Personal Affects: Power and Poetics in Contemporary South African Art
Personal Affects Power and Poetics in Contemporary South African Art
by David Brodie, Laurie Ann Farrell, Churchill Madikida, Tracy Murinik, and Liese van der Watt
New York: Museum of African Art and the Church of St. John the Divine, 2004. 175 pp., 200 color illustrations. $40.00 paper.
The catalogue Personal Affects: Power and Poetics in Contemporary South Africa Art details an exhibition of the same name recently held in New York City at the Museum for African Art and the Cathedral of St John the Divine. The curators bring together Jane Alexander, Wim Botha, Steven Cohen, Churchill Madikida, Mustafa Maluka, Thando Mama, Samson Mudzunga, Jay Pather, Johannes Phokela, Robin Rhode, Claudette Schreuders, Berni Searle, Doreen Southwood, Clive van den Berg, Minette Vari, Diane Victor, and Sandile Zulu. Utilizing a variety of media, including drawing, video, sculpture, dance, and installation, these seventeen artists investigate subtle intricacies of identity and agency in a post-apartheid world. Imbued with elements of the personal, this catalogue brings together a generation of artists who raise innovative questions about memory, the body, and personal histories. Most important, Personal Affects highlights how these sentiments are reflected through processes of artistic production and how artistic practices effectively blur the boundaries of identity categories.
The beautifully illustrated catalogue is divided into two main sections. The first section consists of two essays, written by Okwui Enwezor and Liese van der Watt. In "The Enigma of the Rainbow Nation," Enwezor explores the function of art as it relates to a South African colonial and apartheid past. In doing so, he highlights art's archival role, particularly as an archive of memory. Complementing this interpretation, van der Watt explores the changing nature of identity, namely post-identity, in "Towards 'Adversarial Aesthetics.'" For her, "Personal Affects" transgresses normative notions of identity politics, thereby opening up a realm of possibility that recognizes the failure of identity in a South African context. Both essays provide necessary historical and theoretical backgrounds for the catalogue and exhibition, thus further elucidating the larger factors motivating the curators to organize an exhibition around these contemporary identity issues.
The second section of the catalogue presents artist interviews conducted by Tracy Murinik, an art critic based in Cape Town. The interviews are a welcome addition to the catalogue format, providing readers with a unique insight into the creative processes of each artist. By privileging the voices of the artists, the catalogue provides a space for them to verbally locate and interpret their artwork in relation to the larger themes of the exhibition. Additionally, the interviews provide a sort of chronological reference point from which readers can discern the artistic and curatorial processes shaping the development of the exhibition over time.
The beautiful color illustrations and format of Personal Affects are thoroughly enjoyable. The catalogue enlightens readers on not only the exhibition, but also the larger issues facing these artists in the everyday. The introductory essays address the identity issues laid out by the curators, providing just enough background reading so that the reader can fully appreciate the scope of the exhibition. Instead of forcing the artists to articulate their South African-ness, Murinik utilizes the interview format to highlight the connections between artists, such as recurring themes, ideas, and motivations influencing their working processes. However, because the questions differ from interview to interview, the resulting collection lacks cohesion at times. I was often left wondering, asking questions, wanting to know more.
Nonetheless, the catalogue for "Personal Affects" engages with identity in a transformative way, acknowledging its changing nature and fluidity through and across time. By focusing on South Africa, a country very much still dealing with the legacy of apartheid, the curators and contributors successfully highlight the differing atmospheres in which identities are negotiated and mediated through artistic processes. While apartheid may be officially over, the artists in this exhibition highlight the importance of articulating the wounds and fissures left behind, still affecting South Africa and South Africans ten years later. Personal Affects serves as a way to celebrate and commemorate the progress made, the uncertainties remaining, and the work that still needs to be done. By bringing the work of these artists together, this catalogue reveals the differing practices each artist employs in order to make visible the simultaneity of identity markers, shaping what it means to be an individual within and outside of a South African context.
by David Brodie, Laurie Ann Farrell, Churchill Madikida, Tracy Murinik, and Liese van der Watt
New York: Museum of African Art and the Church of St. John the Divine, 2004. 175 pp., 200 color illustrations. $40.00 paper.
