Gallery puts the art back into spring
By Tabisa Mntengwana
21 August 2009
CELEBRATE spring this September with a line up of exclusive artworks at the Ann Bryant Art Gallery, in Southernwood.
Exhibitions include works by South African children, high school learners, DVD series and a lecture on art. The annual East London High Schools Art Exhibition kicks off on spring day – 1 September – and runs until 11 September at the Coach House.
It features graphics, ceramics, sculptures, design and painting by learners from grades eight to grade 12. According to a press release from the gallery, the artworks represent a period of exploration as the emerging personality comes to terms with the external world.
The work is pre-selected and gold, silver and bronze awards are made by judges chosen each year by the schools’ art teachers. “Each piece, charming, original, unexpected, represents an adventure of the spirit or a battle with the unfamiliar elements of an intractable medium.”
Also focusing on the youth, the Santam Child Art exhibition starts on 27 August and runs until 12 September.
More than 2 000 children of all ages from around the country let their imaginations run wild, and then register their work for the competition. Now in its 46th year, it is open to all schools to help the learners hone their artistic skills.
The results of the competition are coming to East London to be exhibited at the Ann Bryant Art Gallery. According to Santam’s head of marketing and communications, Gary Petersen, art is a universal language that for centuries has communicated across cultural barriers and has, therefore, been at the forefront of various social developments.
“We are encouraging the youngsters to develop and preserve our national ability to have conversations and we are encouraging them … to aspire and to dream,” he adds.
A new DVD series also kicks off at the Coach House, hosted by Neil MacGregor. Upcoming features are Illusions and Emotions, Old Tricks and New Pigments, and Loss and Recovery.
There is also a slide and video lecture by Barry Gibb on Thursday, 8 October in the main gallery. The lecture, costing R25 per person, will be at 7pm. Gibb will discuss Gothic mystery tales of ghostly horror, as well as the adventures of Robin Hood and Ivanhoe.
The gallery ends its spring displays with a group show of local artists, including Stella Willis, Pat Nankiville, Gareth Humphreys, Leon and Lauren du Preez, Moekie Manthe and Kobus van der Westerhuizen.
It opens on Friday, 18 September and closes on 3 October.
The Ann Bryant Art Gallery is at 9 St Mark’s Road in Southernwood. It is open on Mondays to Fridays, from 9am to 5pm; and on Saturdays and public holidays, from 9am to 12 noon.
For more information, telephone the gallery on 043 722 4044, or send an email to annbryant@intekom.co.za.
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