iArt Gallery, Cape Town

Charcoal drawing of William Kentridge by Paul Emsley

Whatiftheworld Gallery, Cape Town

"The Poor Man’s Picasso" (2009), by the Avant Car Guard

June 2009 Fair Reviews

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Julie Mehretu William Kentridge Odili Donald Odita When in… London Mary Reid Kelley in New York South African, U.K. Artists Donate Works for Charity Auction Performa 09 Is Trying to Seduce You Contemporary Art

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JOHANNESBURG—The second Joburg Art Fair of contemporary African art generated the usual pre-event buzz, with one sponsor promising "an electromagnetic experience." Unfortunately, the metaphor had unintended resonance in a fair marked by low-voltage sales. "Compared with last year, we had to do a lot more chitchat and hard selling," says Brenton Maart, of Durban’s KZNSA Gallery, one of 18 South African dealers among the 26 exhibitors.

+ First-timer Henri Vergon of local gallery Afronova characterizes business as "extremely slow." By the second full day of trading, Vergon’s only major sale was a work by Mozambican sculptor Gonçalo Mabunda, a metal chair made from recycled weapons, priced at $12,000. "All the sales I made here were to overseas buyers," says Vergon, who earlier in the day expelled a South African visitor from his booth for making a racist remark about Mabunda’s work and its pricing. "It is disappointing to see how South Africans are reluctant to even look at African art." Mabunda’s chairs have garnered increased critical appreciation of late, and one was included in "Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary," recently presented by the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.

+ South African dealers Goodman Gallery and Michael Stevenson reported contrasting sales results. Stevenson’s offerings, which included works by Nigerian Odili Donald Odita and Ethiopian-born Julie Mehretu, failed to find buyers, while Goodman’s Liza Essers reports having "a good fair." She cited in particular the sale of an untitled drawing of peonies by William Kentridge for $136,000.

+ Kentridge was the star of his hometown’s fair, which he attended. He also appeared in two striking portraits: an austere charcoal drawing by Paul Emsley, and the pop-satirical painting The Poor Man’s Picasso, 2009, by the Avant Car Guard collaborative. Both were sold by Cape Town dealers: the first, for $30,000, at iArt Gallery; the second, for $2,400, at Whatiftheworld Gallery.

"Joburg Art Fair" originally appeared in the June 2009 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's June 2009 Table of Contents.