The catalogue Personal Affects: Power and Poetics in Contemporary South Africa Art details an exhibition of the same name recently held in New York City at the Museum for African Art and the Cathedral of St John the Divine. The curators bring together Jane Alexander, Wim Botha, Steven Cohen, Churchill Madikida, Mustafa Maluka, Thando Mama, Samson Mudzunga, Jay Pather, Johannes Phokela, Robin Rhode, Claudette Schreuders, Berni Searle, Doreen Southwood, Clive van den Berg, Minette Vari, Diane Victor, and Sandile Zulu. Utilizing a variety of media, including drawing, video, sculpture, dance, and installation, these seventeen artists investigate subtle intricacies of identity and agency in a post-apartheid world. Imbued with elements of the personal, this catalogue brings together a generation of artists who raise innovative questions about memory, the body, and personal histories. Most important, Personal Affects highlights how these sentiments are reflected through processes of artistic production and how artistic practices effectively blur the boundaries of identity categories.
The beautifully illustrated catalogue is divided into two main sections. The first section consists of two essays, written by Okwui Enwezor and Liese van der Watt. In "The Enigma of the Rainbow Nation," Enwezor explores the function of art as it relates to a South African colonial and apartheid past. In doing so, he highlights art's archival role, particularly as an archive of memory. Complementing this interpretation, van der Watt explores the changing nature of identity, namely post-identity, in "Towards 'Adversarial Aesthetics.'" For her, "Personal Affects" transgresses normative notions of identity politics, thereby opening up a realm of possibility that recognizes the failure of identity in a South African context. Both essays provide necessary historical and theoretical backgrounds for the catalogue and exhibition, thus further elucidating the larger factors motivating the curators to organize an exhibition around these contemporary identity issues.
The second section of the catalogue presents artist interviews conducted by Tracy Murinik, an art critic based in Cape Town. The interviews are a welcome addition to the catalogue format, providing readers with a unique insight into the creative processes of each artist. By privileging the voices of the artists, the catalogue provides a space for them to verbally locate and interpret their artwork in relation to the larger themes of the exhibition. Additionally, the interviews provide a sort of chronological reference point from which readers can discern the artistic and curatorial processes shaping the development of the exhibition over time.
The beautiful color illustrations and format of Personal Affects are thoroughly enjoyable. The catalogue enlightens readers on not only the exhibition, but also the larger issues facing these artists in the everyday. The introductory essays address the identity issues laid out by the curators, providing just enough background reading so that the reader can fully appreciate the scope of the exhibition. Instead of forcing the artists to articulate their South African-ness, Murinik utilizes the interview format to highlight the connections between artists, such as recurring themes, ideas, and motivations influencing their working processes. However, because the questions differ from interview to interview, the resulting collection lacks cohesion at times. I was often left wondering, asking questions, wanting to know more.
Nonetheless, the catalogue for "Personal Affects" engages with identity in a transformative way, acknowledging its changing nature and fluidity through and across time. By focusing on South Africa, a country very much still dealing with the legacy of apartheid, the curators and contributors successfully highlight the differing atmospheres in which identities are negotiated and mediated through artistic processes. While apartheid may be officially over, the artists in this exhibition highlight the importance of articulating the wounds and fissures left behind, still affecting South Africa and South Africans ten years later. Personal Affects serves as a way to celebrate and commemorate the progress made, the uncertainties remaining, and the work that still needs to be done. By bringing the work of these artists together, this catalogue reveals the differing practices each artist employs in order to make visible the simultaneity of identity markers, shaping what it means to be an individual within and outside of a South African context.