William Kentridge on upcoming biggest exhibition

Posted on 23 July 2019

Highly-acclaimed South African artist William Kentridge is currently preparing for the largest single exhibition of his works, which will open in Cape Town on the last weekend of August.

Kentridge’s exhibitions are presented by visual art centre, the Norval Foundation, based in Steenberg in the Mother City.

The exhibition Why Should I Hesitate? Sculpture will be the artist’s first international sculptural exhibition. Kentridge cites Why Should I Hesitate? Sculpture will be shown at the Norval Foundation’s Sculpture Garden from August 24 while Why Should I Hesitate? Putting Drawings To Work will be on view at Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA).

william kentridge

Image: Stella Oliver / supplied by Norval Foundation

The Foundation wanted to find out more about his upcoming exhibition, and hosted a Q&A session to understand what inspired Kentridge’s latest artistic offerings.

When asked by Norval Foundation curator Karel Nel what informed his inclination towards expression through sculpture in recent years, Kentridge alludes to shadows and silhouettes, dimensions, light and perception, and profoundly, feeling ‘the weight of an image’ rather than merely having a bulky, heavy sculpture.

“There are a number of sculptures which are made in cardboard, cast in bronze and painted to look like sculptures,” Kentridge said.

“There are also virtual sculptures in which the sculptural three-dimensionality only exists in the viewer’s brain. Two flat images which are pushed into a third dimension through various stereoscopic means.”

He cited Picasso, Cy Twombly, Alexander Calder and Alberto Giacometti as some of his prominent sculptor influences.

Kentridge was also a draftsman, and his visual artistic expression through drawings are what has attracted many of his admirers.

Here’s a snippet of his Q&A with Zeitz MOCAA Curator for Why Should I Hesitate? Putting Drawings To Work Azu Nwagbogu:

Nwagbogu: Why is drawing still central to your practice as an artist and further to that, what role does new media play in your working practice as an artist? As a corollary, what does materiality mean to you as an artist and how is this represented in this exhibition?

Kentridge: Drawing is the starting point for the project. It’s a way of thinking in material. In my case, very often charcoal which has the flexibility of being erased as quickly and easily as you can change your mind and have a new thought. So it’s a way of thinking aloud. I rely on the process of drawing to generate thoughts which may end up as charcoal drawings or may end up as sculptures or tapestries or films or pieces of theatre.

It is always a question of finding a material in which to think. Whether it is an actor’s body, a gesture, torn paper or ink. There must be a connection between the particular qualities of the material and the thematics that are under investigation.

Opening events:

A series of member events and public programmes will be held across both venues over the opening weekend, Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 August 2019.

Exhibition title:          Why Should I Hesitate? Sculpture

Venue:                       Atrium and Galleries 2-8, Norval Foundation, 4 Steenberg Road, Tokai

Run dates:                 24 August 2019 – 23 March 2020

Exhibition curators:   Karel Nel, Owen Martin, Talia Naicker, Vicky Lekone

Exhibition title:          Why Should I Hesitate: Putting Drawings To Work

Venue:                       Level 3 Galleries and throughout, Zeitz MOCAA; Silo District, V&A Waterfront

Run dates:                25 August 2019 – 23 March 2020

Exhibition curators:   Azu Nwagbogu, assisted by Tammy Langtry

 

Images: supplied/Norval Foundation






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