Art guide for Cape Town 11 May to 17 May 2012

Works by Gregor Röhrig – Streets Of Our Lives
Röhrig explores images that relay a sense of social commentary and historic value. Street life in any city, at any given time, is fluid. There is so much more to the streets than just clues to the economic or political situation. There’s captivating imagery highlighting the social and cultural diversity of its people. The images exhibited provide a glimpse of how people live, work, sleep, play, and dialogue. The photographs individually tell a story and as a body of work present an overall intriguing fusion of scenarios and people.
Until 26 May
Alliance Francaise Art Gallery, 155 Loop Street, Cape Town, Tel: (021) 423 56 99

Stephen Conroy
The simplicity of a stark background and a single pensive figure are all Conroy needs to create the intense and stirring images that characterise his painting style. The allure of Conroy’s work, its impact and fascination, are indeed partly derived from the figures’ imposing and silent presence, but also from  a unique faculty of introspective mood that the artist imparts to his painting.
17 – 31 May
Everard Read, 3 Portswood Road, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town, Tel: (021) 418 4527

Wings of the Shechinah – The Sculptural Art of Herman Wald
This exhibition is a proud moment for Herman Wald’s son Louis who in collaboration with the SA Jewish Museum has created this mammoth exhibition.
On show are almost 60 sculptures, more than 40 sketches, writings and audio visual displays.
Until 15 July (Sunday – Thursday @ 10am – 5pm & Fridays @ 10am – 2pm
R25 – R40
SA Jewish Museum, 88 Hatfield Street, Gardens, Cape Town, Tel: (021) 465 1546

Grande exhibition
This will coincide with the Franschhoek Literary Festival
‘Altered Pieces’ is an exhibition of contemporary altarpieces inspired by the lyrics of Leonard Cohen
‘Transformed’ by Anton Smit. an extensive group show with artworks by prominent South African contemporary artists such as Eugenie Marais, Christo Basson, Emma Willemse, Erica Prinsloo, MJ Lourens, JP Meyer, Elise Wessels, Gina Niederhumer, Hetty Zandman, Pieter Haasbroek, Johannes du Plessis, Hester Viles, Pienaar van Niekerk, André du Toit, Gavin Risi and Derick Smith, among others.
Botanical artworks by Barbara Pretorius and a photographic exhibition of indigenous succulents by Riaan Chambers will be shown in The Shop.
From 6 May
The Gallery, Grande Provence Heritage Wine Estate, Franschhoek, Tel: (021) 876 8630

Canaries In The Coalmine by Barbara Wildenboer
Birds have long been seen as indicators of environmental change and can essentially be seen as the ‘canaries in the coalmine’ when it comes to climate change. The premise for this exhibition is the concept ‘solastalgia’. The term was coined by environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht in 2004 by combining the Latin word solacium (comfort) and the Greek word algae (pain).
Until 2 June
Erdmann Contemporary & the Photographers Gallery, 63 Shortmarket Street, Cape Town, Tel: (021) 422 2762

The Raging Storm
An exhibition of works by Storm Thorgerson including his renowned album art for Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and others, as well as three showings of feature length documentary Taken by Storm.
Until 31 May
FREE
6 Spin Street Restaurant, Cape Town, Tel: 082 4553447

Just a Matter of Time by Jaco van Schalkwyk
The imagery focuses on concepts of community, slaughter, sacrifice and survival.
Until 17 May @ 6pm
Barnard Gallery, 55 Main Street, Newlands, Cape

Jan-Henri Booyen’s – Strange Days
In Strange Days these structures evolve into isolated forms that vary from the severely monochrome to the exuberantly polychrome. His abstracted compositions evoke landscapes built on systems of fractal geometry, and yet they retain the spontaneity of an intuitive creation process. Booyens’ reluctance to completely undermine figurative representation adds to this body of work’s feeling of internal dissent, a conflict between the order of recognisable forms and the vitality of chaos.
Until 12 May
Blank Projects, 113-115 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock

Sculptures by Ian Redelinghuys
Until 30 June
Tokara, Helshoogte Road, Stellenbosch, Tel: (021) 885 2550

Iqholo le Afrika (Her African Pride)
A Centenary Celebration of the Life and Work of Barbara Tyrrell. This exhibition and re-evaluation of her work by curators Vusi Buthelezi and Yvonne Winters of the Campbell Collections at the University of KwaZulu – Natal, honours this veteran Durban-born artist and author. “Cape Town is her present home and at 100 she needs to be acknowledged while she is still with us,” stated curator, Vusi Buthelezi Through her vision and character, Tyrell is regarded as a heroine in certain rural Kwazulu-Natal communities.
Until 8 July
Iziko South African National Gallery, Tel: (021) 481 3800

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