Art exhibitions end year
By Tabisa Mntengwana
07 December 2009
WRAPPING up the year, the Ann Bryant Art Gallery will host various art exhibitions ranging from oil paintings and a turned wood art exhibition, to a young emerging artist competition.
Organised by the East London Fine Art Society, the annual Art Exhibition closes on 12 December. It opened with an art talk by well know artist, lecturer and former principal of Belgravia Art Centre, Barry Gibb.
A variety of art is on display, including works by students at the Walter Sisulu University, by members of the East London Fine Art Society and an official from the provincial department of recreation, sport, arts and culture.
The paintings include oils on canvas by Hastings Mqhayi, titled Lamentation, and The Little Angels at Thomas River, by Gibb.
Then, the exhibition Turned Wood will open on 10 December and run until 27 December. It is organised by the East London Wood Crafters Guild and focuses on wood art.
It is aimed at breaking the stereotype of old men producing utilitarian objects in a dusty wooden shed at the bottom of the garden, by displaying a wide range of art objects that use wood as the primary medium and have an element of turning in their creation.
According to a press release issued by the gallery, the focus of the exhibition will be on the creation and display of decorative art objects where the artistic skills and visual impact blend to reveal something beyond just the process of woodturning.
“This exhibition displays examples of a more purist aesthetic of well-crafted decorative art objects in wood through to objects that have been transformed through the use of a wide range of techniques and colour,” it reads.
In addition to the exhibitions, the gallery will screen two films in the Coach House on Saturday, 12 December, starting at 10am. Refreshments will be available.
Congo, My Foot is a short film by Cameroonian filmmaker Okepne Ojang. It is concerned with xenophobia and is a true story of a group of Congolese musicians trying to make a living in Cape Town.
The movie is sometimes sad and sometimes hilarious.
The second film to be screened is A Slow Train to Gwalior, a poetry film by Amitabh Mitra, a doctor based in East London. A short film, it is based on a fusion of poetry, watercolours, music and photography.
Mitra uses his experience of social interaction and cultural impact from countries like India, Bhutan and Zimbabwe, where he worked under varying conditions in his art and poetry. Entrance is free.
Competition
Young emerging artists have been called to submit their works at the gallery for the Young Emerging Artists Competition, in which an artist will win a free exhibition in the gallery’s Coach House.
The artists must be between the ages of 21 and 35 years, and the works must be submitted by Friday, 29 January 2010.
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.
It is closed on Good Friday, Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Freedom Day, Workers' Day and Youth Day. For more information, telephone the gallery on 043 722 4044, or send an email to annbryant@intekom.co.za.
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