Collaboration when fundamentally translated, it is working jointly with. Concentration on the above interpretation should be placed on the word ‘jointly’ and this will be the focus of the article.
The exhibition Alluvium is a collaboration of two prestigious galleries, representing well established artists, but the practice of collaboration is beneath satisfactory. Being a well established artist involves the element of surprise, which requires one to be daring, and extremely so.
The press release stipulates, “…with both galleries dedicated to a cross-pollination of artistic voices and building a resilient ecosystem, this show enacts the idea of collaboration as a practice…” Artists in this collaboration did not fertilise each other, but rather they remained as silhouettes of their own styles without interruption. This means there was no experimentation with the theme, but they remained stiff and safe within their typical practice.
What this specifies is that, with William Kentridge’s Paper Processions, one did not get an echo of another artist, like that of Lerato Shadi’s virgin wool or raw linen on the same piece, both artists also work with performance. Or a reincarnation of David Koloane aroused by the bra straps divide and encapsulation of Kresiah Mukwazhi, where both pieces share the theme of working with the body, the artwork would even conceptually challenge the display arrangement.
The type of daring that not only challenges aesthetic appeal but also legal and commercial practice, that is, one artist to append and work on the artwork of a dead one. Where a single piece in its creation already costs the price of two well established artists, something similar to what Andy Warhol and Michel Basquiat accomplished on the same canvas or the EAT (Experiments in Art and Technology) project during the late ’70s, established in the US and Asia.
In such a project, engineers and artists worked collaboratively on the same capacity and the result was a phenomenal and successful exhibition in New York and Japan, the showcase was explorative and experimental. Each item had a contribution of engineering, art and technology, this also influenced other disciplines such as the display methodology.
Curatorial practice should not be undermined, especially when dealing with projects that require it’s expertise to be at the helm. A collaboration of two galleries is first and foremost, a collaboration of two curators, where they will guide the artists into the project, taking care of their egos, repertoire and profiles. The exhibition is like a star studded movie, with each actor playing their most famous role of a past project. The galleries did not ‘…enact the idea of a collaboration as a practice…’ but rather as a meaningless word. Because the exhibition is just a juxtaposition of artists from two different galleries, even though it was initially intended for the Joburg Art Fair, it questions the curatorial eagerness of both institutions.
Kentridge’s Paper Procession series reminds of Pablo Picasso’s cubist paper guitar, it is creatively assembled with little effort, but bear’s the right signature. David Koloane is displayed opposite Donna Kukama, simply because both artworks have a dark appeal. Sam Nhlengethwa’s abstract endeavour innocently regurgitates the minimalist composition of a Mark Rothko.
Misheck Masamvu and Clive van den Berg’s colourful abstract expressionism and the monochromatic of Jared Ginsburg are complementary as a collection of a novice enthusiast. The bra straps on canvas of Mukwazhi propel a feminist idea of heavy duty, to that, a bra can achieve what a work overall can.
Visually, Ghada Amer’s, My Body is Mine, is not a feminist revolt, but rather looks like a highly stylised hieroglyphic or QR code, which if it was, it would be proper, “High Art” material.
It must be mentioned that the artists are good on their own but the curatorial approach of the collaboration is merely basic, by simply mounting what has already been created next to what looks similar, whether conceptually or physically, in that sense it is not a collaboration but an Art Fair of two galleries. | Bongo Mei
The Star