New look for National Gallery - for now

Last edited: October 03, 2012

Posted by Business and Arts South Africa

The Iziko South African National Gallery (ISANG) has never looked like this before - and will not again.

The head-turning change is the work of Antony Ward and is part of Rendez-vous 12, an exhibition of international contemporary art.

The public have less than a month to see the exhibition, a collaboration between ISANG and the Musée d’art contemporain de Lyon, the Institut d’art contemporain, Villeurbanne/Rhône-Alpes and the École nationale supérieure des beaux arts de Lyon in France. It is presented in association with the Lyon Biennale.

The Ward work on the National Gallery was specifically done for Rendez-vous 12. It is a vinyl adhesive covering part of the façade on either side of the main entrance to the gallery. It is symmetrical, each side a mirror reflection of the other and designed in colours that are complementary to each other.

Initiated in 2002, Rendez-vous is an international platform based in Lyon, France, dedicated to young artists. This exhibition is supported by the region Rhône-Alpes.

An unusual feature of Rendez-vous is the involvement of ten curators of international biennials and triennials. Each was invited to submit the names of several artists to the curators of Rendez-vous, who then made their final selection of twenty artists. The exhibition showcases the participants’ new projects in sculpture, video, installation, drawing, painting and performance.

While the National Gallery has previously hosted exhibitions from France, in collaboration with the French government, this exhibition represents a first in terms of contemporary international art on such a large scale - from Japan, Great Britain, USA, Brazil, Australia, South Korea, India, Russia and France among other countries.

The focus on young artists from across the globe provides visitors with a unique opportunity to discover and explore the work of emerging artists internationally.

The works on Rendez-vous 12 express a diversity of interests and concerns. Quiet, contemplative images by Viriya Chotpanyavisut reflect the artist’s interest in using photography ‘to observe little things’ while, in contrast, Julia Cottin's ‘trees’ in her installation Forêt de Juma have a massive physicality. The work of several artists, such as Thomas Léon or Rohini Devasher, occupies the in-between space bordering the real and the fictitious, reached through the use of contemporary technology. At the other end of the scale, Emilie Peythieu finds inspiration in waste and debris, the product of urban living and consumerism. References are made to a miscellany of sources, from spaghetti westerns to Marcus Garvey, and materials range from the mass-produced to the ancient and homemade.

Rendez-vous 12 is a project of the France-South Africa Seasons 2012 & 2013 and a selected highlight of the French Season in South Africa 2012.

The last day of the exhibition is on Sunday 14 October.

Visit www.france-southafrica.com and www.rendezvous12.fr

Artists

- Zarouhie Abdalian (born in New Orleans, lives and works in Oakland, USA)
- Fouad Bouchoucha (born in Marseille, lives and works in Marseille, France)
- Viriya Chotpanyavisut (born in Bangkok, Thailand, lives and works in Paris, France)
- Julia Cottin (born in Chalon-sur-Saône, lives and works in Paris, France)
- François Daillant (born in Vallence, lives and works in Lille, France, and London, Great Britain)
- Rohini Devasher (born in New Delhi, lives and works in New Delhi, India)
- Newell Harry (born in Sydney, lives and works in Sydney, Australia)
- Mohamed Konaté (born in Bamako, lives and works in Bamako, Mali)
- Andrey Kuzkin (born in Moscow, lives and works in Moscow, Russia)
- Thomas Léon (born in Dijon, lives and works in Paris, France)
- Camille Llobet (born in Bonneville, lives and works in Villeurbanne, France)
- Sandra Lorenzi (born in Nice, lives and works in Paris, France)
- Soichiro Murata (born in Knagawa, lives and works in Kyoto, Japan)
- Emilie Peythieu (born in Bordeaux, lives and works in Lyon, France)
- Richard Proffitt (born in Liverpool, lives and works in Liverpool, Great Britain)
- Matheus Rocha Pitta (born in Tiradentes, lives and works in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
- Sasa[44] (born in Seoul, lives and works in Seoul, South Korea)
- Anne Lise Seusse (born in Lyon, lives and works in Lyon and Paris, France)
- Sophie T. Lvoff (born in New York, lives and works in New Orleans, USA)
- Antony Ward (born in Béziers, France, lives and works in London, Great Britain).

Curators

- Isabelle Bertolotti, Curator, and Thierry Raspail, Director, Musée d’art contemporain de Lyon
- Nathalie Ergino, Director, Institut d’art contemporain, Villeurbanne / Rhône-Alpes
- Emmanuel Tibloux, Director, École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Lyon.

In collaboration with

- Dan Cameron, New Orleans Biennial (USA) for the artist Sophie T. Lvoff
- Paul Domela, Liverpool Biennial (United Kingdom) for the artist Richard Proffitt
- Moacir Dos Anjos, São Paulo Biennial (Brazil) for the artist Matheus Rocha Pitta
- David Elliot, Sydney Biennial (Australia) for the artist Newell Harry
- N’Goné Fall, Curator in Dakar (Senegal) for the artist Mohamed Konaté
- Massimiliano Gioni, Gwangju Biennial (South Korea)for the artist Sasa[44]
- Bose Krishnamachari, Kochi Muziris Biennial (India) for the artist Rohini Devasher
- Akiko Miki, Yokohama Triennial (Japan) for the artist Soichiro Murata
- Adriano Pedrosa & Jens Hoffmann, Istanbul Biennial (Turkey) for the artist Zarouhie Abdalian
- Daria Pyrkina, Moscow Biennial (Russia) for the artist Andrey Kuzkin.

This event is organised as part of the France-South Africa Seasons 2012 & 2013. www.france-southafrica.com

The France-South Africa Seasons 2012 & 2013 are organised and implemented :

For France:
By Institut français with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture and Communication, the Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, the Ministry for Sports, Youth, Non-formal Education and Voluntary Organisations, the Ministry of Industrial Renewal, the Ministry of Craft Industry, Trade and Tourism, the French Embassy in South Africa and the network of Alliance Française. 
Chairman: Xavier Darcos 
General Commissioner: Laurent Clavel  

For South Africa:
By the Department of Arts and Culture and the National Arts Council (NAC), with the support of the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Sports and Recreation, the
Department of Tourism, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Higher Education and Training, the Department of Basic Education, and the Embassy of South Africa in France. 
Chairman: Dikgang Moopeloa. 
General Commissioner: Bongani Tembe.  

The French Season in South Africa is supported in 2012 by a committee of sponsors chaired by Mr Luc Oursel, AREVA President and Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Executive Board of AREVA. This committee is made of the following corporations: AREVA, Air France, Bouygues Travaux Publics, EDF, GDF-SUEZ, Mazars, Fondation Orange and Total.