VISUAL ART

GERT SWART

Contemplation

, a body of work by Gert Swart, will run at the Tatham Art Gallery in Pietermaritzburg from March 11 to May 4.

According to the gallery "the journey of the individual from darkness to light, from pain and suffering to healing, lies at the heart of Gert Swart's work.

"This journey, with its strong spiritual and physical dimensions, is also the story of South Africa, its trials and pain on its odyssey toward redemption.

"From the time Swart carved his first piece in 1973 until the present, he has been striving to find a sculptural language to communicate the personal visions of his soul."

VEHICLE

By using wood, metal and a wide range of mixed media as his chosen vehicle for expression Gert works patiently and with deliberation to create trees and chairs, ladders and sacramental font pieces, scrolls, crosses and human figures.

The exhibition is divided into three sections.

Contiguity

focuses on questions asked about life and is shown in Phemba Kahle. Continuum, representing death and transformation, will be shown in the temporary exhibition room, while Imago, dealing with resurrection, will be shown in the Lorna Ferguson Room.

On March 22 at 10h30, Zane Lang, art teacher at Glenwood High School, will conduct a walkabout of the Gert Swart exhibition. Admission is free.

TITO ZUNGU

The Durban Art Gallery will host a retrospective exhibition of well-known artist, Tito Zungu, from March 2 to 26 which comprises 60 works, including drawings and decorated envelopes which have been lent by institutions such as the African Art Centre and the Tatham Art Gallery as well as by private collectors.

Tito Zungu lives in the Mapumulo area and has been creating decorated enve-lopes and drawings for over 30 years. For his earliest works he used non-archival papers and unstable medium like ball point pen and koki (felt tipped) pens.

Consequently, those which have been exposed to light have faded badly.

On the other hand, the 14 early enve-lopes discovered in the African Art Centre archives when the curators were carrying out research on Tito Zungu, are in a perfect state of preservation since they had not been exposed to light. Amongst these was the first envelope Tito brought into the Centre in 1970, a find of immense historical interest.

Museum institutions who acquired early works by Tito were understandably loathe to lend such fragile works to this retrospective exhibition.

In 1993 Tito was encouraged by Durban sculptor Andries Botha to change his materials and use only the finest quality papers, pens and inks for his drawings. Thus these latter drawings will have a better chance of standing the test of time.

SOME BODIES

On exhibition at the NSA Gallery until March 13 is Some Bodies, an exhibition of sculpture and drawing by Mark Hipper, Aliza Levi and Liza du Plessis who have focused on the human body as a subject for exploration.

ALIZA LEVI

Aliza Levi has investigated the relationship between the external facade and the rarely-revealed psychological make-up of the individual.

Working with wax and oil paint to evoke the sense of warmth of skin, she has contrasted this with stainless steel to emphasise the bareness and nakedness of the figures and provide a strong contrast.

In these works, Aliza questions the representation of men and women histo-rically and in contemporary art/media.

LIZA DU PLESSIS

Liza du Plessis's work is described as dealing with the exploration of identity, addressing in particular the issue of female sexuality.

"Working with objects of ritual and ceremony, she explores issues of sexuality from a child's perspective, a sensitive subject which has profound implications in adult life.

"She uses the doll as a metaphorical representation to explore these issues. Through her sculptures she expresses her concern and horror over how easily children can be exploited, harmed, manipulated and conditions on a physical as well as emotional level."

MARK HIPPER

Mark Hipper focuses on the human body not only as a recipient of experience, but as an organ of perception as well, posing a number of questions.

"Is there a correct way of seeing? Are their appropriate objects for viewing? Who should be allowed to view what? His works deal in overt ways with sexuality and he employs similar devices to those used in pornography - a technique which increases the unease in viewing the work."

Hipper's work is said to offer a chal-lenge to reconsider prevailing attitudes to the body and its representations.