25 November 2011 to 14 December 2011

11 November 2011 to 30 November 2011

Willem Truter is an artist who’s previous and very successful exhibitions gave ample evidence of his skills as illustrator and his mastery in the use of colour. In his coming exhibition he highlights an essential element of the visual arts, namely the artist as a scout who is inspired and derives his/her creative urges from a variety of images, formations, materials, figures and other objects. From this inspiration, an orderly and intimate artistic process emerges which finds its solution in the visual language of the painting namely in colour, composition and harmony of design.  In his paintings, Willem invites the viewer to become part of this intimate process and also to become a scout and an artist.

Willem Truter is an artist who’s previous and very successful exhibitions gave ample evidence of his skills as illustrator and his mastery in the use of colour.  In his exhibition he highlights an essential element of the visual arts, namely the artist as a scout who is inspired and derives his/her creative urges from a variety of images, formations, materials, figures and other objects.  From this inspiration, an orderly and intimate artistic process emerges which finds its solution in the visual language of the painting namely in colour, composition and harmony of design.  In his paintings, Willem invites the viewer to become part of this intimate process and also to become a scout and an artist.

Walkabout:  Saturday 19 November 2011 at 11:00

Fine Arts graduate, Roelf Daling, emerged victorious at the 2011 Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) Young Concrete Sculptor Awards (YCSA). The event took place on Wednesday, 2 November 2011 at the Association of Arts Pretoria. Now in its 20th year, the competition continues to yield inspiring sculptures and remains a pertinent promoter of artistic empowerment, recognising the value and beauty of art in South Africa.

Daling’s artwork titled, “The hole we found”, was an original concept, winning him the grand prize of R50 000. His sculpture is a concrete manhole pipe that has been ingeniously rigged with LED lighting and two-way mirrors, creating the illusion of a bottomless shaft with a descending ladder. His work deals with the expansion of cities, and their vast network of tunnels that are constantly being built to carry water, gas, electricity and digital information. As with art, the sculpture possesses the creativity to develop into almost anything.

The judging panel, all in agreement, described Daling’s work as ‘conceptually stimulating’, and appreciated the transformation of the concrete by using different mediums into something illusionary and interesting.

The YCSA runner-up prize of R25 000 was awarded to Johannesburg-based Regardt van der Meulen, for his piece, “Sleeps with the fishes”. The title of van der Meulen’s artwork alludes to the mafia practice of ‘concrete shoes’, whereby the underworld used to sink their adversaries to murky depths. The phrase was adopted in the United States as a humorous term, representing any threat from criminals, and later gave rise to the euphemism of death, as someone who sleeps with fish.

Merit awards, to the value of R5 000 went to Noko Alpheus Mello for his concrete and steel sculpture titled “Sacrifice”, and Mandy Johnston, for her complex artwork made from concrete and sand from different Johannesburg mine dumps, entitled “Transcending the material”.

A Certificate of Recognition was also issued to Lebitsi Milton Nelson Thaba for his works entitled, “Puppet Master & Projectile Effect”. The judges felt both sculptures had merit, showing technical ability and were visually engaging.

“The PPC Cement YCSA competition continues to grow in strength from year to year. The quality and level of creativity of artworks entered into the competition keeps improving, both technically and conceptually. PPC Cement wishes to encourage and thank all entrants and supporters, past and future, for their participation and enthusiasm throughout the years”, says PPC’s Public Relations Manager, Nomzamo Khanyile.

The YCSA competition started as one of PPC’s centenary celebrations 20 years ago and remains one of the most interesting, creative and long standing concrete sculptor competitions in South Africa. Designed to encourage young artistic expression in all its forms, the competition’s critical specification is that the medium utilised to create the art piece, is concrete.

Close to 60 entries were received this year, a high number for a niche competition of this calibre. This year’s theme for the competition, “Our Strength, Your Vision”, was the hallmark of PPC’s values that encouraged artists entering the YCSA competition, to rely on its products in bringing their artistic vision to life.

Khanyile continues to say, “The YCSA competition remains a core sponsorship to PPC, as South Africa’s emerging talent is unearthed and it is a platform for up-and-coming artist to launch their careers. The quality and direction of the various sculptures never fails to inspire, especially as new innovative techniques discovered and used. Congratulations to all the winners tonight!”

According to Kay Potts, National Chairperson of PPC YCSA, this year has set the standard for future competitions and for young sculptors to aspire to.

“The YCSA competition grows in strength every year, and the 20^th PPC YCSA has been the strongest ever, with the highest quality of conceptual works and technically proficient sculptures received. It was a very difficult year for the jury, as all the works had their own merits,” says Potts.

The Young Concrete Sculptor exhibition runs from 3 – 23 November 2011 at the Association of Arts Pretoria, 173 Mackie Street, Nieuw Muckleneuk. For more information, contact the Association of Pretoria on 012 346 3100.

