Tonight i went to check out Barend's opening for his new exhibition "Pre-Green" at the Stellenbosch Modern and Contemporary art gallery. i always have such a wicked time whenever i visit Stellenbosch, whatever issues you might have with the little town you've got to admit that it has some very fucking beautiful buildings. My first time there was for the Spring art tour last year, it was a national event with a few days in Jozi and a few in Cape Town including an amazing Saturday in Stellenbosch. There were talks, there were performances, wine tastings on the streets and a number of openings all packed into one week. In fact now that i think of it that was the first time i saw Barend's performance art. i only saw a little of it on that day tho, but i recall his and the Gugulective's perfomances. Naturally i and the usual bunch of art tarts got fabulously drunk on the streets of Stellenbosch whilst crawling from gallery to gallery. i believe they are now making that event into a Biennial so i'm looking forward to next year. Anyway back to tonight, i'm a little sad that the SMAC does not allow people to take pics of the art on show, it would be great to show you pics of his work in the gallery context. i've got some that i took at his flat but that really will not have the same impact, so if you are close by this would be the perfect excuse to go for a Saturday lunch in Stellenbosch skat. You can enjoy his really beautiful work at your own leisure and be spared the very loooooooong opening speech i had to endure, and i really really hate speeches. Plus the lady on stage delivered this one in a uniquely monotonous tone. Would a little inflection have been too much to ask for? Speeches seem to be a bit of a thing with the SMAC, Thembinkosi Goniwe gave a speech there last year and i recall feeling the urge to grab a blunt axe and have a go at my wrists just so i could keep my eyes open. I'm dosing off just thinking about it. Goodnight.
0 comments:
Post a Comment