Cape Town artist James Webb is planning to host two solo exhibitions on the same night, one of which will be his Johannesburg one-person debut
James Webb (with Jo O’Connor), Like it, but can’t afford it, 1999/2010, public intervention
JOHANNESBURG — Two years after winning the 2008 Absa l’Atelier art competition, Cape Town artist James Webb has relented. This coming Wednesday he will be presenting a long overdue solo show of work at the ABSA Gallery. It is customary for winners of this competition, which includes a six-month residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts studios in Paris as part of the winning prize, to present an exhibition of work after returning.
The ABSA Gallery exhibition, Webb’s first solo show in the city, is entitiled Terms of Surrender. Known for his prankish wit and nuanced critique of the gallery system, Webb has opted to open his second Johannesburg solo exhibition, entitled Aleph, on the same evening, at Goethe On Main, also located on Main Street.
Webb’s ABSA
Gallery show, which opens at 18H00 on November 10, brings together individual works created over the past three years in Berlin, Cape Town,
Johannesburg, Madrid and Paris. “The exhibition employs
spatial and sculptural elements to create a meditation on territory, history
and culture,” reads a statement issued by the artist.
Aleph, which opens at Goethe On Main at 19h30 on the same evening, explores the phenomenon of glossolalia through a series of sonic
portraits of people speaking in tongues. The process was augmented by
interviews with the participants, and the installation creates a “liminal space
wherein seemingly nonsensical linguistic, but nevertheless very personal,
spiritual expression can be opened to the public,” states Webb.
Download exhibition invite here (1.23 MB).
www.theotherjameswebb.com
Terms of Surrender, installation view, ABSA Gallery. Photo: John Hogg
Terms of Surrender, installation view, ABSA Gallery. Photo: John Hogg