It’s that time in the competition where Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC), in conjunction with the Association of the Arts Pretoria, encourages all prospective participants to bring their vision to life and submit their competition entries before 29 September 2011. 

The 2011 PPC Young Concrete Sculptor Awards (YCSA) Competition promises to be even bigger than previous years as it marks the competition’s 20^th anniversary. Entrants once again stand a chance to win R50 000, a first prize for the piece to be crowned “Best Sculpture on Exhibition”. The runner-up will receive R25 000 and two deserving artists will win merit awards of R5 000 each. These fantastic prizes will, as always, be awarded based on the judges’ assessment of each piece’s technical skill and creativity combined with outstanding conceptual design and thinking in concrete as the main medium.

This year’s theme, “Our Strength, Your Vision” is the hallmark of PPC’s values, which speaks to and encourages all our customers, including artists entering the YCSA Competition, to rely on our products in bringing their construction or sculpture vision to life.

Photographic entries of up to two sculptures may be submitted by participants who are eighteen years of age or older and “young” in the art of sculpting using concrete as a medium. They should be upcoming sculptors or are not yet recognised as professionals in this field.

The YCSA Competition continues to impress the art community with the quality of its annual entries and has become one of South Africa’s most prestigious art competitions. The quantity of entries remains impressive every year, with the competition targeting a niche market.

“The PPC Cement YCSA Competition not only produces outstanding works of art, but has empowered many artists to embark on a professional career utilising concrete as a sculpting medium,” says Customer Executive, PPC Cement, Richard Tomes.

The judging panel looks for work that demonstrates outstanding craftsmanship, aesthetic appeal and conceptual strength. A fine balance between technical ability, artistic creativity and respect for the medium of concrete is essential.

This year’s judging panel consists of Technical Advisor for PPC, Donovan Leach; Chairperson, Kay Potts; Academic, Marc Edwards; practicing artist, Rina Stutzer; gallerist, Jacob Lebeko and previous YCSA winner, Bevan Thornton.

Photographic entries of completed works can be e-mailed to artspta@mweb.co.za.  The whole presentation may not be bigger than five megabytes.  Alternatively, hard copy colour entries can be delivered by hand or post to the Association of Arts Pretoria,173 Mackie Street, Nieuw Muckleneuk inPretoria.  Entries are to be submitted on Tuesday 27 September, Wednesday 28 September and Thursday 29 September 2011. 

For more information and entry forms contact Nandi Hilliard at the Association of Arts Pretoria at 012 346 3100.

 Soweto-born Mohau Modisakeng emerged victorious at the 2011 Sasol New Signatures Competition, culminating in an evening filled with excitement at the Pretoria Art Museum. In recognizing the value and beauty of art in South Africa, the competition is in its 50^th year. 

Modisakeng’s artwork titled, ‘Qhatha’ depicted spirituality and was ritualistic in its approach, winning the 25-year-old a grand prize of R60 000 and a solo exhibition next year at the Pretoria Art Museum.  His work deals with identity and inner conflict that plays out in a set of eclectic and appropriated images.

The judges described his artwork as one that unites the artist’s persona charging the work with a bold and sensual identity drawing the viewer into the space.

The runner up was Sikhumbuzo Nation Makandula, who walks away with a cash prize of R15 000.  His piece is praised as an example of how resourceful one can be with a video camera, orange bags and a rainstorm. The artist’s piece is complex yet simple.

There were five Merit Award winners for the evening, Claire Jorgensen, Semona Turvey, Kristie van Zyl, Rivon Marlen Viljoen and Nicole Weatherby who walk away with R1000 each.

The national competition, sponsored by Sasol for the last 21 years, is presented annually with the Association of Arts Pretoria and is aimed at new, innovative and emerging young artists, 18 and older. With nearly 600 entries into this year’s competition, the regional committees have selected a total of 82 art works for exhibition at the Pretoria Art Museum.

South Africa’s freshest talent is unearthed through this competition and it is a platform for up and coming artists to launch their careers while being awarded for excellence, originality and perceptiveness. The competition is the longest running national art competition South Africa has ever seen. Information sessions were held throughout the country with the aim of teaching emerging artists how to evaluate, appreciate and advance in the industry.

The Sasol New Signatures exhibition takes place at the Pretoria Art Museum are open to the public from Thursday 1 September  2011 to Sunday 2 October 2011.  For more information contact the Association of Arts Pretoria on 012 – 346 3100.

Visit www.sasolsignatures.co.za to view the merit awards and all the works on exhibition

2 September to 21 September 2011

Well-known and acclaimed architect Pieter Mathews and his young son Gian combine their talents to stage an exciting exhibition of kinetic, as-found and assemblage pieces.  This fascinating array of lively and intricate designs and free forms as well as scintillating mixtures of textures and colours bears witness of the artists’ innate feelings for rhythm and delicate balances.  The exhibition is a tour de force of architectural and geometric design.  At the same time, the creations are graceful and harmonious works of art – one could say melodies in physical appearance – that would have appealed to famous abstract artists such as Miro, Kadinsky and Mondriaan and certainly to Mathew’s favourite, the world renown sculptor Jean Tinguely who satirized the mindless overproduction of material goods in advanced industrial societies.

