Fact and Fiction - 2005 - Obert Contemporary - Johanesburg

art pick of the week

by brenton maart (mail and guardian 30 september 2005)
A grey area, fraught with conceptual angst, is the interface between traditional and new forms of art production. It is here that issues of craft mastery, meditative time and archival capacity come face-to-face with the distrust of the "new", the relative ease of production and the perceived fickle nature of young contemporary culture. It is thus illuminating to encounter a show like the Melrose Art Group Show. Zimbabwe-born Kudzi Chiurai exhibits his mixed-media and spraypainted work that are both reflective of his home country and of a global youth street culture. Peter Eastman joins forces with Matt Hindley to show a series of digitally derived images. These, along with the floral prints/paintings by Henry Symonds, are ironically hand-crafted digital images rendered via a process of photographic printing. Mark Erasmus represents here the South African arm of new European painting, where an analysis of colour and application of geometry questions the validity of traditional painting in a "global village" defined by almost infinitely crossing lines. Belgrade-born Maja Maljevic contributes a series of magnificent oil-on-canvas works that use a traditional form of expression to interrogate contemporary cultural icons
melrose art runs through 11 october 2005 at obert contemporary in melrose arch, johannesburg.

 

Fact and Fiction

Zingi Mfeka (This week's must see - Sunday Times 24 July 2005)
Maja maljevic's "fact and fiction" invites a different, more old-school method of appreciation that values intuition and imagination over concept and innovation, fiction over fact. And what beautiful fiction it is. Maljevic's work is reminiscent of the style of respected south african painter Robert hodgins, whom maljevic claims to admire. "I like his work and I think we approach art in the same way," she said.
"fact and fiction" follows an explorative, playful and childlike rhythm, requiring you to create your own story as you look at the work. What makes maljevic's work immediately appealing is her bold use of colour. "fact and fiction" is her first abstract body of work that has incorporated various characters, who inevitably hint at some narrative. But none of the works are titled because, for maljevic, a title would force a particular reading of her work, robbing the viewer of the pleasure of creating their narrative based the characters they see. Hence, whatever fiction crops up in your head is a valid as a fact. Born and raised in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, maljevic moved to south Africa in 2000 to join her brother. Since her arrival, she has exhibited at various group shows. "fact and fiction" is her second solo exhibition in Johannesburg. It ends 31 july 2005.