VISUAL ART

CONTEMPLATION

Contemplation

, a body of work by Gert Swart, is on show in the Tatham Art Gallery in Pietermaritzburg until May 4 (see page 1). This thought-provoking exhibition by the Pietermaritzburg sculp-tor represents more than 10 years' work and is the largest sculpture exhibition mounted by the gallery to date.

Wood, metal and a wide range of mixed media are Swart's vehicles for expres-sion.

The exhibition is situated in three venues: the Old Presbyterian Church; the temporary exhibition room of the gallery and the Lorna Ferguson Room.

TOURS

On April 19 at 10h30 there will be a sign-interpreted tour of the exhibition for the deaf and hard of hearing. Admission is free. On April 10 at 19h00 there is a special walkabout and discussion led by a group of Durban artists and a theologian The tour will be followed by light refreshments. Cost is R3 (students, pensioners and FOTAG members R1).

TALKS

Talks at the Tatham in April include Contemplation: Restoration by Gert Swart on April 9 and Steinkopf II by Gavin Younge on April 23. Starting time is 13h10 and entrance is free.

PASCALE ART

Well-known Durban artist and teacher, Pascale Chandler, will present a solo exhibition in the NSA's main gallery from April 27 to May 15.

She maintains that her recent paintings explore her particular domestic surroun-dings in a way that is both personal and idiosyncratic, using a language which is a balance between the recognised and the abstracted.

An exhibition of work by Pascale's students will run concurrently in the NSA's Mezzanine Gallery.

NEW MURAL

The SA Human Rights mural at the Old Central Prison in Durban's Walnut Road has been commissioned by Human Rights Day Project and sponsored by the Centre for Community Law, Lawyers for Human Rights, Artists for Human Rights and US Aid.

The 20 artists co-ordinated by Com-munity Mural Projects completed the work in time for Human Rights Day on March 21. The old mural, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was damaged by construction work which explains the need for a new mural.

SANDBERG ART

The Sandberg Institute from Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Technikon Natal present a collaborative exhibition of contemporary art at the BAT Centre.

The Sandberg Institute is a post-graduate course in fine arts. Besides offering post-graduate education and organising exhibitions and projects, the Sandberg seeks contact with cultures that are different from the Dutch and Western European cultures in order to widen the artists' view.

Some 12 artists from the Sandberg are in Durban to work with students from the Technikon and the exhibition, which runs until April 25 has the wondrous title of Stel: Hottenttottententententoon (believe it!), is the outcome of this union.

On show will be painting, performance, film, photography, sound, sculpture, installations and objects that show the meeting of the two cultures.

MASTERING MUD

Mastering Mud

at the Tatham Art Gallery in Pietermaritzburg until May 4 features ceramic work by Glenda Mentis, Ian Garrett and Cara Walters which were submitted for their master of art in fine arts (ceramics) at the University of Natal in Pietermaritzburg.

Cara Walters models wall-plaques in high-relief using terracotta clays explo-ring personal themes interpreted through the imagery of mother and child icons.

Ian Garrett's terracotta pots, bowls and lidded jars are built by hand and pit-fired with wood, dung and aloe leaves. His work is inspired by the forms and sur-faces of traditional African ceramics.

Sculptor Glenda Mentis' vessels are inspired by the colours, textures and shapes of corals shells and other marine life forms. Members of the public can watch her work in the gallery on April 27 and 28 between 18h00 and 16h00.

ROMARE BEARDON

The Painted Sounds of Romare Beardon

is an exhibition brought to South Africa by the United States Information Service showing the work of the well-known American artist Romare Beardon.

He grew up in Harlem in New York in the 30s and usually depicts jazz musi-cians of the time. His work, mainly in collage, spans most of this century.

The Painted Sounds of Romare Beardon

will be opened on 16 April by Paul Denig, director of the USIS and jazz will be played by Darius Brubeck and mem-bers of the Centre for Jazz and Contem-porary Music at the University of Natal.

The exhibition runs through the rest of April and a couple of weeks into May.

AMOS LANGDOWN

Amos Langdown is the featured artist of the month at the Africa Art Gallery in Umhlanga. An artist who has spent a major portion of his life in art education, Amos has exhibited extensively through-out the world and studied at the Rijks Academy in Amsterdam and in America.

Africa Gallery is situated in Shop 5 of the Granada Centre and offers Durban Arts members 10% discount on framing (except block mounting).

Phone 561-2661.

NCAG MEETINGS

The next meeting of the North Coast Art Group will take place at 14h00 sharp in the Umhlanga Rocks Library's Activity Room on April 5.

For details phone 568-1895 or 568-2018.