Pieter Mathews is the principal of the Pretoria architect firm Mathews and Associates.  His firm has won numerous awards and has more than 110 editorial publications both locally and abroad. He is the author of two books and architectural editor of De Kat magazine.  He is vice-president of the Pretoria Institute for Architecture and act as external examiner for the universities of Pretoria, the Free State and the Witwatersrand.  His son Gian is a grade 8 pupil at Pretoria Boys High School who has completed some sculpting courses with well-known sculptors and shares his father’s passion for the arts.

Wakabout:  Saturday 10 September 2011 at 11:00.

9 September 2011 to 28 September 2011

Loeritha Saayman is a member of a group of young and talented Pretoria artists.  Her expressive works, exhibited over the past ten years in a number of solo and group exhibitions, are widely admired for their fine technical and artistic qualities, but more so, for their richness of ideas and subtleties of feelings.

In her forthcoming exhibition of two and three dimensional works, entitled From my Tree House, she illustrates the complexities of human co-existence with nature.  The ongoing range of this dichotomy between on the hand, human destruction and on the other hand, renewal of nature is captured in a series of perceptive works, combining painting and drawing techniques with laser and plasma cuttings as well as recycled steel to create impressions of mutilated trees.  Her work, although starkly expressive, is not harsh, and never devoid of the deliciousness of graceful design and subtle colouring.

Walkabout:  Saturday 17 September 2011 at 11:00

Kay Potts is a sculptor who fifteen years ago came from the United States to settle and work in South Africa where she has won the high acclaim for her technically and conceptually innovative works.  She is also an art lecturer at the University of Pretoria, vice-chairperson of the Arts Association Pretoria and national chairperson of the PPC’s Young Concrete Sculptor awards competition.

Kay says of her forthcoming exhibition:  “When I started on this exhibition, the common theme that kept appearing was how fast everyone seems to be moving and how separated and distant we have become from each other as humans.  My previous solo exhibition centred on mythic stories and was my way of grieving my father’s death.  Somehow, these thoughts about mortality and loss made me more aware that time and people are rushing past each other without taking time to connect emotionally.  Some of this estrangement is technology driven.  I have often observed people in restaurants who spend the entire meal on their device-of-choice chatting to persons who are not their dinner companions.  As much as I enjoy technology and the instant connectivity with the world and almost anyone anywhere it affords, I often long for pre-cell phones days.   Then I wonder if this constantly connected state we are in has actually disconnected us from each other.”   These constant activities and agitation that alienate us from others inspired Kay to create a series of works which she quite appropriately labelled Perpetual Motion.

Kay’s exhibition is opened by well-known artist Peter Binsbergen on Friday 17 June 2011 at 18:30 for 19:00 and runs till Wednesday 6 July 2011.

On Saturday 25 June 2011 at 11:00 there is a walkabout conducted by the artist.

Susanne Bjerg is an outstanding art photographer who received her training in Norway, her country of birth Denmark and in South Africa.  Her previous exhibitions in Johannesburg and Pretoria won much acclaim. She was the official photographer for the SA Ballet Theatre for more than ten years.  Some of her works capture a pervasive mood and convey a poetic awareness whereas others are strikingly graphic with a strong and immediate appeal.

Susanne says: “I have thousand photos and thousand ideas.  This is a prime selection of my most cherished photographic images, thus the title: “The photographer’s favourites.  By showing my best photos, I want in a stylish way to show how different themes and places are interpreted so as to establish an intimate relationship with the viewer.”

Susanne’s exhibition is opened by His Excellency Danish ambassador Dan E Frederiksen at 18:30 for 19:00 on Friday 10 June 2011 in the Mackie Street art gallery of the Art Association Pretoria and runs till 2 July 2011.

On Saturday 18 June 2911 at 11:00 the artist conducts a walkabout in the gallery.

3 June 2011 to 22 June 2011

At Smit, a retired Air Force pilot, applies his woodturning skills to produce wood art works of the most exceptional grace and beauty.   He is the only person in the country to make elliptical hollow solid wood vessels in excess of 400 mm deep.  At the 2010 congress of the SA Association of Woodturners (AWSA) an elliptical vase displayed by At was judged by two renowned American woodcutters as the best piece on the show.  All kinds of wood are suitable for turning and it is a wonder to see how the artist transforms an often discarded piece of wood into a delectable object.  His works sing with the mellifluous voice of nature.

On Saturday 11 June 2011, at 11:00, the artist conducts a walkabout and demonstration and on Wednesday 15 June 2011 at 11:00 he gives a woodturning demonstration.