04.10.2007
William Kentridge, undoubtedly the best known artist from South Africa, currently in demand by major institutions all over the world, will be exhibiting at the University of Brighton's gallery this autumn. This will be the largest Kentridge exhibition ever mounted in the UK and the majority of exhibits have never been shown here before.
The programme of multimedia events will include a large-scale exhibition of Kentridge's prints from the 1990s to 2007, a new video installation first shown in 2005 at the Venice Biennale, two screenings of Kentridge's films with an accompanying original, live score by Philip Miller and a chamber orchestra, as well as a two-day symposium.
Kentridge was born and raised in Johannesburg. Although his work was created in the context of post-apartheid society and informed by the memory of the apartheid years, he does not adopt an obvious political agenda. Instead his work speaks of a constant dialogue, a state of flux and ambiguity and the questioning of identity for any individual living in the post-traumatic political landscape that is South Africa.
Whilst Kentridge's work is insistently political it rejects any easy or prescriptive sloganeering. It is this quality, as well as his inventive use of mixed media, that has made him an artist of international significance well beyond the South African context.
The festival will demonstrate the breadth of Kentridge's use of media. Throughout his career, Kentridge has worked in theatre design, drypoint prints, opera staging and production, animated film, drawing, light projection, refraction and photogravure.
The exhibition entitled William Kentridge: Fragile Identities, will present over 60 prints as well as three major installations, raising questions about the nature of artistic representation in the context of twenty-first-century politics. The majority of the prints will be showcased in the university's gallery alongside 7 Fragments for Georges Méliès (2003),a seven-screen, black and white projection, in which Kentridge pays homage to the pioneering French animator.
Kentridge has collaborated with fellow South African, Philip Miller, in the presentation of the combined production, Nine Films for Performance (1989-2003), which documents the fragile security and fleeting victories of Soho Eckstein, a fictitious property developer. This film traces the story of decay that forms his life in the apartheid era based in Johannesburg. The films will be screened at the Sallis Benney Theatre and will form part of the CineCity festival.
Kentridge's career has seen solo shows worldwide at venues such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Tate Modern and Serpentine Gallery, London and the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art. In 1999, he was awarded the Carnegie Medal and in 2003 received the Goslar Kaisserring in recognition of his contribution to contemporary art. Kentridge represented South Africa at the 2005 Venice Biennale, having previously exhibited there in 1999 and 1993. His most recent commission Black Box/Chambre Noire was presented at the Johannesburg Art Gallery last year and is a major part of the permanent collection at the Berlin Guggenheim.
Principal lecturer in historical and critical studies at the university's School of Arts and Architecture, Peter Seddon, said: "William Kentridge's work has received international acclaim and we are delighted that he has chosen to exhibit at the University of Brighton. The exhibition and associated events will provide a rare opportunity to see the entire spread of his recent work and for his work to reach an even wider audience."
Festival timetable
William Kentridge: Fragile Identities
University of Brighton Gallery and Regency Town House
7 November to 31 December 2007
Nine Films for Performance - William Kentridge and Philip Miller
Sallis Benney Theatre, University of Brighton
18 November 2007
The Art and Politics of Memory and Identity –
Symposium at the University of Brighton, held at the Regency Town House
17 – 18 November 2007
Visitor information
Address:
Kentridge Festival, University of Brighton, 10-11 Pavilion Parade, Brighton BN2 1RA
Telephone: +44 (0)1273 643084
Email: kentridge@brighton.ac.uk
Website: www.brighton.ac.uk/kentridge
Admission
Exhibitions at the Gallery and the Regency Town House: entry free.
Nine films for Performance at The Sallis Benney Theatre: £16 and £12.
Symposium at the University of Brighton: for information and registration go to www.brighton.ac.uk/kentridge or ring 01273 643084
Press enquiries:
Rebecca Haroutunian,
Communications Manager, University of Brighton
Telephone: 01273 643022 or 07980 314 345
Supported by Arts Council funding
Contact: Marketing and Communications, University of Brighton, 01273 643022
