
And, if you’re travelling, the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair in New York in May and London in October, www.1-54.com
GALLERIES
There are so many, and sometimes you’ll find awesome little gems in the lesser-known spots. But here are a few quite special ones.
SMAC Gallery, www.smacgallery.com, showcases local and African artists.
The Goodman Gallery, www.goodman-gallery.com and the Stevenson Gallery, www.stevenson.info, are across-the-board high-end galleries with branches in Joburg and Cape Town. Salon Ninety-One, www.salon91.co.za, and Worldart, www.worldart.co.za, are great places to pick up some gritty, edgy, urban art, and WHATIFTHEWORLD, www.whatiftheworld.com is good for seeking out that as-yet-undiscovered genius just waiting in the wings.
The list is rather Cape Town-biased, but check out Gallery MOMO, www.gallerymomo.com, and the renowned Everard Read Gallery, www.everard-read.co.za in Joburg.
AND MORE
Find out more about South Africa’s art scene on www.artthrob.co.za.
Buy art online at www.art.co.za and www.fineartportfolio.co.za.
And if you want some help starting a collection:
Contact Andrew:
